The Top Cities for Poker Players

1. Las Vegas, Nevada. No surprises here. Las Vegas is, and likely always will sit atop the poker stratosphere. When you’re home to the best players in the world, the best shopping for poker accessories, countless poker rooms that line the Las Vegas Strip…AND host the annual World Series of Poker you don’t have to worry about relinquishing your number one spot for quite some time.

2. Atlantic City, New Jersey. A short drive from New York City, Atlantic City is home to some of the largest Casinos in the world. With names like Trump and Harrah’s rising above the skyline, it’s easy to see why the area draws millions of gamblers each year (despite the rundown nature of the city itself). The online poker boom inspired many of these casinos to build massive Texas Hold ‘Em rooms – which even in tough economic times continue to be filled by East Coasters looking for some real action.

3. Los Angeles, California. Only a hop skip and jump from the glitter of Hollywood exists a series of the most well-respected poker rooms in the United States. That’s right, poker has come to Los Angeles, and thanks to Larry Flint’s Hustler Casino, The Hollywood Park Poker Rooms and the Commerce Casino (and several more) serious players will never fall short of places to play after they’ve hit the beach.

4. New York, New York. You won’t find many glittering casinos and poker rooms in the Big Apple, however if it is rough-and-tumble back room games you’re looking for, you have come to the right place. The most populated city in the world is also home to more poker games being held in the back of bodegas, record stores and bars than anywhere else in America. It is a throwback to the outlaw days of poker – and despite the Internet, Atlantic City and discount flights to Las Vegas, it has never quite left.

5. Dublin, Ireland. Dublin was recently named the top poker city in Europe by a panel of card-playing experts. In addition to being home to the Irish Open, one of the largest and most well-respected poker tournaments in Europe, it also has a rich community of poker players living there. These poker-playing families have passed the game on from generation to generation – ensuring that the game will continue to flourish here for years to come.

6. London, England. The United Kingdom takes a more laid-back approach to gambling than other countries, and with that permissiveness has come some of the finest luxury poker rooms in the world. London is a place to play high-stakes poker – without having to worry about the authorities knocking your door down.

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Poker & Pop Culture: Poker-Playing Presidents (source: pokernews.com)
Americans head to the polls today to elect their 44th president. It has been a long, arduous, hotly-contested battle, and those reporting it have seen fit on numerous occasions to employ a variety of poker metaphors along the way… (source: pokernews.com) – RSS and RSS Feed on Feedzilla.com

How-to-play-7-5-cardstud – Courtesy of Poker Skool (source: poker-skool.com)
How to play 7 and 5 card stud poker, where are the best places to play 7 and 5 card stud, can you play for free, how much will the casinos pay you to play. we show you how and where. (source: poker-skool.com) – RSS feeds and Widgets on Feedzilla.com

Poker News Digest 8/30/2008 – 9/2/2008 (source: PokerSourceOnline.com)
The Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville,

Before you go to Las Vegas to play poker, you should train your poker capabilities. Las Vegas is the place where you can play against some of the most famous poker stars in the world. Before you go to Las Vegas, make sure that you have set yourself a budget for playing. Otherwise you can lose all your money only in one night. There are mainly two types of poker players in Las Vegas, tourists and skilled players. A typical tourist has hardly any experience in Poker, he hardly knows the rules and he tends to make the wrong calls. He is an easy victim for other players. The other players play poker for many years, they are very experienced and play really an outstanding poker. So if you want to make money by playing Poker in Vegas, make sure that you always sit on a table with more tourists and less experienced players.

In case you go to Las Vegas for making cash with Poker, you should stick to some simple rules. The best time to play poker is somewhat after midnight. As a rule, there will be some tourists who think that they can play after a long day of sight-seeing in Las Vegas. Usually they are very easy victims even for little experienced players. The golden rule for a poker player is that he needs to be absolutely focused and concentrated on the game. So if you intend to play during the night, you should sleep during the day and have some rest. You should prepare yourself for the game, free your mind and be ready for playing.

