The Poker Blog

By Chris McElroy

In this article on poker, I’m going to talk about people who enjoy playing poker at online poker websites, but who like to play for play money and some of the reasons they want to do so.

I play a lot of online poker. I play for real money, but also play poker for play money at a few different online poker websites. Playing Texas Holdem Poker is fun regardless of the money on the line or lack of it.

Whenever you go into any of the poker rooms, there are always people there who believe they are the best poker players since Wild Bill Hickok. But that is actually part of the fun of playing poker. The guy with the most poker chips, whether real or play, gets the bragging rights, no matter how lucky they may have gotten.

But in some of the play money poker rooms online you hear people say, “Well if you are such a good poker player, why don’t you play for real money?”

There are a lot of reasons for someone to play poker for play money. Here are some of them.

1. Practice makes perfect - It gives you a chance to explore strategies and experiment with them that you would never gamble real money on until you see how well they work. Believe it or not, there is some extremely good poker players in some of the play money rooms.

2. Non-Gamblers - Maybe the person loves to play poker but just doesn’t gamble. You can enjoy poker without gambling real money.

3. Learning - Playing poker for play money is a great way to learn how to play. Just like in practice makes perfect I mentioned above, some people are not advanced enough at poker to even have a strategy yet. Everyone has to start somewhere.

4. Some people play online poker to relax after a hard day at work or with the kids. They like the ability to chat to other players and treat online poker as a chatroom with the ability to play poker while they chat instead of a poker room where they can also chat.

5. Financial Reasons - It is never smart to “gamble the rent”, an old gambler’s advice goes. And its true. Maybe the person you are playing would be playing for real money if their circumstances were a little different.

The point to all of this? Give people a break. If you go into a play money room at an online poker website, do not assume that because someone is playing in a play money poker room that they are not a good poker player.

Be polite and make friends. You’ll find the play money poker game is a lot more fun with everyone chatting and joking around than being too competitive or insulting.

About the Author: Chris McElroy made a living playing pool and poker for years and still enjoys both as hobbies now and then. For more information about online poker visit Start Here For Poker

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POKER TIP from Mad Genius Mike Caro:

I call this the “bunching factor.” It has nothing to do with poor dealing, though.

If you’re playing 10-handed hold ‘em and the first seven players have folded before the flop, there’s a better-than-usual chance that the few remaining players hold aces. Why? It’s because when opponents fold, it’s more likely that they folded something other than aces.

This means that statistically there are more aces left that could appear in the few remaining hands. While this isn’t an overwhelming statistical factor, it is significant enough that you should be more selective about the hands you raise the blinds with from the button (dealer position) when everyone else has folded than you would be if the deal began three-handed!

This “bunching factor” applies to other games, too — especially draw poker.

You can chat and play with the “Mad Genius”, Mike Caro, every Wednesday night at 9:30pm ET in the Bounty Tournament at Doyles Room.com.

Stop and Go: Advanced Poker Strategy by Greg Raymer 

Those who are regular at Ladbrokes Poker must have heard the name of the World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Greg Raymer. He was initially a sit-and-go player and was a part time Internet player. At sit-and-go poker games, 9 or 10 players compete at a single table.

The sit-and-go strategy works well in live poker, but it is more suitable for playing at Ladbrokes poker online. The strategies are different from other multi-table tournaments and are increasingly becoming popular at Ladbrokes poker. Raymer is famous for inventing the advanced poker strategy ‘Stop and Go’, which is an often-used strategy at Ladbrokes poker. It is commonly used when you have dealt a pocket pair and are short stacked in an online poker tournament. This strategy works best at the big blind and facing a raise from a single opponent.

Take for example a situation where you are in the big blind with 9 big blinds and are dealt pocket eights. A player in late position opens the pot for a standard 3x BB raise. Action folds around to you and you simply make the call; however, you commit yourself to pushing all-in no matter what comes on the flop. This is the essence of stop and go, and why it is considered an advanced strategy.

There are three reasons why the stop and go technique can be a successful play most of the times at Ladbrokes Poker. Check out the examples that can help you to be a winner.

If you re-raise and push your short stack all-in before the flop with a medium pocket pair, you are likely to get a call from a lot of hands. A push here will get a call from several pocket pairs that are beating you at the moment, or two over cards which you would be racing against. Neither are situations that you want to get all your money in the middle of the pot with in a tournament situation at Ladbrokes poker.

If your opponent does have a better pocket pair than you and he faces over cards on the board after you push on the flop, he will have a hard time calling your bet. This technique will force him to fold a better hand and give you the pot.

