Online Gambling

Finding a Poker Room to Suit You
- by Claire Bullerwell

What is especially great in online poker games is the fact that you get to choose the card room that you will be participating in. Although in live poker games, you also have the same privilege, poker rooms online are vastly different.

Perhaps one advice that professional poker players can give novices is that once you have found the perfect poker room for you, you have already won half of the battle. Believe it or not, there are poker rooms online that are more profitable than others. Every poker room offers something different to a player. A player must know then which of the poker rooms suit him best.

Look into the games

There are so many kinds of online poker that it is hard to keep track of all of them. Before getting started, narrow down your search for the poker rooms by considering those that offer the games that you would like to play. Most sites would indicate the kinds of games that are being played in the room before you enter.

Look into the numbers

Poker is a card game but in choosing a poker room, you need to think numbers first before symbols and suits. Determine the number of players in the room before joining. Chances are, the bigger the population, the harder will it be for you to win.

Look into the players

If you can watch a game, go ahead and observe. This will help you determine the kind of players each room has. Of course, if you are just a novice player, you would not want to join a room with experienced players unless you want to end up as minced meat. Often, sites will have rooms for amateurs and another room for professionals.

You should also take note of additional features of the rooms that will help you with your game. For instance, some online poker rooms allow players to talk to each other and communicate.

Look for bonuses

Choose rooms that offer special packages and bonuses to players. This is especially advantageous to players who play deep and bet large amounts of money. There also sites that offer sign-up bonuses that players can take advantage of. Be careful though because some bogus operations use these sign-up packages to lure customers in.

Look into the reviews

Before joining a room, look at poker reviews posted on the site. For novices or those who are just starting to learn, it is a good idea to join rooms that are highly-rated for novices. You should also look into the reputation of the room. Do players win in the room? How many games do they offer? What kind of payment schemes do they go for?

Look into the payment and collecting scheme

You are gambling not only for leisure but also to win money. Before you go about betting your money, make sure that you know clearly how the payment scheme works. Most use credit cards or debit cards in placing their bets online. The same is also used to deposit winnings.

Another way to deposit and withdraw money for online poker games is through the Neteller, which works like an ATM. You can actually withdraw your winnings in cash within 24 hours. Also, some poker rooms and gambling sites offer special bonuses when a player uses the Neteller.

About author

Claire Bullerwell is a successful freelance writer who likes to provide informative articles on everyday living. Learn futher information at Poker Advice & Tips here.

The Female of the Species is More Deadlier than the Male: Women’s hold on internet poker 

- by Seema Shah

Never underestimate the power of the pink pound; no not the spending power of our gay community but the women whose ever increasing disposable income is now becoming a seriously lucrative courtship with many online gambling sites.

With greater autonomy in their personal lives and fewer women being tied down with the responsibility of marriage and children, their spending power has escalated at a rate that not only keeps those shop ’tills’ ringing but has also given women the freedom to spend as they wish. With online gambling now a mainstream activity, the trend has also seen more women taking the lead in online poker playing. We only need to see the rising number of gambling sites catering exclusively to women to know that this is the market to be in.

Until very recently, the online poker boom was thought to be a male dominated arena with less than 10% of players at a typical casino poker game being women. But online gambling industry experts have recently set out to investigate internet poker trends that have led to the widespread increase of online poker websites. Two studies conducted in the US brought out interesting and unexpected revelations in terms of demographics and the overall popularity and appeal of online poker.

Surprisingly, the studies, one conducted by PC Data “Spotlight on Games”, show that over one third of online poker players are female with women being the fastest growing segment of the online poker playing public. The studies also revealed that an overwhelming majority of female poker players prefer to play at online poker sites. In fact, only 1 of every 6 women preferred online poker to regular poker!

As betting matures online, a large part of it will take place around casual games which just happen to be popular with women players. In fact, despite the assumed male dominance of online gambling, women do make up a significant share. Current figures show that this is approaching around 47% of all internet users being female.

Online gambling providers therefore need to take serious note of women players if they are to maximise the overall package and in turn increase the value and loyalty of these players. It would seem that although men are currently ahead of their female counterparts in online gambling, women gamers are rapidly creeping up the stakes to become one of the most powerful demographics to woo and within a few years, they will become the smartest group to bet on.

About author

Seema Shah has been writing articles since 2004, concentrating primarily within the Online Casino and Gaming Industry. She currently writes for InterCasino the oldest, most awarded and respected site on the net as well as for InterPoker, founded in 2002 and has quickly become one of the largest and most respected poker rooms online

Doyles Room Spokesman Wins Cardplayer Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award

- by Sage Kalmus

He’s been called the Godfather of Poker. He’s the Texas Dolly. He’s won more tournaments than this writer has years to his name. He’s written the seminal book on Texas Hold’em strategy. He’s the spokesman of Doyles Room, one of the internet’s most popular online poker rooms. His name is Doyle Brunson. And as of February 15, 2006, he’s got another claim to fame.

Doyle Brunson, spokesman of Doyles Room online poker room, has just been named Card Player Magazine’s first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award. The awards were presented as part of Card Player Magazine’s Player of the Year Awards at Old Hollywood’s Henry Fonda Music Box Theater.

Bodog produced the event, which also honored Men Nguyen as “Player of the Year” and the following other poker greats:

People’s Choice Award for Favorite Player — Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu Best Celebrity Player — Jennifer Tilly Best No-Limit Player — Phil Ivey Most Underrated Player — Allen Cunningham Best Heads Up Player — Phil Ivey Best Mixed Game Player — Chip Reese Best Female Player — Jennifer Harman Most Entertaining Player — Mike Matusow Most Feared Player — Phil Ivey Breakthrough Player — Michael Gracz Best Cash Game — Chip Reese Poker Ambassador — Mike Sexton Card Player Freeroll Champion — Jim Coca

Incidentally, though he didn’t win the award, Doyles Room’s Todd Brunson (son of Doyle Brunson) was one of the nominees for “Best Heads Up Player” (along with poker brat Phil Hellmuth). Doyles Room’s Doyle Brunson himself was also nominated for Poker Ambassador (with other non-winner Daniel Negreanu).