Las Vegas Poker can be a very exciting experience for a passionate poker player. With a little bit of luck, you can share a table with one or two poker legends and learn from them. Although Poker is considered a gambling game, the main component of the game is the strategy. So it is wise to start in a smaller casino in order to learn from better players before sitting in one of the famous places, like the Bellagio, Cesar’s Palace or the Venetian. Real Vegas Poker differs a lot from the typical internet poker game. The game is slower but due to the personal interaction, more intensive. And instead of watching chips on the screen, you can actually hold some real Las Vegas Poker chips in your hands while you are enjoying the game.

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Win Your Way to Kandy Vegas
Play your poker cards right at Absolute Poker and you could be heading to Las-Vegas for a lip-smacking weekend of candy-coated bliss beginning July 24th. Read the full story at http://www.classicasinos.com/Poker_Promotions/Win_Your_Way_to_Kandy_Vegas.html

For many, the money is not at all what matters, it could be the prestige and pride at winning the games, or the educational profit that many poker players earn are what matters to them. There is such as thing called an Online Poker Training School, and you can start learning how to win at serious poker games by enrolling to this training school. Poker is considered a mental exercise game, which lets you think about how to win with just your hand.

There are those who would rather learn it the easy way, and want to get ahead of others even if it entails cheating at some point. When playing poker, you always hear how people try to read their opponents’ minds, and how they try to gauge which hand they would get dealt next by just looking at their opponents’ movements or actions. Now, there are downloadable software programs which provide assistance to poker players who would like to get ahead a notch or two on their game of poker. Many poker players may have won a game or two this way. But there is no telling for sure whether these programs are 100% accurate. These programs work by reading all the type of hands your opponents have, their style, the number of hands they have been dealt, and everything that has happened around the poker table. The program acts as an advisor, which will tell you exactly what hand to choose, and how to play that hand. It is usually called an odds calculator, computing the odds at which you may or may not win the pot money.

Earning more money playing poker can be a risky task since you would be betting your money on more games just to win at even one. Poker players can possibly become millionaires by betting on high-stakes poker but it rarely happens, and when it does, many players often get their money and try to bet on it to win higher pot money from other games. The trick is to win a game at one poker room and then move onto playing other poker rooms, that way you can also get to play against different poker players with different styles and you can learn from their styles as well.

If you prefer to win at every game against more experienced poker players, find more experience for yourself. Most poker players will advise new players that before playing a game of poker, make sure you know much about the game. If you know a lot more, you will have the right attitude towards the game, and get defeated less often. Play game after game with the goal of just learning. You can bet as much as you can but stay within the limit, that way, you can never be bankrupt or lose all your money over online gambling.

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Congress Gets Graded – By The PPA
The Poker Players Alliance has released a guide that rates member of Congress according to their voting history on poker legislation. Read the full story at http://www.classicasinos.com/PokerNews/ns_16102008_60.html

Belgium Seeks to Nationalize Online Poker Industry
Belgian online poker players will be excluded from poker sites situated outside the country’s borders. Read the full story at http://www.classicasinos.com/PokerNews/ns_05012010_434.html

Draft California Poker Act Becomes Public
California’s proposed poker legalisation law is released into the wild. Read the full story at http://www.classicasinos.com/PokerNews/ns_01052009_215.html

Poker is a popular card game across the world with the excitement of gambling and potential for huge payoffs. Almost integral to the poker game are the poker chips, and indeed poker does not feel like poker without poker chip sets.

The chips are small discs of various colors representing different denominations, meant as substitutes for real money, which is instead stored in a more secure place. The use of money substitutes, or token money, can be traced back through the 13th to 17th centuries in Europe. Today poker chips are often made according to themes and formats that unite a particular set of chips. This is useful in avoiding counterfeiters, even for games at home or in private.

Casino chips use many different anti-counterfeiting measures, with the most basic being chip coloration and embossed or molded patterning. Holographic inlays, distinctive colored markings on the edges and ultraviolet markings on the inlays further deter potential counterfeiters. Lastly, Radio Frequency Identification or RFID tags are used by some establishments. The latter method can be quite costly, but the establishments that use them feel the cost is justified. Given the difficulty in counterfeiting chips, poker chip frauds in casinos are rare.

