The two letter noun that completely defines gambling is LAS VEGAS. It has become the dream destination of all gamblers and holiday seekers. The one place you can drain all the tension and if unlucky all the money is VEGAS. Set in the midst of the desert it makes an oasis worth reckoning. Offering free drinks and luxurious ambiances the casinos of Las Vegas are nothing short of wonderland. It's so easy for a person to get lost in the hustle and bustle of the busy streets or overcrowded casino tables. One must be care full while in Vegas as you may loose more then you plan to earn.
The gambling sees no rich or poor. All you need is the willingness to spend the money you have, the daring to go for the risky bets and you never know you can be the crowned king of gambling. This is the philosophy of the gambling paradise on earth. The casinos are full of games to bet on. There are sophisticated games with latest technology and there can also be the most famous card games to play. For example, despite all the advances games like blackjack and poker remain most played.
Although the whole city and places around it are mushroomed with casinos and entertainment centers but some places are better then others. And the best Las Vegas has to offer can be found on the Fremont street. It has been the street where you can find the most advertised items that Las Vegas has. The El Cortez, the Horseshoe etc. are the major places to go and try luck. Gambling majors like Steve Wynn have brought about a completely fantastic arena for the gamblers by the name of Golden Nugget. It has an excellent accommodation and luxurious settings for the gambling lovers.
Gambling is not the exclusive domain of the rich and spendthrift. With the increasing numbers of non-gambling tourist making it to Vegas every year, it has become imperative for the city to have places that offer cheap and dilettante gambling. you can make it to the Klondike, one of the most inexpensive casinos, then you can fulfill your dream of sitting on an poker table and yet not be robbed of. Most non-gambling tourists look for such places.
You may also decide to come out of Vegas with riches in both hands. This requires a lot of skill and time to spend. One has to survey the prospects and identify the one where the odds to win are the best and then intelligently with some prior knowledge bet on it. All the time one is betting, temperament is one thing you can't loose. You have to be cool and play on. Keeping in mid what you have with you and what are you willing to loose. There is no point wonder what went wrong in the last bet that you even lost your shirt in it. The only advise for new visitors is that, in a place that offers free drinks for a person betting any thing over 25 cents, better safe then sorry.
Video Poker is one of the most popular slot versions of playing poker. In video poker you are playing against the machine, not other players, like in traditional poker. Your goal in this game is to get the highest ranking five card hand possible.
How to play
First you place a bet and receive five cards. Then you decide which cards to hold and which to discard. You may draw up to five new cards to improve your hand. Finally you obtain replacement cards in exchange for the cards you have discarded. All cards are dealt randomly from one card deck.
Perfect Play
Video Poker is a game where skill is important. With enough practice, you can learn how to play video poker like a professional. Video Poker can be one of the few potentially profitable casino games. Some video poker games are positive expectation games. It means that if you play properly, some Video Poker machines actually offer over 100% payback for perfect play over the long run.
You have the best chance of winning (losing less money) at video poker over the long run if select the holding with the highest Expected Value. Expected Value (mathematical expectation) is the statistically projected average of all possible outcomes for a particular play or game. In other words, EV is the amount one would expect to win or lose if this decision were to be repeated millions of times.
There are 32 ways to hold cards for any dealt five-card hand. For each of these holdings you have to calculate the expected value (EV) of the result and draw to the combination which has the highest EV.
The math used to calculate the Expected Value is not very complicated at all. To compute the EV for the particular draw, you have to multiply the probability of each possible outcome by its value and sum up the results.
The following example explains the above definition.
The dealt hand is 8c 9d 4h 9s 8s in the Jacks or Better (8/5) video poker machine. In this simple example the holding with the highest EV is 89_98. There are 47 cards remaining in the deck. 4 cards would make Full House and 43 others would make Two Pairs. We have a payoff value of 8 for a full house and 2 for a Two Pairs.
EV= 48/47+432/47=2.51064
Calculating EV is straightforward. But it is a tedious task for a human. Luckily, there are several computer programs designed to evaluate the optimal strategy for each hand as it is encountered. They can catch your mistakes and warn you about them, showing you the difference in EV between your play and the best play. You can use your computer to master your video poker skills at no cost.
There's no doubt about it, some people are just better at poker than others. They appear to win consistently and seemingly at will. So this leaves many with a few questions which linger on the mind.
