Get your husband to cancel his weekly poker game

Over the past few years it always bothered me that my husband would go play online poker with his friends every Friday night. Whenever I complained that it would be nice to spend time with my husband on Friday, he just complains that this is the only time he gets to be with his friends.

I decided I had to come up with a way to make him choose me over his poker buddies so I tried many different things, at first I tried by asking him to stay home so we could have sex all night. That worked a few times but then he caught on to what I was doing.

I also tried finding different events that he may want to go to like action movies, car shows and other things of that nature but there were not always things to do, so that was another failed attempt.

But after 6 months of trying I had just about given up, finally at my wits end I decided that maybe I could get real good fast I could challenge him to a game and if I won he had to stop going to his game, and if he won I would pay for him to go to Vegas I spent every spare moment I had reading everything I could find online about Texas Holdem. Eventually I decided to go online and practice at some Video Poker.

Eventually I started playing for real cash Online, and once or twice while he was at his game I would drive to one of the local casinos and play for a few hours in their poker rooms.

Finally I felt I was good enough to make the challenge. So one night I told him that I wanted him to stop going to his Friday night games and to stay home with me, as I had expected it started a big argument. I waited until he made his speech about working hard and needing some “guy” time.

So I felt this was my time to strike, I asked him if he would at least allow me to come and watch the game, to which he replied that players only as the rule and that since I did not know how to play I could not go.

So I said if he could do it how hard can it be that really got him going, so he then asked me if I wanted to make the game a little interesting with a little bet. Now I had exactly what I wanted.

I said if he won I would pay for him to go to Las Vegas alone, he did not know I had made some good money playing poker recently, and if I won he would give up his seat in his regular Friday night game.

He looked at me suspiciously at first and I thought he was not going to risk it but he said ok. He ran to the closet and grabbed his chips we each started of with $100 in chips and agreed the first one out is the loser.

Well in the end it was me that lost, but he was so excited at how good I was that he did stop going to his Friday night game, now every Friday night we go and play together at the casino. We have been doing this for 2 years now and our relationship has never been this good.

Sometimes it really is better to try to get interested in his hobby.

Asia Pacific Poker Tournament (APPT)

PokerStars, the largest online gaming website today, sponsors a number of offline tournaments, including the European, Latin American and the Asia Pacific Poker Tours. These events are televised and are thus widely popular among the poker community.

Started in 2007, the Asia Pacific Poker Tour is the first of its kind in the region. It was responsible for bringing major Texas Hold ‘Em tournaments to these countries for the first time ever. The first season covered only four countries, Philippines, South Korea, China and Australia. It broke the record for the largest poker tournament in Asia with over 350 players.

In 2008 the tournament returned to the region for a second season, adding New Zealand to its list and showing a significant increase of participants from the previous year. At 538 participants APPT Macau broke its own record and is currently hailed as the largest poker tournament in Asia. 

The 2009 tournament looks to set all new records for the region with a change in locations and increased player capacities. Season 3 is due to begin at the end of August in Macau, China. Further tournaments will be held in Seoul (South Korea), Auckland (New Zealand), Cebu (Philippines) and finally arriving in Sydney, Australia for the Grand Final, scheduled to occur in December.

The Asia Pacific Poker Tour 2009 aims to outdo itself this year. Prize pools are increased to make room for more players. Larger events are to be held to draw in the crowd. Thanks to the introduction of tournaments all over the world, poker is truly becoming a global sport.

The tournament isn’t run by rookies either. Danny McDonagh, the tournament director has previous experience with numerous poker tournaments held in Australia since 1998. He was also deeply involved in every major poker tournament held at the largest casino in Australia, the Crown Casino. As if that isn’t enough, he has also directed two televised poker tournament series held in the country.

The APPT President, Jeffrey Haas, is also highly experienced with the gaming industry, both online and offline. In addition, he has worked with the Discovery Channel, and produced poker events in diverse regions like Canada, Sweden and Spain.

441 Productions, which adapts the tournament for television, has vast experience with both poker and beyond that. They have directed numerous documentaries, in addition to handling the televising of the WSOP on ESPN since 2003.

Poker Tournaments (I)

World Championship of Online Poker

PokerStars, currently the largest online poker website in the world, is the head sponsor of poker tours across the globe, including the European, Asia-Pacific and Latin American Poker Tours. It also endorses numerous professional poker players, and has a team of celebrity poker players who help promote the website as “Friends of PokerStars”.