If you plan to play in private though, you should be careful of frauds, especially if you are using mass-produced chips. Another reason for these security measures is to identify which casinos they came from. This is usually not a problem, since casinos usually honor only their own chips and it is more of a matter of branding. In Nevada however, casinos are permitted to honor chips from other casinos, and these identifiers make returning chips to the casinos they belong to easier.

Poker Chip Sets – Composition and Coloration

Authentic casino poker chips are made of clay, though not pure clay which is too soft. Special composite mixtures have been made, using trade-secret techniques, the confidential nature of which is yet another speed bump on the counterfeiter’s path. Sometimes, special edition poker chip sets may be bought from casinos, though generally poker chips stay in the casinos. Poker chips made for home use on the other hand may or may not be of the same quality as their casino counterparts.

For home use poker chips, ceramic and ABS plastic are the most common materials. When ceramic is used, special compositions allow them to approximate the feel of real clay while maintaining a lower price profile. Ceramic chips are also used in some casinos. ABS plastic chips on the other hand may be molded with a metal disk or slug inside, to give them some heft. For those in Europe, poker chips may come in mother of pearl, which gives them an incomparable sheen and luster. Coloration is standard for different denominations in one set, but may differ across sets. For example, in some places there are standard coloration schemes for chips, while in others there are none. Of note is the US State of Nevada, where casinos are given free rein on their chip designs and colors.

Poker Chip Sets – Sets and Themes

Since poker games often involve large amounts of money, a large number of chips are needed. Standard sets have 300 pieces, while others can have 500 pieces, and yet others reaching a stunning 1000 pieces. Some casinos sell poker chips similar to those used on the floor but with a few differences for identification purposes. This is great for those who want to emulate the feel of their favorite places of gambling at home games. Limited edition sets can be highly collectible, and there is a thriving community of poker chip collectors.

Many of the poker chips are traded via eBay, and the most special ones can go for thousands of US dollars, regardless of face value. Whole sets of these special poker chips can cost even more than the individual pieces. What really ties the members of all poker chip sets together is the design of the chips. Poker chips in one set are often of identical sizes, of consistent coloration, and having similar inlays. Colors and inlays vary according to denomination, but the idea is that chips from one set are identifiably from the very same set.

The edges and rims may also be embossed with characteristic patterns and even have colored sections made via special multi stage molding techniques. The designs may be simple and straight forward, just simple chips with numbers. They could just as well be whimsical, like having humorous or otherwise interesting prints on the inlays. A set of poker chips will often be packaged in a poker chip case or some such container such as an acrylic poker chip carrier or humidor style wooden poker chip case, in the tradition followed in casinos worldwide. One would suppose that if you are going for the authentic feel, then there’s no point skimping on the little details.

Poker Chip Sets – Elements of Authenticity

Poker chips are essential to playing poker. One can “play” poker without them, but it will not feel like poker without the chips would it? It is the feel of these poker chips that gives a tactile sense of authenticity. The clink of these poker chips as they hit the table and trade hands adds to the ambiance. The nature of these poker chips ensures that no one can weasel out of the bet that they placed, so it ensures a fair game as far as bets are concerned. Speaking of amounts, the printed or inlaid values may vary depending on where you buy your poker chip sets.

It is even possible to find manufacturers that make poker chips that reflect your country’s currency and useful denominations, though generic chips are also available. With the popularity of televised poker and TV series set in casinos, the mystique of poker chip sets has increased, and many people feel that poker chips are the only way with which to play poker. If you are the kind of person who likes taking souvenirs, then chips from the casinos you have visited make fine reminders of good and bad times alike. Poker chips are definitely the elements of authenticity in poker games.

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Win a seat at the 2009 ECPokerTour Salzburg
Titan Poker presents the year’s most prestigious new tournament, the ECPokerTour Salzburg 2009. The ECPokerTour poker championship will be staged in the lavish new Alpine Palace Card Casino between April 3rd and 5th 2009. Read the full story at http://www.classicasinos.com/Poker_Promotions/2009_ECPokerTour_Salzburg.html

Be a Winner with WINNER’S 2 Billionth Hand
Winner Poker is giving away an extraordinary range of prizes in true poker spirit. Read the full story at http://www.classicasinos.com/Poker_Promotions/Two_Billionth_Hand.html

Online sportsbooks were the first to be introduced in the internet and they were followed by many, one among them being online poker. Online casinos were also introduced in the mid 90s, the same time when sportsbooks reached the internet. Microgaming, that came up in the early 90s is a good example and has now become a casino software developer.

