Posted by betlover on Jun 7, 2011 in
online poker As of June 2011 the US online poker landscape looks like a battle field with very few survivors. Indeed if you like to play poker online and you live in the United States, very few choices are currently available to you for real money games.
In fact Cake Poker seems to be pretty much the only way to play poker online currently. Carbon Poker and Bodog poker just announced that they are not welcoming US players for the near term. Doyles’ Room and True Poker were shut down by the FBI 2 weeks ago. PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, UB Poker and Absolute Poker were banished from the US market 2 months ago when the Department of Justice seized their .com domains (later released). And of course 5 years ago after the implementation of infamous UIGEA the major rooms of the time already left, such as 888poker, Party Poker and Pacific Poker to name a few.
This witch hunting crusade has no goal other then satisfying the bigots in the USA as well as the ego of a few officials in the DOJ who have a very ambitious career plan. Remember that Rudy Guliani started his ascension to political prominence by conducting a similar crusade about some of the investments bankers on Wall Street. And this certainly led him a long way as he was a Republican presidential candidate at some point. So here we go again, if the DOJ can indict some of these online poker rooms and collect a few billion dollars in fees in the process, what a victory will it be for the district attorneys at the top of this process.
But this is a story very unlike the one of Drexel Burnham Lambert and Michael Milken who robbed the public of hundreds of millions of dollars. Here the DOJ is simply trying to restrict the freedom of millions of online poker players who love the game of poker and love to play it on the Internet. They are using a technicality regarding deposit and withdrawal processes to indict and close these businesses, adding to unemployment while doing so.
Let’s just hope that this fiasco leads to a clean online gambling regulation in the near term so that the major players are allowed to offer the game to everyone who decides to enjoy his favorite hobby.
Tags: Absolute Poker, Doyles' Room, Full Tilt Poker, Party Poker, PokerStars, Rudy Guliani, True Poker, UB Poker, UIGEA, US online poker
Posted by betlover on Jan 11, 2012 in
gambling What are the main poker news at the start of 2012? So far in 2012 there is no major news, mostly small stories that are a continuation of the 2011 stories.
The main story which we have not yet heard much about is Full Tilt Poker and the Group Tapie acquisition of their assets. As both the US Department of Justice and the current shareholders of the private company have given their approval to this deal, the technical details are now negotiated and finalized between Tapie and the DOJ. That step is expected to be completed for the most part in the next few months. Then the final step will be the reopening of the poker room and how they handle existing players’ bankrolls. This is the big question in the online poker community. It was even rumoured that some players will be reimbursed in shares of the new company. This type of transaction would only make sense for the largest bankrolls and it remains to be seen if this goes through.
Another news is the building up of the team of pros at lock poker. In the past Full Tilt and Pokerstars were the rooms hiring a lot of pros, and there were quite a few at UB Poker too. These were the major hirers of pros, now obviously a lot of these pros are looking for a new home. Interestingly Pokerstars has been somehow bucking the trend as they have let go a number of their top pros, Joe Hachem most recently. So with respect to Lock Poker, they are the ones doing a lot of hiring at this time, and they just added Kevin “Civell” Vandersmissen to their stable. Kevin is a young gun from Belgium who has been noticed in particular for finishing second at two EPT events. Lock Poker has not always been lucky with their pros as they was a cheating scandal last year involving one of their previous pros: José “Girah” Macedo. The latter could not resist the temptation to fleece his unknowingly students as he could see their hole cards. Lock Poker now have the largest stable of poker pros outside the majors and they are one of the dominant operators of US online poker.
Another interesting story is about what is going on with Phil Ivey. Phil was the leading player at Full Tilt Poker and is considered by most as the best living poker player (possibly the best poker player ever if he continues to be successful long enough to outshine Doyle Brunson and Stu Ungar). Phil was not just their top player, he was also a major shareholder and he took a big hit on both fronts after the downfall following Black Friday. Since April last year Ivey was nowhere to be found, not even at the WSOP. He was seen at the end of the last year at the Macau high stakes tables, but not at any online poker site. In fact given his caliber he could only possibly play at one site other than Full Tilt, and this is pokerstars. Coincidentally rumours are now spreading that a pokerstars poker player under the username ‘RaiseOnce’ is none other than Ivey himself. There is enough evidence including his playing style to be almost certain that this player is none other than ‘No Home Jerome’. A player to watch for sure.
