Gala Poker

Gala Poker is the online poker room of the UK’s leading casino operator. Players are eligible to download for free or instant play, with over $14,000,000 guaranteed in cash prizes every month! Qualify for the world’s largest tournaments, and claim a welcome bonus of up to $600! At Gala Poker, players can even practise for free in our Play Money games to sharpen their skills!
* Sign-up and monthly loyalty bonuses (casino, games, poker tournaments)
* Simple log-in and deposit procedure
* Fast payouts
* One account to manage online funds
* Freeplay to hone your skills
* 24/7 web and telephone customer service team
* Over 40 casino favourites
* Instant play, no download required
* $14,000,000 guaranteed in cash prizes every month on Gala Poker

Hollywood Poker

HollywoodPoker.com, the leader in Online Celebrity Poker, offers members a safe and secure gaming environment with licensed & regulated poker and casino games. The site also provides members with unparalleled player benefits including $20,000,000 in monthly Sit‘n’Go and Guaranteed Tournaments, access to club HOLLYWOOD poker Player and VIP Rewards Programmes, impressive deposit bonuses plus the industry-exclusive Celebrity Bounty Series, where players get to knockout hundreds of Hollywood Celebrities for instant cash. HollywoodPoker’s live event hub, HollywoodPoker LIVE furthermore presents online poker players with weekly opportunities to join live poker events across the globe with premium main event packages to international destinations, including championships all across Europe, Australia and the US.

Texas Calculatem Software

Texas Calculatem: One of the best softwares for online poker with real-time odds information.

Hand Analysis

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Types of Poker

The History of Texas Hold’em

Texas Hold’em is without a doubt the most popular form of poker played in the United States, today. The World Series of Poker, the World Poker Tour, and countless poker tournaments across the country every day use Texas Hold’em to decide their ultimate champion. Doyle Brunson, aka “Texas Dolly,” calls it the “Cadillac of poker,” and for good reason, given that so many professional poker players use Texas Hold’em as their primary mode of income.

Evolution of Texas Hold’em
There exists no exact information on where Texas Hold’em originated, though it goes without saying that the game – a derivation of 7-Card Stud – more than likely originated in Texas.
Texas Hold’em was first played in Las Vegas at the legendary Golden Nugget casino, where it found its only home for more than a few years. It wasn’t until 1971, the year Texas Hold’em was adopted to decide the victor at the World Series of Poker’s championship event, that Texas Hold’em began to gain widespread popularity.
Even as late as 2003, however, Texas Hold’em was still relatively unknown to most of the poker-playing public. Nonetheless, it wouldn’t take much for all that to change, and for Texas Hold’em to become the most popular poker game in the United States.
Chris Moneymaker, a poker player who won his seat at the 2003 $10,000 buy-in World Series of Poker main event online, went on to win the championship title that year. The game? Texas Hold’em, of course. Almost immediately, Texas Hold’em began to take a front seat to games such as 5-Card Draw, 7-Stud, and Omaha, and secure itself firmly within the safe haven of popular culture.

Texas Hold’em Online
Further adding to the popularity of Texas Hold’em was the advent of online poker, allowing the common poker player to amass years of experience in a much shorter period of time. Additionally, the World Poker Tour, debuting in 2003, and the 1998 film, Rounders, served as fuel to the fire. A surge ensued, and Texas Hold’em became the game to play, both for professional and amateur poker players alike.
This period of time became known as the “poker boom.” The World Series of Poker has enjoyed an incredible increase of players since that time, and the climax was perhaps reached in 2006 with a field of almost 9,000 players competing in the $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Texas Hold’em World Championship.
Though Texas Hold’em remains undoubtedly the most popular game of poker in the United States, it is only recently that the game has started gaining notoriety in other countries. Liam “The Gentleman” Flood, an Irish poker player and bookmaker, helped introduce Texas Hold’em to Ireland, along with Terry Rogers, also an Irish bookmaker. Harrah’s, owner of the World Series of Poker, announced its plans in 2007 to host the first World Series of Poker Europe events.

