Sportsbooks and Poker

The Trick to Bluffing Online

2009-06-18T14:00:00.001-07:00

There’s always been on unchangeable rule in poker: you don’t need cards to win. If you’re playing with better poker players, not the donkeys that consistently call anything just hoping to get lucky, ala Jamie Gold, you’ll find that bluffing online is one of the most effective tools you can use.

No other game found on online casinos and other gaming sites give you total control of your destiny like poker. Whether you’re playing the famed Texas Hold’em, Omaha, or a game of Stud, the chips you make is totally up to you.

Not every player likes using the bluffing method in order to build a stack of chips. Some are solid players, only coming in with decent hands and staying out of trouble if they don’t have the goods. This is a good, solid style of poker. But you also can’t lose what you don’t play. If you’re a tight player, working a little bluffing into your game will take you to the next level. If you don’t believe bluffing is an effective style of poker play, just check out Stu Ungar. He was the master.

Stu would bet at everything. When players finally got peeved enough to call, he would turn over his cards and have the best hand. This sent a signal to the other players: I’m not bluffing! So everyone else at the table was always scared to get busted out by the consummate professional. Stu bluffed most of the time.

There’s an art to bluffing. One should never throw around their chips loosely. You have to actually be in control of the table before you try this method. For starters, you need to get a feel for your opponents. Find out what they play, what they call on and when they fold. You can find this out without ever even coming in for a flop. Just stand back and observe for the first round or two, unless you have the cards to come in.

This sends out a message that you’re waiting for cards. Players will automatically assume that you have a decent pocket when you come into the hand. Score this in the win column already.

The next thing you want to do is start throwing feeler bets into your competition. A feeler bet is usually the size of the pot or a little larger. After the flop hits, as long as you’re acting first of if the pot’s checked to you, go ahead and bet. You don’t have to be holding anything, and it’s really better if you aren’t (because it’s easier to get away on a raise). You’ll quickly find out who wants to play here. But before you do this method, you should remember that this is for ring games. You don’t want to wait around in tournaments. That’s a different monster entirely.

Now that you’ve felt the table out, you know who stays in hands, when, and where they fold. You’ve gathered invaluable information that can be used for your benefit time and again. Now it’s time to seize control of the table and be aggressive.

If you’re on the button or in any high position, start raising the pots. When a pot is checked to you, throw a bet in there. Use your chips at weapons. Like Doyle Brunson famously says, “Put the pressure on your opponent.” Not every bet is going to win you the pot, but if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know exactly who’s going to fold. And you’ll also know that if they don’t, it’s time to abandon ship.

Bluffing is truly more art than science. You need the feel for the flow of the table. After you have that, turn your chips loose. Think of them as Stock Market investments. You’re buying stock in the pot to get a return. A successful bluffer can rake in hundreds a day at a ring table. Just use your head; your talent will do the rest.

Is Online Poker Rigged?

2009-05-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

Since the inception of online poker, critics have been skeptical of the fairness and random shuffling of online poker sites. While many newcomers believe online poker is rigged or unfair, it is exactly the opposite that is true. When playing on a trusted poker site, online poker is actually safer and more secure than playing at a home game or even a casino.

I think the number one reason why new players think online poker is rigged is because of the amount of hands you get to see. When you’re playing in a home game or in a casino, you will play about a fourth of the amount of hands that you’ll play in the same amount of time online. This makes a huge difference when it comes to bad beats, which is why players think they are getting screwed. If you’re seeing four times the amount of hand you normally see, you’re going to win four times as many big pots, and you’re also going to have four times as many bad beats.

Many new people to online poker don’t understand how big the poker industry actually is. Online poker is a multi billion dollar industry, with some of the bigger poker sites making over $300 million per month! The revenues that the top poker sites make, is greater than some of the most recognized companies in the world. What reason would they have for trying to rig a game? They would get caught eventually, and the whole company would go under. The risk is certainly not worth the reward.

To make you feel even more safe when playing online, you can check out the security companies that monitor the random shuffling of online poker sites. These government regulated security sites monitor all of the top online poker rooms, so you can be sure that these poker sites are safe.

The security of playing online doesn’t end there either. If you are worried about collusion and people being able to see your cards, you should keep reading. While collusion was prevalent in the early years on online poker (1998-2000), this problem has since been almost completely eliminated. Poker sites now have formulas in place that will pick up on the actions of two people at the same table who are working together. This is actually very easy to detect now for an online poker site. While were on the topic of cheating, do not be fooled by people who say they can see your hole cards, or have software that will tell you the what card is coming next. Many marketers are advertising programs like this on Google, and they are all scams! None of them work at all.

If you really could see someone’s cards, would you tell other people about it? Of course not! You would just sign on to a poker site and mop up thousands of dollars a day on your own. Overall I think there are way too many features in place at online poker sites for anyone to beat the system. Online poker is very safe and secure, and you should feel comfortable playing poker online at any reputable site.

Published At: Isnare Free Articles Directory http://www.isnare.com
Justin Goff is an online gaming journalist. You can find more of his online poker writings including a Chan Poker review and info about poker sites for Americans

Play Poker Games Online; Become a Millionaire

2009-05-23T14:26:00.000-07:00

Poker games online are becoming very popular, as a matter of fact, most poker players prefer playing online as opposed to in person. Even online video poker is being played more statistically than video poker in the casino!

People from all around the World are finally realizing you can do all the gambling you want in the comfort of your own home and at your own pace. No more paying for airfare, outrageous hotel fees, gas (especially at over $3.00 a gallon), food, etc… Not only that it’s nearly impossible for online poker cheating to happen and in real life at the casino it definitely can happen. Why do you think all those cameras are installed in a casino? Cheating is definitely going on and even though casino owners try everything they can to prevent it, it’s impossible.

There is one solution to solve the problem though. That solution is to play online poker. Online poker has turned your average Joe into the World Series of Poker winner and the World Poker Tour Winner. Take a look at the history of the World Series of Poker and you will see that half of them came from online and over half of them won an entry into the tournament by playing online poker tournaments. Online poker tournaments, especially Sit-N-Go’s can be a great source of income if you learn the secrets behind winning them over and over again.

If you don’t know about Sit-N-Go’s, let me explain. A Sit-N-Go is basically an online poker tournament where poker chips are used at the poker table instead of real money. You only risk losing the buy-in of the tournament instead of all your bankroll. The top 3 finishers out of 9 make it to the money. Third place gets 20% of the overall prize pool, second place gets 30%, and first place gets 50%. That’s a huge jump from first to third so it is best to gun for first every time instead of playing tight just to make the money. The secret behind mastering these Sit-N-Go’s is when there is around 5 player’s left in the online poker tournament. This is where all player’s start to play tight in fear of them not making it to the money.

