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Advanced Guide to Shorthanded, Small to Mid Stakes, No Limit Texas Hold’Em Poker

February 28, 2007

Note that this guide will not show you how to make easy, instant money. Learning how to play poker is a relatively simple process, but mastering the game will take time and effort. There are no easy success secrets. Successful poker players rely on skill and experience. Experience is the main factor that determines the outcome of the game.

Poker is a simple and fun game. You should not have a problem learning its rules. You will win against small stakes opponents most of the times, as they are fairly easy opponents. Recognizing certain situations like when your hand has just been outdrawn requires experience. As long as you will keep some basic guidelines in mind you should come out on top. You will find these guidelines here; all you have to do is read on.

Why should we play shorthanded No Limit Texas Hold’Em out of all poker games?

The answer to this question is quite simple. Shorthanded No Limit Texas Hold’Em poker games are more profitable. Most poker players play incorrectly. They do so when playing poker games such as Limit, No Limit, shorthanded, full ring, tournaments, and so on. If you play shorthanded No Limit Texas Hold’Em you will take advantage of this fact by playing more hands against these weak opponents in the same amount of time.

Let’s say that you are in a five handed game. There are two decent players and two lousy players. Playing in a shorthanded game will allow you to play more hands against the lousy players as opposed to a full ring game. The best thing about shorthanded No Limit Texas Hold’Em poker games is that they will play lousier than ever. So far you can play more hands against them in the same amount of time, and they are playing the weakest game they can.

Lousy poker players usually play to loose in a shorthanded No Limit Texas Hold’Em game. If they do not play loose, they play too tight. Some will play extremely passive and will always call, regardless what they are holding. They will not even raise when they have a strong hand. Talk about a lousy game play! The good thing is that you can take advantage of this and it makes the game more profitable for you.

Another reason why you should play shorthanded No Limit Texas Hold’Em poker and not other poker variations is to develop your skills. This type of game allows you to play more pots and make more decisions than any other poker variation.

The most common misconceptions about shorthanded No Limit Texas Hold’Em poker games

- Top Pair Top Kicker is a made hand in shorthanded No Limit Texas Hold’Em poker and should always be shown down with all your money in the pot.

This advice seems to be everywhere. The truth of the matter is that it is rubbish, it is not true. Having a single pair when playing shorthanded No Limit Texas Hold’Em can prove to be very dangerous. This also applies to any second best hand.

- There are parts of the day when there are more lousy players than usual.

Again, this is debatable. When you think about it, most shorthanded No Limit Texas Hold’Em players are lousy. The time when you play makes no difference. Even if you play at 10 A.M. on a Monday at Ultimate Bet and the competitors are tight, this doesn’t mean they are not lousy players. If you just adjust your game play to the style of the competitor in a small stakes game, you will see that most players are lousy.

- Tight and aggressive play is not advisable, but loose and aggressive is advisable if you want to make a profit.

Actually, playing tag style is advisable in shorthanded No Limit Texas Hold’Em games. A good poker player that uses this tag technique can make a lot of money off all those lousy players. You can try a lag style technique if you encounter a tight lousy player. But plenty of times you just need to wait for good hands and the opponents will pay you off no matter how tight you are.

- If you have a small pocket pair you can raise up to 10% of your stack, because you may get a set.

A $10 pre-flop raise in a 100 No Limit game is a considerable amount. If you want to make a profit on the long run you must win your opponent’s entire stack every time you hit the set. However, due to set over set situations, opponents’ abilities to fold, and boards that either mess your hand or scare the opponents, you won’t get paid in full every time.

Such a big raise means you have a strong hand, but it is not a guarantee you will receive a payout every time. Let’s say that you call a $4 raise. Another player raises it again to $10. You should call this bet, especially if the original raiser calls it. Make sure no to get caught between two raises. You are advised to call a re-raise only if you will close the action.

Before the flop

This is when it all begins. Each player is dealt two cards face down, also known as hole cards. This is when you need to know what kind of hand and what kind of pot you are looking for.

Let’s say that you have been dealt a small pocket pair. In this case you are hoping for a set and you want to play a large pot on a non-threatening flop or a medium to large pot on the river if you don’t improve to a full-house. If you will get a full house then you should definitely play a huge pot.