The Doyle’s Room name-giver was the first person ever to win $1 million in a tournament. At the time of winning the Bodog/Card Player Magazine award, Doyles Room’s Brunson had 10 World Series of Poker bracelets to his name. Should another WSOP event have occurred before these words cross your desktop, that number will invariably be higher.

The event’s host was Brad Garrett of television’s “Everybody Loves Raymond”. Celebrity attendees included ” Boston” Rob and Amber Mariano (”Survivor”), Don Felder of the Eagles, Christopher Masterson (”Malcolm in the Middle”), Danny Masterson and Laura Prepon (”That ’70’s Show”), and Gilby Clarke, formerly of Guns and Roses.

The Doyles Room spokesman and Las Vegas native, in accepting the honor, gave this humble advice to the audience: “In life as in poker, you have tough breaks. But you have to play with the hands you’re dealt. That is what I try to do, and that is what I encourage you to do.”

Though Men “The Master” was the declared player of the year, Doyles Room’s Doyle Brunson was on the short list for the award, with the following 2005 standings:

4th Annual 5-Diamond World Poker Classic, No-Limit Hold’em Championship event: 3rd place ($563,485)

36th Annual World Series of Poker — No-Limit Hold’em Short Handed event: 1st place ($367,500)

3rd Annual 5-Star World Poker Classic: 3rd place ($60,000)

It was only a matter of time before the most respected man in poker got an online poker room all his own. If there’s any poker room where you can count on the quality of service, features, and gameplay that the best of the best would desire, it’s Doyles Room. It takes a Lifetime of Achievement to come up with something that good!

About author

Poker-Ranking.com is the premier resource for online poker reviews. Visit http://www.poker-ranking.com for informative articles, poker rules, game strategy, and comprehensive reviews of over 60 online poker rooms, including Doyles Room.

A Guided Tour of an Online Casino Directory
- by Sage Kalmus

Using the comprehensive online casino directory CasinoBrain (www.casinobrain) as our guide, we will lay out in this article the features you should expect from a high quality online casino directory.

Top Lists In all their catchy, short attention span suiting, bottom-line giving glory. A good online casino directory will cut straight to the bone and save you the trouble of sifting through the reviews their writer-players so tirelessly toiled over. A great sampling of top lists might include the following: Top Casinos, Top Casino Payouts, Top Bonuses, Top No Deposit Bonuses.

Casino Reviews The meat of the online casino directory (or its heart if you prefer). Online casino savvy writers visit each of the sites reviewed, peruse its offerings, play its games, and compare and contrast one against the other.

CasinoBrain’s reviews give you a comprehensive idea of what criteria a good online casino directory should examine in evaluating an online casino: An overall summary, screenshot(s) of the actual casino itself, overall score/grade, bonuses and promotions, payout percentages (by game), software and graphics, games (including game-specific info on limits and stakes), payouts, cashouts, and Security (including payment methods accepted for each, procedures for each, and encryption technology employed), and customer Support (including methods of contact — email, telephone, live chat).

CasinoBrain has even created a system of eye-catching and colorful icons that represent some of the more common attributes of online casinos for quick and easy reference when perusing the online casino directory reviews. Attributes like: Progressive Jackpots, MultiPlayer Games, Sportsbook, No Download, Signup Bonus, and others!

Casino Game Rules A good online casino directory should teach you how to play the games offered at the online casinos they list. At the very least, an online casino directory should teach the rules of the most popular games, such as Baccarat, Blackjack, Craps, Keno, Roulette, Slots, and Video Poker.

Betting Systems Some players swear by them. A good online casino directory devoted to giving players all the facts possible should explain in depth the most widely-used betting systems online or off. These include: the 1-2-3-6 System, the D’Alenbert System, the Labouchere System, the Martingale System, the Parlay System, and the Paroli System.

Gaming Software A quality online casino directory will list the various major software makers that are used to run the online casinos, even allowing you to sort online casino by the software they run. Examples include Microgaming, Playtech, Real Time Media and WagerLogic.

Payment Methods Of interest to many players also is information about the various Payment Methods you could choose to use to fund (and withdraw from) your online casino accounts.

All in all, a good online casino directory will act as your most trusted, comprehensive resource and should help make your online gaming experience even more fun!

About author

CasinoBrain.com is the premier resource for online casino reviews. Visit http://www.casinobrain.com for informative articles, game rules, and comprehensive reviews of over 150 online casinos.

Online Poker - How it differs from Land Based Play
- by Graham Easton

There are some essential differences between playing poker online and playing in a live room. This article explores the different experiences that these types of poker can offer you.

In recent years online poker and particularly the Texas Holdem variant of the game has come to dominate our television sets. I’m often asked to comment on the differences in play between online poker and land based rooms which I look to set out in this article.

1. Speed of online poker play is roughly twice that of land based poker play. The number of hands per hour in a land poker room would be circa 30 per hour at best, perhaps as low as 20. Typical online poker game would see 50-60 hands per hour, and anything up to 120 per hour for short handed “Turbo” play.

2. Rake collected by an online poker room will be 5% or less of each pot whereas land based rooms will be 10% or even higher. In this regard online play is the better value option. Some countries, such as the United Kingdom have laws against the taking of rake. Instead they either charge by the hour or by the tournament. This is the reason that Caribbean Poker is favoured over Texas Holdem in land based casinos in the UK.

