When it comes to online gambling, the most popular of all the games has to be online poker. This series of articles focuses on the online poker game called Texas holdem and assumes that you are familiar with the general game and rules of poker and poker hands.
The objective of Texas holdem is to win pots. A pot is the sum of money that has been bet by the players who are playing in this hand. You can win the pot in two ways: one is by what is called a showdown and this is where you form the best five card poker hand out of the seven cards available or you bet against the other players and cause them to fold.
When it comes to betting in Texas holdem online poker a standard game with blind bets is normally what is played and this game will use big and small blind bets. Antes can also be used in addition to the blinds and this is particularly common in the later stages of the tournament play. A dealer button is used to represent the player who is in the dealer position and the button will rotate clockwise after each hand and this in turn changes the position of the dealer and the blinds.
The small blind will be placed by the player to the left of the dealer and this amount is usually equal to half of the big blind. The big blind which is posted by the player to the left of the small blind is usually equal to the minimum bet allowed in the online poker game. If you are playing tournament poker the blind/ante structure will increase as the tournament progresses.
When there are only two players remaining in the tournament special head to head rules are then enforced and the blinds are different. The dealer will post the small blind and the other player will place the big blind.
There are three common variations of holdem and these are limit holdem, no-limit holdem, and pot limit holdem. Limit holdem has always been the most popular and in this variation bets and raises during the first two rounds must be equal to the big blind. In the next two rounds bets and raises must be equal to twice the big blind.
That’s it for this first post and hopefully you now know about placing bets in holdem poker. Tomorrows post will talk about playing your hand in holdem poker.
Until then,
Gamble Wisely
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This doesn’t happen as often as it once did as more online casinos are operated by big name, high reputation firms but it still does on occasion. You find an online casino that looks pretty good so you figure you will give their free play option a try. Free play is a great way to see and feel how the casino software works, how the sound effects and graphics are and just to get some practice in but there is a way for unscrupulous operators to suck you into depositing money when you really shouldn’t.
How it works is you go in and play in the free play area. You end up on quite a winning streak and the casino seems like it’s really easy to win at. So you sign up and put up some real cash and go to play in the rest of the casino. All of a sudden, nothing seems to be going your way at all. It doesn’t take very long for your deposit to be gone and you’re back to square one. What happened?
No, you weren’t just having a lucky streak back in free play, unfortunately. Unscrupulous operators will deliberately set the free play software to let you win a lot more than normal so that you think it will be easy to win. The free play games should be set to the same randomness as the cash money games and of course, reputable companies do it that way. So if you have what seems like an amazing winning streak during free play, take it as a sign that you’re taking a big risk making a big deposit at that particular online casino.
Until next time,
Gamble Wisely
Your poker bankroll is simply the money you have budgeted and in your hand to play poker with. If you truly think you would like to turn a profit playing poker, then managing your bankroll is going to be one of your most vital skills. The first thing to learn is that this is one area that listening to the professional poker players is not likely to help you out.
These guys don’t think in terms of the $100 you have left out of your paycheck. They’re used to dealing with thousands and tens of thousands (and higher) in their poker bankroll. There advice is usually to get into the higher stakes game where you can win large amounts. That’s great once you have the skills to back you up but if you’re just starting out, this will just about guarantee to clean you out in no time.
For beginners, it’s much better to play in the lower stake games and learn the craft. Pay attention to basic poker strategy and fold more than you actually play. Keep at it until you’ve doubled your initial $100. At that point, you can probably up the stakes a little but don’t go crazy with it. You want to keep practicing and honing your skills. Once you’ve built that bankroll up to a more significant amount, say $500 to !000, then you could up the ante a bit more and join in some higher stakes games.
Usually the really good poker players will be found at the higher stakes tables. That’s why you don’t want to start out there as a novice – they’d quickly clean out your bankroll. By slowly working your way up and building that bankroll, you are also building your skill level to the point where you’ll be able to compete with better and better players as time goes on.