If your opponent has two overcards to your pair and fails to hit one on the flop he will almost surely be forced to fold. Maybe he even has a hand like 10-9 suited on a ten high flops and will have a hard decision on his hand at Ladbrokes poker.

Once you delay your all-in move until after the flop with the stop-and-go technique, you will get a few extra ways to pick up the pot, possibly with the worst hand. Unless your opponent hits the flop hard, they will have a tough time making the call after the flop, whereas pre-flop they may have easily called the raise.

Regardless of the type of three cards that fall on the flop, push is the way to become a stop-and-go expert at Ladbrokes Poker. If you were to chicken out and check the original raiser you leave yourself open to an easy steal with a continuation bet. If you are short, and spot your opportunity for this play, commit yourself fully to the stop and go strategy. You can hope to gain some extra chips to mount your comeback.

Author: Michael Binns

About the Author: UK Betting Central was created so punters would have a place to go to find the newest betting sites and the latest offers for free bets, bonuses, and match funds. Each website is chosen for their security, reliability, and payouts. Visit UK Betting Central

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Following on from the success of the Prague Poker Palooza, VC Poker returns to Prague and the fabulous Spearmint Casino in November of this year for the Prague Poker Palooza II and what heralds to be yet another momentous occasion.

Comprised once again of three buy-in events and an exclusive VC Poker freeroll, the Prague Poker Palooza II will continue in the same vein of the original by providing both added cash value and VIP treatment beyond compare. In addition this time round, we’ve also laid on a whole raft of discounts for satellite tokens, direct buy-ins and hotels making getting there a lot easier on the pocket.

What’s more, with the main event entry being upped to €1,000, an increase in player capacity and a unique value added element to each festival event totalling over €30,000, there’s more reason than ever to participate in this most peerless of poker festivals.

From money added and player bounties (not to mention the freeroll) to a complimentary food and beverage service plus laid-on entertainment for all VC Poker players and guests, the Prague Poker Palooza II will provide nearly all you expect from a week away in Prague with VC Poker , so whether you plan to qualify online or buy-in direct, now’s the time to act as seats are sure to fill up fast!

POKER TIP OF THE MONTH from Mad Genius Mike Caro:

While it’s often necessary to give an opponent a “free” card, you shouldn’t be happy about it. When an opponent has a weak hand in any form of Stud, Omaha or Hold ‘em, your bet might snare the pot immediately.

A check, gives an opponent the opportunity to see another card painlessly. A check lets opponents stumble into free winning hands they never would have paid to make.

You can chat and play with the “Mad Genius”, Mike Caro, every Wednesday night at 9:30pm ET in the Bounty Tournament at Doyles Room.com.

Purple Lounge are going with a Vegas theme for November, with a trip for 2 to the city, up for grabs in addition to their excellent rake races:

V for Vegas - All existing players will be set VIP point targets to meet during the month, in order to qualify for a freeroll with the 1st prize being a trip to Las Vegas for 2, with loads of extras thrown in. New and inactive players will have a nominal target of 100 VIP points to reach, in order that this promotion doesn’t exclude any players.

Loyalty Card - This will be run on a weekly basis over the month, each week players will be set achievable targets for each day Monday-Thursday such as play 10 SNG’s or 5 MTT’s, and players who complete the card will receive a prize on the Friday.

High Roller - Their ever popular raked hands race, with the top 50 places getting paid.

VIP Lounge - Based on VIP points, rather than hands, the top 15 are paid out. S&G’rs Welcome.

$50 Re-buy won by 22 year old Norwegian Mr Hanky111.

Last night MrHanky111, 22 of Sortland, Norway, was one of 417 runners to play in event 2 of the 2008 LEOCOP IV, the $50 Re-Buy. He scooped a first prize of $16,887.51 and an exclusive invitation to play in an online tournament that could see him seated in the semi-final of Poker Million VII playing for a million dollars. The tournament began at 20.00 GMT and Ladbrokes who in total are adding $500,000 across all festival events generously added $10,000.

