Online casinos are everywhere. Those who want to gamble online have quite a selection when it comes to choosing casinos where they can enjoy casino games and even poker. Naturally, most casinos want to get as many players to their site as possible. One way that they do this is to offer a casino bonus. But how do you know which casino bonuses are right for you?

 

One way to figure out everything you need to know about a casino bonus is to read an online casino review. Gambling reviews should be written by those who are impartial to the site and can give players an honest and straightforward review of the site. This includes the fine print that is part of the online casino bonus. 

 

An online casino bonus can amount to several hundred dollars. But anyone who thinks that they can just grab the bonus and go needs to think again. Casinos offer the online casino bonus as a way to get new players to their casino. The purpose of these bonuses is to get you to not only visit the casino, but also to continue playing. The casinos have rules that are incorporated with the online casino bonus to prohibit anyone from just taking advantage of the bonus and then not playing the games. 

 

Online casinos can be a great way to unwind after a long day. If you get an online casino bonus, you can play with the bonus as well as your own money and maybe even win cash for yourself. Before you can do this, however, you have to understand how the online casino bonus works. Some of the casinos offer bonuses for players who commit to a certain amount of time, or who earn a certain number of playing points. In some cases, if you win using an online casino bonus, you may not be able to cash out right away. Learn the rules of any bonuses before you sign up for the casinos by reading reviews.  

 

Reviews not only tell you everything that you need to know about the online casino bonus, but they can tell you quite a bit about the casinos. This includes how many games they offer, rules for playing and opening an account, how to cash out or put money into your account, software security and any other incentives that are offered in addition to the online casino bonus. 

 

Be sure to read gambling reviews that center on casinos and games before you opt to take advantage of an online casino bonus. Most of these bonuses are created for long term players. If you plan on playing at casinos regularly and want to get started opening up an online account, you should read as many casino reviews as possible to make sure that you find the best online casino bonus for you, as well as the most player friendly online casinos.   The online casino bonus is only one component when it comes to finding the ideal online casinos. 

Competition: Partouche Poker Tour Cannes Main Event

The third day of the Partouche Poker Tour Cannes Main Event started off with eliminations during the first hour and the final table of eight was finally set. Gus Hansen got eliminated and joined the day 3 bustouts Scotty Nguyen, Robert and Michael Mizrachi and Noah Schwartz . Arnaud Corvisier picked up $15,693 for his 48th-place finish and those who followed in the payouts were Romain Constantini, Stephane Fanego and Scotty Nguyen. Arnaud Mattern finished with $15,693.

Finally, Day 3 of the Tour ended after 15 long hours of play and the final eight chips were distributed with Stephane Bazin – 2,387,000 , Alain Roy – 2,225,000 , Philippe Narboni – 1,456,000, Brice Cournut – 1,102,000, Jean Philippe Rohr – 750,000, Claudio Rinaldi – 749,000, Anthonin Teisseire – 541,000, and Michel Abecassis – 375,000.

This big stakes poker game will definitely be on many poker players’ top poker news watch list to see who will be crowned the first Partouche Poker Tour Grand Champion.

Poker Politics

Hanging on to the latest swing politics in USA, http://duplicatepoker.com recently held a survey among 1,639 American poker players to ask them about the election fever of Obama versus McCain in the coming US Presidential Elections. Guess who came out winner? Obama ranked over McCain with 1,043 votes (596 for McCain). It is quite interesting to know that American poker players are also active participants in the country’s politics. They also believe that Obama brings on a promising future for US online poker. Let’s deal!

The Kings of Poker

Statistics relating to poker changes continually. More poker players are entering high stakes games and tournaments, challenging veteran poker players all over the world. Yet, there are the big kings of poker who have managed to remain on top either by luck, skill, and experience. The five most famous and top poker players who have made waves in poker news around the world are the American Jaime Gold ($12,041,228) his record as World Series of Poker Main Event Champions, Joseph Hachem ($10,269,186) who won the $7.5 million grand prize in 2005, the young Jerry Yang ($8,250,000), Allen Cunningham ($7,469,380) of California who uses his analytic approach, and Paul Wasicka ($7,371,901) who came in second in the 2006 World Series of Poker but won $6M.