The largest online poker tournament, the World Championship of Online Poker, is hosted by PokerStars. It was started in 2002 to bring the live poker tournament – The World Series of Poker – to the internet. It runs in a pattern parallel to the World Series of Poker, where the contestants play a number of poker variants, including Texas Hold ‘Em, Stud Poker, Omaha Poker, etc.

Putting the tournament online allows players from all over the world to take part in the game, bringing poker players from all walks of life closer. Winners of the tournament don’t just win a cash prize; they receive a personally engraved 14 karat gold bracelet to boot.

Poker Basics, for Novice Players

As a still-novice-poker-player-who-plays-poker-online-without-actually-spending-real-money, I often get confused by the quick pace of online poker games. You’ve just checked for the pre-flop round, and then you blink, and the game’s over, and the pot you just put all your money into has gone to another player. I usually stare at their cards for the second before they disappear completely, and then hastily check the dealer chat hoping it can tell me how I managed to lose it all.

It’s not that I don’t know the hands of poker; it’s just that I usually forget the rankings of the hands. So here’s my using my best memorization trick – writing it all down.

So which is the hand to rule them all? That’d be the Straight Flush, or more specifically, the Royal Flush. It consists of A-K-Q-J-10, all of the same suit. It is the rarest hand in poker, and is an amalgamation of two ‘lesser’ hands of the game, but more on that later.

Then comes the Four of a Kind; a hand consisting of four cards of the same rank in the deck. The higher the rank of the four cards, the better it is for you. After this is the Full House, which is also a fusion of two lesser hands, in this case, a One Pair, and a Three of a Kind.

After this is the Flush, or 5 cards of the same suit. The highest card in the hand determines the winner in case of a tie. Then comes the Straight, or a sequence. These two make up the highest poker hand, the Straight/Royal Flush.

After this come the pretty much self-explanatory hands – Three of a kind, Two Pair (Two pairs and a “kicker” which determines the winner), and the One Pair. Finally, we have the High Card, which usually doesn’t win, but you’d be surprised to see the size of the pots it sometimes does win.

While explaining the game to me, someone once told me that poker is really a game about permutations, combinations, and probability. Wikipedia gives a fairly useful description of the different poker hands as well as the odds of getting them.

In my previous article, when I mentioned that the Royal Flush was the rarest hand, I was understating. The chance of getting a Royal Flush from a well-shuffled deck is approximately one in 650,000 hands. A Straight Flush occurs once every 73,000 hands (much better!), while a Four of a Kind occurs once around every 4500 hands. A Full House occurs in less than 0.15% of hands, a Flush in less than 0.2%, and a straight in less than 0.4% of hands.

Here’s where the odds get slightly better: Three of a kind – 2.11% and Two Pairs – 4.75%. Finally, you have over a 92% chance of getting either a One Pair or simply a High Card.

Just to put this in perspective, here are some interesting facts:

You are more likely to die by asteroid impact or a tsunami than be dealt a Royal Flush.

You are more likely to be legally executed than get a Straight Flush.

Finally, you are more likely to die as a result of natural forces (storms, earthquakes, etc.) than get a Four of a Kind.

 

You must also be able to lay down big hands.

One of the biggest mistakes I see a professional player make is not laying down a poker hand when they are beat. Many professional players minds work on one track. If the opponent is a loose fish, he may not have a hand so I have to call him down. This is not the proper play all the time. They do not really try to look for tells they just call. Believe me bad players get KK just like you do, so look for tells and save your money. Think before acting. Review the hand in your head again and again if you have to.

One of the hardest things for any top poker player is to say even though I am stuck this game is not worth it. This poker game has gone bad and has not the proper return rate. Many players just keep playing in bad games when stuck when they should be resting their mind for the good games. Online on the big poker sites you will never run into this situation, as a good game is a click or two away. But when you play live go home, run for the sidelines and live to play another day.

Poker skills

Every player has poker skills. Obviously some people have more skills than others. Developing our skills, refining them, and recognizing them is an important part of being a winning player.

One of those valuable skills is the ability to recognize and exploit our opponents' anti-skills.

What is an anti-skill? Anti-skills are things mediocre and bad players do that better players take advantage of where the bad player is actually under the illusion that what he is doing is skillful !



I am not talking about players playing flat-out bad -- going on tilt, playing garbage poker hands, playing over their bankroll. Those things are exploitable too of course, but I am talking about those times and things where players think they are playing good when in fact their actions are extremely costly to themselves.

