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banoster

Norbert Bárdos — Editor-in-Chief Norbert has written about poker as banoster since 2009. He came to the game from sports journalism, by way of the television broadcasts that followed the poker boom — which meant he arrived already knowing how to file copy, and learned the poker afterwards. He joined PokerAkademia first as a player and then as an editor, and wrote most of the news archive that turned it into the defining community site of Hungarian poker. In parallel he built a playing career: an NL100 six-max cash regular, several years spent as a backed player, and three years in Team Hero's Hungarian cash game programme, coached by high-stakes regulars including Katz0r and neomorf. He is still an active, winning player at those stakes. What he brings to RakeRace beyond the editing is fifteen years inside the poker industry itself, including the affiliate side of it. He knows how rakeback deals get negotiated, why one room's offer wins on paper and loses at the table, and which parts of this business readers are usually not told about. That is the beat he covers personally: poker news, the industry, and how the money actually moves. He has followed casino games since 2025, and plays blackjack away from the poker tables. The hands-on casino reviewing on this site is done by Patr1ckz, who has six years of play behind it; Norbert's role there is editorial. What he covers Poker news and industry analysis Poker room reviews and rakeback deals How the affiliate business works — including ours NLHE cash game strategy at micro to mid stakes Experience Playing since 2009 Stakes and format NL100, six-max No-Limit Hold'em cash Coaching Three years in the Team Hero Hungarian cash game programme Editorial background Sports journalist, then editor at PokerAkademia Casino games Following since 2025 Role at RakeRace Editor-in-Chief Elsewhere His  A  The  — most of it his Disclosure Norbert spent three years in the Team Hero cash game programme, and RakeRace has a commercial relationship with Team Hero. He does not write our Team Hero coverage, and any article that mentions them carries this disclosure. The rest of the team Norbert edits the work of the writers on our team page — Zenderman on cash game strategy and poker news, Daniboy on solver work and study method, and Patr1ckz on tournaments and casino reviews.

Articles by banoster

GGPoker in 2025: Five Billion Hands Dealt as Tournament Play Drives Record Year

GGPoker dealt 5.08 billion hands in 2025 as tournament traffic surged. Cash games dipped for the first time, while payouts and promotions hit record levels.

$800 Freeroll Series at BCPoker: The Second Weekend Is Here!

The second weekend of BCPoker’s December $800 freeroll series is starting, bringing you another two free $100 tournaments.

GGPoker Winter Giveaway Series Returns – Once Again Featuring $100 Million in Prizes

The GGPoker Winter Giveaway Series is back from December 14 to January 27, offering $100 million in guarantees and a 5% added prize boost across all events.

PokerStars Moves SCOOP Forward – Spring’s Flagship Online Series Now Kicks Off in March

PokerStars moves SCOOP to March 1–25, 2026, aiming for a clearer schedule, stronger player activity, and better alignment with major live events.

Holiday Countdown Arrives at KKPoker – Over $950,000 in Festive Prizes

KKPoker’s Holiday Countdown runs Dec 6–Jan 4 with over $950K in prizes, Mystery MTTs, freerolls, mission rewards and festive end-of-year events.

WPT Global’s $5M Holiday Boost: Daily Rewards Through the Festive Season

WPT Global is closing out the year with a seasonal promotion that spans nearly an entire month: the $5 Million Holiday Boost.

KK Legend Freeroll Series – $30 000 in Prizes, Now Running on KKPoker

Don’t miss the KK Legend Freeroll Series on KKPoker! Running until Dec 7 with $30,000 in prizes, daily freerolls and $5K Finale events.

Elite Series XL: New Year’s Edition – €12,500,000 Guaranteed (Dec 1, 2025 – Jan 15, 2026)

Elite Series XL: New Year’s Edition returns with €12.5M GTD, daily tournaments, missions, satellites, and exclusive freerolls from Dec 1 to Jan 15.

GGPoker Rolls Out a $25M December Giveaway — Its Largest Christmas Promotion Ever

GGPoker $25M End of Year Giveaway: daily Christmas Boxes, $1M Flipout and enhanced leaderboards throughout December. Full breakdown of the 2025 promo.

BCPoker – a new crypto poker room with soft fields

BCPoker is a standalone online poker room linked to the BC.Game crypto platform. It does not belong to any major network, which strongly influences the player pool: the reg army has not arrived yet, and the proportion of recreational players is notably high.

PokerStars Relaunches Major Christmas Campaign with $2 Million “Snowball” Promo

PokerStars launches its first major Christmas promo in years: the $2M Snowball campaign with progressive draws, shootouts, casino rewards, and mystery chests.