When you get down to 5 players, You MUST start playing aggressive, stealing player’s blinds and showing them who is boss. Don’t back down to ANYONE. If you play aggressive and don’t let other player’s bully you around, you will find much more poker players respecting your game and you will also notice that they will hardly EVER bluff you again. Online poker rooms definitely give you a mixture of players that play tight, loose, aggressive, maniacs, etc…

These player’s are all around the world and it gives you a good learning experience and a chance to experience what the World Series of Poker or the World Poker Tour would be like when you get to play in it one day. Stick to your game, play aggressive when there is 5 player’s or fewer left, and you will be on your way to success in the online poker world.
Published At: Isnare Free Articles Directory http://www.isnare.com/

Sean Moronse is a professional poker player. He has created an award winning course called Sit-N-Go Genius that's teaching poker players all over the world how to make an hourly playing by using poker online and texas holdem poker at http://www.sitngogenius.com/

2009 World Series of Poker: WSOP Vegas Odds

2009-05-23T08:46:00.001-07:00

The 2009 World Series of Poker odds have been posted. According to BetED, the co-favorites to win the WSOP Main Event 2009 are Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Gus Hansen, and Tom Dwan. Each is listed at +12000.
Next up is Andrew Black, Juha Helppi, Ivan Demidov, John Juanda, Barry Greenstein, and Allen Cunningham at +17000.
However, it’s the Bodog WSOP betting line that has some of the most interesting proposition bets. Which pairing will have the most winnings in the Main Event (Event #57) beginning in Las Vegas on July 3, 2009?
Todd and Doyle Brunson as well as the twosome of Marco Traniello and Jennifer Harman are 6/1.
Will Scotty Nguyen reach his stated promise that will earn $4,000,000 or more in combined winnings at this year’s WSOP? No is -180. Will Doyle Brunson or Johnny Chan win their 11th bracelet? Bettors can wager on either/or or both.
They can write poker tips, but can they practice what they preach? Which of the poker authors will win the most money? Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, T.J. Cloutier, and Barry Greenstein top the list of favorites.
Which female poker player will last longest in the Main Event? Jennifer Harman and Kathy Liebert are the most likely at 5/1. Jennifer Tilly and Maria Ho are the long shots at 10/1.
More information: How to play poker, live 2009 WSOP odds, and other betting tips are on the OffshoreInsiders.com Network.

Online Sports Betting

2009-05-07T10:41:00.000-07:00

Simply put online sports’ betting is betting on sporting events through an online sports betting site, via the internet. You can place a bet on any specific part of the game and the betting odds are posted on each betting site.
Lately online sports’ betting has become very popular worldwide and it is approximated that online sports betting generates five times more revenues than Las Vegas sports betting. Some of the more popular sports betting made in the UK are on horse and greyhound races and football.
The aim of online sports betting is the same as any betting portal online or offline. Some online sports betting sites offer both online casino gambling and sport betting using one account. Betting online you’ll find that a number of online sport betting sites have been in the bricks and mortar betting industry for many years before online betting. Take into consideration these few online betting tips when betting on sports online.
1. Players must be at least 18 years or older to register with online sports betting sites. Make sure to locate online sites that have registration security, real time betting odds and will allow for bets to be placed without downloading software. This is important to ensure the safety of funds, prevent fraud and identity theft.
2. Make sure your choice in online sports betting sites have an assortment of wagers levels and the site is properly registered within the country it’s based out of.
3. Always carefully read the sites terms and conditions of use and have a deep understanding of liabilities you may cause to your account.
4. Check for any hidden or reoccurring fees that could accumulation or increase the cost of sports betting online.
5. Check the online sports betting sites reputation for fair dealing, and quick efficient payments systems. There are sites that remit payment the same day while others may take longer.
6. Make sure the online betting site has a 24 hour customer service helpline and locate site forums for other pertinent information on that site for other online sports gamblers.
7. Since online sport betting offers online gamblers accessibility to bet on sporting events anywhere in the world, make sure that the sport site your using offers language and currency conversions for easier betting.
There are a number of online gambling sites that offer free registration/ membership accompanied by bonus points for new users. This is a tactic to make their site attractive to new gamblers. Another attraction of online sports betting is the referral bonus that can rack up residual cash in the long run. This means that in certain cases when depositing funds to your online account transaction fees may be waived as a bonus.
The best part of most online sports betting sites is the ease of the membership process and the unrestricted betting limit. A member can load as much as $2.00 dollars to their account and place wagers as low as $.01 cent since there are no international restrictions on online betting sites. Enjoy and play responsibility.

When You Need to Stop Playing Poker Free Rolls

2009-01-29T12:05:00.000-08:00

Poker freerolls are extremely popular on the online poker sites with thousands upon thousands of people playing each and every day. In fact on my website http://www.Love-Texas-Holdem.com/ freeroll information is the one thing above all else that people are looking for.

Now freerolls are a great place to get some basic poker tournament experience, but they can teach you a lot of bad habits. The basic problem with the freerolls is that they are free! Nobody invests any of their own money so they feel that they have nothing to lose. This isn’t strictly true of course as you need to invest a lot of your time playing in poker freerolls if you ever want to be successful, and time as they say is money.

You will find a cross section of the entire poker community playing the freerolls; from absolute novices who have never played a single hand before but have maybe watched a bit of poker on the TV, to poker players of a very good standard who perhaps have a bit more time than money. This results in a situation where most of the poorer players get knocked out very early in the tournament leaving a hard-core of decent players to fight it out for the next couple of hours.

If you play a few online poker freerolls and you find yourself improving enough to make it past the first hour, it is probably time for you to move on and leave the freerolls behind. Playing a freeroll and being successful – ie winning some money – means sitting for anything from three to five hours for a prize from a prize fund of as little as $50. You could play for four hours, finish in the top ten and win less than $10!

The next step up in your poker ladder is to move on to the paid entry tournaments, even if you are only paying a dollar or two to enter. Here’s the difference between them in a nutshell. Poker freerolls typically have a total prize fund of anything from $50 to $500, this is money put up by the poker website itself so that you go there and play, brand recognition in other words. There are up to 2400 people playing in every freeroll tournament so the money per player is very small, typically $0.20 or less.

Now if you decide to opt instead for a paying tournament, even if the entrance fee is only $1, there is already five times as much money in the prize pool per player and that’s without “added” money which the poker site will often throw in to encourage more players to join the tournament. You have just as much chance of a prize in this game as in a freeroll, in fact you probably have a better chance because you don’t have as many players in the game so you stand less chance of coming up against a lucky player who will burn you with a “bad beat”.