The future of Texas Hold’em
Interestingly enough, the game of Texas Hold’em remains illegal for the most part in its home state. Card rooms, and gambling in general, remains illegal in Texas, although as of press time there is a widespread push in Texas for legalizing and regulating the game.
Whether it is the fast-paced nature of the game in an era of instant gratification, or the influence of the media and the internet acting as a driving force, it remains so that the game of Texas Hold’em is growing ever-popular in the eyes of the world.

Omaha 8/B or Omaha Hi/Lo

As in any dealer-button game, a random draw will determine the position to start with the button.

Two blinds will be posted to the left of the button. The small blind will be equal to one-half the small bet, the big blind will equal the small bet.

Both blinds are live and may raise the pot.

In the showdown, the player must use two cards from his hand and three from the board exactly. Player may use different cards for high and low.

In order for there to be a low, there must be a combination of two cards from the players hand and three from the board with a denomination of eight or smaller. Ace is low for this purpose. If there is no low, high will get the entire pot.

A wheel (A-2-3-4-5) is the best possible low and neither straights nor flushes count against you for low.

If a player misses his blind or blinds, he may wait until the big blind to post to come back in. Otherwise, he must post the missed blinds. Only the big blind is live.

A player who has posted the blind who is not present to act on his hand will have his hand killed and will not get his blind back.

Winning called hand must show all four cards to be awarded any part of the pot.

In the event of ties, the pot will be split.

Odd chip will go left of the button on both high and low pot odd chip.

Remember, you must use two cards from your hand and three from the board to make the best five-card poker hand.

Seven-Card Stud Poker

Seven-Card Stud is easy for beginners to learn, yet challenging enough to hold the interest of seasoned players. In Seven-Card Stud, each player receives two cards face down and one card face up. The player with the low card opens the betting. Each player in turn must call, raise, or fold. On all subsequent rounds, the player with the best hand open the betting.

Each player is then dealt 3 cards face up with a betting round following each card.

The last card dealt to each remaining player is face down with the final betting round following.

Players remaining in the hand will then show their hands and the winning poker hand will be awarded the pot. Suits are not used in determining the winning hand, and tied hands will split the pot.

Five-Card Stud Poker

All players place a small wager known as an ‘ante’. The dealer then deals each player two cards, one dealt face down, known as the ‘hole’ card and the other face up.

The player with the lowest ranking up-card must place the opening bet.

Each player to the left of the player making the opening bet must in turn either call the opening bet, raise it or fold.

When this round is complete each player is then dealt another card face up followed by a round of betting. This continues until all players have fice cards, one face down and four face up or until only one player remains.

From the third card onwards, the betting is started by the highest poker hand showing.

All players have five cards in their hand, one down and four up.

If there is a showdown, players show all five cards. The winning hand is the highest ranking five card poker hand.

Draw Poker

To begin, two players at the table make a small bet, or blind wager, before receiving any cards. Each player seated in the game takes a turn at placing such a wager.

Players first receive five cards dealt face down. Players pick up the cards and look at them and then decide if they wish to stay in the game. If so, a bet must now be placed.

Once all bets are called the first round of betting is complete.

Players may now choose to exchange with the dealer any number of cards from their hand. This is known as ‘the draw’.

Once the draw is complete a second round of betting takes place.

If all bets are called there is a showdown.

The winner is the player with the highest ranking hand.

If only one player remains (ie. no showdown) they will win the pot without having to expose their cards.

Seven-Card Stud High/Low Split

At the showdown, if a qualifying low hand (five cards of 8 or below with no pair) exists, it will be awarded one half the pot and the best poker hand is awarded the other half.

In the absence of a qualifying low hand, the best poker hand wins the entire pot. A straight or a flush, 8-high or lower, may be both the highest and lowest hand, in which case it wins the whole pot.