In 1998, Planet poker entered the scene and was the first to create an online poker gambling rooms. It was the first and the last of its kind for quite long. With passage of time, many new and big poker sites reached the net carrying a maximum rate of about 3 dollars with an initial rake of five percent. The industry was recognized only in 1998 but it noteworthy that the rates have been almost the same.

In 1999, Paradise Poker was created and this has now become the leader in industry. It was around this time that Dutch Boyd created Poker Spot.

Though Poker spot is the pioneer in running poker tournaments online, they faced whole lot of problems. The group did not collect the deposits of the players from its credit card partners. The company did not remit the winnings of the players as all deposits it held, were not returned. This resulted in their fall.

The introduction of the Netellers e-cash system has reduced the repetitions of the problems encountered by the Poker spot group in other poker players. The online poker groups are provided with funds from the Neteller system. The Netellers e-cash system frees the players from the trouble of using the wire transfer or credit card to deposit money in order to enter the poker group. This has helped in the minimization of frauds and improved the credibility of the company.

In the year 2001, online poker industry welcomed the entry of the two giant firms, Party Poker and Poker Stars. Paradise was on the lead until 2003, when they were overtaken by Party Poker due to the latter?s strategic advertising. The launch of World Poker Tour along with the Party Poker Million strategies attracted a lot of people and drove the group to success.

Chris MoneyMaker also contributed a lot to the popularity and growth of online poker. He was charged with 40 dollars to enter the poker room. He won the satellite tournament conducted by the Poker stars and was qualified for the final and the main event. He won the topmost prize of 2.5 Million dollars in a game considered to be one of the biggest of the World’s Series of Poker tournaments and in which about 839 participants had contested.

The creation of the site http://www.pokertips.org made online poker more accessible to all people especially to those who were new to the field of online poker. In 2004, that is one year after the launch of the site, the game became very popular with the fascinating story of Mr. Moneymaker adding another feather to its cap. The companies pocketed huge amounts and there were other entrants like Noble Poker and the Full Tilt Poker to the industry as well.

Sportingbet, a listed sportsbook acquired Paradise Poker and this contributed to the growth of gambling industry. A lot of companies considered listing in the stock market as it helped them get funds to aid expansion of their business.

The United Kingdom has passed a legislation which states that gambling is legal.

Today we have a lot of sites that educate people who are new to the industry on the game. They aid in developing the skills of the beginners and making them professionals. Here are a few books on online poker: the Super System which is by Doyle Brunson, the Hold ‘em Poker for the Advanced Players and this is by Sklansky,Malmuth, the Killer Poker which is by John Vorhaus and Texas Holdem which is by Ken Warren. You are advised to learn the basic skills and the poker theory from experts.

Some of the best Online Poker Sites

Texas Holdem Poker
StudStrategy
Low Limit Omaha
Poker School Online at pokerschoolonline.com
Ichiban Poker
Poker Performance Psychology
PlayWinningPoker.com and playwinningpoker.com
The Gamblers Edge at thegamblersedge.com
Poker Pro Association
Low Limit Holdem at lowlimitholdem.com
PokerStrategy
Poker Pages at pokerpages.com

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Online Poker Play Money
A vast selection of today's poker destinations entice players to join by offering online poker play money. In fact, it is one of such gambling website's greatest attractions because it provides truly exciting entertainment for which those involved are not required to pay. The real benefit to this type of bonus, however, is that it can be used to learn basics without going completely broke.read more

Omaha Hi Lo – A Varaition of Standard Omaha
Omaha Hi Lo is a form of the regular poker game Omaha. In fact, the wagering, the blinds, as well as the postings are totally identical to Omaha poker.read more

Online sportsbooks were the first to be introduced in the internet and they were followed by many, one among them being online poker. Online casinos were also introduced in the mid 90s, the same time when sportsbooks reached the internet. Microgaming, that came up in the early 90s is a good example and has now become a casino software developer.