So ask yourself the question, what would you rather spend your time doing – spending hours at a freeroll for a pittance of a prize or paying a couple of dollars and aiming for a prize that’s actually worth winning?

Article by Ian McIntosh of http://www.Love-Texas-Holdem.com/ Check out the site for all the latest information on Texas Holdem tournaments andpoker freerolls. Please feel free to use this poker article on your website, newsletter or blog as long as this resource box is left intact and there's a live link to the site.

If you really need to play the Poker Freerolls click here!

Five Reasons Why Online Poker is Better

2009-01-29T12:04:00.001-08:00

1. You don't need to do any organizing.
If you are having a poker game round at your house, there is a lot of organizing to be done. You need to make sure you have all the right equipment in place for the game - poker table, poker chips and cards as well as some sort of snacks and nibbles. You might be there for a long time so you need to provide some refreshments for your guests.

2. You don't need to rely on anybody else turning up for the poker game.
Most people have one or two friends who are unreliable. If you play poker online you don't need to rely on everyone turning up at the appointed hour for the home table game. When you play home poker there is always the dread that the phone is going to ring and somebody is going to call off at the last minute. You don't get that with online poker, you just turn up and play against whoever is there.

3. You can play for as long as you want to.
When you play poker on the internet it is up to you how long you play for, you don't need to wait until all your friends have had enough and want to go home. Or if you're the type of poker player who always wants to player on after everyone else is burnt out and ready for bed, you can do so on the internet.

4. You can play any time you choose.
When you are trying to organize a real life poker game, one of the biggest obstacles is getting all of your friends available at the same time. You might need to wait for weeks until they can make it on the same night, people are very busy nowadays and nobody seems to have much spare time any more. But you can have a game of poker Texas Holdem any time of the day or night on many internet poker sites, and games like Omaha and Stud poker are available most of the time too.

5. You can go and do something else instead.
If you want out of the game it is very hard when it is taking place in your house! You might be on a big losing streak or you might be tired or even bored with the company but if the poker game is in your house you'll need to be there until the end.

Article by Ian McIntosh of Love Texas Holdem Check out the site for all the latest information on Texas Holdem tournaments and freerolls. Please feel free to use this poker article on your website, newsletter or blog as long as this resource box is left intact and there's a live link to the site.

The best site for online poker

Heads Up Poker--Aggression Pays

2009-01-29T12:03:00.001-08:00

Heads-Up Poker is the climax to every single game of Texas Holdem, if you are going to win you will always face a heads up situation. Heads up poker is where you play one-on-one against a single opponent and whether you start off with two players in the game or two thousand, the result is always the same - a heads up between the final two players.

If you start with a high number of players, or indeed any number of players bigger than two, the game will lose one of them at a time as they run out of chips until you are left with the final pairing - the heads-up.

Now heads-up poker is different from the rest of the tournament and requires a different mindset in order to be successful. Nowhere is the contrast more stark than in online Texas Holdem poker play and if you've never made it to the final of a Hold ‘em tournament you are in for a rollercoaster ride when you do!

The pace is extremely fast and furious with little or no time to think, you are relying mostly on your experience and quick thinking to pull you through. But the number one strategy you need to adopt when playing heads-up poker online is to be aggressive. It is a ruthless winner-takes-all situation and if you don't show enough determination and aggression, your opponent almost certainly will and you will quickly wilt under the onslaught.

You need to call almost every hand, after all you're paying for the blinds so if you don't call it your opponent gets to keep the blinds for free. Remember also that when it gets to this stage, the blinds are at their highest so every hand is important to win. You can’t afford to let one go for free unless you feel you have absolutely no chance of winning the hand.

Of course a Holdem hand that you would probably fold in a ten player situation is often one that you can go all-in with at heads-up poker. Any Ace at all is certainly worth raising and re-raising, the chances are your opponent is adopting a similar strategy to you and he may be going in with a King or Queen along with a lower card.

Say for example you are dealt King-Eight. Now at a ten player poker tournament you would most probably fold this hand in early position, but call or possibly even raise in late position. In a heads-up situation you would be perfectly entitled to go all-in with a reasonable expectation of winning the hand if it got played out.

Vary your play and if you find yourself in front in chips, be even more aggressive! Don’t be afraid to put in a big raise with no hand, your opponent will most likely back down unless he has a big hand.

The bottom line is this for heads-up poker - attack or be attacked!

=================================================== Article by Ian McIntosh of http://www.Love-Texas-Holdem.com/. Check out the site for all the latest information on Texas Holdem tournaments and poker freerolls. Please feel free to use this poker article on your website, newsletter or blog as long as this resource box is left intact and there's a live link to the site. ===================================================

Heads-up poker at Absolute Poker

Pot Odds, Your Secret Poker Weapon

2009-01-29T12:02:00.001-08:00

Pot odds is one of the most neglected aspects of Texas Holdem poker, especially by the beginner and intermediate player. Some poker beginners have heard the term and a few even have a basic concept of what pot odds are, but very few of these players know how to put them to good use in a poker game.

However knowing how to calculate and use pot odds is one of the crucial weapons that serious poker players have in their armory, one that most definitely separates them from the amateur.

Poker pot odds are often associated with complex mathematical calculations and the less serious player can feel overwhelmed at the prospect of tackling such a subject, but don’t fret, do you really think that to be a serious poker player you need to be a genius at mathematics? Do you think all the poker pros are?

Well of course the answer is that they are most definitely not all geniuses, but what they do have is a method of calculating the odds quickly and easily to see if they are in their favor in any given situation.

So let’s look at a simple, basic way of calculating the odds, remember it needs to be quick and easy so that it can be worked out quickly and accurately in the heat and pressure of a poker game.

Poker pot odds can be broken down to this simple one liner:

“If the odds of you getting the card you need to make your hand are less than the pot odds, you should bet.”

There are two sides to this equation which I will try and explain, “odds of you getting the card you need” and “pot odds.” Firstly “odds of you getting the card you need”, this one is fairly easy to understand. It’s best explained using the example of a flush or straight draw, so we’ll use a straight draw to illustrate it.

You’re in a Texas Holdem game and your pocket cards are Q T, the flop is J 4 9. In order to make a straight you need to get either a King or 8 on the turn or river so you have eight possible cards that can make your hand, four Kings and four 8s. These are known as your “out” cards.