Could it be that poker is only a game of chance with no other forces to play upon besides the fickle Lady Luck?
What makes a good poker player a great poker player?
Is there a way in which I can be a more successful poker player?
If these questions have been yours at one time or another, then you're certainly not alone. Millions of average poker players would like to enhance their gaming skill, and there are tons of products out there selling every day which promise to make you a better poker player. Poker players and wannabe poker gurus spend hard earned cash every day to learn the one secret which will transform them into poker pros in twenty four hours or less.
Let's face it, if skill came in a can, and Lady Luck in a bottle, we'd all be poker pros. Sadly, improving your poker game just isn't as easy as opening a can or a bottle, but don't lose hope, there is something you can do.
The main problem which plagues poker players is the lack of focus. Focus is the key which can turn mediocre poker players into successful poker players. When a player loses focus, they will most certainly lose the game to someone who has maintained theirs.
The main causes of loss of focus at the poker table are:
Focusing on talk rather than the poker game: Talking during play is without a doubt the toughest habit to kick, and is the biggest consumer of our poker time attention. Poker time chat is something that's expected, especially among friends, so it's tough to quit without appearing rude. Tone it down over time, and you'll see your poker winning streak improve.
Focusing on food rather than the poker game: Food is essential to all human beings, that's a fact we're all familiar with. However, food shouldn't be your focus while playing poker. Instead of munching during the actual game, grab something to eat before play begins, and during breaks in play. Focus off of food leaves more focus for poker.
Focusing on alcohol rather than on the poker game: Now here's where I'll lose some of you for sure. If you really want to improve your poker game, leave the drinking of alcoholic beverages for post game chatter. A clear mind places smarter bets, and also puts you at an advantage over your inebriated poker pals.
Focusing on a personal issue rather than on the poker game: We all have issues at one time or another in life. Bringing them to the poker table isn't helping anyone but your opponents. If you have something pressing on your mind and can't set it aside, then leave poker for another time. This may sound a little harsh, but it's the truth.
Focusing on a local distraction: This could be anything from your friend's bad toupee, the barking of a distant dog or the tv upstairs. Filter out the ambient non poker essentials. Forget the toupee, the dog and the tv. It's poker time pal, let's get down to it!
Focus in itself is a skill. Any skill can be developed over time if diligently practiced. The five focus stealers we discussed will kill your poker game if you let them. By developing a razor sharp focus, you can cut them off before they become a persistent problem.
Cracking down on bonus hunters is getting tougher! A wide range of devices and new fighting measures are taken:
″Sticky″ bonuses become more and more popular ( a casino player cannot get the amount of a bonus), last year a new variety appeared - ″phantom″ bonuses - a variant of a sticky bonus, but the amount of a bonus while taking money is not left on the account, but is removed. At present most casinos with PlayTech, Microgaming, RTG softwares offer ″sticky″ bonuses.
Other casinos expand the list of games forbidden for bonus wagering. BlackJack or Video Poker are either forbidden or wager requirements increased by 2-4 times. Some popular on-line casinos introduce bonuses which can be wagered in Slots only.
Wager requirements continue to grow. A year ago you could find on-line casinos offering decent bonuses with 10-20 times wager requirements. Nowadays 25-30 times are the summit of a hunter’s ambition ( for Slots bonuses wager may be a bit lower).
But not everything is so bad. Casino bonus hunters have new interesting perspective in a related area - on-line Poker rooms. The Poker industry is growing now incredibly rapidly (the number of players and bets for the last year have grown by more than 5 times!). New Poker rooms are constantly appearing which try to attract new players offering bonuses, money for playing and free rolls, and large Poker sites keep up with young competitors.
At present among Poker rooms are more popular interest bonuses on the first deposit - 20-25% bonus up to $100. Fixed bonuses exist (about $50) and in Poker rooms with Cryptologic software monthly bonuses for the time of playing are $5 per hour. The wager requirement is expressed by the number of played deals or the amount of bet money.
New Poker rooms need players strongly, nobody will come into an empty room, therefore they are ready to propose money to players not for sitting and playing (so-called proposition players or props - the player should play at the table appointed by casinos and he gets for that a bonus or some tens of dollars per hour).