In 1998, Planet poker entered the scene and was the first to create an online poker gambling rooms. It was the first and the last of its kind for quite long. With passage of time, many new and big poker sites reached the net carrying a maximum rate of about 3 dollars with an initial rake of five percent. The industry was recognized only in 1998 but it noteworthy that the rates have been almost the same.

In 1999, Paradise Poker was created and this has now become the leader in industry. It was around this time that Dutch Boyd created Poker Spot.

Though Poker spot is the pioneer in running poker tournaments online, they faced whole lot of problems. The group did not collect the deposits of the players from its credit card partners. The company did not remit the winnings of the players as all deposits it held, were not returned. This resulted in their fall.

The introduction of the Netellers e-cash system has reduced the repetitions of the problems encountered by the Poker spot group in other poker players. The online poker groups are provided with funds from the Neteller system. The Netellers e-cash system frees the players from the trouble of using the wire transfer or credit card to deposit money in order to enter the poker group. This has helped in the minimization of frauds and improved the credibility of the company.

In the year 2001, online poker industry welcomed the entry of the two giant firms, Party Poker and Poker Stars. Paradise was on the lead until 2003, when they were overtaken by Party Poker due to the latter?s strategic advertising. The launch of World Poker Tour along with the Party Poker Million strategies attracted a lot of people and drove the group to success.

Chris MoneyMaker also contributed a lot to the popularity and growth of online poker. He was charged with 40 dollars to enter the poker room. He won the satellite tournament conducted by the Poker stars and was qualified for the final and the main event. He won the topmost prize of 2.5 Million dollars in a game considered to be one of the biggest of the World’s Series of Poker tournaments and in which about 839 participants had contested.

The creation of the site http://www.pokertips.org made online poker more accessible to all people especially to those who were new to the field of online poker. In 2004, that is one year after the launch of the site, the game became very popular with the fascinating story of Mr. Moneymaker adding another feather to its cap. The companies pocketed huge amounts and there were other entrants like Noble Poker and the Full Tilt Poker to the industry as well.

Sportingbet, a listed sportsbook acquired Paradise Poker and this contributed to the growth of gambling industry. A lot of companies considered listing in the stock market as it helped them get funds to aid expansion of their business.

The United Kingdom has passed a legislation which states that gambling is legal.

Today we have a lot of sites that educate people who are new to the industry on the game. They aid in developing the skills of the beginners and making them professionals. Here are a few books on online poker: the Super System which is by Doyle Brunson, the Hold ‘em Poker for the Advanced Players and this is by Sklansky,Malmuth, the Killer Poker which is by John Vorhaus and Texas Holdem which is by Ken Warren. You are advised to learn the basic skills and the poker theory from experts.

Some of the best Online Poker Sites

Texas Holdem Poker
StudStrategy
Low Limit Omaha
Poker School Online at pokerschoolonline.com
Ichiban Poker
Poker Performance Psychology
PlayWinningPoker.com and playwinningpoker.com
The Gamblers Edge at thegamblersedge.com
Poker Pro Association
Low Limit Holdem at lowlimitholdem.com
PokerStrategy
Poker Pages at pokerpages.com

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Aussie Millions gets off to a great start
Aussie Millions has just started up again in Australia and has already seen its first major winner. The famous poker tournament started on January 14 and has attracted some of the best poker players in the world, including Phil Ivey and Joe Hachem. It is held at Crown Casino in Melbourne, and will go on for two weeks. read more

Free Poker – If you are looking to play online poker for pure recreation, and not for money, ensure that the site you are interested in accommodates “free” players. Most online poker sites do cater to free players.