You’ve seen five cards out of the deck, your own two pocket cards and the three flop cards. That means there’s 47 cards you haven’t seen. So the odds of you getting the card you need are:

Cards that won’t help you : Cards that will help you

Out of the 47 remaining cards, eight of them will help you and 35 won’t, so the “odds of you getting the card you need” are 35:8 or 4.375:1.

Now for the pot odds.

The basic formula is:

The size of the pot : Amount you need to put into the pot.

So if the pot is sitting at $100 and you need to bet $20 to call, your pot odds are 100:20 or 5:1.

In this case the pot odds (5:1) are bigger than the odds of you getting the card you need (4.375:1) so you should call the bet. This is known as getting "value" for your bet. If you are doing these sums quickly you can think of 35:8 as being about four and a half to one, it’s good enough for a quick calculation.

This is a simplification of pot odds and there are other considerations like – will the players after you in the round of betting add to the pot? This would make your bet an even better proposition as it would increase the pot odds but it is of course an unknown factor.

Understand pot odds and you will take your game forward to the next stage and prepare yourself for the poker big league.

Article by Ian McIntosh of Love Texas Holdem. Check out the site for all the latest information on Texas Holdem tournaments and Online Poker Freerolls. Please feel free to use this poker article on your website, newsletter or blog as long as this resource box is left intact and there's a live link to the site.

Sharpen up your pot odds skills at Full Tilt Poker

4 Big Online Poker Tells

2009-01-29T12:00:00.000-08:00

Online Poker Tells are when your body language just can't keep it's mouth shut! Any little sign or gesture by a poker player that might indicate what cards he or she has is called a tell.

In a real-life game at a poker table there are many tells that you can use to try and read what cards your opponents have. Eye movements are probably the biggest giveaway of all, that's why a lot of amateur and even professional poker players wear sunglasses at the table.
There are other signs peculiar to individual players, some may have a twitch or even sweat when they are in a spot. If you put a top class professional poker player at a table of amateurs, the pro player would be able to read the cards by the players' tells, almost as if the cards were sitting face up.

Playing poker online however is a completely different matter - there is no way to see your opponents so the normal poker tells are lost.
However there are a few things you can watch for in the other players that might just give you a read on what they have.

1. Speed of response This is the main tell you have on your opposition when playing poker online. In particular look for players who take a while to check, this is seen as a weak play and indicates that the player does not have a good hand.
You should beware of this in your own play - if you are going to check with a poor hand, don't hesitate before you do.

2. Chatting. This is the other big online poker tell. If someone is constantly chatting at the table it shows weakness. These players normally come along and tell you why they folded or tell you their hand after they've mucked it, basically copying what they've seen the pros do on the TV. These players normally don't do very well, there's not a great deal of time when you're playing poker online and if they are typing out chat then they aren't concentrating on the game.

3. Maniacs. These are players who live on a do-or-die basis and often go all-in with almost every hand, especially in the early stages of a tournament. They are of course very easy to spot, and equally easy to stop. All you need to do is wait for a good hand and call their all-in, you will probably find yourself very strong favorite to knock the maniac out. If however the maniac is left unchecked to do his work, he can turn very dangerous as he will have built up a leading chip stack by being unopposed and can then sit back and play only good hands.

4. The Limper. This player is the opposite of the maniac. He will try and see every hand for free but will fold as soon as the betting starts - unless he has a really good hand. This is another very good tell you can use, just simply fold if the Limper starts to bet, unless of course you have a really good hand too.

These four online poker tells should stand you in good stead and you will now be able to sort out the wheat from the chaff among your opponents.

Article by Ian McIntosh, Check out the latest poker articles at Love-Texas-Holdem.com as well all the latest information on Texas Holdem tournaments and freerolls.
Please feel free to use this poker article on your website, newsletter or blog as long as this resource box is left intact and there's a live link to the site.

Use your Online Poker Tells!

Sports Betting In Between Poker Winnings

2008-12-02T15:05:00.001-08:00

We called the Jonathan Stone pickphone Monday only to hear a voice that sounded strangely similar to Kevin Duffy. Than magically on the same number, we get a recorded message promising us that if we press “1” on our touchtone phone, we would get the Houston-Jacksonville Monday Night side and total picks.

Since the game was played last night, I pressed 1 to see who they had and perhaps the bookie would let me place my bet after the fact.

We will just stick with the winning and proven handicappers at OffshoreInsiders.com. It’s best if we just watch the Steve Budin picks on his site. Generally he picks games before they start. However, his videos are not as entertaining as Foxsports Al DeMarco (that horrible toup gets me every time) or the R-rated same-ole-shtick of Stu Feiner.

Just stick to OffshoreInsiders.com and keep winning is the best betting advice to get the winning edge.

Playing Bigger Hands

2008-11-23T19:33:00.000-08:00

It is always great to see a big pocket pair like AA, KK or QQ when you look down at your holecards in Texas Holdem. These top 3 pocket pairs are the best possible hands you can be dealt before the flop, and so you should expect to make a hefty amount of money from them throughout your poker-playing career. However, if you are not careful with these big pairs and if you do not exercise good strategy with them, these types of cards can easily lose you money when not play them correctly.

One of the biggest mistakes novice players make when playing big pairs is that they tend to slowplay them at every opportunity. Whilst it may be a good idea to play very strong hands on the odd occasion in poker, it is far too early to start slowplaying a hand before the flop, and by doing so you will just be allowing your opponents to improve on the flop and on future streets. Therefore whenever you are dealt a big pocket pair you should almost always raise before the flop to thin out the number of opponents and build the pot to increase the amount of money that you can win.

Now although AA, KK and QQ have been lumped into the same category here, I am going to split these hands up into two, and give a few basic strategy tips whilst playing them. I will firstly go through a good strategy for AA, and then I will go through tips on how to play KK and QQ well. The KK and QQ have been grouped together due to the fact that there is the possibility that overcards can appear on the flop, whereas this is not possible whilst holding AA. So lets move onto the strategy for each of these hands…

With a hand like AA, you always want to be looking to raise or re-raise before the flop. It is never good Texas Holdem strategy with AA to limp or simply call a raise because you are missing the opportunity to get more money into the pot with the best hand, and you are giving weaker hands the opportunity to overtake you on the flop. You shouldn’t be worried about the fact that players might fold and you win the pot uncontested at this point, as it is always better to win a small pot than lose a big one.

After the flop you should again look to keep the action flowing by betting and raising. You do not want to give anyone the correct odds to call for any straights, flushes or drawing hands at this point, so make sure you put them to a tough decision for their chips. However, there could be the possibility that one of your opponents has made a better hand than you on the flop, and so you should always be aware of the fact that you may no longer hold the best hand. But in spite of this, you will normally still be ahead and so you should continue to build the pot unless you have reason to believe otherwise.