The third variant of earning money is tournaments with free entrance designed to attract new players and keep old ones. It can be a tournament on one table with a prize fund of $10 or it can be a tournament for $30000 with the first bonus of $6000 (at present the highest fund of free roll is $100000!
A question arises: is it too risky to hunter in Poker. Will not you lose more? Will not rake swallow all profits? Here of course much depends on the level of the player. However, at low limits up to $1/$2 (it is no use to trying higher for a hunter and the bank does not allow to risk in this way) the level of the players is not too high, therefore anybody who will spend a couple of hours on studying the chance concept and basic principles of the game and print the table of the start hands, has good chance to become a plus player. Of course some negative losses are possible but in on-line casinos the situation is the same therefore Poker rooms is more kindly soil for the hunting. And while acquiring playing experience a bonus hunter may well transfer to the class of professional players and start earning tens and even hundreds of dollars per hour WITHOUT BONUSES.
Therefore, hunting in on-line casinos is gradually declining and its place is going to take on-line Poker hunting. The king is died, long live to the king.
© Copyright 2006-2007 www.bonus-map.com
Danie Negreanu
2004 Borgata Poker Open
A great river card propes Danie to a position among the chip leaders
My plan when traveling cross-country to play a tournament is always to get plenty of rest and make sure that I arrive at the facility early enough so that I can get acclimated.
So, I booked my flight at the last minute and arrived in Atlantic City just prior to midnight on the evening before the tournament; so much for planning.
When I went to tournament registration, the line was about three and a half miles long, and suddenly panic set in: This thing wasn’t going to sell out, was it? I was genuinely worried that my dog, Mushu, and I had traveled all that way and wouldn’t get a seat. You know, it’s funny; I hadn’t had a dog since I was a little kid, and never really understood why people get so attached. Jennifer (Harman) used to tell me things like, ″Oh, I can’t play too late; the dogs are at home alone.″
I’d respond, ″So what? They are just dogs. They’ll be fine on their own.″
Then, I bought Mushu, my 5-pound Chihuahua. Now, I fully understand what Jennifer was going through when she said she had to quit to go home and take care of her dogs. I’m fully sucked in. I just can’t go anywhere without my little buddy. I called the Borgata in advance to make sure that Mushu could join me, and they obliged. He’s a good boy, and doesn’t bark much or soil the carpets.
Finally, after a nerve-racking wait, I made it to the front of the line, ensuring myself of one of the remaining seats in the tournament. All told, there would be 302 entrants and a prize pool of more than $3 million. I took Mushu for a walk in the park, so he could do his business, and finally got to bed at around 4 a.m.; so much for being well-rested.
The one drawback to bringing my dog was that I’d have to wake up earlier. The tournament started at noon, but I’d have to get up earlier to take Mushu out for a walk. Strangely enough, I was able to wake up at 10:30 am., take the dog for a walk, have breakfast, and get to the Hold’em poker tournament on time. Sweet!The Borgata gave us $20,000 in chips to start, and I had my stack up to about $30,000 about halfway through the day. I took a tough beat for a small pot and had $24,500 when the following key hand came up:
With the blinds at $300-$600 and a $50 ante, I limped in from first position with the 8+ 7+. Everyone folded to the button, who made it a total of $3,000 to go.
I didn’t know the player well, but I was pretty sure that his raise meant that he had a couple of high cards — either A-K or A-Q, or maybe even A-A, K-K, or Q-Q. The price seemed reasonable, so I called his raise, and took the flop heads up from out of position: 5+ 3 2+.
That was a decent flop for me, and I had lots of options at my disposal. I could try a semibluff on the flop or I could try to win a big pot if I hit my flush. Assuming that my opponent had a big pair or an ace-high hand, I decided to check. He bet another $3,000, which made it an easy call for me. At this point, I wasn’t sure if I was looking at an overpair or ace high.
The turn brought the 6. That was a great card for me. Not only did it give me a straight and a flush draw, it also was a scare card to my opponent’s hand. If he had no pair, he couldn’t call, and if he had an overpair, he would be in a difficult spot.
I decided to use the ″weak lead″ and bet $4,500. If I checked texas holde poker. I would have to worry that my opponent would bet too much for me to call. By betting a smallish amount, I got a good price on my draw in a situation in which I simply couldn’t be raised. Since my opponent had raised from the button, that board was unlikely to have helped him.
