Posted by admin on May 1, 2009 in
Poker Playing in a poker cardroom online takes, of course, knowledge of poker; and it also takes some knowledge of computers and the Internet. The rules of online poker games are the same as if you were playing at a real table, but online wagering, anteing, folding, checking, and even chatting with other players is done with software. Knowing how to navigate a poker cardroom online takes some practice, but fortunately most poker websites have tutorials and even online customer service agents to help you.
When you play in a poker cardroom online, you sit down at a virtual table, usually by means of an "avatar", which is simply a graphic representation of you. Usually this will be something like a cartoon man or woman; sometimes you just see your name written out in front of your virtual chair. Most of the poker software works so that when it is your turn to do something, you will be prompted by a pop-up screen. You will be prompted to ante when it is time, and when the play comes around to you then you will be prompted to make a decision as to whether you will check, fold, bet, call, or raise. Most poker software is extremely user friendly, so playing in a poker cardroom online takes very little time to get used to.
Once you've chosen the website where you will be playing in a poker cardroom online, be sure to check to see if they are offering any bonuses. Most poker websites will offer different types of deposit bonuses at any given time, and many times you can even get a no-deposit bonus when you first register. It can certainly help when you can play with the poker website's money as well as your own.
Posted by admin on Apr 29, 2009 in
Poker Hello, my name is Joseph Pigliatti. I am also know as Joey the Pig, Joey the Wiseguy, Turpentine Joey, Joey Please Don’t Break My Kneecaps, Second Storey Joey and Joey Strawberry Short Cake. If you don’t mind - I prefer Joey the Pig.
Anyhow, the good folks at the website I work for asked me to write an article about the time my wife Pickles and I went to a casino in Jersey to play poker. It’s a good story and I hope you enjoy it.
One Friday night Pickles and I decided to drive down to Jersey for a fun filled weekend of poker. In the car, when were more than half way there, Pickles tells me that she forgot her rash cream at home. Now if that don’t put a damper on a fun filled weekend of poker nothing will.
Now don’t get me wrong, Pickles is a wonderful gal, but, she’s not the brightest light bulb in the chandelier. I love the girl but she’s often a few cards short of a full deck. Besides, she’s built for other things.
We get to Atlantic City just before ten at night and I am itching to play some poker. Pickles is just plain itching. And with all her itching she is also trying to scratch. Now my wife is a very beautiful woman. And she likes to dress to show off her assets. Which are below her chin and above her navel.
Anyhow, we get to the casino and were walking through the joint and I can’t wait to get to the poker table. And Pickles is walking right beside me itching and scratching and jiggling all over the place. In her low cut dress she looked almost obscene. Every guy in the joint was staring at her.
We finally get to the poker table and just as I am about to get my first hand Pickles tugs on my sleeve. Now my wife is a very quiet lady. She won’t say boo to me especially around a poker game. She knows better. She knows how serious I take poker and that under no circumstances do I liked to be bothered.
So I turn to Pickles and look at her. There she is squirming and jiggling like a circus act. And her face is all contorted and turning purple. She leans over and whispers in my ear that she needs her rash cream. I says to her ″sweetheart, can’t it wait?″
Then she stands up in the casino, and this is so unlike Pickles, and yells at me
″God dam it, I need it and I need it now!″
Then she turned and walked out of the casino. Well of course I followed her itching and scratching and jiggling body right out the door. And a few of the guys in the casino gave me the thumbs up.
To make a long story short I spent the rest of the night driving around from drug store to drug store looking for her brand of rash cream. And the moral of the story is - if you’ve got a rash don’t leave home without your rash cream.
I hope you enjoyed my article. Until next time – arrivederci.
© Joseph Pigliatti. All rights reserved.
Posted by admin on Apr 29, 2009 in
Poker The majority of casinos attract new business by offering players an alluring casino bonus. It’s worthwhile knowing how these bonuses work and how they affect you.
WHY DOES A CASINO OFFER A BONUS?
This is the bit it’s easy to understand. By offering bonuses, typically in the form of free chips or money, casinos aim to attract and retain players. In effect, the casino uses the bonus as a type of competitive promotion to woo your patronage. It’s like a retail store offering a free item with a regular purchase.