3. The quality of player found in an online poker room will generally be lower than that in land based rooms. There are many reasons for this but to actually go to a land based smoky room sitting down at a table of 10 takes an element of confidence that you don’t need in an online poker environment. Land based players are often better in that they usually understand the game before playing it. By way of contrast your average online poker newbie has just watched the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel or ESPN. The only exceptions to this that I’ve found occur in Las Vegas where you get the full range of extremes from holiday makers trying their hand with the best in the world.

4. Online poker players can pick and choose the time of day they play as they can play 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week and do so from the comfort of their own home. Land based players must plan ahead and get to the venue at the due starting time.

5. Online poker players have more choice, in the number and variety of games to choose from, ranging from free play to cash games to tournaments of all sizes. If you want to win a seat at the upcoming 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP), then you need to be looking towards online poker tournaments where a far greater range of choices await such as satellite entries from as little as $5.

6. Poker Tells between online and land based poker play are very different. Land based players spend more time observing body language and voice tells through opponent questioning than they do observing time delays between bets and bet size relative to the potential odds of higher hands. Online Poker Tells have more to do with timing, bet size, and table position rather than the judgement of facial expression.

7. Poker etiquette is more disciplined in land based poker rooms. The online poker experience can often be spoiled by drunken fools who believe they have Phil Ivey’s skill level even though they clearly don’t. Catch a lucky card in an online poker room and you may find yourself on the end of some verbal abuse (through the typed chat system). Phrases such as “you’re an idiot” and worse would not be tolerated in a land based room but go largely unchecked online. You always have the option to turn off player chat but my preferred playing style is to goad the offending player into playing on tilt (usually a simple thing to do). One recourse you do have against abuse is to report the player to the pit boss and they will be either banned from chat or thrown out of the room altogether.

8. Online poker gives you the unique ability to play more than one room at a time. Clearly this is not an option open to land based players. I know of people who play up to six tables simultaneously.

As you can see both environments have the potential for a really good game of poker. Different experiences to suit different player needs. Personally I don’t have a preference between the two. I value the convenience of online play, but still enjoy the interaction of a live room.

About author

Graham Easton is the author of this article. He is webmaster at www.texashold-empoker.com.

Computer Backgammon
- by Joe Boggs

The first strong computer opponent was BKG 9.8. It was programmed by Hans Berliner in the late 1970s on a PDP-10 as an experiment in evaluating board positions. Early versions of BKG played badly even against poor players, but Berliner noticed that the critical mistakes the program made were always at phase changes. He applied basic principles of fuzzy logic to smooth out the transition between phase changes, and by July 1979, BKG 9.8 was ready to play against then current world champion Luigi Villa. It won the match, 7-1, becoming the first computer program to defeat a world champion in any game, although this was mostly a matter of luck, as the computer happened to get better dice rolls than its opponent in that match.

Beginning in the late 1980s, creators of backgammon-playing software began to have even more success with a neural network approach. TD-Gammon, developed by Gerald Tesauro of IBM, was the first of these computer programs to play at or near the expert level. This program’s neural network was trained using Temporal Difference learning applied to data generated from self-play.

This line of research has resulted in two modern commercial programs, Jellyfish and Snowie, the shareware BGBlitz (implemented in Java), and the free software GNU Backgammon, that play on a par with the best human players in the world. It is worth noting that without their associated “weights” tables which represent hours or even months of tedious neural net training, these programs play no better than a human child.

It is interesting to contrast the development of backgammon software with that of chess software:

For backgammon, neural networks work better than any other methods so far. For chess, brute force searching, with sophisticated pruning and other refinements, works better than neural networks.

Every advance in the power of computer hardware has significantly improved the strength of chess programs. In contrast, additional computing power appears to improve the strength of backgammon software only marginally.

For both backgammon and chess, it is at present unclear whether the best computer or the best human is best overall. For most other games, one or the other is unambiguously stronger.

About author

Joe Boggs,a seasoned Backgammon Player and active contributor to Backgammon Guide where online backgammon is covered more in-depth: Including Backgammon history, rules, news, blog and soo much more..

How To Boost Your Chances Of Winning The Lottery
- by Andy Gray

Anyone who plays any lottery has wondered if there is a way to boost their chances of winning.

If you’ve worked through the numbers you will realise that the only sure way to win is to buy a ticket for every possible combination.

This is not profitable! It would mean spending more money on tickets than you would win. (Yes - that’s how they make their money!) And even if you did buy every possible combination of numbers, you may end up sharing the jackpot with another winner, diluting your winnings still further!

So are there any practical steps you can take?

Well there are some steps you can take to increase your winnings - but not much you can do about the odds of winning the jackpot by yourself.

I’ve seen software that analyses past numbers, generates random numbers - even dream programs to help you dream the winning numbers! I’m sceptical and haven’t tried them all - but that’s because I don’t believe they will work!

One thing you can do is not to pick the numbers that everyone else would pick and so if you do win you will most likely win a greater prize as you are less likely to be sharing the prize with someone else.

Many people pick numbers that are special to them and many of them are based on dates - so you can assume that the numbers up to 31 (the maximum number of days in a month) are likely to be more popular than the numbers over 31.

The other way to boost your chances is to join a syndicate.

This is a group of people who come together to share a range of numbers and lottery tickets - and to share any winnings. So you could expect a lottery syndicate to win more often - but would it give more winnings to the members?

Well that depends entirely on how it’s been set up. Typically the ones I have seen are fairly disorganised, people join and leave and it is difficult to manage. The numbers change and the winnings could be better or worse than playing individually.