 

A little look at budget management – now trust me this will improve your game providing you stick to rules…

The good thing about poker these days is there is always a game to be found online regardless of your budget, but not every player stays in their budget range. The problem for a lot of players is that a large majority of people still look at poker as 30 minutes of gambling – but these sorts of player will tend to deposit a certain amount and put the whole lot at risk in a mater of minutes.

So what should we do?

Well, different people deal with this principle in different ways – personally, if I know I have a certain budget to play with, then I like to stick to a few (in my opinion) helpful rules. Say I have a certain amount as my bankroll for one day, in my first game I will look to put between 20 to 25% at risk. So lets say I’m risking 25% in my first sit down, and assume things went badly, so I’ve lost the 25% of my initial budget.

Ok, so I’m down but I’m not out, at least I’m managing my funds, and giving myself the best chance to get back in the game. So now we must go out to play again with 75% of your initial budget remaining – so in order to ensure I last a few more games, I’m going to set myself 25% of what I have left to play with, so even if the worst were still to happen in this game, I’ll still have over half (56.25%) of what I started with, rather than nothing.

However, obviously saying that you’ll lose (at worst) 43.75% of your budget in two games is a worst case scenario – we’re hoping that, with our help, you aren’t losing at all and you’re on your way to becoming a poker shark!

So on this second stage of play, let’s say I’ve had a good win and increased my bankroll – now, rather than go and risk all my winnings, I’ll apply the same rules to what I can risk in the next game. This will mean that regardless of the result in the next game, you’ve still got a good portion of your winnings.

Trust me when I say that small profits are much better than big losses.

Keep this up and you will be making a tidy profit in no time, and even if you fail to win – and with the help on this site in our video lessons section or the information in our blogs, you shouldn’t – then the amount of game-play you will get for your cash, and level of experience will no doubt increase.

How long could, say £100 last on a 25% scale? Let’s work it out…see the handy table on our site. Click here!

So, sticking to this rule we’d get 11 games out of our money – however, this is a real worst case scenario, but does show that for this money you’re getting a lot of gaming experience. Obviously, if you’ve been working through the advice we’ve been giving out, for free, in our videos, blogs or help-sheets, then you really shouldn’t be losing 11 games in a row anyway.

If you have any queries or anything you’d like to ask us – please get in touch through our homepage at www.bethepokershark.com. Alternatively, if you feel you need a little more help with your poker, please remember that all our videos, blogs and help-sheets are available on the site too at no cost.

Thanks for reading, check out more of our blogs here!

Aiden

As a game played all around the world, poker and people are viewed differently from continent to continent.

Western anecdotes of love and poker are innocent high school drama stories compared to odd tragedies that are still taking in other parts of the world.

Contrary to the Western superstition that being lucky in poker means being unlucky in love and vice versa, love and relationships are occurrences we have no control of, so, lucky or unlucky in love, we always have at least something of the sort going on or keeping us searching or waiting for it during our whole lives.

Poker, on the other hand, seduces only some, and they have to love it passionately and devote most of their lives to it, which is tricky when combining it with human relationships.

Even though Western women have opened up about poker to the point of becoming excellent full-time players who compete in world championships head to head with male poker legends, there is a great number of women who are not only oblivious to poker but actually see it as a curse, fearing their family will hit bankruptcy and their husbands go gambling mad because of it. There are also men who have no desire to be bothered with their wives’ poker lives, and others who have tried to learn it for years to no avail, but have drawn the line between their wives’ playing and family life. 

Unlike some perspectives that claim that poker is just like anything else in our lives and it is not to blame for divorce or separation, most married poker players agree that it’s not as simple as that.

For couples in which only one of them is a poker fan, there are always concerns about bankroll risk and fluctuations, misconceptions about winnings, bad beats and bankroll replenishments, demands and resentment over time spent playing or thinking about it versus time spent with spouses and family, mood swings during losing streaks, lying about expenses, losses and winnings, and of course, the possibility of poker becoming an addiction that would threaten the relationship and the player’s sanity.

According to poker player and blogger Tanya Peck, better known as MissT74 online, poker is much more than a hobby, saying that “while non-poker players can’t understand how someone is willing to throw away a relationship for the game of poker, poker players can’t understand how someone isn’t willing to understand the deep desire and passion that poker seems to bring out of us.” And although she wouldn’t throw away her marriage for the game, she would actually consider separation from anybody who would limit or disrespect her passion for anything in her life. She believes the key to making poker and love work is to negotiate it openly with your partner to determine needs, boundaries and compromises that need to be determined before any misunderstandings or resentments arise, so that both parties feel their needs are being met.

