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Online
Poker & Gambling Guide
Moneyforums guide to online Poker & gambling.
Freerolls !!! Big Money Tournaments !!! and Helpful strategy and tips !
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Money
Forums Savings Guide - Updated Feb 2006 |
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Online
Poker - Texas
No Limit Holdem
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From Poker strategies to recommended rooms |
Texas No Limit Hold-em
NL
Hold-em is the main poker game played in online
casino's and poker rooms. Why is it called
No Limit ? Because at any time a player can
bet all of his chips ! Don't worry there are
various limit games available for beginner
players.
What
are the basics of the poker game?
Each player is dealt two personal cards and
then five community cards are turned up on
the board. You make the best five card hand
using any combination of the seven cards.
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The
Blinds
At the start of a new hand, two "Blind" bets
are Posted. The player immediately to the
left of the dealer button posts the small
blind (half the minimum bet). The player to
the left of the small blind posts the big
blind which is equal to the minimum bet. The
rest of the players do not put up any money
to start the hand. Because the deal er button
rotates around the table, each player will
eventually act as the big blind, small blind.
The
Opening Round of Betting
Each
player is dealt two cards face down with the
player on the small blind receiving the first
card and the player with the dealer button
getting the last card. The first round of
betting begins with the player to the left
of the big blind either Calling the blind
bet, or putting raising the big blind or folding
his hand. The betting goes around the table
in order until it reaches the player who posted
the small blind. The last person to act is
the big blindwho has the option to raise or
just Check. By checking the player does not
put in any more money into the pot.
The
Flop
After the opening betting round is completed,
three cards are dealt face up onto the middle
of the table. This is known called the "Flop".
These community cards are used by all the
players. Another betting round occurs.
The
Turn
This is when a fourth card is dealt face up
onto the table, followed by another round
of betting.
The
River
This is when a fourth card is dealt face up
onto the table, followed by another round
of betting.
The
Showdown
The player who shows the best hand wins !
There are cases where players with equal hands
share the winnings.
Poker
Tournaments
Poker tournaments have gained increasing popularity
over the last number of years. Much of it
can be attributed to an increase in television
coverage, the growth of online poker. Poker
tournaments appeal to so many people due to
the fact that any player can get lucky and
will have a shot at winning a large amount
of money from a fairly small investment.
All players enter a tournament
for the same amount of money, called the buy-in.
In addition, the poker room takes out an entry
fee from all players entering the tournament.
If the buy-in is $10 the house might take
an extra $1, which means that the actual amount
paid by the player is $11. If there are 1000
players, the total prize pool will be 1000
x $10 = $10,000. The pay out structure depends
on the tournament, but usually there is a
prize for approximately every ten players.
In this case, it might be 30% for first place
followed by 20%, 13%, 10%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4%,
3%, and 2% respectively, thus making it ten
prizes in total.
All players start out with
an equal amount of chips and, as the tournament
progresses, the stakes are typically raised
every 15 minutes. The amount of chips players
begin with, the stakes and the time periods
determine whether it is a fast or slow tournament.
Good players generally prefer slow tournaments
where you start out with a lot of chips (as
compared to the stakes) and where the time
periods are long. This structure gives the
better player a greater opportunity of outplaying
their opponents before the stakes become so
high that they are forced to "gamble"
more.
As players go broke they are
eliminated. Once players are eliminated, other
players are relocated as tables are broken-up
and re-configured. For example, if there are
ten players on one table and seven players
on two other tables, two players from the
ten-handed table may move to the seven-handed
tables, thus making all three tables eight-handed.
The tournament ends when one player has all
the chips.
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POKER FREEROLLS !!! & Sign up Matching bonuses !
The following sites offer freerolls & free cash for signing up
What is a freeroll ? Basically a freeroll is a regular online tournament with cash prizes without an entry free or requirement to deposit your own cash !!! In addition to the freerolls the sites offer various matching bonuses for cash deposits usually in the order of a matching $100 for the first $100 deposit. |
Bet365poker.com |
- WEEKLY $5000 FREEROLL (Saturdays) Pays 300 places !
- DAILY FREEROLLS - $1000 X 4 times per day, $200 X 1 time per day.