When playing hands like KK and QQ, you should again be looking to bet and raise before the flop. It is very rare to come up against a better hand before the flop when holding either of these hands, so be happy to be betting and raising to reduce the number of players that will be joining you to see a flop. Many players say that you should never fold KK before the flop because by doing so you are losing money in the long run, and I have to say that I agree. You especially want to be limiting the number of players that you are up against with either of these hands because of the fact that opponents can easily make a better hand than you be hitting an overcard like an

Aces to make a bigger pair.

Now on the flop you will be in one of two situations; you will either be facing overcards or you won’t. If there are no overcards on the flop, you should continue to play the hand like you would do if you were holding aces, as both situations are quite similar. However, playing a big pocket pair when there are overcards on the board can be a little tricky. A good way to play is to bet like you feel you still have the best hand, and then evaluate where you stand after your opponent responds. It is unlikely that you will be winning a big pot any more in this situation, and if the pot does get big it is likely that you will be on the losing end. So be prepared to let the hand go if you come up against a lot of action.

On the final few streets with big pairs you should continue to build the pot unless you are quite sure that you are no longer ahead. If you haven’t improved by the turn or the river, you should remember that you still only hold 1 pair, which is by no means a monster hand. It is important to never get ‘married to the hand’ when you have a big pair, as they are by no means invincible.

Always consider the possibility that your opponent could have a better hand than you if they are also playing aggressively by betting and raising too. It is not easy to lay down a big pair, but you have to learn to do so when you genuinely believe that you no longer hold the winning hand.

Trouble Hands in Texas Holdem

2008-11-23T19:31:00.000-08:00

Just as there are many hands in Texas Holdem that will win you a lot of money, there are a number of deceptive hands that may lead you into believing that they are profitable when in real fact they will often lose you decent sums of money from your bankroll. The sooner that you learn about the hands that are costing you dearly, the sooner you can start saving yourself from losing money. This article will address the most common hands that novices play with and highlight the reasons as to why they can be dangerous hands to play.

The ‘any two suited cards’ is a very popular hand that all varieties of beginners like to play. A flush is a pretty strong hand in the game of Holdem, and so if you manage to make one there is good chance that you will win a nice bit of money with it. Therefore many new players to the game will be prepared to enter pots with any two cards as long as they are suited just in an attempt to catch a flush at some point during the hand. There are two reasons as to why playing any two suited cards is dangerous.

Firstly, it is not that much more likely that you will make a flush just because your cards are suited. The probability of making a flush in Holdem is pretty low, and so it does not justify calling bet and raises in an attempt to catch one on the flop. On top of this, amateur players will often continue to call bets and raises with bad pot odds to make a flush on future streets, which just adds to the problem of playing such hands. The second reason is that you can catch half a hand like second pair on the flop, and end up losing money to another player that has formed a better pair than you. So by playing random suited cards you are setting yourself up for two great opportunities to leak money, so don’t do it.

Another type of hand that always manages to cause the beginner poker players a problem is the low connecting cards. These are almost identical to the problems caused by any two suited cards and can help players to lose money over the long run. It is not too likely that you will form a straight every time you enter a pot with connecting cards like 5c 6h, so don’t enter the pot under the false pretences that you will. You will simply be losing more money in the long run, as well as losing money in pots where you catch half a hand and your opponent catches a stronger one. So save yourself some money and fold before the flop.One final hand that amateur players get overly attached to is a rag ace. Rag aces are simply aces that are accompanied by a low ranking holecard below a Ten.

The problem that these hands cause is that players find it difficult to let the hand go after they pair their ace, and so they will often end up losing a lot of (if not all) of their stack to a player that also makes a pair of aces but with a better kicker. The best way to play these types of hands is to exercise a little self-discipline and fold them before the flop. It is unlikely that you will win a big pot with them, but it is likely that you will lose a big one. Save yourself a bit of money by folding and catch out the other amateur players the next time when you hold a stronger ace than them.

Online Poker Versus Online Casino

2008-11-23T19:30:00.001-08:00

There are a number of ways for people to satisfy their urge to gamble through gambling sites on the Internet. We surfers can sign up for gambling accounts at the numerous different sites that are available to them and start making bets and wagers in a vast array of gambling games on offer. Two of the most popular forms of online gambling are poker and casino games. Most people are familiar with the game of poker as well as the different forms of casino games, including blackjack, roulette, slots and so on. But how do both of these different forms of online gambling compare to each other?

In general, the casino games are more based on luck and focus on the thrills of wagering money on the roll of a dice or the spin of the roulette wheel, whereas poker involves an element of skill and strategy. There are some games such as Blackjack that allow you to use good strategy using odds and mathematics to improve your chances of winning, but the majority of casino games give you fixed odds, where the odds are more often than not in favour of the house. So although casino games can be very entertaining, if you play for long enough you will find that you will be losing more money than you win in the long run.

This is where online poker is a little different, as it is possible to actually to be a long-term winner. This is because with online poker, you are playing against other players, and not against the house. So therefore if you can employ a successful winning strategy against your opponents, there is no reason why you cant win money. There is obviously an element of luck as with all gambling card games, but there is an overriding element of strategy that allows you to be a long-term winner of the game.

There are a number of different poker variants online for players to choose from, including Texas Holdem, Omaha and Stud. Other less popular games like Razz can also be played online, but you will find the majority of players sat at the above mentioned tables playing for real money. Texas Holdem is by far the most popular out of all the poker variants avaialable due to the large amount of media coverage it receives. Therefore you will find that there are many online poker players looking for Texas Holdem strategy across the Internet and in books in an attempt to take their game to a winning level.

The online poker rooms make money via ‘rake’, which is a small cut of each pot that is built between players. So the poker rooms still make money, even if you do as well. Any wins that you make are coming from your opponent’s pocket, and not from the casinos. Therefore online gambling operators are more than happy to provide online poker rooms to the public.

The fact that you can win money from online poker sites makes online poker a favourite for many online gamblers. However, some can find it tedious and frustrating when the cards do not fall their way, so they stick to online casino to satisfy their gambling needs. Online casino can be great fun and attracts a lot of players because of the fact that the games are so easy to play. However, although you can get lucky from time to time and win money, in the long run you should find that casino games would be taking your money.