TYPES OF CASINO BONUSES
Casinos offer two basic kinds of bonuses: first deposit and loyalty bonuses.
As a first deposit bonus, the casino gives you money to thank you for becoming a member. This type of casino bonus is usually paid after you’ve signed up and paid your first balance into your Real Money account. The casino will frequently match whatever you deposit up to some maximum amount, which could be $100, for example. Or your bonus may be a percentage of your deposit up to a specified maximum, such as a free 50 percent of the first $250 you deposit. These figures may differ considerably at various casinos, and individual casinos may periodically alter their bonus offerings. Casinos strive to keep their current customers by offering a loyalty bonus, which is a type of promotion used by the casino to thank you for your continued patronage. For example, the casino may add an extra 20 percent to the first deposit made in a particular month, or it may add 10 percent or so to however much you deposit during a month.
WHAT’S EXPECTED OF THE PLAYER
In essence, the casino expects you to identify yourself honestly, refrain from cheating, observe the casino rules stipulated in the terms and conditions, and agree to the conditions that apply to cashing in when you win. It should be understood that you will continue your visit and play for some time if you have accepted a bonus from a casino. There will be a ″wager through requirement″ - a clause requiring that you must bet a minimum amount of money before you can qualify to receive your bonus. This minimum stake is usually equivalent to some multiple of your initial deposit, or equal to whatever straight bonus you have been granted, or it may be the sum of both these amounts. You’ll generally find details on this ″wager through″ in the published terms and conditions of the casino. Your minimum total bets may need to be anything from 3 to 20 times the amount of your first deposit. By and large, a bigger bonus means a bigger wager through requirement, but there are many exceptions.
WHAT’S EXPECTED OF THE CASINO
As a player you will expect the game play at the casino to be fair and your winnings to be paid honestly and promptly. This much should be self-evident. But be aware that the nature of the games and payouts may change over a period and you’ll be expected to comply with any corresponding changes in the terms and conditions.
The nature of the games may change if the casino upgrades its software to enhance various features of play or finds it necessary to modify its payout percentages from time to time to keep fair control of the ″casino hold″, which is the average profit the casino may be entitled to earn from money paid in by players. Payouts are most likely to change in Slots and Video Poker.
The terms and conditions of a casino are like a contract between you and the casino. They reflect the manner in which the casino undertakes to deliver service to you, the player - so be aware that the casino may need to adjust and tune its bonus and wager through conditions at various times. The golden rule: PLEADING IGNORANCE OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS IS NO EXCUSE!
The casino’s terms and conditions spell out clearly what is required in the conduct of both the casino and its players. In any dispute, the casino will expect the player to comply with the spirit and probably the letter of this agreement. In life, as in law, ignorance is no defence.
Posted by admin on Apr 26, 2009 in
Poker First if you are tired, angry, drunk or your condition is something other than focused, sharp mind, DON’T play! You will loose money in time. Texas Hold ‘Em poker game requires patience, sharp mind and focused eyes.
Now, keep in mind that every table has one or two very skilled players. You must pay attention to those players so find them. If you are a beginner in poker game do not look for a table of few players. You chances to win decreases and further more you are paying more blinds. Take a table like 10 seats for examble. I prefer 10 seat 0.5/1 or 0.25/0.50 no limit tables.
When playing at a table do not start aggressively. Just look around and watch your poker game buddies. Learn how they play and mark those players who are playing well, you will notice them in time. A good player does not play all the deals, in fact he/she folds about 90% of his/her cards and plays only with good hole cards. Focus on them and avoid playing against them unless you have a very good hand. You could use holdem odd calculator program like HoldemSpy if you are a learning to play. It calculates the odds having a good hand on river and suggests if you should bet, call, check or fold. You should not follow its suggestions blindly, use your own common sense but it gives you good guide anyway.
Now you are playing full. Look at players who play every deal and those players you think they bluff. But remember, play only with good hands. After you have learned to play well you can start learning to bluff time to time but bluffing is another story to tell so I’m not talking about it now because it requires skills also.