- Road to a Million Freeroll (Monthly)- $10,000 plus a chance at $1,000,000 !
- Free Matching cash of upto $100
- Get points for playing and turn into cash.
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Ladbrokes Poker |
- $25 Free cash deposited into your account.(Purchase and play at least 200 real cash games).
- Free Matching cash of upto $100 (Make a real money deposit. and be rewarded with a bonus of up to 100% of your first chip purchase, up to $100! )
- Vegas Freeroll - get the chance to win a weeks holiday in Vegas during the World Series Of Poker. The winner of the freeroll will also receive a $500 freebet and the 75 runners-up will receive a $20 freebet each.
- $50 Free for referring a friend !
- $100 for writing an article (Ladbrokes Poker would like to invite all our players to submit poker stories, articles, poker tips and strategies to the site).
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The Purple Lounge |
- $3 Free cash deposited into your account for signing up.
- Free Matching cash of upto $1000
- DAILY FREEROLLS - $1000 X 3 times per day, $200 X 1 time per day.
- WEEKLY FREEROLL (Wed day) - Televised Pokernight live ! with 3 places Paid
- FHM Live tournament FreeRolls !(Seasonal) - Play the freerolls to win a seat at Live table tournaments sponsored by FHM Magazine with big cash prizes !
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PartyPoker.com |
- DAILY ROOKIE FREEROLLS - $100 / $150 X 10 times per day.
- DAILY FREEROLLS - $250 X 5 times per day.
- DAILY FREEROLLS - $300 X 5 times per day. That means 20 freerolls per day !
- $5k NEW PLAYER FREEROLL !
- WSOP - FREEROLL worth $10k !- Thats right ! A Freeroll that could win 16 players a week a seat in the World Series of Poker !!! - The way it works is that there are approx 8 daily freerolls into A Weekly (Saturday) Freeroll where the top 16 win a seat into the WSOP.
- $25 Free Matching cash.
- Party for Free - Based on accrued party points for cash and tournament games - can be used to enter tournaments or purchase apprell.
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32Red Poker |
- $5000 FREEROLL (Every Month) - Requires 500 raked hands over previous 30days
- DAILY FREEROLLS - $1000 X 3 times per day, $200 X 1 time per day.
- $500 FREEROLL (Every Friday) - Requires 100 raked hands over previous 5days
- $500 FREEROLL (Every Wednessday)
- $2000 FREEROLL for New players
- Free Matching cash of upto $32
- Lots of extra wins for hitting 32's and knocking out 32Red staff from tournaments etc.
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PacificPoker.com |
- Regular FREEROLLS throughout the day ranging in prize pools from $50 to $1000 !!
- 25% Bonus upto $100
- $200k FREEROLL satellite entry !
- Poker School - Learn to play poker
- Regular Large money tournaments with buyins from as little as 50cents !
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Big Poker Tournaments !!!
$100,000 Guaranteed !- Sunday 8pm (GMT) |
- Pays 130 places, 1st is $25,000, 130th is $100.
- Normal Entry is $55, with rebuys allowed in 1st hour.
- Tournament Tab is - Multi-Tables / Special
- Satellite entry is $6 - 1 in 10 entrants win a seat to the Main event.
- Satellite are weekdays 4pm, Sat 1am and 8pm, Sunday 4pm and 4.30pm
- Sat Tournament Tab is - Multi-Tables / Satellites
- Site Bet365poker.com
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$1 Million Guaranteed !- Sunday 9.30pm (BST) |
- Pays 750 places, 1st is $150,000, 750th is $300.
- Normal Entry is $215, with rebuys allowed in 1st hour.
- Tournament Tab is - Tournaments / Events / Sunday Million Gauranteed
- Satellite entry is $3 - 1 for seat for every $215 in the prizepool place into the Main event. Everyday throughout the day.
- Satellite entry is $11 - 1 for seat for every $215 in the prizepool place into the Main event. Everyday throughout the day.
- Satellite entry is $22 - 1 for seat for every $215 in the prizepool place into the Main event. Everyday throughout the day.
- Satellite entry is $33 - 1 for seat for every $215 in the prizepool place into the Main event. Everyday throughout the day.