Other players such as Craig Cunningham, believe in a recipe for poker-love success:



Express what poker means to you and let your spouse also express his/her feelings about it; Determine poker limits;

Properly manage bankrolls;

Erase online hand histories

Bringing your wife flowers on a regular basis;

Making your spouse first priority by engaging in their life;

Watch less TV poker;

Arrange weekends to have the kids away from home so your spouse can do his/her thing, or sending them to their favorite place like fancy spas, or bowling allies;

Tackle bigger relationship problems that may be diagnosed by poker;

Pay attention to your spouse when needed.



Both players are right about the need to compromise, but in relationships where poker is one more issue to put up with, negotiating may not be that easy, but that also means that communication is not working overall and needs to be prioritized. In the case of couples who cannot handle the pressure or balance both love and poker, leaving the game or the relationship is usually the chosen path.

For couples in which both people play and love poker, this balance is much easier to achieve, and some are able to develop such team work that they reach a very comforting and unexpected level of happiness and fulfillment.

Poker-loving couples like Karina & Chip Jett, Michael “The Grinder” & Lily Mizrachi, Jennifer Harman & Marco Traniello, Marsha Waggoner &  Kenna James, Phil Laak & Jennifer Tilly and Bob & Maureen Feduniak have enjoyed a life of considerably less hardship and unbelievable solidarity, to the point of having an almost argument-free relationship.

How do they do it? Well, in most cases, one of them was initiated in poker by their more experienced partners, which enabled them to lean and trust each other in ways regular couples don’t usually experience. When couples teach each other about poker, that tends to eliminate unnecessary miscommunication between them, since they get to know each other deeper by opening up to being taught, corrected and backed up, and this builds a bond hard to break or replace. Besides, being crazy about each other also helps to establish a solid relationship. Do they rely on a recipe for success? Not really, they only recommend going with the flow and cherishing each other, and the rest will fall into place.

Now, on a cheesier note, let’s not forget the occasional Hollywood fairy tale, which nowadays translates in reality tale in TV. As I am sure you have all heard, Pamela Anderson’s latest cupid attack occurred during a poker game, where she lost $250,000 to her then platonic friend Rick Solomon: he offered to drop the bet if she kissed him and we all know the rest. Even though they are now divorced, poker acted as cupid, to a point of making them believe they were made for one-another. It makes you wonder about the aphrodisiac power of poker.

Talking about poker versatility, there is now something you can buy to poker-up your relationship: Poker for Lovers, the Romantic Poker Game for Couples. According to MSN shopping, the game is strictly made for 2 people, and it includes a card deck, 30 blue chips, and 30 pink poker chips. According to the only review posted, the game gets players to interact in fun, intimate ways, but it was only granted half a star for the review ranking.

Adding to the cheesy notes, now single poker players don’t have to worry about having to convince their partners to accept their poker side or about introducing them to the game; they can mingle with their own kind and even find their match at Poker-Online-Dating.com. You only have to sign up with username and password, and you can post your profile and pictures for potential matches to browse you up! The site also offers a fun love calculator (which measures your compatibility with the members you like), dating tips, free poker games, poker odds, testimonies, and also a cupid service –a personalized compatibility matching aid provided by the site’s cupid agent.

Thus, whether you think love and poker can be a perfect match just by following a recipe or buying a kit or think love is an incurable disease, getting along with your partners and feeling good about your life should be priorities 1 & 2.

Carbon Poker is hosting another great summer event for all poker players at every level. The Carbon Poker Summer Champ is making headlines as one of the best action packed series of events for players to land thier spot to the Aussie Millions.

Summer Championship is full of non stop events that run for a total of 31 events, with a conclusion of the Summer Championship Grand Final.

Certain events will award leaderboard points with the players who finish at the top of the leaderboard winning their entry in the Grand Final.

Its not all about the leaderboard though, throughout the month will be several championship events, with excitement to be had in events like the ladies event, the seniors event and the young guns event.

The leaderboard is a marvelous thing and all you need is to place somewhere in the top 30 of the Summer Champs Leader board, and you are one step closer to taking your shot at a seat for the Aussie Millions worth $15,000 not mention the other fantastic prizes available to be won. Your odds are 1 in 30 to be able to find your self coating in the land down under.