Perhaps the most common bad play that weaker players think is a good play is "the big lay down." This term is used in many different ways, and I am not meaning that making big lay downs is always bad. For example, big lay downs are a key to winning in big bet poker, particularly pot limit games. I'm talking about situations where players pat themselves on the back for folding a "big" or fairly powerful hand on the final round for one bet playing limit poker. Not only is this seldom a good play, it is often catastrophic -- especially against a strong player.

When Playing Poker, Last is Sometimes Best

When you're playing a game of online poker, there is no doubt about that being last is best. If someone has the opportunity to see what everyone else has done before them, not only do you have a much better idea of the daunting task in front of you, but you've been completely educated by the failures, and mistakes of your competitors.

Poker is no different, because regardless of what the layman may assume, all those who play, know that poker is a game of skill. The more you play, the more you'll realize you can build your poker strategy based on the other poker players at the poker table.

Playing late in the game allows you to receive everything after everyone else. As the cards come, you don't even need to look at them. Not until you have taken notice of everyone's reaction to their own. Does someone have an immediate poker tell? This is something you'll take a mental note of, and check for consistency in later rounds of betting and in the next game. In this position, you are truly the cultural anthropologist of the poker world; a true observer and participant. The later your position plays, the quicker you can take note of these things.

Play Straightforward Poker

Internet poker is gaining its popularity now. Please keep in mind that online poker is real poker. So you should take it seriously. Here is some basic advice about how to win at online poker.

The trick to beating games filled with weak players is to avoid doing anything fancy. You don't need to. Most of your profit will come from choosing to do the obvious right thing. Raise when raising is your logical first choice. Fold when your poker hands are weak. Bluff sparingly in limit games. Against the type of poker player you meet online, you should try fewer tricks than you would in the real world.

Online, you will find that opponents are treating poker a little more like bingo, paying attention to their own hands mostly and paying attention to you only a little or not at all. Creative poker players will have trouble adapting to the reality of online poker. That's because creative plays often sacrifice profit, rather than enhancing it.

In short, when you are playing online, make obvious, strong decisions. Don't try to be too fancy. Your efforts to your physical presence, they're not paying as much attention to what you do.

Useful Poker Strategy Which I got by Chance

Today, when I go through the poker forums, I found a good post on how to put opponents on a hand or hand ranges. I'd like to share it with you all. Hope you will find it is useful as I do.

One of the best ways to practice is to really pay attention when you are not in the hand (live or online. It doesn't matter). You aren't going to be able to put someone on a hand for the most part unless you've seen them play for a little while. Learn what they raise with and when, learn what they call with and when, and learn what they limp with and when. How did they bet the last time when they had a set, a draw, TPTK, etc.? When do they check? When do they reraise or check raise? Live: Do they have any tells that can assist you? Online Poker: Pay attention to betting patterns. Also online, make sure you check the poker hand history if someone calls a bet on the river and then mucks because you still get to see what they have.

Most poker players, even the most patient, get bored when they aren't in the action. Use the hands you aren't in to test yourself and see how often you are dead on, really close, and completely wrong. Make sure to really think through the process as to why you thought what you did. This will keep you sharp throughout the whole session and obviously pays dividends.

This is really an area where practice makes perfect. The more you play and the more you study at the poker table the better you will get.

Some Concerns about Online Poker

Not being able to look your opponents in the eye and physically scrutinize them is certainly a disadvantage to online poker as compared to real-world poker games. In a live game, with your opponents sitting right in front of you, you can see who you're playing against, something that would be impossible to do against inanimate icons on your computer screen. One of the main worries poker players have about online poker is that opponents may be playing partners. For example, what's to stop two opponents from getting on the phone and telling each other what cards they're holding? Then they can play their best hand or do other things that would be in their interest as a team. That's cheating, of course, and that runs contrary to the purpose of poker. But when money is involved, people sometimes will do things that are unethical.

People also worry about a single poker player pretending to be several opponents, using more than one computer and playing multiple poker hands from the same location. In real-world poker, obviously the problem of one person secretly playing a second hand is physically impossible, but, as in online games, collusion between partners working against you can still be a concern.

Get a Taste by Playing Small Money Games

Remember, that you don't need to play for big money or even any money at all. But if you are tired of the free poker games, you can try limits as small as two cent and four cent—meaning all the early bets and raises are by increments of two cents and later they become four cents. Almost anyone can afford that and still experience the thrill of playing poker for actual money.