If you could bring a well thought-out system to running a lottery syndicate it is possible to improve things substantially.

For reasons which I will try and explain it is best to have 49 people in a syndicate - one to cover every number in the lottery (assuming it is based on 49 balls!)

Trying to get 49 work colleagues together is virtually impossible - and calls for a virtual solution! Virtual World Direct have stepped in to provide such a solution. Their website system allows you to join a syndicate of people that they have put together into one group. You don’t need to look for colleagues, administer it or share out the winnings - they do it for you. And just like an offline syndicate you can join or leave when you want - no obligation!

A great service - convenient, simple and fun.

Anyway - why 49 in a syndicate? Well they fix one of the six numbers so that each of the 49 numbers is covered and then with 5 other randomly generated numbers they create 44 separate lines. 44 separate lottery entries for the syndicate and each of the 49 numbers is covered in a separate line.

This is clever - it means that the syndicate only has to match 5 of the 6 lottery draw numbers to win the jackpot - because the sixth ball will always match.

But it’s cleverer than that because the syndicate also wins more than the jackpot - another of the 44 lines will win 5 plus the bonus ball and then of course the other 42 lines also win by matching 5 numbers!

Add all those multiple wins together and divide by the number in the syndicate and you win more than you would have done if you played solo! It’s tricky to explain in a couple of paragraphs but the essence is that the syndicate wins multiple times.

In fact your odds of winning increases by 702% in the UK National Lottery Lotto draw!

And they have done the same trick with the EuroMillions draw. If you are not familiar with this it is as big as many of the multi-state lotteries in the USA. Why? Because 9 countries in Europe are all playing it! And more want to join in!

It is the biggest tax-free lump-sum national lottery in the world! If you were watching the news earlier in 2006 you will have seen that it rose to an incredible £125m rollover (yes - that’s in GBP not dollars or euros!)

Being a part of this lottery syndicate increases your chances of winning by a staggering 3600%! Increasing the odds of winning any prize to 1 in 10 and it means you can win a prize by matching just one ball!

So next time you are trying to find another person to join your lottery syndicate and wondering whether it is worth the hassle, think again. Get someone else to run the syndicate for you - and if you join the right syndicate, it could boost your chances of winning as well!

Copyright 2006 Andy Gray

About author

Andy Gray is a businessman and Lotto player. Find out more about syndicates and boosting your chances of winning at http://www.BoostYourChances.co.uk/ Boost Your Chances You can even play a new  http://www.GrabAGrand.BoostYourChances.co.uk/  Grab A Grand game for free.

Improving the game: Recommendations all Poker site operators should consider
- by Mitch Free

As online gambling interests are threatened by recent legislation in the United States, Poker site operators will soon have to face another problem that could hurt their business: A loss of consumer confidence as stories of cheating become more prevalent and game integrity is called into question.

Recent instances of rule breaking have rocked the online poker world, including players entering and playing multiple accounts in a single tournament and poker bots operating, virtually non-stop for days at a time. As such stories become more prevalent, the general public is likely to lose confidence that the games are fair.

In the first case first case, the winner of a tournament with a prize pool of over $200,000 was discovered to have entered and played multiple accounts in the tournament, all from the same computer. He was only caught because he accidentally revealed himself in the chat room and people noticed and reported him. Eventually Party Poker launched an investigation and seized his account and the funds inside, but he was able to get away with cheating for a considerable time period. In another multi-account case, a player was found to have earned 1st, 3rd, and 13th in the same tournament. Except for poker message boards, these stories have gone virtually unreported in the media and have not reached the general public.

In the most disturbing and potentially damaging case, Poker-playing bots were able to operate on Party Poker for over a month virtually non-stop, and only after people started to notice and talk on discussion boards did the accounts get shut down.

Each of the recent stories of cheating share one striking similarity. Other players were responsible for catching the offending parties, as security measures of the casinos failed the most basic of tests.

These events expose extreme examples of cheating using methods that should have instantly set off alarms in the security department of every online poker room, yet people using the most obvious mistakes were able to succeed. If people can be stupid enough to run two accounts from one I.P address or a bot for days straight and not get caught, just how prevalent is cheating?

Brian Briarwood of ITB holdem, a group dedicated to reforming the online poker industry, wants poker room operators to be more public with their investigations and punishments as it relates to cheating. “We want to know that they are doing everything they can to protect honest players for those who break the rules. So far they have given customers little reason to be confident in the job they are doing, security-wise.”

For now, customers have no way to really know if they have been cheated, as sites rarely release the details of security investigations in cases of cheating. “It is only so long before the general public loses confidence and new players stop playing,” says Briarwood, “and unless sites make some fundamental security changes, cases of people cheating the system will only increase.”

About author

ITB holdem is concerned with online poker security, and other issues related to game integrity. Join the movement

Online Poker Rooms Fail Basic Security Tests, Public Confidence Likely to Fall
- by Mitch Free

As online gambling interests are threatened by recent legislation in the United States, Poker site operators will soon have to face another problem that could hurt their business: A loss of consumer confidence as stories of cheating become more prevalent and game integrity is called into question.

Recent instances of rule breaking have rocked the online poker world, including players entering and playing multiple accounts in a single tournament and poker bots operating, virtually non-stop for days at a time. As such stories become more prevalent, the general public is likely to lose confidence that the games are fair.

In the first case first case, the winner of a tournament with a prize pool of over $200,000 was discovered to have entered and played multiple accounts in the tournament, all from the same computer. He was only caught because he accidentally revealed himself in the chat room and people noticed and reported him. Eventually Party Poker launched an investigation and seized his account and the funds inside, but he was able to get away with cheating for a considerable time period. In another multi-account case, a player was found to have earned 1st, 3rd, and 13th in the same tournament. Except for poker message boards, these stories have gone virtually unreported in the media and have not reached the general public.