Overall, online casino is great for people looking for some quick and easy gambling entertainment. Online poker on the other hand is more suited to people looking to test their ability against opponents, in an attempt to outplay each other and win their money. However, it takes time and good strategy to be able to win money from online poker, which is something that not a lot of people have. But if you have the patience and determination, you may well be a candidate to be a long-term winner in the online poker world.

Understanding Baseball Betting

2008-11-23T17:48:00.000-08:00

Surprisingly MLB baseball betting is not at the forefront of sports betting. Those honors go to football and basketball. Why is this? Part of the reason could be due to the fact that sports bettors by in large are used to playing with spreads. MLB baseball betting doesn't make use of spreads for side betting—expect in the case of the run line. Today, we are going to cruise over the basics of betting on a MLB baseball game.

We will address three main components—Betting on a side, betting on a side with the run line and the over/under line. Betting on a Side For those that don't know, betting on a "side" simply means picking a team to win.

When you wager on MLB baseball, you are betting on the money line and not using a spread—unless you bet on the run line, which will be talked about in a moment. Here's a typical example of a betting opportunity in MLB baseball. Seattle Mariners +110 New York Yankees -120 In the above example, you can pick either the Mariners or the Yankees. The team on the bottom is the home team. If you want to bet on the Yankees, you will need to lay $1.20 for every $1.00 you want to win.

For instance, if you placed a $10 bet on the Yankees and they won, you would get back your $10 plus 8.33 in winnings. On the other hand, you could take the Mariners and get back $1.10 for every $1 wagered. If you wagered $10 on the Mariners and they won, you would get back your $10 plus $11. Either way you play it, the team simply needs to win. Betting on the Run Line

When you wager on the run line, you are either getting or laying 1.5 runs. The run line allows you to change the money figures. For instance, maybe there's a heavy favorite you like, but there's no way you are betting them at -200. You could bet the run line instead and knock that -200 down considerably. Betting on the Over/Under The over/under line is also called a "total" or "totals line."

When you make this wager, you are betting on the combined score of both teams. It's pretty simple. If the line is 8 and you bet the over, you need both teams to combine for 8 or more runs to win (the exact number, 8 in this case, would be a tie and you get your money back). If you bet the under, you need them to score less than the number. Betting on MLB baseball is not only fun, it's profitable too. You now know the basics of how baseball betting works.

The author conducts online casino reviews at his website, LodeCasino.com. See more about Casino Tropez and Western Union Casinos there.

Manage Your Money

2008-11-23T17:47:00.000-08:00

Pick up any good book on gambling and you're bound to find at least a page or two that talks about money management. Some keep it brief while others go into great mathematical detail.

Some books tell you to manage your money by the playing session, other say by the month and still others come up with complex financial systems. Today, I will share with you two general money management systems that will help you regardless of how intricate you wish to take your money management strategy—even if you have none at all. Session Management No matter how detailed you want to get with money management, session management is always a factor. Even the casual gambler should have some sort of session strategy. It's real simple. Before you go to gamble, decide how much money you are willing to lose.

Next, decide how much money you would be happy winning. Be realistic. Answers like "as much as I can" are usually what eventual losers say right before they start. If you are going to risk $100, set a maximum goal at $200.

Doubling your money is not bad. If you are playing the slots or some other game with a big payoff potential, you might go well beyond this in a single moment. However, have a stop point in mind. Here's the critical point. When you have either lost your set amount or won your goal, leave the casino. Many people fail to do this and many end up losing as a result. Seasonal Management If you are a sports bettor, one type of money management strategy that you'll want to think about is seasonal management. This is where you decide how much money you are willing to lose for the entire season.

Even if you don't have all that money in the bank right now, come up with a figure. Keep track of your wagering throughout the season and stop when you've lost the amount you set. What about winning? Well, sports is a different animal. If you are going to use seasonal management and tracking, you will keep on wagering until the season is complete.

You could set a maximum win amount and stop there if you desired, but most sports bettors that use seasonal management only stop when they've lost their set bankroll. There are certainly more complex money management systems out there, but these two concepts can help most gamblers get the job done. When you decide to gamble as a business, then it's time to take money management to the next level.

The author conducts casino ratings online at his website, LodeCasino.com. See more about Casino Tropez and Western Union Casinos there.

Players Club Card

2008-11-23T17:46:00.001-08:00

Every casino in Las Vegas has some sort free players club card. What's this card for? Well, they market it to you, the gambler, as a way to earn stuff, but the real purpose is to track money. However, don't let this stop you from signing up. It's a good idea to sign up for every players club card that you can. It can make you money.

Most casino cards have built in benefits for holders. These benefits end up making you money. For instance, there are casinos here that give cardholders a discount at the buffet. The discount is usually a couple of bucks. Not going to make you rich right? Well, $2 is $2. It's just one of the many features the card holds. Some casinos send mailers to cardholders every week, couple of weeks, or monthly. These mailers contain news, promotion tickets and valuable coupons. They are just for cardholders. For instance, just about every month one casino sends a friend of mine coupons for free Bingo play.

All my friend has to do is show up, redeem the ticket and play for free. That's potentially free money in the bank. Some places send free cash in the mail. Ok, not actual cash notes, but coupons redeemable for free cash. Arizona Charlies is a good casino to sign up with. They said great stuff all the time.

Many casino offer cash back on play. Sure, you need to play a lot in relation to the money you get back, but it's still better than nothing. Like free stuff? I think just about every casino club offers free apparel and other goodies—even trips and cars. Usually, you earn points towards these items. The casino will also hold special points days. Sometimes they giveaway great prizes and the drawings are only open to members of the players club.

It boils down to this. If you are playing at a casino and not a member of their players club, you are missing out. Here's another great feature and this goes back to the first thing I mentioned—money tracking. It's nice to be able to get a printout of the money you won or lost at any time. Want to deduct gambling losses on your IRS taxes? The printout from the casino will give you legitimate proof. So, the next time you are at a casino, make sure you sign up for their players club before you spend a penny.

Jason A. Martin former casino dealer, professional gambler and Las Vegas insider. You can get your own content, links and marketing at his gambling website marketing website at GamblerMarketing.com.

Video Poker

2008-11-23T17:38:00.000-08:00

Video poker is a casino game that has much in common with slot machines, but it is a slot machine game combined with the rules of five card draw poker in a very specific manner. Video poker is often considered by many experienced gamblers to be vastly superior to slot machines because of the effect that skilled play has on the potential payback of the machine. While slot machines are programmed to pay back a certain percentage of the money that is fed into the machine, video poker pays back a percentage that can be affected by perfect strategic play.