Tags: Bernard Tapie, Department of Justice, DOJ, Full Tilt Poker, lock poker, Phil Ivey, poker bankroll, poker players, PokerStars, RaiseOnce, US online poker
Posted by betlover on Dec 18, 2011 in
online gambling In case you are a sports enthusiast you definitely probably already noticed the fact that there are many online bookies available on the internet. The number of online sports betting websites has significantly increased during the last couple of years thanks to the fact that we are dealing with a fast expanding market, since more and more people start to notice that by placing sport bets over the internet they get to save both time and money. Time because you will no longer have to drive over to the local bet shop and money because the odds offered by online sports betting websites are a lot better compared to what the local shop can offer you.
The moment you want to start placing a bet over the internet you definitely want to use only the most reliable online sports betting websites. This way you can be sure that your money is safe and at the same time you will get paid in case you manage to win a few bets. One of the easiest ways to tell whether an online sportsbook can be trusted or not, is by looking at the payment methods that you can use to make deposits. Those online sports betting websites that accept Paypal as a payment method have been carefully selected and went through some rigorous tests before being accepted. And this way you can be sure that your money is going to be safe while placing online bets.
Paypal is right now the world’s most popular online payment processor. The reason why this is happening is because it’s very simple to use and at the same time your money is going to be protected all the time against fraud thanks to a great security system. With the help of paypal not only you can make deposits at some of the world’s largest online betting websites but you can use this payment method also to cash out your winnings.
Along with all the online sports betting websites that are accepting paypal you will also get the chance to use paypal for thousands of other merchants on the internet. Paypal is currently known to be one of the most universally accepted online payment method.
Here you can find the complete list with all the online sportsbooks out there that are accepting Paypal as a payment method: PartyBets, 888 Sports, Bet365 Betting, Ladbrokes Betting, Paddy Betting, BWIN SportsBook and BetFred. You can select any of those internet gambling websites and you will be able to make a deposit or to cash out your winnings with the help of Paypal.
Even if there are many online sportsbooks right now that accept paypal as a payment method the US players are not going to be allowed to use paypal as a payment method. This means that in case you are located in the US, you will have to look for another payment method. But the Europeans have absolutely no interdiction regarding this.
Tags: 888 Sports, BetFred, online bookies, online sports betting, online sportsbook, PartyBets, paypal, safe money, security system, sports betting
Posted by betlover on Dec 4, 2011 in
online poker The biggest mistakes in sit and go poker is probably playing too loose early in the game.
I have made an observation that I wish to share with you about the single biggest mistake I see in the online sit’n go poker games. This affects virtually all newcomers to the game and even many experienced players.
Many of your opponents will play far too many hands at the beginning of a sit’n go game. This is especially true of low limit sit’n go games and newer players. One of the most common examples of this is playing ace – rag (an ace with a small kicker). Such hands make for very difficult decisions after the flop and should usually be avoided in early sit’n go play. When you play only the best hands early in the game you will enjoy the following advantages:
1. Increased probability that you will make the final money positions,
2. You are able to sit back and watch the table to learn player types and betting patterns,
3. Bigger pots raked in from loose players when you do have monster hands,
4. You conserve chips so you have more available to push when you hit the monster hands,
5. You will frequently make the later stage of the game with a solid chip stack.
Play Tight Aggressive Poker in the early stage of a sit n go poker game.
Here is a tip for you: if your opponents are playing too loosely (as they almost certainly will be) make strong raises when you are dealt premium hands and rake in the chips from your looser opponents.
The key in single table sit and go tournaments is to play tight early in order to survive to the later stages, but when you reach them it is then time to play looser as the number of opponent decreases. The lower the number of players at the table, the stronger your hands naturally become. So if You have A9o at the beginning of the game in early position, you probably want to toss that hand. But if there are only 3 or 4 players left, this is now a strong hand even if you are first to act.