- Satellite entry is $33 - 1 for seat for every $215 in the prizepool place into the Main event. Everyday throughout the day.
- Sat Tournament Tab is - Tournaments / Qualifiers /
- Site PartyPoker.com - See above for FREEROLLS for additional benefits.
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World Series of Poker package for the European players |
- 100 Ladbrokes WSOP 2006 Packages are available, exclusively for online players at ladbrokespoker.com. Each package is priced at $15,000 for which you receive $12,500 in WSOP tournament buy-in's, $2,500 expenses and $3,000 of free accommodation at the Rio (where the WSOP is being held in 2006), worth a total of $18,000 . .
- A range of weekly satellite entries are available ranging from $80 to $15, including a weekly leaderboard freeroll.
- Site ladbrokespoker.com
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UK Poker Open $500,000 - Live on TV ! |
- Every Sunday win Buy-in & travel expenses to the 888.com UK Open 2006! worth $7,500, $2,500 expenses and $5,000 Buy in fee.
- A range of weekly satellite entries are available ranging from 50cents to $100, including.
- Also a regular $200,000 tournament with entry via FREEROLLS or as little as 50cents !
- Site PacificPoker.com (888.com)
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Online
Poker Tips Get
a feel of how other players and playing, i.e.
who is playing tight (only calling good hands),
who's aggressive, and who is playing badly.
Make a note of who check raised, slow played,
bluffed or semi-bluffed.
Your position on the table
relative to the type of player is important,
basically you want a a tight player to the
right of you and a loose player (who bets
on anything) to the left.
Why ?
1. With the loose player on your right, you
can evalute their hand AFTER they make their
call.
2. You can steal blinds much more easily from
the tight player to your left.
3. With very loose or crazy players to your
right, you can re-raise their bets so as to
get poor hands to fold.
Pick Tables with players
that you can beat !
You want to play against people
who aren't as good as you. These type of players
tend to play the lower limit tables i.e. 5/10
cent games. So newer poker rooms that are
populated by newer players are a good start
such as 32red.com
Play Tight - Wait
for good hands
When it comes to poker, only
losing players hang in there hoping with weak
hands. Hope springs eternal, and the hope
of poor players is the bread of every poker
pro's livelihood. So wait for good hands pre-flop
and play tight aggressive.
Ranking of
Poker Hands
1. Royal Flush
This is the highest poker hand.
It consists of ace, king, queen, jack, ten,
all in the same suit. As all suits are equal,
all royal flushes are equal.
2. Straight Flush
Five cards of the same suit
in sequence - such as J-10-9-8-7.
Between two straight flushes, the one containing
the higher top card is higher. An ace can
be counted as low, so 5-4-3-2-A
is a straight flush, but its top card is the
five, not the ace, so it is the lowest type
of straight flush. The cards cannot "turn
the corner": 4-3-2-A-K
is not valid.
3. Four of a kind
Four cards of the same rank
- such as four queens. The fifth card can
be anything. This combination is sometimes
known as "quads", and in some parts of Europe
it is called a "poker", though this term for
it is unknown in English. Between two fours
of a kind, the one with the higher set of
four cards is higher - so 3-3-3-3-A
is beaten by 4-4-4-4-2. It
can't happen in standard poker, but if in
some other game you need to compare two fours
of a kind where the sets of four cards are
of the same rank, then the one with the higher
fifth card is better.
4. Full House
This consists of three cards
of one rank and two cards of another rank
- for example three sevens and two tens (colloquially
known as "sevens full" or more specifically
"sevens on tens"). When comparing full houses,
the rank of the three cards determines which
is higher. For example 9-9-9-4-4
beats 8-8-8-A-A. If the threes
of a kind were equal, the rank of the pairs
would decide.
5. Flush
Five cards of the same suit.
When comparing two flushes, the highest card
determines which is higher. If the highest
cards are equal then the second highest card
is compared; if those are equal too, then
the third highest card, and so on. For example
K-J-9-3-2
beats K-J-7-6-5
because the nine beats the seven.
6. Straight
Five cards of mixed suits
in sequence - for example Q-J-10-9-8.