Now, you wouldn't think that just making the bets a couple of cents would make much difference. I didn't. But now I realize that the number of poker players who enter a pot and the quality of their decisions is remarkably better, even if the battle is only over a few cents per bet.

Spreading tiny real-money games is service that online poker rooms can offer to the world, whereas real world casinos couldn't do the same thing profitably. Those real casinos have dealers to play, physical facilities to maintain, and much more. They just couldn't earn enough by extracting a penny or two from each pot in traditional rakes to get anywhere close to breaking even.

These are tremendous break-in games for new poker players. You get the taste of real-money play. And even if you lose, the cost of entertainment is trivial compared to even going to a movie or dinner. For this small cost, you're beginning your poker education through live play.

Sacrifice Marginal Hands When Playing Multiple Games

What do you do when you’re playing more than one game at the same time? Besides recognizing that you won’t be able to concentrate fully on each game—getting a good feel for how each individual opponent is playing—there are some practical considerations.

First, there are many marginal poker hands that you can either choose to play or not play. When you’re playing multiple games, you can sacrifice these hands. Just fold them. If you were in only one game, you would consider playing them, because it might help your image along a little or might actually earn a small profit in the long run.

But, online poker when you’re playing more than one game, you probably should forget about developing a lively image. If you do, opponents are just likely to play back at you in imaginative ways and you’ll have to concentrate even more on that game than you would otherwise. Unfortunately, because you’re playing more than one game, you can’t.

The other bad thing about playing marginal hands when you’re involved in multiple games is that you would do worse than otherwise with your attention divided and instead, you’ll probably lose money with them. Now, if these hands are no longer profitable, doesn’t it make sense not to play them at all?

And there’s another problem with playing marginal hands. When you’re involved in a pot in one poker game with one of these hands, you’re limited in how effectively you can play a pot in the other game.

So, in effect, you’re playing a hand that can’t win money overall in the one game and hurting your chances of winning in the other game. That’s bad.

Online Poker Tells

Technology surrounding us makes things change and the swiftness of change today is unparalleled in history. Nothing makes poker players more aware of this change than the advent of online poker.

Technology changed everything---from productivity, to research, to games. With the spreading of technology, we could play poker without being physically present and we could be at the table instantly.

What is even greater is that online poker never sleeps. It’s always prime time for poker somewhere in the world, and you can join those games, even if nobody else is awake in your neighborhood. I believe one of the best effects of the Internet is what’s happening to poker. Bit by bit, poker is becoming the world’s common language of gaming. In a real sense, online poker is doing its part to make the world better---as well as helping to showcase the game.

A main virtue of online poker is that it makes games possible among eager players who live so far apart that they’d seldom have a chance to sit down together at a real-world table.

Gaming and the Presidential Election: All in for McCain

Gaming has bet the house on the presidential campaign of Republican John McCain.

Through September, individuals with ties to casinos have contributed more than $260,000 to McCain's campaign, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Democrat Barack Obama has received almost $133,000 in contributions from the same group.

Liberal-leaning Progressive Accountability, however, puts McCain's gaming industry contributions at $951,000, when fundraising efforts and contributions from casino lobbyists are included. The Obama campaign prohibits contributions and fundraising by lobbyists.

McCain's largest gaming fundraiser has been MGM Mirage Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Terry Lanni, who has collected at least $500,000 for the campaign, according to OpenSecrets.org, the Web site operated by the Center for Responsive Politics. Wynn Resorts Chairman and CEO Steve Wynn has raised between $250,000 and $500,000 for McCain. Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson and company President Bill Weidner have each raised between $100,000 and $250,000 for McCain.

Las Vegas advertising executive Sig Rogich, whose company Rogich Communications Group has worked for casino operators, including Las Vegas Sands, has raised between $250,000 and $500,000 for McCain, according to OpenSecrets.org.

"This shouldn't be too much of a surprise," University of Nevada, Reno political science professor Erik Herzik said. "Individual casino operators provide money based on their own ideological and political interest. Big business tends to lean Republican."

McCain's contributions to gaming came nearly a decade after the Arizona U.S. senator tried to take a bite out of the revenues generated by Nevada's sports book industry. He pushed unsuccessfully for federal legislation in 1999 and 2000 that would have made wagering on college sports illegal. Nevada is the only state where legalized betting on professional and college sports flourishes.