MrHanky111 became chip leader quite early on the final table crushing Merseysides CALLIFUDARE’s pockets 9s with his pocket Aces, sending him out in seventh. Some time later, with six players left, Chelsead was dealt pocket Kings and proceeded to knock out jkhp in securing his position amongst the final table ranks as a contender to chipleader MrHanky111. After seven hours of play MrHanky111 and Chelsead faced off in heads-up play. Pole position was eventually secured by MrHanky111 after an uber-aggressive start from Chelsead. Chelsead from Reading, Berkshire finally stalled when his A-10 ran into MrHanky111’s pocket Qs

A number of Ladbrokes Poker sponsored pros such as Newcastle GUKPT Champ, Jeff Kimber (Jaffacake), former EPT Dortmund winner Andreas Hoivold ( _Theah_), 2007 WSOP final tablist Jon Kalmar (skalie) and John Magill (12th in 2006 WSOP) all logged on to play. With Ladbrokes Poker promising to give away a massive $500,000 in added prize money and exclusive invitations to play in the Masters Event it is proving to be one of the most exciting online poker festivals in Europe .

Edward Ihre, MD of Ladbrokes Poker said: “The number of players from countries all over Europe playing in our festival is really gratifying, It’s been a great start to the 2008 LEOCOP IV and day three of the 15-day event brings us the Daddy. This is a favourite with Laddies regulars, with a deepstack structure offering 5000 starting chips and 20 minute blinds levels so the players can really get their teeth into it.”

He continued: “On Wednesday we are hosting two events with added money that totals $12,500, the LEOCOP Ladies Championship and a Beat the Team event with our top pros as Bounties so there is something for everybody. Ladbrokespoker.com is definitely worth a visit!” Festival qualifiers are running each day for the majority of the events culminating in The Main Event on Sun 9th November which has a massive $250,000 added to the prize pool. With sixteen events over a 15 day period,

Doyles Poker Bad Beat Jackpot is set to turbo speed and has blasted over $100,000!

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Lock in your bonus by using promotion code: BADBEAT100 when you deposit into your account using one of our fast and easy deposit methods.

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€100k package to be won by the highest finishing paddypowerpoker.com qualifier

paddypowerpoker.com today launches its biggest ever Irish Open promotion, the €100,000 Sole Survivor. All paddypowerpoker.com qualifiers to the Irish Open 2009 will be eligible for participation, and the player that becomes the ‘Sole Survivor’ by outlasting all other paddypowerpoker.com qualifiers in the tournament will win a €100,000 package.

The Irish Open 2009, Europe’s longest-running tournament, will take place on the 9^th to 13^th April, 2009. The buy-in has been set at €3,200 + €300, with a Super Satellite scheduled for April 9^th.

“We always try to offer our own qualifiers something special for outlasting their peers; and this year certainly won’t disappoint” said Paddy Power, Communications Manager for paddypowerpoker.com. “The €100,000 package will be in addition to whatever prize money they win at the event, so it will be a real windfall for whichever qualifier stays in the game long enough to become our Sole Survivor!”

Qualifiers are scheduled on paddypowerpoker.com from October 26^th, with an expanded schedule being introduced in early November.

paddypowerpoker.com Irish Open 2009

Dates: April 9^th – 13^th, 2009

Buy-in: €3,200 + €300

Capacity: 800 players

Europe’s longest running online Poker Championship is back! LEOCOP IV Championship comprises 16 Added Money tournaments over 15 consecutive days and culminates with the massive $120,000 LEOCOP IV Masters Event freeroll, where you could win the last remaining Poker Million VII Semi-Final Seat!

Put this date in your diary – Sunday 26th October 2008. This is the start of the biggest added money Poker Festival on the internet. In addition to winning your share of an estimated $2,000,000 in prize money you could also win a Poker Million VII Semi-Final Seat which guarantees prize money of $20,000 and a chance to walk away with the first prize of $1,000,000.

Ladbrokes will be hosting 16 added money tournaments over 15 consecutive days where the games covered are No Limit, Fixed and Pot Limit Texas Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha and Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, with a mixture of Freezeout and Re-buy structures. Ladbrokes Poker has made sure that there is something for all of our players.

To ensure that everyone will have the opportunity to be a part of the drama and excitement they have set up a fantastic qualifying structure for each of the LEOCOP IV Championship Events (exc Heads-Up) starting with satellites offering buy-ins as low as $1! That’s incredible value and an unmissable opportunity to take a shot at some of the largest prize money in European Poker.

Qualify more than once for any of the LEOCOP Main Tournaments and you will now earn LEOCOP $. For example, if you qualify twice for Event 8 – the LEOCOP Omaha Hi/Lo Championship – you could elect to take a seat in Event 12 – the LEOCOP Pot Limit Championship with your $220 LEOCOP $ earned. Alternatively you could choose any other event of equal or greater value and make up the difference in cash. Likewise if you qualified for the $250,000 Added Main Event twice you would then have $1,100 to spend on the other LEOCOP Events as you wished.