TEXAS HOLD 'EM

Texas hold 'em is a variation of the standard card game of poker. The game consists of two cards being dealt face down to each player and then five community cards being placed by the dealer—a series of three ("the flop") then two additional single cards ("the turn" and "the river"), with players having the option to check, bet or fold after each deal, i.e. betting may occur prior to the flop, "on the flop," "on the turn," and "on the river." The three most common variations of texas hold 'em are limit hold 'em, no-limit hold 'em and pot-limit hold 'em. 

In Texas hold 'em, like all variants of poker, individuals compete for an amount of money or chips contributed by the players themselves (called the pot). Because the cards are dealt randomly and outside the control of the players, each player attempts to control the amount of money in the pot based on the hand the player holds.

The objective of winning players while playing texas hold’em is not winning every individual hand, but rather making mathematically correct decisions regarding when and how much to bet, raise, call or fold. By making such decisions, winning poker players maximize long-term winnings by maximizing their expected gain on each round of betting. A pair of aces is statistically the best hand to be dealt in texas hold'em poker.

Texas hold 'em is normally played using small and big blind bets – forced bets by two players. A dealer button is used to represent the player in the dealer position; the dealer button rotates clockwise after each hand, changing the position of the dealer and blinds. The small blind is posted by the player to the left of the dealer and is usually equal to half of the big blind. The big blind, posted by the player to the left of the small blind, is equal to the minimum bet.

In general, an overall tight/aggressive style of play is probably the most profitable, especially in intermediate/strong games. Texas hold’em is the most popular poker variant in the world today. It has caught the imagination of people from all possible age groups. Texas hold’em is simple to play and easy to understand.

H.O.R.S.E Poker

H.O.R.S.E poker is a mix of five different games. The games are Texas Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz poker, 7 Card Stud and 7 Card Stud Hi-Lo. These games are always played in fixed limit format. The most important thing to consider when first trying out H.O.R.S.E poker is that you must have a working knowledge of each game, if you do not, you will find yourself doing really well at one point, and then simply giving all your money back as soon as its time for a game that you don't understand as well.

In terms of actual game mechanics, there is nothing different about H.O.R.S.E poker than if you were to simply play these games individually. The main things you will have to consider is your ability to switch gears each time the game changes.

You will probably start to figure out how each of your opponents plays, but remember that when the game changes, they might have a completely different poker strategy, so you really have to be able to adapt in many different kinds of situations to be able to be successful at H.O.R.S.E poker.

The best idea for a beginner is definitely to start out at the low levels when first trying H.O.R.S.E poker; you may even want to just try a cheap tournament to get the feel of the different games. Another suggestion is to simply make sure you have sat down and put in a few hours at each of the different games before you sit down to play them all at one table.

In H.O.R.S.E poker it is actually much harder to learn each game because you only play it for one round at a time before you have to switch gears and play a different game.

Poker in Macau

Poker has got its space and is considered and one of the most popular games popular casino games around the world since last decade. Much of the new found fame of the game can be attributed to the World Poker Tour and the other televised poker broadcasts. Regardless, poker is the game and you and everyone else are the players.

East Asia has gained its recognition of breeding some of the most challenging poker games available. This continental region includes such countries as Cambodia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Laos. Many countries in Far East Asia will offer you a seat at a poker table.Being in Macau as a poker player, you would definitely be hunting for a casino that would offer you poker games that you like playing such as Texas Hold 'em Poker, Seven Card Stud Poker and Draw Poker.

Macau is the upcoming hub for casinos in the East Asia and poker enthusiasts. There are many amazing casinos and fifteen of them are considered to be accurate. These casinos run many casino tables however, most of them do not list poker tables specifically. There are many casinos in Macau city itself such as Macau Sar, Taipa and Taipa Island. Casinos in Macau provide conventional poker rooms and also certain orthodox games that you perhaps must have not seen around anywhere in the world.