In the most disturbing and potentially damaging case, Poker-playing bots were able to operate on Party Poker for over a month virtually non-stop, and only after people started to notice and talk on discussion boards did the accounts get shut down.

Each of the recent stories of cheating share one striking similarity. Other players were responsible for catching the offending parties, as security measures of the casinos failed the most basic of tests.

These events expose extreme examples of cheating using methods that should have instantly set off alarms in the security department of every online poker room, yet people using the most obvious mistakes were able to succeed. If people can be stupid enough to run two accounts from one I.P address or a bot for days straight and not get caught, just how prevalent is cheating?

Brian Briarwood of ITB holdem, a group dedicated to reforming the online poker industry, wants poker room operators to be more public with their investigations and punishments as it relates to cheating. “We want to know that they are doing everything they can to protect honest players for those who break the rules. So far they have given customers little reason to be confident in the job they are doing, security-wise.”

For now, customers have no way to really know if they have been cheated, as sites rarely release the details of security investigations in cases of cheating. “It is only so long before the general public loses confidence and new players stop playing,” says Briarwood, “and unless sites make some fundamental security changes, cases of people cheating the system will only increase.”

About author

ITB holdem is concerned with online poker security, and other issues related to game integrity. Join the movement

Online poker for beginners - Before and after the flop!
- by Morgan Collins

So what’s all this talk about playing the flop - and what is a flop… well read on to find out more. This is an ideal place to start for those new to online poker and new to the term of playing the flop!

Once you know the rankings of hands (for information on hand rankings visit VIP Poker Club) and the betting structure for Texas Holdem and you are ready to play, you need to know which two cards (known as your hole cards) you should stay with or fold before the flop (the first three communal cards).

Before the flop

One reason people lose is simply because they play too many hands before the flop. Then before they know it they are sucked in with the second best pair and lose their money. Many hands should not be played.

In fact they say that you should be seeing roughly 10% of the flops. Obviously high pairs in any position (aces down to jacks) should be played, but you should be more cautious playing lower pairs in late position, especially if there is a raise before you. Even pocket jacks are not as great as you might think. Did you know that if you are holding Jack Jack, you will see at least one over card 50% of the time - on the flop! And this over card could be the one that beats you.

In a tournament even medium pairs should not always be played because you want to stay alive - yes, even in late position. And low pairs are not really playable either. I mean, what do you want to hit? If you have, say, pocket 3s, the only thing you really want to see on the flop is another 3 which you have roughly only a 1 in 7 chance of hitting. If you do not hit your 3 then it is more than likely you are beaten by a higher pair, especially if there was a raise pre-flop.

A - K you would want to play in any position, but other high cards can be dangerous, for example, A - J or A - Q. If there has been a raise before you, it is possible that the other player has AK and has you out-kicked, before you have even seen a pair.

In late position you might want to limp in (just call) with two suited connectors, for example, 8 and 9 of hearts. There can be exceptions where you could also play two low cards or low pairs, for example when there are a lot of callers and you are getting very good odds for your hand to hit.

Some people will play any ace as well. This is really bad news. If you hold A -2, the only flop you want to see is 2 -2 - x, because if you hit your ace, your kicker (other card) is the lowest you can get and you are left in a position of not knowing where you are. Your aces with a 2 kicker might be good but do you really want to spend money finding out?

No. It is best to pass a non-suited ace with a low card. Suited aces are good with a high card and with a low or medium card they can be played in late position or sometimes middle position. But do not forget that if your cards are suited it only increases their potential by roughly 2%.

So why do people say, any two will do? Is it true? Well, yes, sometimes it is, but for now, as a beginner, it is best to stick to high pairs and high cards in all positions and suited connectors and medium pairs in late position only or if you can get into the pot cheaply.

After the flop

Okay, so now you know what cards to play before the flop, but what do you do after the flop? Well, at this point there will be one of three outcomes.

They are; you hit the flop perfectly, you hit partly or you miss completely. For example:

FLOP: YOU HOLD

Perfect: 10-J-Q : A-K

Partly: 7-8-2 : 6-9

Miss: 9-9-K : 4-5

An important thing to remember is that you have seen 71per cent of your final poker hand at this point (5 out of 7 cards) so if you have not already hit something, you want good odds to hit a card and, with the correct pot odds. It is easy enough if you have missed completely - you just fold.

A lot of people are happy to play middle pair, middle kicker. For example, the flop is Q-J-6, and they have J-10. Personally I would not be calling with this hand and would maybe only consider with an ace kicker. But then again an ace comes and it gives someone else holding king 10 a straight! So what do you do? Top pair, top kicker is almost always a good flop for you, which is why I made the point before about playing high cards.

Draws are okay but best with over cards as well. You have almost 4 per cent on the flop for each out you have. So, if you have 4 to a straight, say, 4,5,6,7 and can hit either a 3 or an 8 then you have 8 outs, which is roughly 31.5 per cent or 2.2 to 1 at this point (with two cards to come, assuming you play until the end). If the pot is paying odds of over 2 to 1 then it is worth it. If not then it should really be folded. A flush draw is slightly better with 9 outs but if you also have over cards or a straight and a flush draw then you are odds on - 54 per cent for the former and 59 per cent with the latter. Having said that, if you are holding something like 8 -9 of clubs, you would rather make your straight than the flush as even though a flush beats a straight you are more likely to have the nuts with the straight.

As a rule, I would say never to play a gut shot straight (that is when you only have 4 cards to make your straight). It is a bad play. However, if you are playing a solid player it does not mean he will not call with a gut shot as he may also have 2 over cards to make it worth his while. For example the flop is 10-J-2 and he is holding A-K. That gives him 12 outs instead of just 4.