When comparing two sequences, the one with
the higher ranking top card is better. Ace
can count high or low in a straight, but not
both at once, so A-K-Q-J-10
and 5-4-3-2-A are valid straights,
but 2-A-K-Q-J is not. 5-4-3-2-A
is the lowest kind of straight, the top card
being the five.
7. Three of a Kind
Three cards of the same rank
plus two other cards. This combination is
also known as Triplets or Trips. When comparing
two threes of a kind the hand in which the
three equal cards are of higher rank is better.
So for example 5-5-5-3-2
beats 4-4-4-K-Q. If you have
to compare two threes of a kind where the
sets of three are of equal rank, then the
higher of the two remaining cards in each
hand are compared, and if those are equal,
the lower odd card is compared.
8. Two Pairs
A pair is two cards of equal
rank. In a hand with two pairs, the two pairs
are of different ranks (otherwise you would
have four of a kind), and there is an odd
card to make the hand up to five cards. When
comparing hands with two pairs, the hand with
the highest pair wins, irrespective of the
rank of the other cards - so J-J-2-2-4
beats 10-10-9-9-8 because
the jacks beat the tens. If the higher pairs
are equal, the lower pairs are compared, so
that for example 8-8-6-6-3
beats 8-8-5-5-K. Finally,
if both pairs are the same, the odd cards
are compared, so Q-Q-5-5-8
beats Q-Q-5-5-4.
9. Pair
A hand with two cards of
equal rank and three other cards which do
not match these or each other. When comparing
two such hands, the hand with the higher pair
is better - so for example 6-6-4-3-2
beats 5-5-A-K-Q. If the pairs
are equal, compare the highest ranking odd
cards from each hand; if these are equal compare
the second highest odd card, and if these
are equal too compare the lowest odd cards.
So J-J-A-9-3 beats J-J-A-8-7
because the 9 beats the 8.
10. High Card
Five cards which do not form
any of the combinations listed above. When
comparing two such hands, the one with the
better highest card wins. If the highest cards
are equal the second cards are compared; if
they are equal too the third cards are compared,
and so on. So A-J-9-5-3 beats
A-10-9-6-4 because the jack
beats the ten.
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Poker Guide (c) Moneyforums.co.uk
2005 |
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Black
Jack
Online
Blackjack is the online casino game that is
considered to be most popular everywhere around
the world. Online Blackjack is a very attractive,
dynamic and interesting game that is favoured
by many players because it involves good chances
and complicated strategies. where results
are dependant upong the player's skill, here
at money forums we explain the basics of playing
the game as well as illustrate a strategy
for potentially winning at black jack.
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The
Rules of the Online Black Jack
In Blackjack the objective is to beat the dealer
by either obtaining a hand value total as close
to 21 as possible that exceeds the dealer's;
however, if a hand scores more than 21 it is
called a "bust" and the player loses
his bet. It is important to denote that the
dealer has no choices in Blackjack and follows
a strict set of prescribed rules.
Blackjack
score calculation rules
An Ace can have value of 1 or 11, whichever
suits your hand the best. A hand with an Ace
can be either soft or hard: a soft hand is
a situation where the player can safely draw
another card without risk of being busted
as he can choose between Ace values to his
convenience.
Cards 2 to 9 bear their respective face value
10, Jack, Queen and King are all valued 10
The blackjack or a natural is a situation
when your first two cards score to 21 which
is only possible with an Ace and a card with
value of ten. Blackjack beats 21. Blackjack
against blackjack is considered a tie.
The
dealer will deal two cards to all players
including himself, and expose one of his cards.
The players then take turns in making decisions.
The
players then can make the following choices:
Hit
- Aplayer that decides to hit requests
a dealer to serve him additional cards.
Stand
- a player that decides to stand indicates
that he will not be drawing any more cards.
Double
down - when a player has two hands
he can use double down to double his bet and
require an additional - and the only - card.
Splitting
pairs - if you are dealt two matching
cards, you can split them and play both hands
independently. When you split pairs you must
place a bet on the newly split hand that amounts
to the bet on the old hand.