Good hole cards are starting from 8 or better. Fold everything else even if they suit. It is just not worth playing those cards. Exception: you have A and something else (under 8), then check or call but if you have K and the other card is below 8 then throw them away always. Not worth playing. If you have AA, AK or KK then always raise right at the beginning but keep in mind that you do not bet too small, the idea is to go on playing against one or two players. This way you have much better chance to beat your opponents.
As a conclusion of all this, reserve a of time for yourself, maybe several hours. You can not win big money in short time. Be patient. Fold bad cards EVERY time, don’t rely on them ever. Make notes of other players: how they play? Who is good, which are bad and so on. Avoid playing against good players. Finally, remember quit playing when you are winning money. Do not continue playing and thinking you could win a bit more…
Posted by admin on Apr 22, 2009 in
Poker For the professional gambler, what is characterized as a fun game is obviously the ones with higher chances of payouts. How could it be fun for any of us when we lose money? Just losing money to your spouse for shopping already hurts. Think about losing it to a casino. Egad!
Blackjack and Video Poker are games that have high payouts. This makes these games more enjoyable to play for gamblers.
The payout for blackjack depends on many small variations of the rule. Some of these rules that should be given concern are: how many decks of cards are being used? Can a player double and split bets on few hands? Does the dealer peak for blackjack before the players? Can the player still surrender when the dealer has an ace for an up card?
There was a time that players were given better odds in online blackjack. Now, the odds have been changed once again to favor the casinos. The situation could be described simply as a marketing strategy. They may have given better odds to make players enjoy their winnings for a while. It eventually makes the player want to play more.
Now, to win better at blackjack even if the odds are against you, all you need to do is learn basic strategy.
Video poker is another game that can give better payouts. However, not all video poker games are the same. Before starting to play video poker, look at the pay tables in front of the video poker game. Then compare the pay tables with other machines. If you have chosen a machine with a bad pay table, you are just financing the casino’s next casino.
After finding the table that has fairly good pay table rates, you will now have the odds against the machine. It could even exceed 100% in the longer run.
You won't even have to rely on your lucky charms here. If played properly, the edge will be given to you. But that's if you play perfectly. But there are very few players that can be able to do so.
Sometimes, video poker gives you a higher chance of winning compared to blackjack. However, the variance in rules in video poker is greater. It means that when playing video poker, your money will go up and down like a roller coaster.
This is because to be able to get a higher return in video poker, you'll need a Royal straight Flush. The chances of achieving that combination in video poker are only one in 40,000. It means that you'll be playing a whole lot of poker just to get that high return.
However, video poker also offers the player chances of a single big win with only a small bet. This can not happen in black jack.
Bottom line: if you are looking to have a good time by winning money, play video poker or black jack.
Posted by admin on Apr 20, 2009 in
Poker After you have had some tournament experience with at least some success, I highly recommend playing the low buy-in re-buy tournaments at party poker, where you will find a lot of weak opponents, excellent blind structure, and decent prize pools for final table play.
The 3 and 6 dollar tourneys are a little deceiving because virtually nobody does just a single buy-in. It is not unusual to see 3 to 1 ratio of re-buys to entries. So going into a 6 dollar tourney is like a 15 or 20 dollar tournament in terms of the prize pool. That is how you should look at it as well. Go into these things with the idea of spending at least 6 to 10 rebuys. Think of it this way; You are in a regular poker tournaments. Rebuy as soon as you sit at the table. You are allowed to add one if your stack is 3000 or less. Add a rebuy every time you go all in on a hand, while the hand is in play, and every time your stack happens to dip below the 3000 chip level.
During the first 15 minutes you should be seeing most flops, calling or raising it doesnt matter. The idea is to see a flop with potential, and push all in while doing the rebuy. You may lose, but as soon as you win one you are up to 12000 (minimum) in chips quite fast. 12,000? Yes. This is how it works. Your original stack of 3000 plus a rebuy brings you to 6000. You go all in against a player that has 3000 and while you are winning his stack, you add another rebuy of 3000.