Video poker games first appeared in the 1970's, but didn't start enjoying widespread popularity until the 1980's, when slot machine manufacturer IGT became involved in the production of video poker games. Many people in casinos who are nervous or intimidated by table games find video poker to be a lot more "friendly" than blackjack or live poker. This is probably because video poker combines the strategic thinking of a table game like blackjack with the solitary playing experience of a slot machine.

Video poker games are easily played. The player wages 1 or more coins in order to get dealt five virtual cards on a computer screen. (A smart player always plays the max bet, usually 5 coins, since the max bet triggers the bigger payoffs on the higher ranked hands.) The player chooses which cards to hold and then draws cards to replace his discarded cards.

The final hand pays out based on the payout table for the particular video game.Popular video poker games include deuces wild and jacks or better, both of which are often played either as single hands or in a multi-hand version, where the player gets to play 3, 5, 10, 50 or even 100 hands of video poker at the same time. Depending on the payout schedule for the different poker hands on a certain machine, the payback percentage on a video poker can be very good indeed. Jacks or better with a "full pay", or the highest standard payback schedule, pays back at 99.5% with perfect play.

A full pay deuces wild machine pays back at 100.7% with perfect play. In actual practice, players who don't play perfectly and make mistakes reduce the practical payback percentage on those machines by 6% or more, making video poker one of the most profitable games in the casino, especially since many video poker players play upwards of 500 hands per hour.

Learning how to play video poker with perfect strategy is not terribly hard to do. There are numerous video poker strategy guides available for sale, and Bob Dancer's excellent tutorials and software teach video poker strategy through a series of both charts and lists of principles that will work effectively for different learning styles.Practicing has become much easier also, now that free video poker games have become so prevalent online.

Games like these allow you to play online with no download and no cost, and they're played using the same rules as the video poker games found in traditional land-based casinos.

Poker Discipline

2008-05-30T13:11:00.000-07:00

Poker Discipline - The key to success in online Texas holdem

Poker discipline is something that all players should have as one of their main assets. If your discipline is poor, you should make it your highest priority to improve it. As a poker player, you will know that there are few things in life as exciting as landing a great looking starting hand in

Texas Holdem. Being dealt a good starting hand puts you in command right away and you feel excited about the possibility that you will go on and win the pot.

But unfortunately this excitement is probably responsible for more losing hands and leaving players with empty chip stacks than almost anything else in the game of poker.

Excitement at a poker table is normally a bad thing. When people get excited - and when I say people I mean poker players in this case - they usually make bad decisions. They allow their normal level of poker discipline to drop and make crazy, irrational moves that can cost a big pot or, worse still, their whole chip stack.

Discipline is all about making decisions and sticking to them. If you are a tight player, you need to decide what hands you will play and have the self discipline not to waver from your decision.

The most important part of that is knowing when to lay your cards down, especially when they look very tempting and you are itching to stay in the hand to see what happens.

It's as old as the hills but it's still as true today as it ever was; you need to know when to fold 'em.

Even if you have a hand that looks like a monster, it can always be beaten and the bigger and better the starting hand, the harder it is to fold.

Dangerous starting hands that cause a lot of people to lose their poker discipline and cost them money are those such as A-10, A-9 or worse, Q-J, K-10. If you catch one of those in early position (that is when you are at the start of the betting) you should almost always fold them, there are just too many hands that can beat you.

Although it's probably about the hardest to master, poker discipline is one of the key skills that marks out great poker players and sets them apart from the rest of the pack, so decide on your strategy and stick to it. © 2007 Love-Texas-Holdem.com - Poker Discipline

Poker Rebuy Strategy

2008-05-30T13:09:00.000-07:00

The main question on poker rebuys that you will probably want answered is should you rebuy? Quickly followed by if so – how often should you rebuy?

Firstly what is a rebuy? It’s a stage in a poker tournament where players are allowed to buy more chips to add to their stack. They don’t necessarily need to be low on chips or out of chips, anyone can choose to rebuy if they want to.

The good thing about a rebuy period for all players is the tremendous increase in pot size that you see taking place. If you are in a good position and don't need to rebuy, the fact that so many players have bought their way back into the game should not bother you too much. You were good enough to be in front of them before the rebuy period so the chances are that you will be good enough to stay in front of them.

Normally for any particular tournament they will come in the form of single or limited rebuys, or unlimited rebuys and can be used either to buy your way back into a tournament that you’ve dropped out of, or simply to bolster your chip count.

When deciding whether it’s worthwhile rebuying into a tournament you need to consider several factors.

1. The quality of your oppositionWere you among the better players in the game? Could you look at the way your opponents played and see that it should have been them who went out early and not you? In that case you should buy your way back in and get on with the game. However if you have seen that the standard of opposition is better than you, there is probably little point in carrying on.

2. Were you unlucky to be knocked out?Were you knocked out of the poker tournament by a bad beat where you held the best cards and used the right betting strategy only to find you lost out to a lucky break your opponent got on the river? A rebuy is certainly in order here too.

Poker Rebuy Strategy Continued... © 2007 Love-Texas-Holdem.com - Poker Rebuy Strategy 1

Play Poker For Free and Win

2008-05-30T13:08:00.000-07:00

Play Poker Free: Poker is just about the most exciting game on TV right now. You might be one of the many thousands who have been following Texas Holdem eagerly on the television and have caught the bug. It is the most natural thing in the world to want to get involved with actually playing poker after seeing the thrills and spills as the world’s great poker professionals battle it out in front of you on the small screen.

So you want to play poker! You have two basic options in front of you as it stands, play “real” poker with some friends or play on the internet against the millions of other online poker players who are out there.

Playing real live poker in your house is great, there’s nothing like getting a bunch of friends together and breaking out the beers (or waters!) and playing a couple of hours of poker. But people are busy, it’s hard to get everyone available at the same time and it’s just as hard to play a game to suit everybody. Some of your friends might just want to risk a couple of dollars whilst others will be prepared to play for tens or even hundreds. How do you find a happy medium? Not everyone will want to play poker free and not have a chance of winning cash.

On the other hand internet poker is live and instant and you can always find a game that suits your pocket with people ready to play against you. You can even play poker free until you get your confidence up and you’ve learned the basics of doing it for yourself, rather than watching on TV.

So if you have decided to play poker online, what are the options you now have? Well these are split into three basic categories, money games where you play for cash, play money games where you can practise for free, and a third type of game – the poker freeroll. A freeroll is a sort of hybrid between cash games and play money games and in fact is the best of both worlds.

In freerolls, your entry to the game is literally free, you do not have to pay anything (although you will be required to complete a simple form to become a member of the poker room). The big bonus however is that if you win the tournament or are placed highly, you will win an actual cash prize.