Software Download vs. Web-based – Most, if not all, online poker sites require you to download their poker client software onto your computer system to run. If you are adverse to downloading such software onto your system, then you might want to check to see if the poker site alternatively has a web-based poker interface, which allows you to play poker on the site from within your browser. Software installs run the potential risk of viruses and/or adware being loaded onto your system (although most of the reputable firms would never do that), but software installs on your computer generally run a lot faster than web-based sessions. Software installations harness the power of your local PC’s CPU, whereas web-based interfaces rely on downloading any screen real estate updates over the Internet during play. This can be slow, particularly, if you are running over a slow internet connection (e.g., a dialup line). Hence, if you are after speed, select local software installations; if you are concerned about your computer’s safety or cannot afford the disk space used by a software installation, select a web-based poker site.

Methods of Deposit/Withdrawal – If you are planning to play poker for money over the Internet, it is very important to consider the methods of deposit and withdrawal that a poker site supports. Many of these sites permit major credit cards to be used, which seem to be the universal deposit mechanism of choice. Others permit the use of bank transfer, ACH transfer, checks, and wire transfer from banks. Most poker sites also support some form of 3rd party eWallets, which provide an intermediary between banking institutions and the poker site itself. The main criteria to look at are: 1) What methods of deposit/withdrawal are supported by the poker site, and how many of these methods are supported by the locale that you live in ?; 2) Is it legal to fund/withdraw to/from a poker site, from the jurisdiction that you are playing in ?; 3) What are the fees associated with the 3rd party eWallet companies that you are able to use, and how reliable are they (this latter question can be researched on some of the poker message forum boards) ?

Locale Restrictions – Some poker sites restrict the playing for money (and even free play sometimes), based on your locale, and the laws governing gambling in your locale. You should check with the laws of your local jurisdiction and check with the poker site, to see if there are any imposed restrictions on play, based on your locale.

Support – You should definitely look at the methods of support that a poker site offers. Poker sites generally provide one (or more) methods of support that include: telephone support, fax support, Email support, and live chat support. The more of these that a poker site offers, the better. For telephone support, check and see if the poker site offers toll-free support from your playing jurisdiction or not.

Game Variety – Depending on your level of poker playing expertise and your interest in variety, it is important to determine which game types the poker site supports. Almost all of the sites offer Texas Holdem, but depending on your level of interest, you should check to see if they offer games like Five and Seven Card Stud, Omaha Poker (and all of its variations), Blackjack (not poker, but often included as a game option), Stud (and its variations), Draw poker, Tournament support, and limit and pot limit games. Tournaments in particular are very popular with online poker sites, and some site tournaments offer very large prize pools.

Bonuses – Most, but not all, of the poker sites offer some form of bonus to the player, when you initially sign up with the site. Each site’s bonus is somewhat different, but of the one’s that offer first time bonus, it is usually predicated on a minimum initial deposit. Many bonuses are also calculated based on the amount of money deposited and spent on the site. Additionally, many sites offer reload bonuses, which are bonuses that are offered to existing customers, beyond their initial deposit bonus, and as an incentive to keep you as a customer.

Graphics and Useability – This is a very important consideration. Every poker site has a different look and feel to it. If you are going to be playing poker for money, it is important that you feel comfortable with the screen graphics and your ability to navigate (via mouse or keyboard clicks) through the poker program. If you feel uncomfortable at all with the poker site, you should definitely not consider playing at it for money. You should always test a poker site out in “free” mode first, before actually considering it for real-money wagering.

Game Features – You should always consider the game features that are available with a given poker site. Game features such as hand history, multiple simultaneous playing windows, player notes, audible and visual indicators, player statistics, connection status indicator, player chat, turbo games, and screen options should always be considered.

Rake – Rake is the amount of the pot that the poker site takes (as part of its fee for doing business), from each hand. You should always be aware of how much rake a poker site takes (compared to another site). Poker sites usually use a Weighted Contribution rake method or an Average Contribution method, when calculating rake. Obviously, the lower the rake, the more money you will take home on hand wins, but this criteria by itself should not dictate which poker site you use, since all of the above factors need to be taken into consideration as well. In summary, the aforementioned criteria should always be used, when deciding which Poker site is best for you. Depending on your preferences, some of these criteria should be given more weight than others. Happy Poker site hunting !!