Let’s say that you have been dealt an Ace and a 5. In this case you are hoping for a flush. A bicycle straight is good also if you happen to get one. Other random flopped full houses, trips are also good. The main goal with such a hand is to get a nut flush on a non-paired board and play a huge pot.

If you are dealt an Ace and a king on the pre-flop you should play a small to medium pot. The best you can get is another Ace or another King.

It is extremely important to realize what kind of hand and what kind of pot you should be playing immediately after you have been dealt your two hole cards.

Remember that everything changes according to the table and the opponents. The tips presented here are simply guidelines meant to improve your game.

Let’s take a look at an example. You are playing against a lousy player. In this case you are advised to raise weak hands against him, take his blinds, limp money or steal the pot post-flop. Use small edges like the position on a calling station to your benefit and raise hands such as medium pocket pairs or Aces.

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How to Detect Poker Traps and How to Set Poker Traps

February 27, 2007

Not many players are familiar with the poker trapping strategy. That is why they will always fall into a trap set by a more experienced or a tricky player. Even veteran players can from time to time fall into such traps. What we are interested in is why we fall into such traps.

What are the telltale signs that we must pick up on so we do not fall into poker traps? And most important of all, how can we set up poker traps of our own and trap other poker players? If you are looking for the answers to all these questions all you have to do is read this article. We will reveal to you all the mysteries of setting and detecting poker traps.

The first thing you must concern yourself with is understanding what a poker trap is. A trap is when you have the best hand at the table but you fake it, let the other players think you do not have a strong hand and lure them into overplaying their hand.

Let’s say that you got an Ace-high flush on the flop. So far this is the best hand, unless the board pairs. But the only way that could happen is if another player gets four of a kind, and what are the chances of that happening. Slim at best. In this situation you must play it cool and not reveal the fact that you have a strong hand. You can bet small or check it.

Let’s also say that another player at the table has a big slick (Ace-King) and he gets an Ace on the flop. He may now think he is holding the best hand at the table. Another player is holding a small pair, say 4’s, and he gets another 4 on the flop. For the purpose of this example we will assume the flop was 4-Ace-Jack.

The reason you have to bet small now or check it is to keep the other players in the game. If you would have placed large wagers the player holding the Ace would realize he’s trouble and the small pair would’ve likely folded pre-flop. But they have nothing to worry about since you have bet small. They do not see you as a threat.

The player that has three 4’s tosses out a bet of 4 times the blind. The player with the Aces will call this bet. Stall for a little while, pretend like you are thinking about it and then call the bet. Doing so makes sense as you are getting decent enough pot odds.

At this point they have already fallen in the trap. Both players did not see your trap and both of them fell into it. Now just let them bet into you and just call their bets. Do the same on the turn, but on the turn the player with the Aces decides to drop out.

The only players left at the table are you and the player with the three 4’s. He will bet big, he will place a bet as big as the pot. Again, stall and pretend you are thinking about it. Then call the bet, but make sure to sound reluctant.

The river is next. The three 4’s go all-in. You then simply call the bet and leave them all astounded. Nobody saw it coming and everybody fell for your trap.

All the players that fall into poker traps need to ask themselves two simple questions:

- Why did he call the raised pot on the flop and turn?

- What is he holding? Does he have a good enough hand if he keeps calling the bets? What is he planning? Is he setting up a trap? Is he on a draw?

Never, and I mean never act on impulse. Always think about what you are doing and what the consequences might be. Always think before you act. Your actions must be influenced by understanding what the other players at the table are doing.

Never underestimate any poker player. You are only setting yourself up to falling into a poker trap if you do so.

Your behavior on the flop should have raised a few suspicions. You were obviously stalling as there was a potential flush showing on the flop. You were definitely not on a draw because you were calling all the big bets.

No real poker player will ever think you are on a draw if you call a raise that is 4 times the big blind. The only time you could get away with this is if the other player is a real novice or if he is really drunk.

Mistake number one:

- Assuming the other player does not have a strong hand and not understanding his behavior.

Mistake number two:

- There is a possible flush on the table, but none of the other players have it. No one says I am not the one to hold the flush just because I did not bet on the flop.