There are also possibilities for you finding a friendly home poker game to attend in Macau. Strange things have happened, seriously. Before you sit down in a home poker game in Macau it would be wise for you to investigate thoroughly the legality of gambling outside of casinos in Macau. You don't want to be caught breaking the law unaware do you? Well, one way you can try to locate a home poker game is by checking out the Home Games Forum where you can post a request if you don't find the poker game you are looking for.

Home Games Forum may provide you all the necessary information that would help you to track down the legal and authorized poker and casinos in Macau as huge amount of native and other poker enthusiasts write down their experience being in Macau.

After you have played poker or otherwise gambled in any of the casinos in Macau or Far East Asia, feel free to tell everyone about it in the Asian Casinos Forum. You can find many other related forums listed in the World Gambling Forums Directory.

As always I would like to remind you to be safe and have fun gambling in casinos in card houses no matter where in the world you are. And good luck finding the perfect casino in Macau for a perfect gambling experience and gaming satisfaction.

Poker Celebrities : Anne Duke

 

Anne LaBarr Lederer-Duke better known as Annie Duke was born on September 13, 1965. Annie Duke is a professional poker player and also a book author. Annie won a bracelet in the 2004 World Series of Poker $2,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Event and was the winner of the 2004 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, where she earned the Winner-Take-All prize of $2,000,000. At the time, this victory was the most money paid in a single event to a female poker player. That record was broken by Annette Obrestad during the 2007 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event.

Annie holds the women's record for most "in the money" finishes at the WSOP. Duke has won more than three million dollars in tournament play. Nowadays she refuses to play in women's only tournaments . As of 2009 Annie Dukes total live tournament winnings exceeded $3,600,000. Her 37 cashes at the WSOP account for $1,136,846 of those winnings.

Annie Duke became the first poker player to appear on The Colbert Report. During the show, she talked about her book How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and Won Millions at The World Series of Poker; and what it's like to be a woman in a male-dominated event. Annie Duke Takes on the World featuring Annie playing against amateur poker players was shown on Game Show Network (GSN) in 2006.

Other television appearances include Annie Dukes appearance as a member of the Mob (NBC) where she correctly answered every question and was the only celebrity who wasn't eliminated. She returned and was successful on another fe occasions before returning on February 9 2007 under "Last Man Standing" rules where the game continued until only one person remained. She survived to reach the final five of 100 contestants.

Annie Duke has appeared on NBC's Poker After Dark three times but has not won, Deal Or No Deal to support a contestant who, after taking a $341,000 deal from the bank with only two cases left, found her case number 13 had the $1,000,000.

Along with Phil Hellmuth Jr., Duke is a coach on Fox Sports Network's Best Damn Poker Show.

Lastly she appeared on the Donald Trump reality television show, Celebrity Apprentice. Throughout the season, each celebrity raised money for a charity of his or her choice. Duke raised more money for her charity (Refugees International) than any other contestant. Of the field of 16 competitors, Duke survived to compete in the finale against her primary rival throughout the show, Joan Rivers.

As for her poker game and cash play, it is assumed that Annie Duke is one hell of a money maker and probably the best female poker player the world has seen to date.

Full Tilt Poker Review

Full Tilt Poker is another card room that i was able to review recently . Here are a few excerpts from my full tilt poker review.Full Tilt Poker has a number of deposit methods catering to the needs of most online gamers. This differs from country to country and can be confusing when getting advice from overseas friends. The best thing to do here would be to check out the full tilt site before you decide to play on full tilt.

Depositing is made easy, there is no need to provide a mass of personal details to start playing on the site. Full Tilt Poker accepts a minimum deposit amount of $30USD. There are no fees charged to make a deposit. Processing of deposits is fast and hassle free, with some methods - INSTANT.

Tournaments and Sit N Go's 8/10'
The highlight of my full tilt poker review has to be the tournaments section.Full Tilt Poker is home to some of the biggest online tournaments available. Each week, Full Tilt poker has a GTD $750,000.00 tournament. The buy in for this tournament is only $200+$16 making it well worth the entry. Full Tilt poker also has tournaments with 350k GTD, 75kGTD and more. Entry can be made into these tournaments through satellites and using Full Tilt points. It can be very cheap to enter with satellites starting at $1.

