Draw Poker: Card Game Rules

November 2nd, 2008 by Author

Draw Poker is poker in its rawest form. It’s usually the first type of poker game a new player learns, and it is from the original Draw Poker that all other poker games owe their existence. Although the original game of Draw Poker has lost its popularity and is seldom seen in today’s casinos, it has all the fundamentals anyone would need to learn before playing the many hybrids of poker which exist today.

The object in Draw Poker is for players to build the best five card hand from two dealings of the deck. After the first deal and a first round of betting, the players may discard (throw away) some even or all of their first round of cards and receive replacement cards. In Draw Poker, no cards are ever dealt face up, and cards are only shown to the other players at the showdown.

An Overview of Draw Poker Play

A dealer is designated and the deck shuffled.

Each player must pay the ante, which qualifies them for play.

The dealer now deals out the cards one at a time and face down to each player. The deal begins to the dealer’s left and continues until all players have five cards.

Players may now pick up their cards. The player on the dealer’s must now open the betting round by placing a bet, passing, or folding.

Play goes to the next player to the left who now has the opportunity to bet or fold. If the previous players chose to pass, then the next player can pass or place a bet. If previous players have bet and they want to stay in the round, then they must call by matching any outstanding bets. The player may then raise by placing a bet of their own if they wish to do so.

The betting continues to the left.

Players may now discard (throw away) any or all of their cards from the first deal. All discarded cards are placed face down and the dealer collects them. Once the discarded cards are taken, the dealer now goes to the left dealing out replacement cards face down to the players.

Betting now takes place again as before.

The dealer gets the final raise, and then players must either call or fold. After the final betting round, any players still in the game have now reached the showdown. All players now reveal their hands. The best hand of five cards wins the pot.

Modern Tendencies in the Area of Bonus Hunting

November 1st, 2008 by Author

Cracking down on bonus hunters is getting tougher! A wide range of devices and new fighting measures are taken:

“Sticky” bonuses become more and more popular ( a casino player cannot get the amount of a bonus), last year a new variety appeared – “phantom” bonuses – a variant of a sticky bonus, but the amount of a bonus while taking money is not left on the account, but is removed. At present most casinos with PlayTech, Microgaming, RTG softwares offer “sticky” bonuses.

Other casinos expand the list of games forbidden for bonus wagering. Black Jack or Video Poker are either forbidden or wager requirements increased by 2-4 times. Some popular on-line casinos introduce bonuses which can be wagered in Slots only.

Wager requirements continue to grow. A year ago you could find on-line casinos offering decent bonuses with 10-20 times wager requirements. Nowadays 25-30 times are the summit of a hunter’s ambition ( for Slots bonuses wager may be a bit lower).

But not everything is so bad. Casino bonus hunters have new interesting perspective in a related area – on-line Poker rooms. The Poker industry is growing now incredibly rapidly (the number of players and bets for the last year have grown by more than 5 times!). New Poker rooms are constantly appearing which try to attract new players offering bonuses, money for playing and free rolls, and large Poker sites keep up with young competitors.

At present among Poker rooms are more popular interest bonuses on the first deposit – 20-25% bonus up to $100. Fixed bonuses exist (about $50) and in Poker rooms with Cryptologic software monthly bonuses for the time of playing are $5 per hour. The wager requirement is expressed by the number of played deals or the amount of bet money.

New Poker rooms need players strongly, nobody will come into an empty room, therefore they are ready to propose money to players not for sitting and playing (so-called proposition players or props – the player should play at the table appointed by casinos and he gets for that a bonus or some tens of dollars per hour).

The third variant of earning money is tournaments with free entrance designed to attract new players and keep old ones. It can be a tournament on one table with a prize fund of $10 or it can be a tournament for $30000 with the first bonus of $6000 (at present the highest fund of free roll is $100000!

A question arises: is it too risky to hunter in Poker. Will not you lose more? Will not rake swallow all profits? Here of course much depends on the level of the player. However, at low limits up to $1/$2 (it is no use to trying higher for a hunter and the bank does not allow to risk in this way) the level of the players is not too high, therefore anybody who will spend a couple of hours on studying the chance concept and basic principles of the game and print the table of the start hands, has good chance to become a plus player. Of course some negative losses are possible but in on-line casinos the situation is the same therefore Poker rooms is more kindly soil for the hunting. And while acquiring playing experience a bonus hunter may well transfer to the class of professional players and start earning tens and even hundreds of dollars per hour WITHOUT BONUSES.

Therefore, hunting in on-line casinos is gradually declining and its place is going to take on-line Poker hunting. The king is died, long live to the king.