Tags: ace rag, betting patterns, chip stack, experienced players, low limit, monster hands, player types, sit and go, small kicker, SNG tourneys
Posted by betlover on Sep 12, 2011 in
online gambling PlayTech is a large company which develops and provides software used by online casinos. Distinguished by its rapid development, it is currently valued at 1 billion USD, which says a lot about its reputation and reliability. The company is second only to MicroGaming, which currently powers the most number of online casinos. The top three online casinos that use PlayTech’s software are Golden Palace, Tropez Mobile Casino, and XXL Club Casino.
I have recently had the chance to try out one of the casinos, so I chose to XXL Club Casino which leads the group in terms of customer support. I signed up following a link that offers a bonus of $10 (which I quickly used up playing $2 per spin in a game of slots). After that, I immediately made a deposit online, and then played my favorite games.
I started with Blackjack betting the minimum stake of $2. Interestingly enough, I won 57 times and lost 38 times with 5 pushes. I had 3 losses at a time followed by 8 gains and a push at the middle. But when I doubled, the results were not as impressive: 2 wins out of 7. This makes the probability of gain over 50%. Overall, the results were unpredictable—which is a good sign for any casino game. I won a lot, but the doubling results leave much to be desired. I ended up walking away from the virtual blackjack table $33 richer.
I then tried my hand with Video Poker and played the standard Jack or Better with a normal payment table 6/9. Casinos that use PlayTech software have a wider range of stakes – 5¢ to $5. I wagered five 25¢ and got odd results: 14 pairs, 15 two pairs, 12 treys, and three fulls. There is no way to explain how my pairs became treys and full-houses, nevertheless, I won $10. The doubles were vaguely around 50-50.
Just for fun, I also tried the casino’s European style roulette. I placed a bet and pressed the spin button. The advantage is that there is an option to make blank spins. However, the minimum bet is $2. After a few spins, a quote by Albert Einstein came to my mind: ‘you cannot beat a roulette table unless you steal money from it,’ which apparently holds true in my case.
Generally, I was lucky in my winnings since the random losses could not be explained, at least statistically. There’s nothing bad to say about PlayTech online casinos, they run a fair game and rarely encounter problems—none at all in my case. The graphics were high-quality for each of their wide range of games. Their joystick interface was useful and convenient with a normal speed of half an hour per 100 hands and the downloading was fast.
In my opinion, PlayTech gives players a stable platform for online gambling – neat graphics, cool interface, and the greatest convenience for players. Few casinos use this software, but its adoption is sure to increase. The bottom line is that PlayTech is one of the top recommended software for gambling in online casinos. Any online casino running PlayTech’s software will surely be worth your time.
Tags: Albert Einstein, Blackjack betting, casino game, Golden Palace, MicroGaming, PlayTech, PlayTech online casinos, Tropez Mobile Casino, Video Poker, XXL Club Casino
Posted by betlover on Feb 5, 2011 in
online poker I came in 250th in a recent tournament. That was only out of 450 players! Why did it happen? What can I do to improve my play? The answers may surprise you. Read on for a full confession and honest analysis after my heartbreaking session of NL Texas Holdem at Full Tilt.
Yesterday night I played in a freeroll at full tilt poker. I got the entrance as I just signed up with a full tilt bonus code. The competition was tough. I went into the event nervous. Big mistake. You can’t play your best when you feel outclassed. I lost the tournament, went out in 250th place. I didn’t do that well – trust me, there were only 450 entrants. I made a lot of mistakes.
The first one as I mentioned beforehand was going into the game nervous. I put too much importance on it. I wanted the prize money. I needed the prize money. I had it spent in my mind. Any poker book will tell you that it is a mistake. I play better in free rolls where I can earn less than $10 for my time than I did in this match. Why? I felt inferior. I assumed when I planned my pre-tournament strategy that they all knew what they were doing. I gave them a lot more respect than I should have and much more respect than I gave myself.