Now once you get to 12,000 in chips, you want to pick your all-ins more carefully in regards to who you are playing against. With marginal and drawing hands, push all in against single stacks of 3000 only. When you have a real power hand then you want to be up against other stacks your size or even larger.
Now as the rebuy hour winds down, you should be moving into protection mode here, because you just wont be able to rebuild in the last few minutes as easily. Further, your goal is to head into the second hour as one of the chip leaders so you want to be extra careful in giving away your advantage in the last minute. This means essentially, staying far away from the other big stacks. Attack the rocks, attack the small stacks, be heads up, if at all when you are big stack.
Posted by admin on Apr 16, 2009 in
Poker One of the most important aspects of playing poker is dealing with poker betting. Unfortunately, betting is one of the least easily understood concepts of the game when players are trying to learn about it by simply playing the game. Sometimes it is much easier to go about learning about poker betting by having it explained separately from the actual game itself. This is often easier to make the betting rules of poker understandable to the novice player.
When the game starts, the way poker betting begins is that every player will put in one chip. This will go on until someone calls. If no one calls, the betting can go up. Players have a chance to call or fold, but usually players do not need to fold until the next few cards are handed out. As players accumulate more cards, they are able to keep betting. Again, other players, after putting in their chips or money at the set ante, can call so that the amount will not be raised, or they can fold if they feel that their hands are not good enough to win the pot of money that is being amassed. The amount put in can keep going higher until someone calls and the cards are revealed of the players left. Sometimes, a player will go all in. This means that all of their assets are put into the pot, and this is typically not done unless it is a very good bluff on the part of the person who is doing this style of poker betting, or they have the best hand possible or they feel strongly that they have a better hand that the other person.
Understanding poker betting is very important to being able to strategize for the poker game itself.
Posted by admin on Apr 10, 2009 in
Poker So you want to be a high roller, huh? Well hold your horses, cowboy, because online poker is not a game for the meek. Before you ante up and start playing for some real cash, why not take the game for a test drive? Not only will it help you sharpen your skills, it will help you learn the ins and outs of a site's software before you feel comfortable raising the stakes.
Maybe your game is a little rusty. Maybe you're the next Phil Hellmuth. Even if you're the world's greatest card shark, there are a lot of online poker sites out there in cyberspace, and it can all be a little overwhelming to the uninitiated. Any poker site worth visiting offers free games against real opponents. Some of the biggest poker sites on the net have some of the best free games around, and you've got absolutely nothing to lose.
PokerStars.com
The software and user interface offered by Poker Stars is consistently rated the best on the net. With thousands of players battling it out for real money, there are hundreds waiting in the wings playing for fun and for free. The selection of games is excellent, with plenty of Hold`em, Stud and Omaha tables always looking for new players. As an added bonus, Poker Stars allows players to upload pictures to the table. It's a popular feature that adds a more personal and sometimes humorous touch to the game, and it'll beat your best poker face any day of the week.
ParadisePoker.com
Another proven leader in the world of online poker, Paradise Poker offers a software package that's smooth, polished and easy to use. Paradise Poker offers one of the largest selection of open games on the Internet, and it's a great place to practice your skills while gaining some exposure to different variations of your favorite games.
UltimateBet.com
Fast, eye-catching and ultra smooth, the software at Ultimate Bet has improved by leaps and bounds since the site's inception. With thousands of players and a selection of games that rivals the largest online poker rooms, Ultimate Bet continues to attract loyal players by the day. It's true that the site also offers some of the toughest competition on the Internet, but when you're playing for free, who cares? Think of your losses as a learning experience.
PartyPoker.com
Aside from being one of the biggest and best places to get your game on, a large section of Party Poker is dedicated to helping the beginner learn the ropes of online play. And with an excess of 50,000 people online at any time, you can bet that there's plenty of action on the free tables. Party Poker also offers a huge selection of game types, and the sleek interface makes it a cinch to keep take of the action. The software also lets you keep notes on other players to help you form a battle plan.