These freeroll tournaments are of course very popular, anywhere offering something for nothing usually is. But if you get in early you will be able to sign up for the freeroll tournament and play for real money – without risking a penny of your own money.

Play poker free! © 2007 Love-Texas-Holdem.com - Play Poker Free

Clearing an Online Poker Bonus

2008-05-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

You know how to get online poker bonuses -- they’re available all over the Internet. However, what’s the best way to clear it? How do you optimize the task of getting that extra money out of the bonus account and into your real money bankroll?

Step 1: Learn the Conditions

In the early days of poker room bonuses , players could only clear the funds through cash game play. Play the required number of raked hands and get the bonus. Tournament players were out of luck.

Currently, many sites do allow you to clear your bonus by playing poker in tournaments. These sites calculate bonus clearing the same way they calculate player points, so both cash games and tournaments count towards the total. Before you start trying to earn credit toward your bonus through playing tournaments, find out if the site allows this practice.

Step 2: Don’t Raise the Stakes

Some players see bonus clearing as an opportunity to move up in limits. They figure even if they go on a losing streak that the bonus will make up for it. However, you really should only move up in limits if you are ready to do so.

You can clear the bonus just as quickly by playing your current limit. What you don’t want is to deplete your bankroll at a higher limit before you clear the bonus. If this happens, you will have to deposit more money so that you can release the bonus in the time allotted.

Step 3: Getting the Money

Once the bonus money is finally in your account, be sensible with it. It is not “House money,” it is your money and should be defended with the same care and skill which you apply to your regular bankroll.

© 2008 Love-Texas-Holdem.com - Clearing an Online Poker Bonus

Playing Texas Holdem

2008-05-30T13:03:00.000-07:00

If you are a reasonably skilled online Texas Holdem player, you will probably face a mix of opponents, some less skilled than you, some perhaps a bit more. However, circumstances may arise when you are facing much tougher opposition than you are used to facing. This may be because you have decided to move up in limits at your preferred poker sites or because the only table that is available happens to be one filled with pros that you recognize. Either way, you may want to adjust your strategy when this happens.

Tactics for Handling Skilled Players: Confidence

You should have confidence in your ability to play Texas Holdem online Many pros have become pros because they can play a very tight aggressive, reasoned style of play. Just because someone is a pro doesn’t mean he is going to blow you out of every pot with huge raises or see right through to your soul when you try to bluff. A pro is simply someone who makes more correct decisions than the average player does. If you are a skilled player and play your best game, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to win, at least in the short term.

Tactics for Handling Skilled Players: Short Stacking

If you’re worried about getting run over by your opponents in a no-limit game, you may consider short stacking. Short stacking is buying in to the game for a small amount, often the minimum. The sharks in the game are looking for whales, bad players that will throw money at them. When they see your small stack, they may forget about you and look for tastier prey.

Tactics for Handling Skilled Players: Moving Down

If you’re really feeling like the game is too tough for you, there’s no shame in getting up and moving to an easier game. In general, it’s much more fun to win a ton of money against weaker players than to get pummeled by all-stars.

© 2008 Love-Texas-Holdem.com - Playing Against Highly Skilled Players

Three Online BlackJack Tips

2008-05-10T11:39:00.000-07:00

While it might only take a few minutes to learn how to play Blackjack, it can take much longer to learn the nuances of the game. Online blackjack is similar to Blackjack at brick and mortar casinos, but there are differences. Here are three great online blackjack tips that will help you play better and win more money. Online Blackjack Tip One The first tip I would give anyone that's going to play online blackjack is to not worry about counting cards. In fact, if you are going to play online blackjack all of the time, don't even waste energy looking into card counting, because it won't help you. Most online blackjack games are dealt from a deck—sometimes more than one deck—that's shuffled before every hand.

Since this is the case, counting cards won't help you. Even if the online blackjack source uses a more traditional approach, you can't effectively count cards if you don't know when the cards are going to be shuffled and how much of the deck is left until that time. Online Blackjack Tip Two Stay away from gimmicks. Since online casinos only take up virtual space, they can experiment with all sorts of game variations.

Most offshoots of traditional Blackjack are just carnival games. They might be fun to look at and play now and again, but you'll be wasting money. Online Blackjack Tip Three Online blackjack games use a RNG (random number generator) to determine what cards to deal. The game is highly random and prone to streaks—good or bad. Never assume that you are "due" to win. You should always bet normally and never give in to bad streaks. They are going to happen in online blackjack, just like in the real world. Either quit playing or play with enough money to weather the storms. Online blackjack can be fun and relaxing. It's close to the real world version, but it does have some subtle differences. Once you recognize this, you're in a better position to win money.

WiseBettor.com has many gambling strategy, tips and informational articles. Here are two gambling pages you might like: [ Craps Field Bet ] [ Sports Betting Parlay Odds ]. Here's another great WiseBlackjack.com article you should check out: [ Blackjack - Counting Cards ]
Get Free Gambling Content at GamblerArticles.com.

The 9/6 Jacks or Better Guide

2008-05-10T11:37:00.000-07:00

Do you love video poker? It sure is popular. I must admit, I've played thousands of hours of Video Poker over the years. Once I worked at a casino where they allowed workers to gambling on any machine during breaks. So, I spent my breaks—including most lunches—hunched in front of a video poker machine. But, what's the point of playing if you don't know what the hands are?

Most machines tell you what hands pay, but they stop just short of telling you what makes up a hand—something many new players are confused with. Here's a quick rundown of all the possible paying hands for a 9/6 Jacks or Better machine. Jacks or Better: When you have two Jacks, Queens, Kings or Aces. It pays your money back. Two Pair: Having two cards on one rank and two cards of another rank—such as two 6's and two Kings. Three of a Kind: Three cards of one rank.

Straight: Having five cards in sequential order, such as a 2,3,4,5 and 6. An Ace can be used before the 2 or after the King. Flush: Having five cards all of the same suit, such as five clubs. Full House: Having three cards of one suit and two cards of another suit, like three Kings and two Queens.

Four of a Kind: Having four cards of one rank, such as four Jacks. Straight Flush: Having all five cards of the same suit and in sequential order, such as the 3,4,5,6 and 7 of diamonds. Royal Flush: This is the big payday. I've been lucky enough to hit some. You have a royal flush when all five cards are the same suit and the 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace. One tip before I go.

Always play maximum coins. That's the only way the jackpot for a royal flush opens up. When I first started gambling I hit a royal flush with just one coin in the machine and receiving just over $60 when it could have been $1,000 really hurts.

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