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Picking The Perfect Gambling Vacation

October 31st, 2008 by Author

I used to live just about twenty miles away from Las Vegas. It was easy for me to hop in my car at the end of the week and hit the casinos for a few hours. I was able to place a bet whenever I wanted to, and I admit that I became a bit spoiled with gambling.

After all, there’s nothing like being able to play craps, poker, black jack, or slots anytime you desire. However, when I transferred to another state, my weekend casino trips were no longer practical. I had to plan an all-out gambling vacation whenever I wanted to gamble.

There are some disadvantages to only being able to gamble while on a proper gambling vacation. It means that I could only play my favorite casino games once or twice a year, whereas I had been doing it nearly every weekend before I relocated.

Going on a gambling vacation also means that I had to pay for an airplane ticket, rental car, and hotel room. This means that my gambling budget will be reduced, since this was money that I couldn’t wager at the tables,

However, there are also advantages with going on a gambling vacation. For instance, I had become a more conservative and intelligent gambler. When I’m on a gambling vacation, I have to make smarter decisions because my budget has to last for the length of my trip. I realize that it could be months before I can come back to the casinos again.

Another advantage is that there are travel agencies that offer deals to top casino destinations across the U.S. and around the world. They offer package discounts to some of the best hotels and resorts on any gambling vacation they sell, and they also add a number of casino chips and other bonuses as well.

This means that I can save money in two different ways, and I can enjoy my vacation without spending too much money.

If it has been a long time since you’ve felt the excitement wagering a few chips on casino tables, then you should consider taking a gambling vacation. It will not cost you too much money to make your way to the top gambling destinations, and you’ll have enough money to wager on all your favorite casino games.

Win Roulette - 10 Essential Tips for Bigger Winnings!

October 30th, 2008 by Author

The 10 tips below are all you need to win at roulette and win big.

Use them and you will have all the information you need to get the odds in your favour have some fun and win. Roulette is the perfect game for novices as well and fun for all.

Here are the only 10 tips you need to win at roulette:

1.Understand there is a house edge

This means that you cannot remove it; you can only get the odds in favour of yourself as much as possible, but their pretty good odds for a game of chance.

2.Don’t buy a system

As a roulette ball has no memory and each spin is random you cannot apply a mathematical system.

Each is spin is independent of all others - There are better ways to win at roulette!

3.Play European Roulette

There is a choice the American wheel and the European wheel - The American wheel has an extra double 0 making the house advantage almost double the European wheel where the house edge is just 2.63%.

4.Know the odds

Use bets where the payouts mirror the stake i.e black or red, odd or even. You play at just below even with the house and your money will last longer and you will have staying power.

Good bets to place to win at roulette are bets with lower odds, and avoid single number bets.

5.Know the best bet of all

To win at roulette you need to know the best bet of all and this is the bet on the European table known as the en prison bet, which is available on all even-money bets.

When the ball lands on 0, your bet remains on the table, (captured), for the next play.

If you are lucky enough to win on the next spin, you aren’t paid for the win, but you get to take your original bet back; so you only lose half your bet.

The House edge on even money bets with the en prison rule is only 1.35% – Making it the best bet to place.

6.Don’t believe in streaks

For instance if the ball has landed on red for 20 times the chances of it falling on red next time are 50 - 50 and this is the same if it had landed on the same number 50 times in succession the odds are always 50 - 50.

7.Set your bankroll in advance

Once you have used up your bankroll that’s it - Quit.

It is also a good strategy to win at roulette, to have a level that when you have reached a certain level of winnings to quit the table and enjoy what you have made.

8.Have fun

While the best bets are the ones we have said, occasionally it’s nice to throw a different bet in for a bit of variety.

Roulette is probably the most exciting game in the casino and if you’re not having fun and just want to make money play a boring game like blackjack!

9.Don’t get emotional

Don’t try and win back losses and don’t get too excited when you win. Treat it as a fun game and one where you can win and if you do it is a bonus.

Emotional players always lose. To win at roulette you must approach the game with the right attitude.

10.Where to play

The online gaming revolution has seen more players than ever discover roulette but while playing online is fun, its even more fun in a casino!

Try and visit one and play in a real environment. Roulette is a glamorous thrilling, exciting game and nothing beats winning at roulette at the casino in front of others.

The above tips are all you need to win at roulette so go and enjoy the game above all else and hopefully you will win at roulette - Good luck!

Online Poker Table Selection - How to find the most profitable table to play on

October 29th, 2008 by Author

Knowing where and at what times the loosest poker games are played are the number one secret for those who play online poker successfully.

Online poker professionals win most of their money from the weak players (fishes-suckers), so finding a table with two or three fishes on it, is extremely important if you want to succeed at this game. Tight and conservative poker tables are not profitable to play on, even for the professionals.

Poker players that are successful at the game of poker, mostly makes their profit from the mistakes their opponents make, and not from their own brilliant play. Choosing the correct table to play on is very important if you want to be a winner at this game.