Posted by admin on Apr 3, 2009 in
Poker My opinion of what makes a player a good player has changed over the past few years as my game has matured. It is very important for a new poker player to realize what makes a good poker player and more importantly, how to spot him. If you can spot the good player, you will have an advantage over him.
Signs of a good poker player:
1) He Plays Tight: Its the first sign that someone is educated about the starting hands of poker. Because I play so much shorthanded, I think that playing too tight is a problem for some players, especially the ones that don’t use the image they have created with their tight play. I play some shorthanded players who have little chance of winning at all due to this single problem. So what used to be a key to winning 10 handed hold em is now the reason they have no chance of winning shorthanded. …Interesting point to ponder…
2) He plays aggressive: You just can’t be successful in poker without being selectively aggressive. This is even more true shorthanded. When he’s in a pot, he bets it aggressively. Tight to get into the pot, aggressive once he is in the pot.
3) Varies his speed of play: Some decisions take longer than others. I’m not talking about the 10 table poker players who might have just happened upon that table being up when its his turn to act. I’m talking about the people that are playing the table…and are THINKING. He must adjust his play and think of every move. Poker is a lot like chess in this way.
4) He plays the same hands differently: This goes hand in hand with point number three, he not only varies the speed of his play but the manner in which he plays it. By this I mean the player is not the guy 6 handed who will open raise any ace from any position. If the blinds are tight, fine; do it. If the whole table is tight, fine, do it. But many players short-handed raise any ace from any position and this is a mistake. So sometimes it is correct to raise A7o utg, and most of the time it is not.
5) He folds his blinds: Sounds odd; but 30% of the players I play defend their blind 100% of the time. It’s a basic aspect of Poker that one must realize. The chips are just tools to get you to your goal, which is more chips. You must use the tools to your maximum advantage and never waste chips.
If you can realize these five signs of a good poker player, you will be a stronger player because of it and you will be able to make appropriate moves against him. Remember, poker is a game of skill and some people are better than others. Spot those good players and adjust your play accordingly.
Posted by admin on Mar 31, 2009 in
Poker The list of Ghana’s casinos is quite short: not a surprise for a poor African country. Actually, by the standards of Africa, Ghana isn’t actually all that poor. It was the first African country to shake off colonialism in 1957, led by Kwame Nkrumah. The next 30 or so years were the usual struggle against the economic incompetence of the various rulers, including the almost traditional military coup. Things finally got sorted out in the 1990’s, and the economy is now growing again, giving the inhabitants roughly twice the income per head that is usual in Africa.
Still, that level of income does not support a thriving gaming industry, so as we say, the list of Ghana’s casinos is still quite short.
In fact, there are four in the entire country.
List of Ghana’s Casinos:
Accra: Golden Tulip Hotel & Royal Casino
La Palm: Atlantic Casino and Royal Beach Hotel
Kumasi: City Hotel & Ashanti Casino
Tema: Merdian Hotel & Club Vegas
All these casinos have both slot machines and gaming tables. For the latter two, the provincial ones, blackjack and roulette, while the ones in the capital, Accra, also have poker tables.
While there are both gold mining and timber sales as industries in Ghana, most of the population and most of the economy is based on subsistence (or peasant) agriculture. This is one reason why the list of Ghana’s casinos is so short. Another is that while there is a tourist industry, it is aimed at African-Americans coming to see their roots, looking at the slave forts, and so on along the coast. This really isn’t a market that is known to gamble very much.
In fact, for much of the area’s history there have really only been two exports: slaves (The Ashanti Kingdom was a prime source for the Arab slavers long before whites reached the area), and gold: indeed, the country still boasts one of the largest mines and gold companies in the world, again named after the ancient kingdom, Ashanti.
Gambling and casinos have traditionally done very well in mining areas, but this is changing as the business becomes more capital intensive: no longer are there armies of well-paid miners tearing at a hillside. Now it is very few people and large numbers of very expensive machines. Machines, as you may have noted, do not gamble.
So, there are the reasons why the list of Ghana’s casinos is so short. A poor country, based on agriculture, the tourist industry is not oriented to a market that is likely to gamble, and there are very few local workers who make enough to gamble.