The point is – in fact the point of this whole article is this – there is so much advice out there about poker. I listened to my brother’s advice. I asked him how to play hands during this tournament. I second-guessed and over-analyzed myself. Then, I saw hands that I wanted to play – that my gut told me to play that I ignored playing because I was too rigidly playing the way others had told me to.
I didn’t trust myself. I was playing everyone’s game except my own. That was my biggest mistake – not listening to my intuition. If I could do it over again, I’d be excited – not nervous – to play. I’d be ready to put in hours upon hours of playing time to knock out this field of pretty decent Texas Hold ‘Em players – because that’s what they were – decent holdem players. Some were fantastic; but, most were just okay.
I wasn’t any worse off than the rest. We started with equal chips – and, I wager, pretty equal skill levels. I was no better or worse than my competition! Luck, in my opinion, is also equal over time. Some people seem to have it one night and others will get it another. However, the difference was that I let my own insecurities throw me off my game. I let others’ advice dictate my actions at the table. I also let the other players at the table bully me around.
I will take this loss as a huge learning experience. I’ll get back on the poker bandwagon. I’ll play my ‘A’ game or I won’t play at all. I’ll take chances. I’ll be me. Most of all – I’ll have fun and play poker like it’s a game because that’s all it is in the end, a game. It’s a beautiful, wonderful, fantastic game that I truly love. I lost sight of that because I wanted to buy some extra presents for my kids. And I got angry at myself for failing. Unfortunately, if I was half as smart as I think I am, I would have figured this all out before I entered into that tournament. Live, learn and move on to play another day. That’s my new poker mantra.
Tags: beautiful game, full tilt, full tilt bonus code, poker freeroll, poker mantra, poker mistakes, poker tournament, poker trust, PokerStars, prize money
Posted by betlover on Dec 27, 2010 in
gambling I’m not really an advocate of laying down strong hands on the river. But sometimes, sometimes only in rare occurrences should you consider doing that. This one was not the hardest of tough folds. It looks a tougher than it is because if I am folding trips plus a low in stud/8, this is not such a big deal.
The key to making a good fold easily is knowing when your opponent is a good player and when your opponent is a nutcase. With nuts case holding a board of 6624, there is no way that good player is raising because he has a strong low hand. While he does in fact have a rough six, that’s just not enough for him to go to town here. Coupled with the fact that nuts case jammed on 4th street as well as the river and I get to kiss my set goodbye. This isn’t always going to be a fold because you’ll often find yourself at the river with two players like that nuts case. In that case, it’s hold on for dear life.
I also play a lot of limit hold’em, and there are some things which are true about the game which just boggle the mind. For example, there are situations in which you lose money when you call with a hand, or you lose more money when you raise, then call any reraises with that same hand. But it is profitable to raise and reraise with that same hand. Strange but true. And actually not all that uncommon.
Tags: 6624, laying down strong hands, limit hold’em, low hand, reraise, river, stud/8, tough fold
Posted by betlover on Oct 4, 2010 in
online gambling In 2006 the online gambling world was shocked when a last minute change to the SAFE port act introduced the UIGEA which would make the transfer of funds to online gambling sites illegal.
Sports betting, casino, horse-racing, poker, and many forms of online gambling would be shut up because of the UIGEA. Any company that offered their services to American players got themselves into legal troubles in America. Sportingbet a sports betting site was one of the companies which found themselves in a big legal mess.
In 2006 following the UIGEA the sports betting site Sportingbet’s CEO was apprehended in New York. The arrest was a sign that Sportingbet got themselves into legal troubles in America because of the new bill for offering sports betting online to American players and accepting their funds transfers. Recently the sports betting company reached a settlement with the Department of Justice to the tune of 33,000,000 dollars. The sports betting companies’ settlement could help pave the way for others to attain a clean slate in America.
The sports betting company Sportingbet isn’t the only company working on clearing their name in America. Last year Party Gaming reached a much larger settlement which helped clear their name and wipe away all of their legal problems in the United States.