Until next time,
Gamble Wisely
Gambling being such an integral part of human nature and civilization, there have been numerous quotes recorded from folklore, famous authors, actors and others. I’ve tried to gather some of my favorite quotations to share with you here. My favorite is the first. Even though attribution isn’t possible, you know that is one smart person who knows what life is really about.
“Life is like a game of poker: if you don’t put any in the pot, there won’t be any to take out” – Author Unknown
“Money won is twice as sweet as money earned.” – from the movie “The Color of Money”
“I used to be a heavy gambler. But now I just make mental bets. That’s how I lost my mind.” – Steve Allen
“Whether he likes it or not, a man’s character is stripped bare at the poker table; if the other players read him better than he does, he has only himself to blame. Unless he is both able and prepared to see himself as others do, flaws and all, he will be a loser in cards, as in life.” – Anthony Holden
“Horse sense is a good judgement which keeps horses from betting on people.” – W.C. Fields
“You cannot survive without that intangible quality we call heart. The mark of a top player is not how much he wins when he is winning but how he handles his losses. If you win for thirty days in a row, that makes no difference if on the thirty-first you have a bad night, go crazy, and throw it all away.” – Bobby Baldwin
“Someone once asked me why women don’t gamble as much as men do, and I gave the common-sensical reply that we don’t have as much money. That was a true but incomplete answer. In fact, women’s total instinct for gambling is satisfied by marriage.” -Gloria Steinem
“A Gentleman is a man who will pay his gambling debts even when he knows he has been cheated.” – Leo Tolstoy
“A racehorse is an animal that can take several thousand people for a ride at the same time.” - Author Unknown
“If you must play, decide upon three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time.” – old Chinese proverb
Until next time,
Gamble Wisely
Found these on the net for your enjoyment:
“My husband’s going to a casino in central Asia,” said one elderly Bingo player to another.
“Tibet?” asked her friend.
“Of course, why else would he go to a casino?”
Two dog owners were bragging to each other about how smart their animals were:
“The smartest dog I ever had,” said the first, “was a boxer that could play poker like nobody’s business. Too bad I had to put him down.”
“You put down a smart dog like that? He could have won you millions,” said the second.
“Yeah, caught him playing with marked cards,” the first sighed.
A guy named Joe finds himself in dire trouble. His business has gone bust and he’s in serious financial trouble. He’s so desperate he decides to ask God for help. He begins to pray… ‘God, please help me. I’ve lost my business and if I don’t get some money, I’m going to lose my house as well. Please let me win the lottery.’
Lottery night comes and somebody else wins it.
Joe again prays… ‘God, please let me win the lottery! I’ve lost my business, my house and I’m going to lose my car as well.’
Lotto night comes and Joe still has no luck.
Once again, he prays… ‘My God, why have you forsaken me? I’ve lost my business, my house and my car. My wife and children are starving. I don’t often ask you for help and I have always been a good servant to you. PLEASE just let me win the lottery this one time so I can get my life back in order.’
Suddenly there is a blinding flash of light as the heavens open and Joe is confronted by the voice of God Himself: ‘Joe, meet Me halfway on this. Buy a ticket.’
Until next time,
Gamble Wisely
Are you putting off online gambling because you don’t know which site you want to join? Are you afraid you’ll be stuck with only one casino choice unless you load up your hard drive with all the various softwares from all the sites? I’ve got good news for you – you can be gambling in a flash. Flash player, that is.
Many of the online casinos offer a no download version of their software so that you can play your favorite games right in your browser without having to download anything. They do this using flash technology and most newer computers will already be compatible with the process.
A great advantage to this is the ability to move from casino to casino without having to clutter up your hard drive or open and close software programs one after another. Now you can take advantage of a variety of casinos with a huge variety of games all within a single gambling evening.
Until next time,
Gamble Wisely
If you’re new to online casinos, you may be curious as to why all of the online casinos seem to be prepared to give you hundreds of dollars just for signing up with them. Often, new people think they can just sign up with a bunch of sites and get a bunch of cash simply by withdrawing all the bonus money. Well, sorry to burst your bubble but it just doesn’t work like that.
