The Poker Blog

A week on the beach with the UB Army. The chance to party with Phil Hellmuth and the pros. And a shot at a million bucks.UltimateBet Poker are sending a ridiculous number of UltimateBet players to the Aruba Poker Classic - FOR FREE. Your chance to secure an $8,500 prize package and live in paradise for a week on them starts right here, right now.

STEP 1 - Play poker at UltimateBet.com between 12:00:01am ET on June 20th and 11:59:59pm ET on July 17th.

STEP 2 - Follow your rank on their Aruba Giveaway leaderboard. Climb your way to the top by earning RAI$E Status Points through play in any real-money poker Sit ‘n Go, ring game or multi-table tournament at UltimateBet.com.

STEP 3 - On July 18th, they’ll take a look at the leaderboard and award prizes as follows:

• 1st place - Congratulations, king of the leader board. You’re on your way to Aruba to play in the 2008 Aruba Poker Classic this September. The prize package is worth $8,500 and includes the $5,500 Main Event buy-in and $3,000 for travel and accommodations.
• 2nd through 70th - Kudos are still in order. You’ve secured a spot in their exclusive freeroll at 1:30pm ET on July 19th where you’ll have a 1 in 10 chance of scoring an $8,500 prize package. That’s an additional 7 Aruba Poker Classic prize packages at stake.
• 71st through 225th - You’ve earned a spot in the 50-seat Guaranteed Tournament (a $500+30 value) to be held on Saturday, July 19th at 5:30pm ET. For those keeping track, that’s a whopping 155 seats in the 50-Seat Guarantee.
• 226th through 1025th - You’ve secured a spot in a freeroll at 11:15am ET on July 19th where you’ll have a 1 in 5 chance of winning your $500+30 seat in the 50-seat Guarantee.

FIVE REASONS TO PLAY POKER AT bet365

More Prize Money

bet365 give away more than $10,000,000 in Tournament prize money every month. They have a wide selection of Tournaments to choose from, and with buy-ins starting from as little as $0.50 they ensure no one is left out of the action. Not only that but they also offer four Progressive Jackpot Sit & Gos with Guaranteed Jackpots ranging from $2,000 to $250,000+.

bet365 also offer prize packages to some of the world’s most popular land based tournaments, such as the World Series of Poker and European Poker Tour. For all of these events a series of Satellite tournaments are usually on offer, allowing you to qualify for a fraction of the cost of the main buy-in.

More Games and Players Than Ever

At bet365 they offer all betting variations for Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 5 Card Stud and 7 Card Stud. There is a game for everyone, with blinds starting as low as $0.01/$0.02 and increasing to $100/$200. With over 20,000 people online during peak times, you will have no problem finding a table that will best suit your needs.

For those wanting to practise their skills they also have a wide range of free play tables, as well as several daily Freeroll Tournaments.

Secure Banking and the bet365 One-Wallet System

In addition to a Poker room, they also have first-class internet based Casino, Sportsbook and Games areas. bet365 operate a simple one-wallet system, meaning you have the same username, password and payment method to play at all of the above with the minimum of fuss.

The bet365 site uses Thawte SSL web server certificates to offer secure communications by encrypting all data to and from the site. SSL is used to protect the sensitive information that is sent and received including personal information and credit/debit card details.

Promotions

bet365 like to reward their poker players with some of the biggest and best promotions around. All new players will receive a massive 200% bonus on their first deposit up to $600! Simply deposit $10 or more and your bonus will be activated instantly.

You will also earn Merit Points for simply playing poker with bet365. The more poker you play at bet365’s tables the more Merit Points you’ll accumulate. What you then do with those points is up to you. You can decide to cash them out, or another great option is to use them to play in bet365’s amazing selection of tournaments, where your Merit Points can win you some fantastic cash prizes!

They will also give everyone the chance to enrol for the bet365 VIP programme. This rewards frequent players with a chance to increase their VIP level and receive a selection of benefits such as increased Merit Points accumulation, special tournaments and a number of exclusive monthly bonuses.

First Class Customer Support

You, the Customer, are very important to bet365 and that’s why they put a great deal of time and energy into customer service. They pride themselves on their speed, efficiency and friendliness when dealing with any questions or queries that may arise.

Their highly trained customer service team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and can be reached by telephone, email or live chat.

Even if you can’t make it to Vegas for the WSOP*, you can still be part of the action. With more than $700,000 in guaranteed prize money spread over more than 50 events, Full Tilt Poker’s Mini Series of Poker is your chance to share in the thrill of poker’s most prestigious series from the comfort of your own couch.

From now through July 5th, the MSOP will let you play the same day’s tournaments that will be running at the WSOP* in Las Vegas for anywhere from $10 to $500 – just 1/100th of what it would cost you to play at the Rio. Check out the full schedule to find all of the events you want to play, and look for satellites starting for as little as $2 + $.25 or 50 Full Tilt Points.

And because no poker series is complete without a special prize, we’ll award each event winner with a limited edition Full Tilt Poker Champion’s Watch in addition to their first-place prize money. Go deep in as many events as possible to work your way up our MSOP Leaderboard and your play can even earn you a $10K seat at the 2009 Main Event in Las Vegas.