Online Poker Black Friday Sales: GGPoker & Stretch Network Cut Tournament Buy-Ins

Online poker operators revive their Black Friday sales for 2025, with GGPoker and Stretch Network cutting tournament buy-ins by up to 90%.

Online Poker Sites Reflect on Last Week’s Cloudflare Outage

Last week’s Cloudflare outage briefly disrupted several poker sites and media outlets. Here’s a short recap of how the incident affected the industry.

Ontario Could Rejoin the Global Poker Market — But Practical Implementation Remains Far Off

Ontario’s recent court ruling opens the door to international poker liquidity, but meaningful change is still a long way off due to potential appeals and regulatory hurdles.

PokerStars Reignites Bounty Craze with $12.5M Bounty Builder Series

PokerStars brings back the Bounty Builder Series from Nov 16 to Dec 1 with $12.5M guaranteed and 169 PKO and Mystery Bounty tournaments.

Polish Poker Championship 2025 Final – Watch the €145,225 Battle Live

The record-breaking €986,850 Polish Poker Championship Main Event concludes today! Watch the €145,225 final live from 15:30 CET on RakeRace.com.

Final Week of PartyPoker Micro Series – $600K Guaranteed and Innovative Mystery Bounties

It’s the final week of PartyPoker’s Micro Series! Play until November 17 for a share of $600K guaranteed and experience new Mystery Bounty formats, including one active from the first hand.

Ángel Guillén Doubles Up at WPT Australia – Los Jefes Dominate on the Road to Vegas

Ángel Guillén wins both the AU$5K Mad Max and AU$20K Super High Roller at WPT Australia, leading Los Jefes to team victory.

Jordan Cristos Sentenced to Prison for Threatening WPT CEO

Former WPT champion Jordan Cristos has been sentenced to 14–48 months in prison for threatening WPT CEO Adam Pliska and a Las Vegas judge.

OpenAI o3 Wins PokerBattle.ai AI Poker Championship; Grok Third, Meta LLAMA 4 Busts

OpenAI’s o3 topped nine AI models to win the PokerBattle.ai poker championship, while Elon Musk’s Grok finished third and Meta’s LLAMA 4 busted.

GGPoker Launches $14M November Giveaway and Black Friday Specials

Play for a share of $14M this November at GGPoker! Leaderboards, freerolls, Flip & Go Millionaire, and huge Black Friday discounts await.

888poker Introduces a Monthly Global League Featuring Live Event Packages

Join the new 888poker Global League — play affordable monthly events, earn leaderboard points, and win 888poker LIVE packages and prizes.

Kings Jackpot: Win Up to $5,000 This November at KKPoker

Join the Kings Jackpot at KKPoker this November – every pocket kings hand can win cash prizes up to $5,000!

$1,000,000 Guaranteed Flip & Go Millionaire Returns to GGPoker from November 1–11

Fast-paced $11 Flip & Go Millionaire runs Nov 1–11 at GGPoker with $1M guaranteed and satellites from $0.11.

NBA Scandal: Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier Arrested Over Mafia-Linked Poker and Betting Ring

NBA coach Chauncey Billups and player Terry Rozier arrested in a massive FBI probe involving mafia-run poker games, insider betting, and multimillion-dollar fraud across 11 states.

GGPoker Teams Up With Danske Spil To Launch Global Poker Network In Denmark

GGPoker partners with Danske Spil to launch its global poker network in Denmark, giving Danish players access to WSOP events, exclusive formats, and world-class tournaments.

APT Online Series Kicks Off at GGPoker with $25 Million Guaranteed

The APT Online Series has kicked off at GGPoker with $25M guaranteed and 20 Trophy Events. Running until November 17, there’s still plenty of time to join the action.

GGMillion$ Scandal: Ghosting Leads to Bans and Suspensions on GGPoker

GGPoker suspends Tony “Ren” Lin and bans “RealOA” after real-time coaching was uncovered during the GGMillion$ final table.

Doug Polk Challenge Day 2: The $100K Bankroll Quest Continues

Doug Polk continued his $100K bankroll challenge on ClubWPT Gold, playing another $10/$20 NLH and PLO session live on YouTube.

iPoker Bounty Hunter Series: Gladiators Edition Brings €5 Million in Prizes

Join the iPoker Bounty Hunter Series: Gladiators Edition, Oct 24–Nov 10, with €5M GTD, missions, and leaderboards for all player levels.
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