The secret of winning at on line poker is to find these kinds of games and to only play solid hands from the right position at the table.

Finding the right table to play on is fairly easy. All you have to do is to download the most popular on-line poker rooms.

Than you have to start looking for a table with decent sized pots for your limits and whit a few weak players on it.

Click on flop percentage button when you think you have found your bread and butter table. This will show you how many players that actually sees the flop in average.

Lets say you are playing on a 2/4 Texas Holdem table and the minimum buy-in is 100 dollar. If a player only has 40 dollars worth of chips, than you know he is losing and that he probably doesn’t know much about poker since you should always have enough chips for atleast 15 big bets.

It can also be that this particular player doesn’t have more money to play with, so he is probably going to be playing a tight game and sit and wait for the good cards to come.

If a player has about 200 dollars in front of him than that should tell you that he is either winning, or that he bought in for that amount, simply because he knows that a big stack gets respect from most players.

There are virtually thousands of on-line games to choose from, so there is no excuse to play on a table that you are not comfortable with.

Good luck, play well and don’t gamble with your poker money!

October 28th, 2008 by Author

October 27th, 2008 by Author

Online Poker Rooms

October 26th, 2008 by Author

In the past few months, there has been a dramatic shift in online poker rooms. Since the US regulation attempting to ban online poker deposits, many players have moved their money to a few key sites. Party Poker used to be the number one online poker room in the world. Now most of the players have migrated over to Poker Stars and Full Tilt. Poker Stars is home to three of three WSOP main event champions. Chris Moneymaker, Greg “Fossilman” Raymer, and Joseph Hachem all make Poker Stars their online poker site. Poker Stars has always been at the top of the online poker world in terms of software. The customer service at Poker Stars excellent and cash outs are always on time. Poker Stars is the best online room for big tournaments. The big Sunday tournament usually pays at least $100, 000 to first place winner.

Full Tilt poker is making a huge stride towards top place since the US legislation. Full Tilt is home to well known poker professionals such as Phil Ivey, Jennifer Harman, Gus Hansen, John Juanda, and Mike Matusow. On any given night you can catch at least one well known pro playing in high limit cash games. Full Tilt is host to probably the biggest online cash game of 300/600NL. Patrik Antonius often waits at the $60, 000 buy-in table until a brave soul challenges him to heads-up poker. Phil Ivey has been known to destroy his opponents at these limits also. Every night is an exciting show of high stakes poker. Online poker is only getting better, are you the next super star?

Playing Online Slots

October 25th, 2008 by Author

OK, maybe you don’t get to feel the slot machine handle in your hand, but when you play online slots you don’t have to put up with the crowds, the traffic, or the person next to you spilling his drink in your lap. Online slots are hot and you can win a lot of money without ever leaving your home.

You can find multi-line online slots, progressive online slots , 3-reel online slots, 5-reel online slots and bonus online slots nearly everywhere you look. A lot of the online casinos have online slot club cards where you can earn prizes and bonuses just for playing.

The three-reel online slot machines have three reels and only one pay-line. These are the most basic of slots with the smallest jackpots.

All multi-line slot machines also have three reels, but they have multiple pay lines which offer more chances to win.

Bonus online slot machines offer free bonus spins which give you additional chances to win without risking your money. Some machines have a second screen where you can win additional money.

Online slots games are probably the most popular kind of gaming on the Internet. Although online slots are a game of chance, and no skill is required to win, you can increase your chances of winning more then you spend if you play strategically.

One of the best online slots strategy is to participate in online slot machine tournaments. Slot tournaments are very popular these days and you can find them at small and large online casinos around the world.

Online slots tournaments are exciting, fun, and there are some huge cash prizes available. In fact, some tournaments offer prizes as high as $25,000 for first place, $10,000 for second place and $5,000 for third place winners.

Online slots tournaments are often not open to anyone who is not a slots club member. That’s why it is important to join online slot clubs if they are offered. You’ll usually receive notification of an upcoming online slots tournament via email or when you log into your favorite online casino.

Online slot tournament spaces fill up quickly and once they are filled no one else can join. Keep an eye open for upcoming online slots tournaments and join one if you can.

Another winning online slots strategy is to play progressive online slot machines. This type of game involves a network of online slot machines that are linked together electronically. A percentage going into each online slot machine is added to the jackpot. If a player hits the jackpot symbols they win the pot. You are usually only eligible to win the jackpot if you play the maximum number of coins for each spin.

Remember that playing online slot machines is fun, but it’s still gambling. Never risk more than you can afford to lose, and turn your computer off for the night if you’re having a losing streak. There’s always another day to play online slots machines.

October 23rd, 2008 by Author