If the other players at the table, the one holding the Aces or the one holding the 4’s, would have taken these things into consideration, they may have seen through my act. If they had only stopped to question my betting behavior they wouldn’t have fallen into the trap. Whether the player with the set of 4’s could fold them is another matter.

What other reason than setting a trap could I have for sticking to this hand?

It is never easy to detect a poker trap. If you are playing with a good poker player and he calls a big bet, chances are he is setting a trap. Other times they will stall for time and it will seem like they are considering their options, but only to call, raise or go all-in. You can be pretty sure that this is a trap if you are playing with a good poker player. His call is definitely a trap and his raise or all-in is a warning sign. You will probably lose this hand, unless of course you are holding the best hand at the table.

Stalling is one of the telltale signs of a poker trap. Whenever a poker player is taking too long to make a decision he is setting a trap, he has a strong hand. Learn to recognize when the player is really thinking about his options or if he is just delaying the game to set a trap. If you learn to see through his act you will efficiently avoid his trap. Simply do the opposite of what your opponent wants you to do when there’s an obvious tell like this one.

As a rule of thumb you should know that good poker players either raise, re-raise, or fold. They rarely call bets. Draws are nothing than a waste of time and money for them. That is why a good poker player that stalls and calls bets is definitely setting up a poker trap.

You never took the time to think what the other players at the table are holding? Well, from now on you should keep an eye out for their betting pattern, position, and play history, and according to it you should reflect on what they may be holding.

It is extremely easy to know how strong your hand is. It is a simple as taking a look at the cards in your hand and the cards on the table. The tricky part is realizing what the other players at the table are holding. You should learn to read their normal betting patterns and skill level. Whenever they deviate from the pattern you should be aware that they may be setting a trap.

Keep all the things presented in mind and hopefully you will not fall into poker traps so easily. You can even try setting poker traps of your own.

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Vegas Holds the First All-Star Game

February 26, 2007

All-Star games may have been a good thing in the past, but nowadays they have long outlived their usefulness. And this applies not to just one sport, but to all of them. I see that you will not just take my word for it. Ok, think about this. Do you think the basketball world is abuzz because its constituents are thrilled to be playing the NBA All-Star Game in the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of UNLV? Does that venue have something in particular? I am afraid not.

The main reason why the NBA is so excited is that the best basketball stars get to play in the city of sins. All these guys already have ostentatious jewelry, bizarre tattoos, $10,000 sunglasses, bottomless bottles of Crystal, and hot-and-cold running women so Vegas will feel like home to them. Indeed this is a city made in their image. And do not forget that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Not true in the case if some of these guys.

So far the only way we got to see AL and NL stars compete was in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game better known as the Midsummer Classic. Unfortunately for us inter-league play has put an end to that. Once a week, after the Super Bowl, the Pro Bowl takes place, but it is extremely boring. Maybe you’ve heard about the all-star hockey game that took place a little while ago. That is nothing but rumors and it is simply not true. It never happened.

Michael Wilbon has joked about this NBA all-star game and called it “black Thanksgiving”. In my opinion the term “Saturday” is a better match as the game takes place in Sin City. I mean what do you think these guys do every weekend? The drunken nonsense, the booty-squeezing, the limo-cruising, the exclusive-nightclub hanging, the Playboy-Bunny-schtupping, the all-hours partying is nothing new to them. I really do not see what is so special about that.

Maybe Shaq will get a kick from playing with Gilbert Arenas and Kevin Garnett as they could only meet in the off-season. Tyrus Thomas on the other hand has already gone ahead and announced that the Slam Dunk Contest is of interest to him only because of the money he will get.

I am getting bored already. I think I’ll find something better to do this weekend. Let them have their weekend of debauchery; I have better things to do.

Have you heard about Wade Phillips being hired by the Dallas Cowboys? It was such big news that nobody gave a damn.

Bodog Bookmakers, BoDog.com has this to say: “It was worth a big yawn at most. It seems that Wade Phillips is likely just holding this spot for Jason Garrett”.

On Sunday evening Duke lost its fourth straight game, against Maryland. They will make the NCAAs but I do not see them a likely candidate for a first-round upset.