If you hit straight or flush, and it is unbeatable, you need to know how to exploit it to make as much money as possible.

Payment methods explained for online casinos
- by Mark Hirst

Depositing funds into your online casino account is one of the most important aspects of playing at an online casino. With so many different options out there, how do you know which one is best? And which method is most suitable for you? This article will review each method in turn so that next time you deposit at an online casino you will be choosing the method that is right for you.

The problems with depositing at online casinos are twofold. Firstly online gambling is banned in many states in the USA. The government as a result has put major political pressure on many financial institutions, forcing them to reject payments to online gambling sites. This has made it more difficult in some cases to deposit at your favourite online casino.

The other problem with depositing at an online casino is you often don’t know the trustworthiness of the gambling site in question. You are handing over payment details to a website and you have no idea who these people are. There are many reputable online gambling sites out there which use the most up to date encryption methods. So as long as you choose a trusted site to play at, you won’t have any problems. A good directory providing consumer reviews is bewisebets so make sure you read a few reviews before depositing.

The first deposit method to look at is cheque. This is probably one of the least favoured methods because it will take you nearly 3 weeks to get cleared funds into your account. You need to post the cheque, wait for it to arrive, they need to cash it and wait for it to clear and then transfer it into your playing account. It is a safe way of doing things albeit a slow one. Online casinos don’t often provide extra incentives for depositing this way, probably due to the effort required on their part.

The next method is paypal. Paypal is owned by ebay and handles $ millions worth of transactions every day. For that reason it would be a perfect avenue to use for depositing at an online casino. However about 3 years ago paypal decided that they were no longer going to process gambling transactions due to the strict gambling laws in US. They have recently changed their stance from not processing any gambling transactions as you may now deposit on betfair, the online betting exchange. However I have yet to see an online casino accept paypal for depositing money.

Credit cards are accepted for depositing funds into an online casino account, but for how long remains to be seen. The Us government are pressing for credit card companies to reveal which of their clients are using credit cards to deposit at online gambling sites. Although to a large extend this action has failed, it has led to a number of credit cards companies refusing to process deposits for online gambling sites. If you want to deposit using a credit card the best thing to do is check before signing up. If the credit card will not allow you to deposit at an online casino, simply sign up to one that does. You should also be aware that credit card companies are now treating gambling deposits as cash advances so you will be charged a higher rate of interest on these purchases.

Debit cards are popular in the UK. They are also known as switch or solo cards. They are a great way to deposit for 2 reasons. Firstly they are your current account so wont let you spend more than you can afford to and secondly you can deposit instantly (as with many other methods) not all sites will accept switch cards but many of the UK based sites will. It is important to note here that you may be subject to other age verification checks as people under the age of 18 can own a switch card.

The final method to be discussed is Neteller. Neteller is almost like an online wallet. You can deposit into your wallet using many different methods. Online casinos will provide members who deposit using neteller with an additional bonus (usually 10% extra) in most cases so it is well worth getting a neteller account. Withdrawing back to your neteller account is also instant so it gets round all the waiting as well.

Overall The best method to deposit with is neteller, you receive deposit bonuses as well as instant withdrawals, so well worth considering.

About author

Mark Hirst is an experienced gambler specialising in the online industry. Visit his online gambling directory & search engine for honest consumer reviews and detailed gaming strategies

Yes, there IS a difference in Online Casino Bonuses!
- by Brian James

Have you found that with all the different Online Casino Bonuses being offered, it is extremely confusing to figure out which bonus is right for you? There are bonuses that are upwards of 400 to 800 % of your initial online casino deposit. These are great if you want to play longer and don’t really care about winning because you WON’T be able to cash this bonus out! That’s right! This “bonus” is NOT for cashing out. Taking a smaller, but “cashable” bonus is the way to go for those that are more savvy at online gambling. You can make your “pop” and cash out with your winnings and your bonus! Just remember, the longer you stay at the online casino, the greater the chance you have of leaving the casino broke! So, as a rule of thumb, the higher the bonus, the less chance you have of being able to cash this out. The lower the bonus, the greater chance of cashing out with the bonus. More to come on internet gambling and online casino’s!

About author

Sincerely, Brian James Best Bonus Online Casino http://www.bestbonusonlinecasino.com

I am the Promoter of one of the Largest Internet Online casino’s http://www.bestbonusonlinecasino.com http://www.allaboardcruisescorp.com

Legal Betting Online for Sports
- by Olivia Romero

Legal betting online for sports can be a lucrative venture. But in order to be successful, you must gather information about the game, balance out the probability of which team will win and then compare your conclusion with the odds given. If your decision is correct, you’ll win. If not, you’ll need to better research the odds and try again.

Betting odds are an important factor when making decisions about placing your bets. Betting odds are nothing more than a pre-determined probability of a particular outcome (win/loss). These probabilities are set by “odds makers” and the goal is to “beat the odds.” You do your research, place your bets, and hopefully, win some cash.

Nowadays, making a trip to the corner bookmaker, or “bookie” to place your bets is no longer necessary. You can easily locate on line bookmakers, who provide everything you need for your betting convenience, pleasure…and success!

A bookmaker is a middle man who makes a profit off bets. In sports betting, the most promising situation for him is to see bets placed equally on both teams. This scenario gives him the opportunity to make a profit no matter which team wins.

Your goal is to beat him at his own game. The trick is to research extensively and bet selectively to achieve a 55% win record. If you do this, a 60 to 65 percent win record is realistically achieveable.

It is best if you are knowledgeable about the sport you choose to bet on. If you know a lot about baseball and hockey, place your bets on those sports and pass over those you know little about.