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Turning Poker into a Full-time Occupation
Turning Poker into a Full-time Occupation If you are good at it, you can turn poker into a full-time career. The fact that more and more people are joining the professional poker circuit means that playing poker can be a viable source of income for the person who has the right combination of luck, strategy and [...]

The November Niners
The November Niners Now that the last remaining players to compete on one of the most famous, one of the most prestigious and definitely the one of the richest sporting event in the world, are completed, its time to learn a bit of them and have a taste of what could happen in the poker table [...]

British Poker Software Company Joins with Italian Poker (source: launchpoker.com)
Playtech Ltd recently signed a deal with a leading Italian betting shop company to take them online, competing for the flood of Italian poker players looking for more online action. The British software supplier Playtech signed the deal with Snai, the Ital… (source: launchpoker.com) – RSS news feeds and Widgets on Feedzilla.com

In fact, yours truly actually did run a search specifically for “Women and Poker”, and here are some of the surprising results. In no particular order we present 10 of the most tasteful poker sites on the web:

-Pokerium Online Poker Room and Casino: The front page of this website is a model of good taste and restraint. Many of the searches yielded interesting results, but this website was head and shoulders ahead. Upon opening the home page one finds an illustration of a scantily clad brown-haired vixen with a flower in her hair(no real women were harmed during the production of this design). The interesting part of this drawing is that she is placed inside of a huge Ace of Clubs. In the middle of the card, where the woman is located, lies a very large club, and the stem of said club just happens to terminate in the center of the woman’s crotch. Although there is a possibility that this not-so-subtle innuendo was unintentional, we would not bet on it.

-Next on our list is the deliciously tasteful advertisement on hollywoodpoker.com for their “Babes & Bounties” tournament. To begin with, the title itself should be enough to ruffle the feathers of most women poker players. Then, the image used on the page is of a woman in a bikini top with money in the background behind her. And finally, for those players who aren’t sold by the picture in the middle, the site claims that “12 of the sexiest poker hostesses in the game” will be present at the table. It’s a good thing too, because most serious poker players refuse to play in tournaments with any less than 8 sexy poker hostesses. Finally, jus tto make sure that one can notice all the different features on the side, there is a picture of a woman on the left-hand side of the screen dressed in her rather unsupportive underwear lying down in front of a laptop with poker chips lying around her body. She is happily wearing a pair of flattering white high heeled shoes so that she can model at any moment during her poker game. A truly classy website.

-PokerWorld.com, an up and coming online card room, is another tastefully crafted website, with nothing to offend save for their new “Topless Bonus”. The “Topless Bonus: The Shape of Things to Come” seems a stretch: with this promotion they will “top up” your account with a free 20% bonus. The stingy bonus does not only fall way short of the 200% bonuses floating around on various sites, it also offends the eye. They advertise it with a small silhouette of a woman, hardly exposing anything whatsoever. Why they chose to try and correlate a 20% with topless women is a mystery, but they surely went for it.

-Not to be outdone, Jungle Poker has its own female spokeswoman: none other than the lovely Cheynelle Fraser, a bartender/model who is now the official face of Jungle Poker. Why a poker site would need a sizzling hot model as a spokeswoman is a grand mystery. We suspect it is because the photos of Cheynelle – which include several excellent cleavage shots – surely have everything to do with poker and nothing with selling sexuality. Although the site may be using the good looks of beautiful Cheynelle to help promote their site, they are not just about T & A on their site: on the front page of the site they have an advertisement for their heads up Sit & Go tournaments, featuring two headshots of a man and a woman, both fully dressed, challenging each other to a card game. Hurray for equality!

-Europeans are no exception when it comes to using alluring images of the female form to help them sell their products. In a recent article published on poker.gamble.co.uk, the author writes about the upcoming Great British Poker Tour, and the centerpiece image of this article is a nude woman relaxing in a bathtub full of poker chips. It’s a good thing that they posted this picture, because nothing says Great British Poker Tour better than a woman bathing nude in poker chips.

-The most morbid result found during the search came from best-poker-rakeback.net on their rakeback advertisement, which features a frightening illustration of zombie woman in a corset, fishnet stockings, heels, and a short skirt using a rake to gather up some playing cards that must have fallen off a tree. Although the idea of having somebody literally raking poker cards is cute, we’re not sure about the need for a sexy undead woman.