BDB, BoDog.com has this to say: “Considering the results they’ve been getting lately, Duke could go out in the first round. Coach K has done a tremendous job bringing in new recruits and maximizing their potential; however this may be the year that he looks like somewhat less of a genius.”

Ok, so what I wrote about the Colts not being able to win the Super Bowl may have been a bit foolish. But I did get it right when I predicted the Boston Celtics would be the worst team in basketball. They are currently in 19th place out of 23 places in total.

BDB, BoDog.com has this to say: “Boston plays the Bucks and then starts a trip out west. They’ll be hard-pressed to come up with a streak-breaking win on the road. They almost had it in Minnesota, but former Celtic Ricky Davis hit a game-winner to hand the Celts yet another loss. I’m predicting the losing stops Wednesday against Milwaukee.”

The Daytona 500 will take place on Sunday. This “the Super Bowl of NASCAR” may be an interesting event to watch and you may get to see a lot of action. But who do you think is the best candidate to winning it?

BDB, BoDog.com has this to say: “The Daytona 500 is the one race where non NASCAR bettors will put some serious action on the race. We expect to have record handle on the 500 this year. Casual fans will follow the drivers with whom they’re familiar: the Dale Jr.s and Jeff Gordons. However, the avid fan will do there research and make the best choice based on their findings.”

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2007 Nissan Open Event

February 23, 2007

The 81 Nissan Open Event this year will be hosted by the Riviera Country Club and even without Tiger Woods in the line-up it will still be the best field of the year. Two Weeks ago the FBR Open had almost 500,000 fans, without Woods playing in their tournament. Pebble Beach was a crowded place last week, even without Woods as Phil Mickelson got his first win in many weeks. Phil Mickelson announced he will be playing for the first time in the Nissan Open Event since 2001.

Perhaps the presence of Tiger Woods would have generated more interest in the 2007 Nissan Open Event but for the real golf fans, this really has no importance. In the PGA Tour participate 8 out of the top 9 players in the world along with 15 of the top 20 as well, so Woods should not be considered the only attraction. The number of players participating in this event is so big because they are getting geared up for the Accenture Match Play Tournament. Ernie Else, Retief Goosen and Sergio Garcia are three favorites for the public that we will be sure to see.

To understand the predictions of this year’s Nissan Open Event you also need to know some things about the history of the tournament. You may also want to know about the recent results and successes of players participating in the event.

Phil Mickelson has 17/2 odds to win since last week when he won at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. With 11/1 odds to win, Adam Scott is the next player in line. Adam Scott won the 2005 Nissan Open and placed 2nd in the 2006 Nissan Open, falling one stroke short. I believe he will surprise some people this year with multiple wins, so he is another good bet for you. The next three players in line to be probable winners in this tournament are Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh, and Retief Goosen.

Another factor to take into consideration when you make your predictions for this event is to look at the underdogs. Mike Weir would be a good start for you, as he won the 2003 and 2004 Nissan Open tournaments. In 2003, Mike Weir surpassed a 7-shot deficit to defeat Charles Howell III after he birdied the second playoff hole. Mike’s accuracy fits this course packed with natural hazards all over the place and he’s having the confidence and the right tools to be in top again this year.

The 2006 Nissan Open Champion, Rory Sabbatini opens with 70/1 odds to win the 2007 tournament. Sabbatini came out on top of Adam Scott by one stroke after blowing the lead halfway through the tournament only to recover it in the last few holes. Sabbatini and Adam Scott are valuable for your wagers, as you can cash a great number of chips if either of these two guys wins the thing.

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Online bingo’s popularity on the rise

February 22, 2007

Nowadays the American gambling industry is in turmoil. The authorities are really determined to ban online gambling in the U.S. None the less online bingo is now more popular than ever.

It is a well known fact that traditionally most online gamblers are U.S. residents. But online bingo is a global thing, not tied down to one country alone. Players from all over the world are now being drawn to playing bingo online. People from countries like Australia or New Zeeland, as well as people from all over Europe are joining in and playing online. Not even Africa or Asia has been left out of the picture.

Bingo is such a universal and social form of online gambling that can be enjoyed by people with diverse cultures and backgrounds, is testament to the fact that online bingo will be around and enjoyed for many years to come.