Luck does play a part in online sports betting and, at times, you can expect to lose. However, if you do your research and weigh the information carefully, things will stay in balance, allowing you to win a fair share of the stakes.

About author

Olivia Romero is a writer with 15 years experience writing video scripts and web copy. Olivia authors a blog that offers informaion on and tips for successful online sports betting. For more information about sports betting visit at www.legalbettingonline.blogspot.com

Roulette Tips - 4 Simple Tips for Huge Roulette Profits!
- by sacha Tarkovsky

Roulette Tips - 4 Simple Tips for Huge Roulette Profits!

Roulette is the perfect casino game it’s simple to play fun, exciting and for a game of pure chance the odds of success are good.

The 4 roulette tips enclosed are all you need to maximize your chances of success in this great game so here they are:

Tip 1: Play European Wheel

The best roulette wheel to play is the European wheel as it reduces the casino advantage to just 2.63%.The American Wheel has an extra 00 and this almost doubles the house edge.

There is absolutely no reason to play the American wheel so don’t go European!

Tip 2: Only place the best bets

Let’s start with the best bet of all available on the European table.

The en prison rule on even-money bets.

When the 0 comes up, your bet is captured and carried forward to the next spin.

If you then win, you aren’t paid for the win, but you take your original bet back, so you only lose half your bet.

The House edge on even money bets with this en prison rule and single zero is just 1.35% making it the best bet of all to play

The worst bet in roulette in contrast is the five number bet of:

0, 00, 1, 2, 3 blasts that 5.26% with an edge of 7.89%, this bet should never be placed.

In fact, you should avoid any bets with payouts far bigger than your bet.

Stick to bets with lower odds, and avoid single number bets. Playing red or black gives you a chance of winning 50% of the time minus the house edge.

This is an attractive bet as it keeps you in the game longer, has respectable odds and allows you to maximize your bankroll and gives you variety in your play.

Tip 3: Don’t play emotionally

Don’t get emotional. Keep in mind roulette is a game of pure chance, so make sure you set a bankroll before you play and when your done leave the game.

Roulette is fun and exciting, so it is easy to get carried away and lose more than you intended or be tempted to reinvest your winnings.

Have profit and loss levels and quit when their hit.

Tip 4 Avoid mathematical systems

You will see roulette systems on the net offered for just a few dollars that guarantee you winnings.

Roulette is a game of chance and the roulette ball does not have a memory each spin is independent of any other and mathematical systems cannot be applied as there is no reliable data to use.

Its tempting to fall for the hype but think about it:

If a system can guarantee profits why is the vendor selling it?

He could simply play it himself and make a fortune.

NO Roulette system has ever worked and none ever will, so forget them.

That’s it you know all you need to maximize your odds but …

If you want to make money playing casino games poker and blackjack should be the ones to play, as the odds of success are better.

Roulette should be seen for what it is:

A fun, exciting game, that offers respectable odds if played correctly for a game of chance.

Always remember though that the overriding motivation in playing roulette is the thrill and excitement this unique game offers and money making is a bonus.

Now take these tips and enjoy a game of roulette!

About author

More free advice on roulette

For more roulette tips and strategies and advice on how to maximize your online gaming profits in all major casino games visit our website for articles features PDF’s and magazines at:

http://www.net-planet.org

Texas Hold’em Poker - Effective Slow Playing
- by Online Poker Player’s Guide

Slow playing a hand in texas hold’em poker is a very risky strategy; however, if successfully executed can yield a very large payoff. Slow playing a hand simply means betting and calling conservatively so that the maximum amount is extracted from the maximum number of opponents.

The strategy of slow playing is very risky and should only be attempted when you are sure you will have the winning hand. Usually when you have the highest possible hand that can be made by the cards on the board is when best to use this tactic. It is very easy for an opponent to catch the cards needed to make his hand so the hand you choose to slow play with should be nearly unbeatable. Also you should know what could possibly beat you and make sure the necessary cards don’t show up on the board.

I think to illustrate the correct instances and situations to slow play in we will resort to examples.

Example #1: Your starting hand is a pocket pair of aces. The flop is ace, nine, nine. Now this instance would be a good time to slow play. You have to realize that if someone was dealt the starting hand pocket nines then they have you beat, but short of that you have the highest hand strength at this point. Also the probability of someone having a pocket pair of nines as their starting hand is very low. Furthermore; the probability of someone having a stronger hand even after the turn and river are very very low. Your hand is a full house, aces full of nines. A hand with a very high hand strength. If the turn and river happened to go very badly say running nines (which would result in a split pot for everyone remaining in the hand), or even worse one nine on the turn or river could spell disaster is one of your opponents starting hand contained a nine. Now they would have four of a kind, nines. Short of those two highly unlikely events there isn’t much else that could beat your hand. This would be a very good situation to slow play.

Example #2: Your starting hand is nine of spades and ten of spades. The flop is jack of spades, queen of spades, and king of spades. You have flopped a straight flush king high and if the ace of spades comes on the turn or river you have a royal flush. In this situation your hand is unbeatable. It is extremely rare to have a hand that is unbeatable especially after the flop. This is the perfect situation to slow play. You can not possibly lose the hand so every dollar you can extract is going straight into your chip stack.

Example #3: Your starting hand is ace of spades, and king of spades. The flop is ace of diamonds, king of hearts, and 4 of spades. In a situation like this flopping the top two pair you may feel you have a dominating hand strength over your opponents. Though you may feel this is a good situation to slow play it is not. The reason is because there are quite a few hands that your opponents could have that would beat you if they where to play all the way to the river. For example if one of your opponents starting hand was pocket kings. This starting hand would have flopped a set of kings and would have a dominating hand strength. You would be playing right into his hand by working off the assumption that you have a dominating hand strength when he in fact has the dominating hand strength. Another starting hand that could have been dealt to an opponent is a pocket pair of aces. Again this starting hand would have flopped a set and have the dominating hand strength.