On the lowest scale of the tournament ladder, Full Tilt poker offers freerolls to its customers daily. They offer individual freerolls to residents of most countries so you play against those on your home soil only. Also daily Full Tilt poker offers a $15 freeroll  for all Full Tilt customers. This is a great opportunity to experience the Full Tilt poker tournament for all new players and also to increase your bankroll at the same time. There are also as mentioned above, new depositor freerolls monthly.

On the scale of low limit buy-ins, tournaments start from $1 each right through to your desired limit. The tournaments at these levels include regular tournaments through to satellites for the major Full Tilt tournaments mentioned above. Tournaments for almost every poker variant can be played including mixed games.

To save you waiting for your tournament to start, Full Tilt poker offers SNG from a minimum $1+25c, through to a massive $4225+$425. What i also observed in my full tilt poker review is that there is a Sit N Go to suit every budget with minimal wait.Again, these are available in most poker variants and mixed games. Satellites for the major tourneys are also available by simply sitting and going.

Full Tilt poker offers its customers the unique Matrix Sit N Go's where SNG tournaments are played at once with the winner of each tournament taking down cash as well as the overall winner of all

There are a mass of cash prizes to be won for any patient, skilled and lucky tournament or sit and go player. Payout structures are fair and well worth the effort, come in 2nd, 3rd, 4th or even 100th in the bigger tournaments and you are going to be rewarded for your efforts.There are few low limit guaranteed dollar tournaments.

Software 7/10
The software is simple to use, I suggest doing the guided tour prior to finding your favorite game though as Full Tilt has a lot to offer. The graphics are not the best available online, but if your computer and internet speed isn't the fastest it will suit your needs. Avatars are available in a number of different cartoon characters; the choice is yours, panda, zombie, army girl or a dog as examples. Customer avatars are available in the Full Tilt poker store but are expensive. They are also available to the Full Tilt professional players and major tourney winners. A simple click on you character (avatar) and your facial expressions can be changed according to your feelings, angry, happy etc.

Different backgrounds are available so you can play on your desired table. The tables offer a multitude of features, some of the best in the game! This includes hand history, current tournament standings and instant click to take you to the tournament lobby. In a ring game, chips are available by the click of a button.

3 different lobby's are available to choose from. The most recent lobby is not as stable as the older available ones. Overall however the software is reliable and stable & I have given it a score of 7 in my full tilt poker review.

Payouts 8/10
Payouts are easy, very non complicated with Full Tilt poker. They are handled fast and professionally. Checks are usually received usually within 7 days for US customers, a little longer for other countries.Other withdrawal methods (dependable on country) include:

• Netteller
• Visa
• Money bookers
• Click2pay
• Click and buy
• Local Bank Transfer
• Web Money

As per my full tilt poker review each withdrawal method allows a minimum of $50 and the maximum varies up to the sum of $10,000 for the local bank transfer method. Some methods are almost instant; pending approval and others take 3-5 working days.

Customer Service 5/10
Full Tilt is fairly prompt with their customer service. The only method of service however is email, where other sites offer live chat and phone support.

Traffic 10/10

This full tilt poker review has the traffic for the site at a score of 10 for many reasons. Full Tilt Poker is one of the true online gaming giants with plenty of action available 24/7 at most levels of play. High stakes play attracts probably the least traffic.

Games Selection 10/10

I always give the Games Selection section a lot of importance in all my poker room reviews and the full tilt poker review is no different. Hold'em – Full Tilt poker offers its players No Limit, Pot Limit and Limit Hold’em tables from the lowest to the highest of stakes. Tables are available anywhere from 2 seat play (heads-up) through to 10 seats. All Hold'em games are available in tournament play and Sit N Go's also from low to high stakes.

Omaha – Full Tilt offers their customers both Omaha hi and Omaha hi/ lo. The Omaha tables are commonly in use by big name pros playing high stakes. Omaha is available at all stakes from even the lowest level micro 1c and 2c. Tournaments and Sit N Go's run continually.