Play for your chance to become an MSOP champion and see why what happens in Vegas doesn’t have to stay in Vegas anymore.

Play Online Poker

Ladbrokes Poker will be taking over 100 European players to Las Vegas this summer. There is still time to qualify to be part of the Ladbrokes Poker Team at this year’s Main Event.

And there’s more. Should any of Ladbrokes Poker Team make it to the final table of the main event, they will receive a guaranteed $250,000 sponsorship package. If they win the main event, the sponsorship package is worth a cool $1,000,000! There are other sponsorship packages down to 27th place whilst anyone finishing in the 28-100 place will win a Ladbrokes 2009 WSOP Package.

For more details please go to:-

Not long ago Unibet launched new poker tables, so now is a great time to check out the site.

“The new tables mark the very latest in poker software design, with a lot of new features which make playing poker at Unibet even better than before. The new features include:

The new features provide a much improved user experience for both fun and serious players alike, so whatever a player’s level, there is something here for them to enjoy.

To check out the new tables, either click on the banner below and download the software or if you already have an account, just start the client as you normally would and the upgrade will happen automatically.

By Tony Guerrera

In cash games, you can afford to lay low while you observe your opponents and obtain extensive book on them. But what do you do when a tournament just starts, when new players are moved to your tournament table, or when you’re tournament table breaks and you’re forced to move to another table? In tournaments, you can’t afford to sit back idly; one missed opportunity can mean the difference between a huge payday and no payday whatsoever, and certain blind structures simply don’t give you the time to wait. And though you can theoretically sit tight early in cash games, what happens what you get AA the first hand of a session and an opponent shows aggression on the turn and the river: are you ahead or behind?

Fortunately, if you have a bit of playing experience under your belt, you actually have information about your opponents before you even sit at the table. That’s right…you have information about players you’ve never seen in your life! Before you play a single hand, you can draw upon all your past poker playing experience. You can assume that your opponents play like the average of all foes you’ve encountered in your poker-playing life.

Since poker evolves, the default profile I assign to my opponents now (April 2008) isn’t the same as the default profile I assigned to my opponents two years ago. And most likely, it won’t be the same as the default profile I assign to my opponents two years from now. It’s important to monitor and update constantly the default player profiles you assign to unknown foes. If you play in different venues, it will probably be the case that you’ll have default profiles that you assign depending on where you’re playing. For example, I use different default player profiles for each online poker room as a function of stakes, and I also have a different default player profile that I use when playing in an LA card room.

The more accurate the default profiles you use are, the less trouble you’ll encounter against fresh faces. However, default profiles are ultimately not enough. No matter how good a default profile is, you must identify as quickly as possible how each of your opponents deviates. As soon as your opponents show their true colors, you can then assign them to more specific player profiles–let’s call these more specific player profiles archetypes (In Killer Poker Shorthanded (Kensington, 2007), John Vorhaus and I put forth several player archetypes that we commonly encounter in shorthanded NLHE cash games. Check them out if you’re looking for some examples).

Archetypes are a step forward, but they still aren’t enough. After all, archetypes are just slightly more specific versions of default player profiles. The task of profiling opponents is never really done. But nonetheless, using good default profiles is the foundation for success when playing against so-called unknowns.

Tony Guerrera is the author of Killer Poker By The Numbers. Visit him online at http://www.killerpokerbythenumbers.com

Take part in the 2008 Irish Winter Festival this October Bank Holiday weekend (October 25th-27th) for a weekend of total poker bliss. Headlined by the Irish Masters main event (with an estimated prizepool of €1 MILLION) and a full side event schedule, the Irish Winter Festival promises to be another must-attend event on the international poker calendar.

Starting on Sunday the 13th April there will be a weekly Grand Final every Sunday night @ 10pm on paddypowerpoker.com. If you want to be in with a chance to win one of our $3,500 packages then check out our online qualifiers page.

Irish Winter Festival 2008

• €1 Million Estimated Prize Pool
• Irish Masters €1,500 Buy–in + €150 Registration
• 800 player capacity
• Citywest Hotel, Dublin
• Oct 25th – 27th 2008 (First Hand dealt at 2pm on the 25th )

During this long bank holiday weekend, 32Red Poker is holding a series of exclusive tournaments. Players can dip into their RedBack (32Red Poker’s loyalty points system) reserves to gain entry to these impressive top-dollar tournaments. New players needn’t worry though - they can buy-in through a nominal fee and battle against 32Red Poker’s most experienced members.

Here’s a breakdown of what’s on offer:

Tonight (Friday 2nd May)

“The Friday Late One” - Guaranteed $1,000. Entry: 1,100 RedBacks or $10 + $1. Starts 22:00 BST.

Saturday (3rd May)

“Be the Bounty” - Guaranteed $1,000. Entry: 1,100 RedBacks or $10 + $1. Starts 21:30 BST.

Sunday (4th May)

“Play for $2k Sunday” - Guaranteed $2,000. Entry: 2,200 RedBacks or $20 + £2. 17:00 BST.