Example #4 Your starting hand is ace of hearts, and 6 of hearts. The flop is 9 of hearts, ten of hearts, and queen of hearts. Now you have made your ace high flush on the flop; however, there are straight flush draws out there. If an opponent has an eight of hearts, jack of hearts, or king of hearts he has a straight flush draw. You can slow play in this instance as long as you realize that if one of the other straight flush cards come out you will need to make a feeler bet to see if your ahead in hand strength. The other possibility is that an opponent made a straight flush on the flop in which case you may be being slow played, and you will be playing into a starting hand that has now an unbeatable hand strength.

It is important to understand all of the possible starting hands that could have your hand beaten at the point you are at in the hand. Also you have to understand the starting hands that would continue to chase a hand given certain flops. This is critical to feeling out where your hand strength fits in the given hand. It is too easy to get tunnel vision when you get a great starting hand strength followed by the perfect flop. Your perfect flop may still have benefitted one of your opponents starting hand strength even more. You have to remain objective and continue to study your opponents moves to make sure your starting hand strength in addition to the given community cards is ahead in the hand.

So now lets examine the texas hold’em poker strategy of slow playing. You should now have a good idea of the situations when to do it and the situations when not to do it. So lets discuss how to do it successfully.

The basic concept of slow playing in no limit texas hold’em poker is simple yet its execution can be very tricky. The idea of slow playing is to bet an amount that your opponents will call, or to play your hand in such a way as to extract the maximum amount of money. In order to do this usually you want to represent a weak hand, or represent a starting hand that is playing for a draw so that your opponent will attempt to bet you out of the hand. If by betting the minimum amount will demonstrate weakness, or perhaps checking and then calling after some amount of time as if your thinking of weather you want to continue to chase. Demonstrating weakness or a starting hand that is on a draw will be a different play depending upon the table, your opponents, past behavior, and other factors such as these. Keep in mind the correct play is dependent on the situation, and often times in order to represent the same type of starting hand you may have to employ a variety of different methods in a variety of different and unique situations.

Keep in mind slow playing a hand in no limit texas hold’em poker is a very risky play to make, and can often result in your opponent making his starting hand into the winning hand if not done correctly. Also slow playing in texas hold’em poker should be done extremely rarely as the conditions for it will only occur when a variety of variables are in place. If used appropriately the strategy of slow play in no limit texas hold’em poker can be one of your most profitable and effective tactics. Use it sparingly and use it well.

For a more in depth examination of hold’em strategies, statistics, tips and much more visit the link below.

http://www.onlinepokerplayersguide.com

How To Play a Video Slot Machine and Win Big Profits
- by sacha Tarkovsky

Video Poker is a game that requires some skill to play and bridges the gap between slot machines and table games and are easy and simple to play.

This article will show you how to play video poker slot machines and give you some tips to help you maximize your winnings.

In most casinos video poker machines, (when played with strategy), give a lower house edge than other online slot machines, an added bonus is they are fun and the graphics are suburb giving a very visual playing experience.

How to Play

Video Poker is based on draw poker and has the same rules; the only difference is that you are not playing against other players, just the machine.

The machine deals five cards on the screen.

The player can, take up to five new cards if they wish. The player keeps the cards they want to keep by pressing the “hold” button that corresponds to individual cards shown.

When the player has decided what to do he hits the “deal” button, and the cards discarded are replaced by new cards.

The result of the game is determined by the outcome after the final hand is completed.

How much a player wins (if at all) is shown on the pay table that is on the machine.

The Pay Table & Return

The major advantage that video poker has over other slot machines is that the return of the game can be calculated by reading the pay table on the front of the machine.

Most video poker games use the combinations of hands that can be made from a 52-card deck. There are some Joker Poker Games that use one / two Jokers added to the deck and a game such as Deuces Wild uses a 52-card deck but the deuces are wild cards.

The number of combinations that can be made from the cards used in the game means the payout can be worked out by what the machine pays for each winning combination.

There are 2,598,960 possible hands from a 52-card deck.

The chip in a video poker machine is set to simulate the probabilities of drawing any of these combinations.

Because this is a set probability, the casino simply adjusts the pay table of the online machines to produce the house edge.

Tips to win

The basics are easy to master here are some tips to win which you can research more on the internet or in our other articles

1. Look for favorable payouts

Only play machines with the most favorable payouts. The payouts for all video poker machines are the same, except for the payout on the flush, full house, or royal flush.

A 9 / 6 will generally hit the royal flush once for each 40,000 hands. The 8 / 5 odds are once for each 45,000 hands etc - So try and play 9 / 6 machines only.

2. Learn the basic strategy for the game

You are playing there free and available on the net so use them until they are committee to memory.

3. Play maximum coins

If you bet five coins, all winning hands are paid out by a factor of five, except for the royal flush. This is a bonus amount given as an incentive to play five coins.

Any player who plays less than maximum coins will contribute to a royal flush that will be won by another player so play maximum coins to increase your winnings.

4. Play slowly

Take your time, the machine is in no hurry and you don’t get more money or a bonus for playing quicker.

The best slot games to play

Video poker slot machines has all the fun and excitement of other online slot machines, but there is also the possibility to put the odds in the players favor by introducing an element of skill , so you can have fun and make more money!

About author

More FREE online gaming tips and strategies

Including more video poker slot machines strategies as well as information on all other major casino games via articles features and PDF downloads visit:

http://www.net-planet.org