I was a little surprised when he called. I had a new dilemma: Should I continue with the bluff if I miss, or just give up? The turn card may have given my opponent a spade draw, which seemed like the most likely hand. Usually, I have a game plan for what I’ll do on the river, but in this case, I had no idea how to proceed.
The river was the OK, there was no need to worry, because I had the nuts now! I had $13,000 left and there was already more than $20,000 in the pot. My opponent seemed to be a little stubborn, so I decided to make it look like I was.
There are some poker terms often used by pundits, in articles and by players at the table which you may find helpful to learn. Here they are, tilt and all!
BIG BLIND The largest of the two required (called ″forced″) bets, twice the size of the posted ″small″ blind.
BOARD Area where five ″community″ cards are placed for all players to use to make a hand.
BULLY An aggressive tactic used by the strongest player with the most chips to force another player’s hand.
BUTTON The round ″button″ or disc that shows which player plays last.
BUY-IN The amount of money you have to ″put up″ in order to play in a tournament.
EARLY POSITION First two or three seats located to the left of the big blind.
FIRST POSITION First player on the left of the big blind.
FLOP The first three cards dealt to the community, dealt face up.
LATE POSITION One or two seats to the right of the button.
MIDDLE POSITION Players 4th-7th player positions after the big blind.
(THE) NUTS The best possible hand showing with what is on the board.
RAISE Betting larger than the previous bet.
RERAISE Making another bet after the pot has already been raised.
RAKE What the House Charges to operate the game.
REBUY In tournaments, if it is a re-buy event, you can re-buy chips when you run out.
RIVER The final community card dealt.
SHOWDOWN Cards are turned over on the river by the players left in the game.
TURN the fourth community card dealt.
And the one everyone needs to know - TILT. After a few bad hands some people play too aggressively or too ″loose″ and usually end up losing their chips.
Use these terms to improve your poker game and understand what the other players are talking about, but try to stay calm and avoid the dreaded tilt!
He won $30 million dollars at cards and lost that much and more. He is the only three-time winner of the World Series of Poker. He died broke and alone in a sleazy porn motel between The Strip and Downtown Las Vegas.
Stuey "The Kid" Ungar was proud of the fact that Mafia bosses came to his Bar Mitzah. The son of a New York bookmaker who died in the arms of one of his many mistresses, he blew his inheritance within a couple of weeks on the ponies.
Stu Ungar may have been the best card player of all time. He would learn a game and master it in record time. At 16 he was the world's best gin rummy player. He dropped out of high school to play full-time.
Not content to simply win a game, he had to win big. He abused his opponents along the way. Soon no one would play against him.
Purportedly staked by the New York mob, he split for California when he gambled away what he owed them. They followed, told him what he had to do to be free of them, and paid an entry fee into a Vegas Gin Rummy tournament. Stuey won $50,000, paid them off, and stayed in Vegas.
With a photographic memory for cards, he turned to blackjack. If half a deck had been dealt, he could read out which cards were left. He became a "card counter" – and casinos don't like blackjack card counters - and he was soon barred from playing. He then turned to poker.
After having played poker's premier game, Texas Hold 'em, for only a few months, he captured top prize in the 1980 World Series of Poker. He did it again in '81. When asked what he would do with the $375,000 prize money, he mumbled, "Lose it." And he did.
Stuey was a card savant. Small and slight – hence the nickname "The Kid" - he knew cards and almost nothing else. He thought bank accounts were stupid because you couldn't access your money at midnight if you needed it as he often did. When it was time to buy a house, the realtor met him at the poker table and he slid over the down payment in cash. He would buy Jaguars and Cadillacs, bang them up, and forget to change the oil.
After winning the 1981 World Series he was invited onto the Merv Griffin TV show. He received a $300 check for his first appearance and a second check for $100 when the show was re-run. "This was the only legitimate money I ever earned," Ungar said.
He would win enormous sums at the poker table, then sprint to the casino sports book and lose it on baseball, football, or horse racing. He was never hesitant to borrow money, as he often did, because he knew (and his debtors knew, too) that he would win it back at poker.
He took to golf. On his first outing he lost $80,000 on the putting green and never made it to the first tee.