-Gambling blog Oddjack paid homage to the women of poker in an article titled “Top 10 Sexiest Women of Poker”. This enlightening four part series takes the readers through their list of what they view as the sexiest women in the poker world. Just to give a small taste of their depictions of these women, we will go over the first three women they talk about. Each woman has a picture with a caption beneath it. At number ten on their list is Courtney Friel, a television hostess for the world poker tour. The picture they have of her is in a lacy tank top: fair enough. She’s obviously OK with the picture considering she modeled for it. Underneath the picure is a caption that says “Stop teasing us Courtney, tear those laces off!”

The next featured profile is that of Evelyn Ng. Underneath her picture they put a quote that says, “Evelyn sure is one sweet ride…” Sadly, they did not even try to be creative with this comment, the only possible connotation for this remark is a sexual one. They also remarked in her profile that she won the WPT Ladies Night event and that, “Yup, she kicked ass. Asses that belong to Annie Duke and Kathy Liebert. Asses I don’t wanna see anytime soon. No matter how much they pay me to.” This hilarious joke about the physical assets of two of poker’s greatest female players was insulting to say the least.

At number 8 on their list is none other than Lily Elviro. This strong poker player who, besides being a strong poker player, is physically well endowed as well. The picture which they used for her was taken during a poker tournament she played in and shows her at the table holding a pair of cards. She is leaning forward a little showing a fair portion of her not so small breasts. Unable to resist, the comment beneath the photo says, “It’s hard for Lily to always carry a heavy set of puppies like that.” If it wasn’t for such brilliant writing most of us would completely miss out on such hard to miss features.

-Next on our list is an article written by Toby Bochan on her poker blog. This photo-article, featured on about.com, is titled “The hottest women of poker”, and it is essentially an amateur photo gallery of professional femal poker players. The women featured in this article are Evelyn Ng, Shannon Elizabeth, Clonie Gowen, Jennifer Tilly, Liz Lieu, Vanessa Rousso, Isabelle Mercier, Cyndy Violette, Jennifer Harman, Annie Duke, Kristy Gazes, Chantel McNutty, and Jennefer “Jennicide” Leigh. Perhaps the most disturbing part about this gallery is not that these women have their pictures posted, but that none of the pictures were studio pictures. They all seem like photos that were taken in a clandestine manner on a digital camera. Does this strike anybody as creepy?

-Coming last on our list is none other than Full Tilt Poker, who recently issued a challenge between Paris Hilton and Clonie Gowen. Their hearts were definitely in the right place: they were to host a heads-up challenge between the two women and the winner would take the $100,000 prize and donate it to the charity of her choice. This sounds good, so why does this make our trash list? Well, if you go to the website, the page they created for this challenge has these two women stacked up next to each other. The title for their statistics is called their “Sexy Stats”, and just to make sure that the best poker player wins, they even added a “Who is sexier?” poll at the bottom of the page.

Thus concludes our trashy website list (NEED TO THINK OF A WAY TO PITCH THIS ARTICLE). Part IV will conclude “Women and Poker” by addressing what the future of women and poker may hold.

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Series of Poker prize package from 888poker
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Win a seat at the 2009 ECPokerTour Salzburg
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Tony G offering prize packages to Irish Open 2010
Tony G Poker is currently running prize packages for the Irish Open 2010. This tournament, one of the most important poker events in the world, is being eagerly awaited by poker fans and pros from every continent. It will be held in Dublin from April 2 to 5 over the Easter weekend, and players are already booking their seats at the table. read more

PokerStars Caribbean Adventure comes to an end
The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) came to an end on January 13 after 10 days of non-stop high-stakes poker tournament action across 50 events. Held at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, the seventh annual event produced some fantastic action and created some new millionaires. read more

Jake Cody triumphs at EPT Deauville
Jake Cody has been crowned champion of the EPT Deauville event in France, fending of competition from 768 players including two former World Champions. The final took place on Monday January 25, where Cody was up against a tough final table that he did well to get through. read more