The History of Poker

The History of Poker

There seem to be differences of opinion on the origin of Poker. Moreover, there seems to be no clear or direct early ancestor of the game. It is more likely that Poker derived its present day form from elements of many different games. The consensus is that because of it’s basic principal, its birth is a very old one.

Jonathan H. Green makes one of the earliest written references to Poker in 1834. In his writing, Green mentions rules to what he called the “cheating game,” which was then being played on Mississippi riverboats. He soon realized that his was the first such reference to the game, and since it was not mentioned in the current American Hoyle, he chose to call the game Poker.

The game he described was played with 20 cards, using only the aces, kings, queens, jacks and tens. Two to four people could play, and each was dealt five cards. By the time Green wrote about it, poker had become the number one cheating game on the Mississippi boats, receiving even more action than Three-Card Monte. Most people taken by Three-Card Monte thought the 20-card poker seemed more a legitimate game, and they came back time and time again. It would certainly appear, then, that Poker was developed by the cardsharps.

The origin of the word Poker is also well debated. Most of the dictionaries and game historians say that it comes from an eighteenth-century French game, poque. However, there are other references to pochspiel, which is a German game. In pochspiel, there is an element of bluffing, where players would indicate whether they wanted to pass or open by rapping on the table and saying, “Ich Poche!” Some say it may even have derived come the Hindu word, pukka.

Yet another possible explanation for the word poker, is that it came from a version of an underworld slang word, “poke,” a term used by pickpockets. Cardsharps who used the 20-card cheating game to relieve a sucker from his poke may have used that word among themselves, adding an r to make it “poker.” The thought was that if the sharps used the word “poker” in front of their victims, those wise to the underworld slang would not surmise the change.

There are those who also believe that “poke” probably came from “hocus-pocus”, a term widely used by magicians. The game of Poker later evolved to include 32 cards, and eventually the modern day deck of 52, not counting the two Jokers.

The game of Poker has evolved through the years, through many backroom games to the present day casinos around the world. Its history is rich with famous places and characters. For example, during the Wild West period of United States history, a saloon with a Poker table could be found in just about every town from coast to coast.

Today, Poker is carefully regulated by gambling laws, and saloons have given way to casinos and cardrooms, but Poker is played more than any other card game in the world. It has grown into a sporting event, with competitions and tournaments all around the world. Tournaments take place almost every week of the year somewhere in the world.

If you compare the prizes of major sporting events around the world, you will find that the monetary outcome of any given event in Poker would (pardon the pun) stack up. Poker today is one of the fastest growing, but hardly recognized sporting events. The pinnacle of the poker world, The World Series of Poker, attracts players from all over the world every year to compete for money and titles as the world’s top Poker players.

Poker will always be around and will continue to grow and flourish like so many other past times. There will always be a game to play, money to be won, and crowns to be worn.

Pacific Poker

Pacific Poker is part of the 888 Holdings group, the company behind the world’s largest online casino, Casino-on-Net.

As you can imagine, this means a lot of wild casino customers at the poker tables. Combined with lots of promotions, that also means a lot of Texas Hold’em players come to Pacific Poker for juicy high-action tables and good bonuses.

The No-Limit and Pot-Limit cash games are strongly recommended for players looking to make a profit. Viewed-flop percentages in full ring Limit Hold’em games are often in the high 50s and 60s – sometimes even up in the 70s – which is pretty ludicrous. No-Limit games are also among the juiciest and loosest online.

The upgraded Pacific Poker software offers players a lot: great graphics and functionality, improved search functions and layout, nice looking 3-D avatars, integrated casino and bingo play, an always-visible cashier and improved multi-tabling abilities – up to four tables can now be tiled or cascaded at one time.

Another very nice function that stands out from other poker sites is the graphic replay of hands – a useful tool for reviewing your play.