Monday (5th May)

“Quickfire Snooker Special” - Guaranteed $500. Entry: 550 RedBacks or $5 + $0.50. 14:30 BST.

“Snooker Final Session Special” - Guaranteed $500. Entry: 550 RedBacks or $5 + $0.50. 20:30 BST.

UltimateBet to Give Away Record Number of Free Seats to Pokers Biggest Main Event

Players invited to compete in month-long contest for multiple shots at free WSOP* seats

They say you cant put a price on the World Series of Poker* experience. UltimateBet.com is taking that sentiment a little too literally by handing out a large number of Main Event seats for free. UltimateBet.com today announced a new promotion that solidifies the poker site as the best place to win a free seat in the series.

This is an historic promotion for fans of the worlds greatest game, stated UltimateBet spokesperson George MacLean. “We’re handing out loads of Main Event seats and online poker fans can win one just by doing what they love playing poker. “

Annie Duke, UltimateBets new Cardroom Consultant, created the Ultimate Main Event Giveaway promotion so that more online poker players are able to experience Texas Holdem on the worlds biggest stage alongside pokers best pros.

To qualify for the promotion, UltimateBet players must simply play in any real-money poker Sit n Go, ring game or multi-table tournament at UltimateBet.com between April 24th and May 23rd and climb their way up the Main Event Giveaway leader board.

At the end of the qualifying period, the player who has earned the most RAI$E status points will automatically secure a $12,000 Main Event prize package featuring the $10,000 buy-in and $2,000 for travel accommodations.

But thats just the start of UltimateBets Main Event generosity. Players ranking 2nd through 70th on the leader board will play in an exclusive freeroll that features a prize pool of seven additional $12,000 Main Event packages.

In an effort to send as many players as possible to Las Vegas for the worlds most prestigious poker tournament, UltimateBet is opening the floodgates to even more Main Event seats through a series of freerolls. On Saturday May 24th, the online poker site is holding a 25-seat Guaranteed Tournament where at least 25 Main Event prize packages will be won.

Players ranking 71st through 225th on the leader board will win their spot in the $500+30 tournament. Those ranking 226th through 3427th will be divided into five separate freerolls where hundreds of additional opportunities to win a spot in the 25-seat Guaranteed Tournament are on the line.

More information on UltimateBets Main Event Giveaway can be found at:-

The best online tournament series just keeps getting better.

In August of 2006, FTOPS I debuted with eight events and a combined guaranteed prize pool of more than $1 million. This past February, FTOPS VII awarded more than $15 million in prize money over 20 events. FTOPS VIII promises to be the biggest FTOPS ever.

24 Events – More Than $10 Million Guaranteed!

Twenty-four chances to bring home FTOPS gold; more than 10 million reasons to give it everything you’ve got. Starting on May 7th, FTOPS VIII offers 24 events with a guaranteed prize pool worth more than $10 million. This series features a wide selection of exciting tournaments, each hosted by a Full Tilt Pro, including:

• The massive $2 million guaranteed Main Event
• The $2,500 Two-Day tournament
• Three special “mystery” events unlike anything FTOPS has ever seen before

Remember to participate in the Satellite Challenge, which gives you the chance to win tournament entries and T$s. Stay on top of the FTOPS VIII action by checking out the FTOPS leaderboard and watching video highlights from each final table with commentary provided by the pros and Poker After Dark announcer Ali Nejad.

FTOPS VIII Prizes

Be one of the final players in any FTOPS VIII event and receive more than just a nice payday:

• Everyone who makes the final table of any FTOPS VIII event will receive a limited-edition FTOPS jacket
• Players who win an FTOPS VIII event will receive the jacket, along with a gold FTOPS jersey, a coveted gold jersey avatar for use on Full Tilt Poker and an entry to the FTOPS Season II Tournament of Champions

FTOPS Tournament of Champions

We’ve crowned 50 champions so far in our second full year of FTOPS. Twenty-four more players will join this elite group after FTOPS VIII is complete. To find out who’s the best of the best, we’re gathering all the winners from FTOPS V, VI, VII and VIII together to compete in the Tournament of Champions for the chance to win a free $10K WSOP* Main Event seat.

All of the champions from the second year of FTOPS will be automatically entered into the TOC, which will take place at 15:00 ET (20:00 GMT) on Saturday, May 24th. Prove that you’re the best of the best and make your way to Vegas for the Big Dance.

You can’t keep a good poker player down. Here’s your chance to prove that you’ve got the ability to bounce back from a tough blow and keep on rolling.

Finishing on the bubble can hurt, especially when it happens in an FTOPS event. That’s why we’re giving you the chance to bounce back with the “Bouncebackability” Freeroll. Be the last player eliminated before the money in any FTOPS event and win an entry to this exclusive Freeroll where a buy-in to the FTOPS IX Main Event will be up for grabs. The “Bouncebackability” Freeroll will take place on Saturday, May 24th at 15:00 ET (20:00 GMT).

No one likes to be the bubble boy. Now, you can bounce back higher than ever before.