CelebPoker $9 Free Poker Money
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Players from US No deposit bonus at Bodog
PokerSource have launched a new free poker money bonus offer at Bodog Poker but this offer is exclusively for players from the US. This bonus is a straight $25 free no deposit required bonus. It is only available to American players. You will need to earn 150 Bodog player points in order to be [...] Related posts:Winner Poker Free Money – $75 More No deposit poker bonuses Free Poker Money at Titan Poker

Poker is perhaps the most popular game online. As a matter of fact, the internet is flooded with countless poker sites that offer free to intense poker competitions. One can easily be astounded with the number of poker sites and games available online.

It is crucial that you find a poker site that will offer you the best options, munificent free bets, and unmatched bonuses. In a poker game, it is important that you are able to outwit and outsmart other poker players.

In honing your skills as a player, there are poker strategy tips that you can consider. These poker strategy tips will enable you to become more clever and sharp-witted in poker and will enable you to get the better of your opponents.

One of the more sensible poker strategy tips is to familiarize yourself with the rules of the game from the basic to its variants to the progression of hands to a point where you can consider yourself an expert. Knowing the game thoroughly can definitely give you an intelligent edge over your opponents.

You also have to develop the skill of anticipating the moves of your opponents. You’ve got to think on their lines in order to outwit them or catch them when they try to cheat.

Maintain a calm demeanor when you play even when the game becomes heated. Don’t ever give your opponents hints through your gestures and reactions of what’s going to be your move. Perfect timing is also crucial in a poker game.

Of course, as with everything else in life, an important element in any poker game is preparation. You have to be prepared to play poker. You wouldn’t enter the competition without your armors and tools right? You must be able to know the playing field, the number and strength of your opponents as well as their weaknesses and limitations.

In playing poker online, you may be facing the computer or genuine people as your opponents. With the computer as your opponent, you can sharpen your skills by playing different levels of expertise. But nothing compares to the excitement and thrill of competing against real players. Here, you can study their moves, get to know them better to get the better out of them.

As most poker players are always concentrated on the hand they hold, you can carefully observe from their hands to their eyes how they move to give you hindsight on whether they are holding strong or weak cards.

There are several other poker strategy tips that you can consider as your guide to improve your expertise in playing the game. From mastering the art of bluffing to exercising flexibility, you can always benefit from these poker strategy tips to polish your own individual game. With so many strategies, methods, techniques that you can learn and understand, you can always come out a guaranteed winner in a game of poker.

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Poker Pros Understand Fold Equity
A level of online poker aggression that rarely gets discussed, but yet is quite prevalent and a large part of Texas Holdem poker games is fold equity. Fold equity is an advantage that the poker pro creates for himself by betting and raising, rather than just calling, with the intent of making his opponents fold their hands.

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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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

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
888poker in Canada is offering its Canadian players the chance of a lifetime to make the transition to pro. Read the full story at http://www.classicasinos.com/Poker_Promotions/wsop_prize_package_888poker.html

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

Irish Open 2009
The Irish Poker Open is the longest running No Limit Texas hold ‘em poker tournament in Europe and second longest in the world after the World Series of Poker. Read the full story at http://www.classicasinos.com/Poker_Promotions/Irish_Open_2009.html

9/11 Poker Winner – A Hero In Many Ways
In 2009 the "PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge" that was aired on Fox TV became one of the most watched TV poker shows in the history of the game. But now, with some spectacular new events that have unfolded, the show that will be aired on December 27 is bound to break all those records by a huge margin.  read more

Truth about Small Buy-in Poker Tournaments
Unlike many poker games, poker players can stride out of the casino as winners. That is because, unlike many casino games, poker players play against each other and not against the house. Despite this advantage, poker players should not immediately join small brick-and-mortar tournaments and purchase buy-ins. While you aim to win big, certain aspects [...]

Ho and Michelle on The Amazing Race
By: HowToPlayOnlinePoker.net Following in the steps of other famous poker players like Jean Robert Bellade who appeared on CBSs Survivor, and Annie Duke who came in second on NBCs The Apprentice, Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho are representing the poker world on this season of CBSs The Amazing Race… a

The Effect of the WSOP on Poker
By: PokerGame.org The World Series of Poker has had a profound effect on poker in recent years, mostly thanks to something called the ‘Moneymaker Effect.’ Named after the winner of the 2003 WSOP, Chris Moneymaker, the Moneymaker Effect describes the awesome impact he had on poker in the United States and around the world… a

Joe Cada’s Biography
It was a stunning performance that was watched by a crowd of thousands. Las Vegas was alive with chants of Joe Cada, as this 21 year old overcame all odds to become the youngest WSOP winner by winning the 2009 hold em poker tournament main event! Cada in his biggest game of his life had tears in his eyes when the final card was laid on the table ensuring him the championship win with a staggering first prize of 8.5 million dollars.read more

CelebPoker $ 19 Free Poker Money
There is a new site offering a free bonus at Celeb Poker. The bonus is an up front $19 in free cash with a further pending bonus of up to $180, which makes this potentially the largest free poker bankroll available online at this time. This bonus deal is available from CelebPokerMoney. There are a lot of countries [...]