Insurance
- if the dealer turns up an Ace he will offer
insurance to the players. The choice of insurance
allows a player to bet up to half of his original
bet against the dealer's blackjack. The dealer
will check for blackjack; in case he does
the player will lose his original bet but
the insurance bet will be paid out at double
odds effectively covering the original bet.
If the dealer does not have blackjack the
player loses both bets.
Normally
the dealer will play the "stands on all
17s" rule meaning that he is required
to draw cards until his totals are 17 points
or greater unless he busts. Otherwise, the
dealer stands. Notice that an Ace in dealer's
hand under this rule is always considered
to be 11 points unless it makes the dealer
go over 21 points.
The
payout table for Blackjack is very simple
Winning hand pays 1 to 1
Insurace pays 2 to 1
Blackjack pays 3 to 2
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Free
Money Sign up Casino Offers !
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Get 100%
Matching free cash |
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Black
Jack Basic Strategy
Mathematicians and blackjack
experts have used computer simulations and
statistical analysis to try to find a way
to beat the casino at blackjack. Through their
studies, they have determined a basic strategy
that gives the player the best odds against
the casino.
This basic strategy helps
the player make decisions about when to hit
and when to stand. By playing this basic strategy,
the player can play on nearly even terms with
the house. This basic strategy is the starting
point for more-advanced card-counting strategies
professional blackjack players use to gain
an advantage on the house.
Basic strategy
Below is the basic blackjack strategy
for playing online casinos, you will find
that this will reduce the casino's advantage
considerably.
Your Hand Dealer's Up Card
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A
5,6,7,8 H H H H H H H H H H
9 H D D D D H H H H H
10 D D D D D D D D H H
11 D D D D D D D D D H
12 H H S S S H H H H H
13,14 S S S S S H H H H H
15,16 S S S S S H H H H H
17,18,19,20 S S S S S S S S S S
Soft 13,14 H H H D D H H H H H
Soft 15,16 H H D D D H H H H H
Soft 17 H D D D D H H H H H
Soft 18 S D D D D S S H H H
Soft 19,20 S S S S S S S S S S
A-A SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP
2-2,3-3 SP SP SP SP SP SP H H H H
4-4 H H H SP SP H H H H H
5-5 D D D D D D D D H H
6-6 SP SP SP SP SP H H H H H
7-7 SP SP SP SP SP SP H H H H
8-8 SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP
9-9 SP SP SP SP SP S SP SP S S
10-10 S S S S S S S S S S
H=Hit, S=Stand, D=Double down, SP=Split
Card
counting systems
A number of blackjack players have enjoyed
success at beating the real casino's by using
card-counting systems. Card-counting systems
are based on the principle that the make-up
of a deck of cards changes as cards are played.
Analysis has shown that a deck is in the player's
favor when it has more ten-count cards in
it. The reason the deck favors the player
is because the player has a better chance
of getting blackjack which pays 3 to 2, more
money than an average win.
By assigning a simple value
such as +1 for high cards and -1 for low cards,
a card counter can roughly determine the ratio
of high cards to low cards remaining in the
deck at anytime during play. When the deck
contains more high cards and the odds are
in his favor, he increases the amount he bets
so he can win more. When the deck isn't favorable,
he bets the minimum so he loses less. The
count also affects his decisions on when to
hit, stand, double and split.
If you want to learn more
about card counting, I recommend The World's
Greatest Blackjack Book by Lance Humble and
Million Dollar Blackjack by Ken Uston.
Note
that virtually all online casinos shuffle
the cards after each round. This prevents
players from using their computer to keep
a count, and get an edge on the casino. At
online casinos, your best bet is to stick
with basic strategy.
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Last
Updated May 2006
(c)
Moneyforums.co.uk / Market Oracle Ltd 2005-2006 |
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Nothing within this Website is, or shall
be deemed to constitute, financial or other advice. Any and
all information provided within the Website is for general
information purposes only. We recommend that independent professional
advice is obtained before you purchase any product and/or
service. |
© 2004-2007 Moneyforums.co.uk / Market Oracle Ltd asserts copyright on all content including topics & posts. Moneyforums are open forums, and thus posts are NOT endorsed by Moneyforums.co.uk / Market Oracle Ltd
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