Obviously, those who operate online casinos aren’t stupid and they certainly can’t afford to just hand out money like that so while the huge bonuses are there to get you in the doors, they have wager requirements so that you can’t just take the money and run. Wagering requirements are either an amount that you need to bet with the bonus before you can clear the bonus for withdrawing or a set number of times that you need to wager the amount of the bonus.
There are sometimes time limits placed on bonuses, as well, so be sure to read all the fine print so that you know if that’s the case. Once you have completed all the wagering requirements, the bonus is available to be withdrawn. It’s not like you have to lose the bonus, either. It’s just a matter of meeting the requirements and then the money is yours even if you have been winning like crazy.
Until next time,
Gamble Wisely
Have you had a nice winning streak while gambling online lately? Starting to wonder if you might be able to make a go at earning your living that way? Many people have that dream, especially when they’re up with cash, but very few are actually capable of truly earning a living. There are some who actually do earn their living this way so it’s not an impossible dream
Obviously, the first thing needed would be to have better than average skills in one or more gambling games. Since poker is highly dependent on skill, even more so than luck, that is where you see the most professional gamblers. You could never depend on earning a living if you stuck to games of pure chance, like keno.
You would have to have a large enough bankroll to start your career with so that you aren’t losing money that you can’t afford to lose. Clearly, starting by playing with the rent money would be an extremely bad idea. Every gambler knows that you cannot win every game. Most will actually tell you that you lose more games than you win. The key is to lose the small pots and take the large ones.
Until next time,
Gamble Wisely
Have you ever wanted to spend a couple of hours at an online casino and found yourself competing with the rest of the household for computer time? Or tried to concentrate on your Texas Hold’em game with the kids romping through the house? Mobile gaming eliminates these problems by enabling you to access your favorite casino any time, wherever you are.
While not all online casinos offer a mobile compatible version of their software, many of them do and the numbers are growing all the time. Go to your favorite site and check. If the option is there, simply follow the directions to download the software to your mobile phone after making sure that your phone has the necessary requirements. Just about all newer models of mobile phones will be supported.
Once you’ve downloaded the software, instructions will come up walking you through the set up process and activation of your account. Once you’re activated, you can just log in to your account with your user name and password, just as if you were at the home computer. Your mobile application will access the network and then you’re ready to choose your game and place your bet.
Now you’ll be able to play your favorite games at your favorite online casino wherever you are. Great way to kill time on the train to and from work, if you’re a commuter. Then there are the hours waiting for your wife to pick out the perfect pair of shoes at the mall or the best outfit at the boutique. You could even get in a game or two of video poker waiting in line at the market.
Until next time,
Gamble Wisely
Keno originated in China centuries ago. While no one knows for certain if it’s true, legends say that the game was created to help pay for a war and take the burden off the people of an unknown city. Someone used the characters from a teaching poem of the time and arranged them on a board quite like a modern day lottery form. People would toss counters on the board and place bets on where they would land. The game caught on and was played all over China.
When the Chinese immigrants began coming to America to work on the railroad back in the 1800s, they brought their favorite game with them. Discovering that the Americans in the railroad camps also liked to gamble and were interested in playing, the Chinese showed them their beloved game. Because the Americans had such a hard time understanding and remembering the Chinese characters, it was eventually changed to numbers and keno began to be a favored gambling game in America.
Playing keno is much like playing the lottery. There isn’t any skill involved at all but only about pure luck. You pick your numbers and place your bets and hope to win. Pretty darn easy to learn, wouldn’t you say? However, there are different bets that you will need to know about in order to the game properly.
Playing straight tickets is your basic bet with you choosing as many numbers to bet on as you want up to the maximum allowed by the online casino.
Playing combination tickets is a bit more tricky because you will be grouping sets of straight bets in various ways.
Playing split tickets means that you are playing multiple games on the same card. You choose two or more sets of numbers and whatever you bet will be multiplied by the number of sets you play.
Playing way tickets is the most complicated bet you can make in keno. It involves picking multiple combinations of numbers from within the groups you make and figuring your bet will involve fractions.
Playing king tickets is the same as way tickets but you will also be picking certain numbers as the king numbers or separate bets.
Until next time,
Gamble Wisely