7 card stud adds to the games list on Full Tilt Poker. It is a less commonly known game but again, available from low to higher stakes.

Razz can be hard to find on an online gaming site. It is a less then popular game but loads of fun. Full Tilt offers this game to its customers from low to medium / high stakes. Tournaments are not as commonly found as with the other poker variants.
H.O.R.S.E. - H.O.R.S.E is yet another uncommon online game. Horse includes most of the poker variants, it is a mixed game. Fulltilt poker offers H.O.R.S.E in both ring games and tournament. Stakes again from low to medium / high. Hence the full tilt poker review rates the game selection section at 10.

Other features 10/10
Full Tilt Poker has a huge variety of other features available for its customers. They have huge amount of professional poker players who play both on and offline at various stakes from all over the world. They offer chat sessions with the pros as well as online guides and advice from them. Full Tilt send out regular emails to their customers informing them of the latest hypes on the site as well as including some brilliant advice from the pros. The Full Tilt shop offers trendy merchandise to fans and players alike making earning Full Tilt points all the more fun.

As per my full tilt poker review, Full Tilt Poker is place that every player would enjoy playing on. The software is simple, easy deposit and withdrawal methods and clean graphics. Full Tilt Poker has all the poker game variants on offer and a absolute treat to play on.

Omaha vs Texas Holdem

< 7DF5CNU6D7X2 > I have always been thinking which poker game would win if there was a competition between Omaha vs Texas Holdem. Can Omaha Beat Texas Holdem? My opinion is No. Limit Texas Hold'em has swept the globe and is booming in every corner of it. Every major poker championship sees a No Limit Texas Hold'em Main Event winner crowned. With each of these championships however come other events; smaller NL Texas Hold'em Buy-ins through to other variants such as the second most popular worldwide Omaha. 

Omaha events draw a lot smaller crowd with sometimes 4000 contestants in NL Hold'em compared to just a few hundred in Omaha. Is it possible that in a Omaha vs Texas Holdem tussle , Omaha can ever beat NL Texas Hold'em? Will we ever see an Omaha Main Event?

As I write this sentence I consider it unlikely for many reasons especially when i compare the two poker variants. The pub poker scene is one thing which will make a passing of NL Texas Hold’em by the game Omaha impossible. Pub poker draws new players to the world of poker and certainly they don't learn, play or teach Omaha at the pub poker venues. If we were to look at Australia's APL as an example; there are over 500,000 members – they all play Texas Hold'em. So when it comes to Omaha vs Texas Holdem with respect to pub poker , Omaha normally trails far behind.

Another reason I believe this to never be possible is the length of time it takes to play each game. If there were 4000 Omaha players racking up against each other on the felt it would take a month ( a little sarcasm) to complete. Omaha is a game where there ARE limits set. Pot Limits and Fixed Limits; No Limit does not apply to the game. With this time frame in mind players couldn't afford accommodation and the venues holding the tournaments wouldn't make money. The buy-ins have additional rake and this rake covers tournament staff, dealers and waitress wages (just to name a few). There are then the smaller costs such as power and bathrooms.

Omaha is as much a game of skill as NL Texas Hold'em, for a beginner it is much more difficult with many more choices and learning to deal with the draw concept of the game. It appears to take a lot longer to learn how to play Omaha; specifically Omaha Hi/Lo which is another argument on its own. Which Omaha Variant WOULD possibly beat NL Texas Hold'em? I would give an immediate “impossible” answer to Omaha Hi/Lo, I don't think it will ever happen and the Omaha vs Texas Holdem dilemma will continue for a very long time.

I would also give an immediate no to Omaha Fixed Limit, it simply moves too slow. It seems that players like a much faster moving game. This is not the case for all players though with many (specifically the older generation players) sticking to Omaha as their primary game of choice over Texas Holdem.

Omaha is becoming more and more popular; especially online. I see thousands of players each day registering for tournaments and playing cash games. As I say this however; the same applies to the already booming Texas Hold'em meaning Omaha isn't catching up. It is far from catching up.

Only time will tell who will win the Omaha vs Texas Holdem battle, for now though; I give it no hope!