We regret to loose American online bingo players and we must say that they will surely be missed. But at the same time we welcome players from all over the world and we are sure that new friendships will be forged, new markets will be created and more bingo fans will join in.

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The Poker Fever

February 21, 2007

While browsing channels in the hope of finding some sport events, you bumped into your first “World Series of Poker” on TV. Probably first you wondered why your neighbor is so desperate to catch the program as there are only a bunch of guys playing cards. As you were curios to find out why he considers this event so special you continued watching and soon you began to understand.

Playing poker is more than just a card game and the poker circuit for professionals is the world’s most televised table-sport. Like in all the other sports you can find moments of drama, tension and adrenaline and could be nerve-wracking. Also, poker has its own celebrities, so there is no wonder why is broadly televised.

If you are, even a bit, interested in games and sports that implies tactical skill, psychoanalytical interplay and little bit of dumb luck watching a televised circuit poker can be added to the list of “annoying things that you do” posted on the fridge door by your wife/husband.

Poker is an old game, with a long history, but now it is enjoying popularity unlike any time before. A helping factor for its popularity on the rise are those televised poker events, but it’s not the only one helping. The online poker market created a new path through which every poker player, pro or beginner can indulge in his favorite card game.

The smoky casino poker rooms are now brought into the homes of poker fans from all over the world, with the help of the internet and the online casino poker rooms.  Playing online poker in online poker rooms you are playing against other real person, which is different from playing video poker, where you play against the machines software.

For a poker player is important to understand the differences relating a poker website and an online casino. In online poker rooms or poker websites, the “house” never wagers anything as an online casino does.

The cumulative result with online or land based casinos in fact, is that “the house always wins”. Of course, I don’t mean that if you play in a casino, online or land based you will never win. No, there are regular payouts to players at a casino based on some percentage of the total turnover. Casinos gain their profit from entertaining the players and giving them the potential to win. I was only trying to emphasize the business model of any casino for you here.

When it comes to online poker rooms or poker websites, the “house” never wagers anything. Poker websites are neutral third parties that provide for poker players the infrastructure and the environment to play with each other. The poker websites make their profit from taking a small percentage of each pot bet, usually called the rake. Sometimes, the poker websites organize poker tournaments that require an entry fee to join in.

In online poker rooms, people can find various poker games, poker game rules, poker events and playing advice. In order to play you must download poker client software and install it on your computer. When you are starting to play a game you connect to a poker game server on the poker website.

I don’t think we are going to have a too long talk about the differences between playing online or in the real poker world. One obvious difference is the one that players are not coming in a visual contact, so you can exclude the body language tells. Online players can only rely on other solutions, like betting patterns and reaction time, to sass out their opponents.

Another difference is that online the game is played at a much faster rate and sometimes you will find poker rooms that allow players to join multiple poker tables at the same time.

online poker rooms frequently have online training available, pulling down the learning problems for beginners. This, combined with the accessibility of “free roll” games for novices and the anonymity of the internet, makes online poker a very inviting option for the newcomer to the world of poker.

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The final question: to ban or not to ban online gambling?

February 20, 2007

Analyzing the global gambling context, we can’t deny anymore the fact that online gambling has become a mass phenomenon. People just love to gamble, we can’t change that. This is the only thing that gambling businesses will take into consideration, and not the laws or the fact that online gambling industry has a “bad reputation”.

So, by banning online gambling are we going to make things better or worse? Rhetorical, because it’s logic that if we can’t stop it, we’ll better legalize it.

What is reverse psychology? It is basically making virtue out of necessity. For instance, let’s look at the soft drugs (like marijuana) market. Where they are legal (Netherlands) people rarely use them and where they are unlawful (for example, USA) there is an entire underground illegal market whit many drugs addicts. This is purely human nature. So, banning lawful and regulated online gambling in any form is just like opening another way for organized crime to obtain consumers money.

If you want to prevent a youngster from seeing an R marked film, you don’t interdict the film do you? No, that would be ridiculous. You just certify that people are doing there their best to ensure that no one under 18 will see the movie. But, by prohibiting the movie, the probability that someone will obtain an illicit copy and show it to every child in the city, will increase. Again, it is simply reverse psychology.