Join PokerRiverOnline.com and find yourself landing a seat to the Aussie Millions with Carbon Poker

Six nights a week at 2:00 a.m., popular NBC show Poker After Dark features the best professional players of the poker industry. Among them, 12 remarkable women stand out, bringing not only beauty, charm and style, but also talent, experience and confidence to the table.

We invite you to meet them and prepare yourself for facing their sharpness if you are thinking on participating in the show’s free-ticket promotion or if you are seriously saving up for paying the $20,000 buy-in the show requires. Our lady poker pros have been featured according to the number of years under the poker spotlight, from the stars with the most poker years to the more recent ones. In this article, we are honoring the women with most poker spotlight experience in the Poker After Dark cast.

Cindy Violette, 22 years

This poker beauty is the owner of a bracelet and 22 years of poker experience. A fan of card games since her childhood, Cindy worked as a blackjack and poker dealer before deciding to start career in poker. 15 years ago, Cindy took a two-year break from poker but returned because she missed it too much. Known as one of the best mannered players, she is also famous for winning mercilessly at the felt. An assiduous yoga practitioner, Violette says “you have to have balance in life. Poker can be obsessive and then it’s not good for you. You have to stay focused at all times; don’t get emotionally involved, and don’t let it take over your life.”

Dee Luong, 18 years

Born in Vietnam during the war, Dee learned from a very young age that she needed to always find the bright side of circumstances, and make the best out of them to survive. After moving to California at an early age, Dee’s attitude towards life drove her to pursue her dreams in Vegas, getting into the poker scene with the help of poke star Huck Seed, who gave her the tools to make it in the poker world. Since then, she has competed among the best in the game, and still continues to do so.

Jennifer Harman, 14 years

The first woman to win 2 bracelets in WSOP Tournaments, Jennifer has been labeled as the best female player and one of the best players in the world. Harman has more than 10 years of experience as a professional poker player, and her journey has taken her from bankruptcy to top success gradually. Therefore, there is not much Jennifer has not experienced and overcome in poker. She keeps her edge playing in live tournaments, where she says she learns and earns the most, and if you are still doubtful about this harmless-looking lady, you should read the chapter she wrote on Limit Hold’em in Doyle Brunson’s classic titled Super System 2 – according to some reviews, anybody who wants to get serious in poker should memorize it.

Annie Duke, 14 years

Owner of a bracelet and the respect of the poker community for over 14 years, Annie Duke is, according to Phil Helmuth, “the best all-round woman poker player in the world today.” After abandoning a career as a cognitive psychologist by dropping out from graduate school just before her PhD. dissertation, Annie got immersed into poker thanks to her brother, Howard Lederer. It paid off almost immediately, making her over $40,000 during her first full-time poker year. Today, Annie is part of the poker hall of fame, and anybody should think twice before sitting on a poker table with her.

Joanne Liu, 12 years

Born and raised in Taiwan, Joanne first moved to the United States to earn a master’s degree in computer science. Soon after landing a job in California as a systems analyst, she learned how to play poker in 1996, the same year she ventured to enter her first WSOP event, in which she finished fourth. From then on, conquering final tournament tables is a common achievement for Liu, who attributes her rapid success to the principles learned in Sun Tzu’s book The Art of War, her poker bible, which says a lot about how fierce this poker talent is at the table.

Kristy Gazes, 10 years

Leaving a career as documentary filmmaker, Kristy has been in the poker spot light for 10 years. Kristy began playing poker since the mid-80s, bluffing at casinos about her age to be able to bluff at the poker tables. She considers Daniel Negreanu and her ex-husband, Bill Gazes, as her most influencing role models. Having a notorious presence at the tables, she sits down not only to win chips, but to also demand class and respect for every player involved in the game. She hopes to retire in 5 years, but not before earning a bracelet, so beware of the bracelet predator for the next 5 years of tournaments.

Check out these beautiful poker veterans and learn from them 6 times a week in NBC at 2:00 a.m.

Next: Meet TV’s 12 Best Poker Night-Owl Gals, Part II: Newborn Poker Babes

As poker is becomming evermore popular, A question needs awnsering! Is there a way to win at online poker! The answer is simple.  Study and check out these guidelines, try them at poker time and see for yourself.