Sportingbet and Party Gaming aren’t the only companies in legal trouble within the United States. If sports betting, poker, and other gambling sites attempt to clear their names in America, there might be hope for those Americans who are waiting for a change with the UIGEA. One day Americans might be able to return to their favorite online sports betting and gambling sites.
This is a step in the right direction for the unclear legal landscape with respect to online gambling, let’s hope more will follow.
Tags: Department of Justice, funds transfers, gambling law, gambling sites, horse-racing, Party Gaming, sports betting, UIGEA
Posted by betlover on Jul 11, 2010 in
online poker A calling station is a weak player and a losing player. Important to always remember that when you are in doubt when faced with their calls.
They are indeed so-called passive players. Because they always call, but never bet or raise. Calling stations can be tough to play for new players and you will routinely here them complain that they never fold, that it is impossible to beat someone who never folds when bet into. On the contrary calling stations are some of easiest players to defeat when playing online poker. If you have difficulties, the recipe for success is extremely simple, never attempt a bluff against them.
In particular never try a double or triple barrel bluff with a calling station. Some of these players may fold frequently enough versus continuation bets. If they have some poker savvy they fold to a c-bet on a dry board, and you should run your c-bets almost normally against them. However,if they call, know that if you attempt a multi street bluff there is not a chance that they let their cards go. They may call all the way to the river with only bottom pair and still beat you.
On the other hand, the advantage of playing a calling station is that you can make thin value bets as they will often call such bets with a weak pair. So do not hesitate to make a value bet if you have top pair for 3 streets or even less
My recommended strategy to take money from these calling stations is to value bet systematically, almost never bluff, immediately fold when they display strong by betting, in particular in the unlikely event that they raise you, never ever slow play a calling station, but on the contrary 3-bet with the goods.
Hope this helps and good luck at the tables.
Tags: 3-bet, betting, bluffing, calling stations, double barreling, multi street, passive players, poker bluff, raising, river bet, value bet
Posted by betlover on Mar 21, 2010 in
online gambling Deposits
For U.S. customers, we do not recommend trying to use your credit cards or debit cards to fund opening a casino account. Most U.S. based credit cards issuers (banks) will not accept these transactions from online casinos. This is primarily because most casinos reside outside of the bank’s jurisdiction and online credit card transactions from casinos are considered high risk.
This is actually for your protection and it is a very normal & legitimate practice for banks with some online activity. Do not be discouraged by this and realize that there are many other very safe & reliable (and better) means to fund your opening an account.
You can fund directly from a checking account, bank wires, or through various other convenient methods such as NETeller, Firepay, Citadel, or other respected deposit entities. Most reputable online casinos provide you with several options within their ‘banking’ module and provide extra bonuses for using these options as well. These alternative methods are highly recommended, safe, secure and reliable.
Bonuses
Carefully read the casino terms and conditions before accepting the deposit bonuses. This is usually found in the ‘Promotions’ area within the casino websites. Most casinos require considerable ‘play through’ amounts of the total deposit plus the bonus amount.
For example, if you deposit $100 and receive a $100 bonus ($200 total), you will sometimes have to wager up to 20 times the total amount (i.e. $4000 in total playing) before you can consider cashing out. This is a very common practice for casinos to keep you playing longer and is perfectly legitimate. Keep in mind though that you have the right at any time to refuse the deposit ‘bonus’ and just play with your deposit with no limitations on cashing out. You just have to notify the casino before playing with any amounts.
The Fine Print
Each casino or online poker room has their own specific ‘terms and conditions’ regarding all of your play, deposits, bonuses, and cash out procedures.
Make sure to carefully read these terms and conditions before depositing any money. All of the casinos we will present on this website are legitimate, safe, secure and well established organizations. However, look for any limitations on cashing out or usage of your bonus money. Do your research and thoroughly read through the casino site operation as a whole. Look for trusted names at the bottom of their site and any supported organizations that assist in maintaining the integrity of online fair gaming practices.
Tags: account opening, Citadel, deposit bonuses, fair gaming, Firepay, NETeller, online casinos, online poker room, reputable casinos