So if you want to prevent a youngster from gambling online then all the online casinos should be regulated and supervised, not forbidden.

On the other hand, if you suppose that terrorist groups are abusing an unregulated and unmonitored commerce like the online gambling industry, then by legalizing it you discover where the money is going and ensure it is not going to support international terrorist assaults. It is obvious that by banning this type of industry all that we do is implementing more unlawful activities.

Therefore, if the government legalizes the online gambling industry in the USA things will improve. In addition, the regulated gambling market will bring approximately 1.2 billion dollars in taxes to the American government. This catch could be used in education, police and general health care for all Americans.

It is in our nature to desire forbidden things, so the more laws we implement in order to stop people from doing something the grater the chances are for those individuals to actually do it.

In a regulated online casino players will have information on how to get support if you have a gambling problem. In a banned casino they will not have access to this type of support. Illegal casinos want you to keep on gambling until you have nothing left.

We have to solve the problem beginning from its roots, meaning that we have to inform the people on the dangers of gambling both online and in a casino. It’s simply wrong to ban an industry that employs thousands of people in states all over the world. No one achieves anything from just ordering people that they can’t do something that they intend to do anyway.

This is the pure reality and the government should know this better than we do and stop making the same mistakes all over again.

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Poker Rooms Bonuses

February 19, 2007

In the recent years, poker rooms have become to be very popular among gamblers, having to choose from lots of variations like Seven Card Stud, Omaha or Texas Hold’Em. Today’s poker rooms are safe, secure and trustworthy. Contrasting the online casino games experience, players can find easily an open seat in a poker room without having to wait to start playing.

These online poker rooms are a trouble-free form of entertainment offering to its players the comfort of playing from home.  The online poker rooms make their money by charging a percentage of every pot played. Because of the increased interest for this form of playing poker, many poker rooms have been established. For this reason they are in a continuous competition, each of them trying to come up with better and better marketing strategies and most of them are customer oriented.

Most of the poker rooms you will find on the internet today provide bonuses for players that sign up for the first time. This could be one way of saving some money while playing online poker.  But you should not let yourself blinded by these special offers and jump into the first poker room you find. Do some research first and look for poker sites that offer you rakeback deals, called affiliates. These affiliates’ sites are the only way you can benefit from rakeback.

These rakebacks represent the percentage of the money you pay the poker rooms for playing poker with them. So, you win two times and with the money won you can spend more time at the poker table. Once when you sign up for the poker room bonus offer and again with the rakeback that you get as you play poker if you sign up through affiliates

The special bonuses offers you can find are in a large variety. There are merchandise bonuses and money bonuses. The last ones attract most of the players. As you already figured out, these bonuses are marketing strategies for online poker rooms to attract customers, and the most evident choice a player would make is the poker room which has the most profitable poker bonuses.

Merchandise bonuses are in the form of a coupon in an email or benefit from entries in high dollar tournaments. This can be another way of enlarging your profits, as for the entry you have no charge and it can be considered a bonus whatever you win.

The most popular prizes are the ones offering the players a certain percentage of what they invest in the poker website. For instance, if a player spends $500 in the poker site and the website offers a 10 percent bonus, then the player will have to spend on poker games $550.

Other online poker room that should be taken into account are the ones that reward you for reloading your account, giving you supplementary funds if you choose to deposit more money into your account.

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How to be a player that wins more

February 16, 2007

The reasons for people gambling are many; the excitement, the vacation, but one of the main reasons is the one of leaving the casino in a great style, as a big winner. Now, we are wondering if there is a way (other then cheating) to leave the casino as the winner of the great jackpot, with more cash than you had when you walked in the casino. My answer to that question is “Yes, you can!”

Whether you want to believe or not, playing in an online casino you can gather enough experience over a game so that when you’ll go in a casino you’ll leave as the ‘Big Winner’.

The online casinos provide for its customers, besides the 50 cents games, free practice rooms, where you can play with a set amount of money, but no real money. In these free practice rooms you can play most of the casino games, such as Blackjack, roulette, poker, baccarat…

Playing for free you can gain experience on the rules of the game and most important, you get the experience of playing against other people (not a computer) and you learn to observe their betting routine to look for patterns, called tells. It’s true that this is not so important for games like roulette, but in a game of poker this is an important aspect, because these tells can reveal your opponent hand trough his involuntary actions.