Pacific Poker has also introduced a no-download client, allowing Mac and Linux users to enjoy the Pacific Poker experience. The new software is very sleek and competent and offers most of the functionality of the download version, although some 3D functionality and a few cosmetic features have been left out to keep the client light and quick.

All variations of Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven-Card Stud and Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo are available. Real-money player statistics as of June 2009 show 2,000 ring-game players at peak hours and 8,000 tournament players at peak hours.

The Co-operation Play On The Bubble & ‘Checking-Down’ Hands

When A Small Stack Is All-In, Checking-Down A Hand Will Often Be The Most Profitable Play – Find Out How And When To Check-Down A Hand Here.

There are times in Sit N Go tournaments where it makes more sense to check than to bet – even if this means committing the ‘poker crime’ of giving an opponent a free card with which to beat you. The main example occurs at the bubble (or close to it) in a SNG when a small stack is all-in.

This article will explain why ‘checking a hand down’ with another large stack can be more profitable than betting out – and also explain when not to check down!

Here is a common situation in a Sit N Go tournament with 4 players remaining and the standard 3 player 20 / 30 / 50% payout structure:

Player 1: 4000 Chips
Player 2: 400 Chips
Player 3: 3000 Chips (after posting the small blind of 100)
Player 4 (You): 2500 Chips (after posting the big blind of 200)

The action is as follows: Player 1 folds, player 2 goes all-in for 400 chips, player 3 calls and you look down to see 6-8 off suit.

This is a perfect situation to call the 200 chips with the intention of checking the hand down with player 3. The initial call is largely based on the pot-odds (you are calling 200 chips to see a pot of 1000 so getting 5-1). However there is another reason to call here, under normal circumstances Player 3 will cooperate with you in maximizing the chance to eliminate player 2 by checking the hand down.

By doing this you increase the chances that Player 2 will be eliminated and that you both move into the money paying places. Betting, especially with a weak or vulnerable hand, may result in a situation where a hand that could have beaten player 2 in a showdown folds on the flop. Now when Player 2 wins the hand there are still 4 players actively competing for the 3 paying places.

Checking a hand down involves implicitly cooperating with another player to maximize your own profits as well as theirs. This works in bubble (and close to bubble) situations in both SNG tournaments and Multi-table tournaments (especially in poker satellites!).

There are, however, times when the cooperation play becomes less important than winning the pot. If some of the above circumstances occur then the co-operation play should not usually be attempted.

1 – Your opponent does not understand the cooperation play and is likely to bet out, even with nothing.
2 – Your hand is strong enough that beating the all-in player is no longer a question (for example flopping 2-pair or a straight in the above example).
3 – Eliminating your opponent will not increase your expectation as significantly as winning the pot. For example with 5 players left and just 1 payout (a SNG Satellite) cooperation may not help significantly if you have a short stack.
4 – When a medium-stack has entered the pot with a raise and then a smaller stack then goes all-in. Reversing the places of the players in the above example would make a cooperation play less desirable. The medium stack has shown strength by raising before the flop and the small stack went all-in anyway. Save your chips here unless the pot-odds are compelling, if the original raiser has a high-pair then checking the hand down may not be an option!

Checking a hand down is often referred to as ‘Implicit Collusion’, the key point being that this is not explicitly suggested or otherwise communicated at the table. While checking down based on a mutual understanding is profitable and perfectly within the rules, communicating this intention (even in an online chat-box) is a breach of rules that could see you disqualified from the tournament!

Virgin Poker

Virgin Poker caters for all levels of poker players, offering players a daily €35 freeroll as well as chances to free extra V*POINTS through one of their 3 weekly freerolls. For the more experienced players the action is non stop, as Virgin Poker offers quality tournaments such as; a daily €25,000, a €100,000 weekly guaranteed tournament & a bi monthly €1 million guaranteed tournament, that’s one of the biggest prizepool’s in online poker!

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