Before starting to play the game, keep in mind these simple suggestions:

*Inspect the site.  Make sure that it is authentic.

*Read the terms and conditions of the site.  Check the maximum payouts and the minimum bets.

*Allocate a budget for the day.  That budget will determine how much you are willing to lose or to win in the game. Stick to the limit.

*Do not gamble if you can not afford to lose.

*Try to find sites that offer No deposit poker bonus or offer free poker money

*Practice playing the game.  Familiarize yourself with the game first before you play for real money.

At the table, here are some warnings that you should always remember:

*If you do make a big win, do not be greedy, stop.  Making a big win and gambling it all over again is a big sign of greediness.

*In poker, overall winnings are what count most.  If you are losing, or have already lost your allotted money for the day, don’t try to win your losses back.  You won’t.  Stop.  Tomorrow is another day.

*Drinking alcohol is a big no no at poker time.  It can serious affect your judgment.  So stay away from it while on the game.

*Never take side bets.  Usually these are just gimmicks, so that more money will go to the casino.

*Never gamble your hard earned money unless you are very much ready to lose it.

While in the game, here are some important ideas to think about:

*Gaze at your opponent’s eye.  Survey all their moves.  Observe them, to better know them.  This way, you will fear them less.  This way, you will know when they are bluffing or not.

*Play in silence.  Have that conversation with your self as well as think deep to your opponents actions. Concentrate.

*Base your decisions on what the reality is.  See all movements as they are. Do not fear, instead, be calm and assess their moves accordingly.

*Don’t take it personally.  At the poker table, it is always unavoidable that your opponent can irritate you.  Never give in to such responses.  Stay within the good game.  Be cool and objective. This is a bluffing game.  But do keep in mind that just because your opponent has bluffed earlier, it does not mean that he does all the time.  Think tight.  Review each move.

*Think about what your opponents have.  Create a situation.  So when deciding, you’ll have a better chance to be right.

*Know when to stop.  Is the hand that you are raising now the hand you folded a while ago?  This is a sign that you should go home.

*Play to enjoy. Do not play if you are sad, bored or tired.  If you can’t play having enjoyment as your goal, then don’t play at all!

In online poker, there is no doubt that the Texas hold-em poker is still considered the most popular. But it probably would not hold that spot for long, as Omaha hold-em is steadily gaining ground in the poker popularity contest. You’ll find many respectable poker rooms and other live dealer casinos offering the Omaha Poker version.

Omaha hold-em, or simply Omaha, is the game of choice of a lot of poker players because it is perceived that the mathematical probabilities that poker nerds look forward to computing are more obvious there. Also, because these probabilities are more apparent, Omaha is said to be more of a game of wits than a game of chance.

Another characteristic that makes Omaha distinct from the other kinds of poker games is that in Omaha, it is not always the player with the highest hand who wins the pot. The object of Omaha is to come up with both the highest and the lowest hand. The two players who got the highest and the lowest hand respectively get to split the pot. In some cases, two or more players tie in having the highest and lowest hand, and so they split the pot amongst themselves. Of course it is entirely possible for just the player with the highest hand to get the whole pot to him/herself.

There are, however, restrictions as to how a hand of cards can be considered a low hand. First, the highest card in the hand should have a value not bigger than eight. Second, the five cards making up the hand should all be unpaired.

In addition, in Omaha, a player makes up his/her hand, be it the highest or the lowest, using exactly two of his/her four hole cards and exactly three of the five community cards.

Here is how Omaha is played, step by step:

1. The dealer deals out the four hole cards to each player one at a time. Once all the players have their cards, an initial round of betting is made. The person to the left of the dealer makes the small blind and the one to his/her left makes the big blind. The other players can then check the big blind, raise it, or fold.

2. After this first betting round is done, the dealer draws out the first three community cards, also called the flop. Another betting round happens, with players raising, checking or folding. Afterwards, the dealer draws the fourth community card, called the turn, which is then followed by another betting round with the subsequent raising, checking or folding. The same happens with the fifth community card, also known as the river.

3. The showdown happens among the players who have not folded after the river is placed down. Again, the players use exactly two of the hole cards and exactly three of the community cards. The players with the highest and the lowest hand win the pot and split it among themselves. If there are no hands that qualified for the lowest hand, then the player who got the highest hand gets to have the pot entirely to him/herself.