An example of these involuntary actions can be the way a player organize his cards. Or the way he’s playing with his chips when he has a good hand, or he is scratching his nose when he is bluffing and so on. There are a lot of tells that can betray players actions.

Also, in a free practice room you can learn how to manage your bankroll, without leaving with empty pockets, which at first for sure it will happen.

When you learn to gamble in a casino, one of the major problems is that the dealer and your opponents are not forgiving. What do I mean by this? For example, in a roulette game, a beginner it’s possible to don’t know that until all winnings are placed on the table he is not allowed to take his winnings. The dealer for sure will warn him about that, but this can make him feel very uncomfortable.

This is why playing in an online casino at first can be a better choice. You get down on the rules, procedures and the playing etiquette required in land based casinos.

If you prefer playing poker, here you have a situation a bit different. Poker is not a game that mostly depends on luck and where knowing only the basics is enough. Poker is a game that also depends on knowledge and in poker you play against other players who already have that knowledge.

After you spend some time online and you feel confident enough go in a casino and for a while try to observe how the others play. You should find a poker table where the other players are less skilled than you are. But, be careful about this, because most of the times players try to create a false confidence impression about themselves. As you feel you gathered more and more experience move to higher stakes tables and play against better players.

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Chinese Gambling Games

February 15, 2007

Many of today’s popular casino games were introduced to American casinos by Chinese immigrants.

One of these games is the Pai Gow Poker game, which combines the rules of American poker and a traditional Chinese tiles game called Pai Gow. Pai Gow means Make 9 and is one of the oldest games that you can still find in today’s land based and online casinos all over the world.

The game is played with cards (not tiles as the original) and uses the traditional poker hand ranking. Each player is dealt seven cards and his aim in the game is to form the highest possible two poker hands (one hand of five cards and another of two cards). Each player has to beat the banker that can be either the casino dealer or one of the players who can afford paying the players winnings.

Sic Bo is another ancient Chinese game that influenced the American gambling industry. The game was brought by Chinese immigrants at the beginning of the 20th century in the US and today is a very popular casino game played online and in land based casinos in Macau, the US and the UK.

Sic Bo means Dice Pair and is played on a special table with three regular dice. The players place their bets on the table, toss the dice and then the outcome is set by the combinations of the three dice. Each combination has a different payoff according to a payoff schedule, which vary from one casino to the other.

Traditional Fan Tan (not to be confused with the card game of the same name) was the most popular gambling game among Chinese gamblers but today its glory faded away. It was brought in US sometimes around 1890’s by Chinese emigrants and in that period you could find in every city Fan Tan houses full of passionate gamblers. These days, the game can be found in some casinos in Macau and in a few online casinos.

The old Fan Tan was played with any objects like coins, dried beans or small buttons on a table with a square marked on it (Fan Tan). The object of the game is pretty simple and the odds are 1: 4. The banker puts on the table a pile of objects then covers them with a bowl. Each player has to bet on one of the numbers that mark the four sides of the square, or on one of the corners of the square. After the bowl is removed, the croupier removes four of the objects each time until the last group remains. If 1 object is left, then the player who placed a bet on 1 wins the pot, and so on.

Mahjong is the most popular game brought by the Chinese culture. The ancient game spread all over the world in many variations. Also, the internet gambling industry is full of mahjong games in a large variety.

Mahjong was developed by Confucius around the 500 BC. It was brought to the US during the 1920s and soon was very popular especially among women. During that period of time the game was played in a special environment, in rooms decorated in the Chinese style with waiters wearing traditional customs.

Mahjong developed during the 1930s in the American version and also was founded a National Mahjong league. In 1998, the China State Sports Commission had set a standard set of rules that will differentiate the illegal gambling game from the skill game.

The online version of the game is called Mahjong Solitaire and is a matching game of the classic Chinese game that uses the Mahjong tiles. Mahjong Solitaire can be found online in a large variety of layouts and versions and recently gained a wide popularity.

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