Casino interests in Washington, D.C., vigorously fought against the ban proposal. McCain has since backed away from the idea.

American Gaming Association President Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., a former chairman of the Republican National Committee and a McCain backer, said the Republican presidential nominee has not discussed banning college sports wagering at all during the campaign.

"We were very much opposed to the legislation," Fahrenkopf said.

Even Obama supporter Billy Vassiliadis, the CEO of marketing firm R&R Partners, which oversees the advertising for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said a college sports betting ban is not an issue.

"If this was 10 years ago, the college sports wagering issue might have changed some of (McCain's) support," Vassiliadis said.

Meanwhile, McCain is a lifelong gambler. In a May 2005 article in the New Yorker, writer Connie Bruck recounted stories of McCain playing craps for "14-hour stints" in Las Vegas from 10 a.m. until midnight. Bruck wrote about how she traveled with McCain to New Orleans, and upon arriving at the hotel, he immediately went across the street to gamble at Harrah's New Orleans, playing at a $15 minimum bet table.

"Craps is addictive," McCain was quoted as saying in the New Yorker article.

In July 2000, when McCain was pushing the ban on college sports wagering, Review-Journal columnist John L. Smith spotted the Arizona senator playing craps at Caesars Palace on a Friday afternoon. McCain refused an interview.

In September, the New York Times recounted an early morning McCain gambling excursion in a high-stakes poker room at the Foxwoods casino in Connecticut not long after he ended his 2000 presidential bid. The article focused on McCain's ties to gaming industry lobbyists.

McCain has also been a frequent guest of Lanni at championship boxing matches hosted at MGM Mirage casinos.

But even with the bulk of gaming contributions tilting toward McCain, most political scientists and gaming analysts don't believe an Obama victory Nov. 4 would be akin to the industry rolling snake eyes.

With the stock market tanking, jobs disappearing and the war on terror continuing, the economy and national security have dominated the presidential debate. Legalized gaming is not on the radar screen.

"It's not even up for discussion," said David Damore, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "At the end of the day, both candidates have too many other things to worry about than gaming."

Republicans, Democrats, political observers and gaming analysts all agree the casino industry would remain untouched under either a McCain or Obama administration.

"Gaming just hasn't been talked about and I think that bodes well for the industry under either candidate," said Wall Street research analyst Joel Simkins, who follows gaming companies for Macquarie Capital Group.

Fahrenkopf agrees. The casino industry's chief Capitol Hill lobbyist, Fahrenkopf, whose ties to Republican politics span some 40 years, is hard-pressed to say that a Democratic administration under Obama would make his job tougher.

"Both of them, throughout the campaign, have been very articulate about state's rights on a number of issues, including gaming," said Fahrenkopf, who donated the maximum individual contribution of $2,300 to the McCain campaign in July. "Both candidates have said some issues should be left up to the people in the individual states. Obviously, as the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, I support John McCain. But I don't think Obama will be bad for the industry."

The only gaming-related issue in play federally concerns Internet gambling. Congress voted to ban Internet gambling in 2006 and President Bush signed the measure. Several efforts are under way in Washington, D.C., to roll back the ban. The American Gaming Association supports a one-year study of Internet gambling.

Neither McCain nor Obama have taken a stand on Internet wagering.

"That's really the extent of what's out there on the horizon," Fahrenkopf said. The gaming industry as a whole is not focused on federal legislation.

Vassiliadis said efforts to impose a federal tax on gaming revenues always unite the casino community. But that issue has not been broached by either Democrats or Republicans.

"It's not been a point of discussion, so the gamers are really just going by their own personal preference," said Vassiliadis, who donated $2,300 to Obama in September 2007. "A lot of them see it as their civic duty to take part in the political activity."

Rose McKinney-James, a member of the MGM Mirage board of directors and an Obama supporter, said the company's meetings were rather interesting early in the presidential election. McKinney-James, a Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1998, said her support of Obama was matched by Lanni's backing of McCain. Board member Alexis Herman, who was secretary of labor under President Clinton, was in the camp of Sen. Hillary Clinton, while former Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn was backing Republican Mitt Romney.

"We're all still friends because we have a healthy respect for individual differences," McKinney-James said. "Most members of the board are high-profile individuals and you have to expect some diversity in our choices. It made for some good board room discussions."

Obama's issues with gaming go back to his tenure as a member of the Illinois Senate.

He is the U.S. senator from Illinois, a state that is home to nine riverboat casinos. Obama opposed efforts to expand the state's lottery, according to Fahrenkopf. However, Vassiliadis said Obama's votes as a legislator were pro-gaming.

"Barack has consistently pointed to Nevada as a role model for gaming regulation," Vassiliadis said.

McKinney-James, who is a renewable-energy proponent, said her conversations with Obama have been about energy issues, not gaming.

Fate of Online Poker in the U.S. Still in Question

PokerBlogParty reported: As the Governor of Kentucky persists in his relentless battle to seize 141 online poker domain names in order to squelch access for its residents, industry analysts are in intense debates as to the future of online poker.

Canada’s Kahnawake Gaming Commission, one of the largest in internet poker boasting sites such as Bodog, Crazy Poker, Everest Poker, Noble Poker, Poker.com, Titan Poker, and more issued a statement railing against Gov. Steve Beshear’s actions.

This following the siezure of one of the game’s most popular online poker rooms, Doyle’s Room, the internet poker site of the Godfather of Poker, Doyle Brunson. The fate of this and other poker sites large and small could be decided as soon as October 15.

The 1 million-plus members of the Poker Player’s Alliance, meanwhile, are avidly seeking legislation (such as S. 3616, introduced byby Senator Robert Menendez) to regulate internet gambling in the United States so that all 141 of these sites may be permitted to continue to exist, and serve poker players all over the world, including the U.S. The Senator asserts that such a move, which would include taxing these sites, could help the US government open the floodgates on a whole new source of revenue.

Sounds like legal online poker in the U.S. is good for everyone! (Everyone, that is, but the contentious Kentucky governor.)

Statement of PPA Chairman Senator Alfonse D’Amato in Response to Online Poker Cheating Scandals

Former Senator Alfonse D’Amato, chairman of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the leading poker grassroots advocacy group with over one million members nationwide, today issued the following statement in response to recent online poker cheating scandals. “The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) is the political and public policy voice for poker players in America. Central to our mission are advocacy efforts in Washington D.C. and around the country to protect poker players from misguided and vague laws and to establish licensed and regulated Internet poker in the U.S. To be clear, the PPA is not a regulatory body for poker players or the poker industry, nor do we seek to be. We are, however, compelled to speak out when our public policy mission is potentially undermined by actions which present Internet poker in a negative light. “Trust is paramount in poker. Sadly, this foundation has been undercut by admissions from two well-known online poker companies, Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet, that cheating has occurred on their poker sites. The Poker Players Alliance condemns any and all cheating in poker no matter the forum in which it is played. Because of the current legal uncertainties and the lack of federal regulation and oversight, it is especially troubling when cheating occurs in online poker.

This has created an untenable atmosphere and has denied the proper means to investigate allegations, administer due process and then apply appropriate penalties for the wrongdoers. We urge these companies and their regulating authority, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, to provide a full and transparent accounting of these breaches of the public trust to help lift the black cloud that has been placed over the industry.

"The recent cheating scandals underscore the need for U.S. licensing and regulation of online poker to help protect consumers. While even the most highly regulated industries are susceptible to fraud and abuse, regulation does provide assurances that when consumers are harmed they have recourse. Further, it is abundantly clear that regulation will also address other consumer concerns by successfully providing ways to bar access by children to gambling Web sites and providing the necessary services for problem gamblers. “The federal government cannot continue to abdicate this basic responsibility to millions of its citizens who choose to play poker on the Internet. The attempt to enforce an outright prohibition of online poker is deeply flawed and unworkable, not to mention it invades upon the personal freedoms of law-abiding adults who wish to engage in a game of skill.

"Remaining consistent with our organization’s mission, we will continue our efforts on Capitol Hill to ensure lawmakers are well educated about the benefits of regulation to protect consumers and enable the rights of poker playing adults. These scandals will not and should not be the demise of a responsible government approach to Internet poker. Instead, this can be the pathway to understanding that regulation is the key to protecting citizens and the future of America’s card game.”

KISS BUT NOT TOO SIMPLE

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New online poker room, Raidbet.com does just that!

Launched in mid 2008 Owned by AWW Ltd., Raidbet.com Poker operates with a regular license issued according to the new regulations on online gaming of the Republic of Malta and is committed to delivering a premium online poker room for players looking for authentic real time action. A risk free fraud free game environment: Gaming for the love of it!

A credible site for credible players; Everyone from first time players to professionals can enjoy a wide selection of poker games such as Texas Hold 'Em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo and 7 Card Stud, with 'no limit', 'pot limit' and 'limit betting' all within a superior environment.

A fine Deposit bonus of 100% up to $500 PLUS a Refer a Friend promotion are part and parcel of any poker website. The Xtra factor is the catch. Raidbet is running free-roll poker tournaments three times daily. The prize funds are small but there is no entry fee! These free-roll poker tournaments are to help to grow their traffic numbers - and its working. Trend of increasing player numbers is no surprise free-rolls fill up fast.

The software and graphics are quite nice, but thankfully not at the expense of functionality - the site was developed exclusively for simple understanding for once! The robust and scalable software offers basically everything most poker players need - table stats, quick play and lots more great support features.

Personalized customer care just adds that finesse to the package.

With such a good product served on the platter, it’s certain its raining bets at Raidbet.com

~ Your Friendly Neighborhood Poker Enthusiast

Antonio J

US Regulators Encounter Problems with Gambling Rules

US Federal Reserve and US Treasury officials said on Wednesday they were struggling to craft rules to ban bank and credit card payments to illegal online poker sites because federal law is unclear about what type of gambling is illegal online.

Congress passed a bill in 2006, when Republicans were still in control of the Senate and the House of Representatives, that prohibits companies from accepting payments in connection with "unlawful Internet poker sites." It also instructed the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, in consultation with the Justice Department, to come up with rules to enforce the act.

But, rather than define what types of gambling are illegal online, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) relied on existing Federal and state laws to answer that question. It also still allowed any online horserace betting permissible under the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978. Now, both gambling and financial industry companies want to be told specifically which transactions should be blocked.

The payment system that companies rely on to do business "isn't frankly well designed" to identify an illegal Internet gambling transaction from a legal one, which is another challenge to crafting a rule, Roseman said.

Valerie Abend, deputy assistant secretary of Treasury, said regulators were striving to craft a rule that comes as close as possible to what lawmakers intended. But the question of which forms of Internet gambling are illegal is an issue regulators "are struggling with and trying to figure out what, if anything, we can do," Abend said. The 2006 law has incurred the wrath of the European Union, which argues that it discriminates against European online poker operators. U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, has proposed legislation to repeal the ban.
from http://www.gamblingplanet.org/GP_news_040308b

Problem Gambling Test

Some of online poker rooms are aware of and focus on problem gambling these few years. Please take a look at following questions to test whether you get TOO much addicted to gambling. ( Quoted from Raidbet.com )

• Did you ever lose time from work or school due to gambling?
• Has gambling ever made your home life unhappy?
• Did gambling affect your reputation?
• Have you ever felt remorse after gambling?
• Did you ever gamble to get money with which to pay debts or otherwise solve financial difficulties?
• Did gambling cause a decrease in your ambition or efficiency?
• After losing did you feel you must return as soon as possible and win back your losses?
• After a win did you have a strong urge to return and win more?

Play online free poker and keep problem gambling far away from you!

• Did you often gamble until your last dollar was gone?
• Did you ever borrow to finance your gambling?
• Have you ever sold anything to finance gambling?
• Were you reluctant to use "gambling money" for normal expenditures?
• Did gambling make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family?
• Did you ever gamble longer than you had planned?
• Have you ever gambled to escape worry or trouble?
• Have you ever committed, or considered committing, an illegal act to finance gambling?
• Did gambling cause you to have difficulty in sleeping?
• Do arguments, disappointments or frustrations create within you an urge to gamble?
• Did you ever have an urge to celebrate any good fortune by a few hours of gambling?
• Have you ever considered self destruction or suicide as a result of your gambling?

If your reply to any or some of these questions is in the affirmative, you are urged to ask for help to prevent from problem gambling.

Disciplined Poker

“Confirm thy soul, in self-control.”

The difference between a poker player and a fish is discipline. That’s why a fish never expects to win, and why a poker player doesn't wish himself get lucky nor others get lucky.

Have you ever joined a sit-n-go tournament? Whether you believe it or not, there are 2-3 who would like to go all-in on their first poker hand. In push and pray model, a player pushes all-in and prays his hand ends up as the best one. Sometimes it works and proves to be profitable. However, he may win some poker hands here and there, this strategy has no long term benefit at all.

Another queer phenomenon is the pre-flop bet soars. There must be someone who can’t play poker properly but have enough money to burn.