He married, had a child (Stefanie), divorced and fell into a downward spiral, fueled by cocaine. But as the candle flickers just before going out, so it was with Stuey.
In 1997, in bad shape, he returned to the World Series of Poker. He wore blue sunglasses low on his nose because a part of it had collapsed from drug abuse. He pulled himself together just long enough to became the only person ever to win the World Series of Poker three times in competition. It is unlikely that this record will ever be broken.
When he was found in the Oasis Motel in Las Vegas, a porn movie was on the TV. He had $800 dollars in his pocket, what was left of a $2000 loan a few days before. His poker buddies took up a collection to pay for his funeral.
One movie, "High Roller," has been made of his life and another is in the works, based on the book, "One of a Kind," by Dalla and Alson. His friends, and he had many, are looking forward to a lasting memorial to whom Dalla and Alson call "the world's greatest poker player."
(c) 2006 Murphy James
If you want to win more often, you have to rely on skill. Gambling revolves around the idea of getting lucky, which doesn’t happen a lot of the time. Roulette, poker, and blackjack, these are all games that require skill and place you at a greater advantage of winning. Online slots, however, is a game in which you have no say over the outcomes. Although you can win a lot of money playing online slots, you can sometimes win nothing because you cannot skillfully turn the outcomes to your advantage. If you want to win more often at the casinos, then I recommend building your skills, and playing games that allow you to utilize your skills.
Casino Games That Require Skill
Blackjack
Blackjack is a relatively easy game to master. There are many online blackjack strategy guides that, once learned, will increase your chances of winning dramatically! The average blackjack player guesses when to hit, and when to stand. The great blackjack player has an understanding of when to hit, and when to stand, based on a winning blackjack strategy guide. This translates into more wins over a longer period of time.
Roulette
Even though roulette is a game of luck in a lot of instances, it does require some skill on your part, after all, the winning outcome depends on what you select. I’d much rather play roulette than slots. At least if I lose playing roulette, I know that it was because of my bad selections, not because of luck that was out of my hands.
Poker
Its very obvious that the game of poker relies on skilled play, and a bit of luck. When a poker player is great, they are almost unbeatable. They are usually in the final three of every major poker tournament.
If you are serious about winning, you should really invest your time into developing your skills and strategies. After all, the more skill you have, the more often you are going to win.
Ways To Deposit
When I first wanted to start playing in online casinos and poker rooms, I thought it would be as easy as 123 to start playing – surely all you need to do is to download the software enter your credit card details and away you go?
Well yes kind of, but you may already have seen there are a multitude of different payment and deposit methods available ranging from credit and debit cards right the way through to the good old snail mail check!
There are a range of options but it is vitally important that you choose the right one otherwise your casino and poker play may not be as rewarding as you first think.
Credit Cards
Historically credit cards have always been the first thing people think of when looking to deposit money – and why not – these days most of the major banks offer internet fraud protection and depositing via credit card is pretty instantaneous – so what is the problem – well there could be a few.
1, A lot of US credit card issuers now will not allow you to use their cards for gambling transactions, this is also now starting to hit the rest of the world with other big issuers.
2, Mastercard now prohibit winnings from being re deposited back onto cards bearing their logo.
3, Some banks both in the US and UK who do allow their credit cards to be used to deposit money, account for these transactions slightly differently and as a result charge interest differently usually with no interest free period and certainly in the UK with interest rates in excess of 21% AER.
4, There may also be limits with some online casinos and online poker rooms on the amount of money you can deposit and have re deposited back onto your card so if you win big you may not get it all back!
Debit Cards
Now becoming more standardised around the world but used heavily in the UK and Europe, don't tend to suffer the same restrictions as credit cards and of course because the money is coming directly out of your bank account – unless you have an overdraft facility you are not exposed to the excessive interest rates associated with credit cards.
Bank Transfers
Still used a lot to make payments for bills etc, one of the biggest issues with bank transfers is the time – funds are not moved immediately so you often have to wait before you can use your gaming account for anything upto five days – during which lets be honest the banks will be earning some interest off your money, and at the same time the banks will charge you for the privilege of transferring your money this way.
Online Payment Services
I guess Paypal may well have started this trend off but now there are a whole host of online payment services to choose from (Paypal incidentally not being one of them as when they were took over by Ebay they stopped allowing Paypal to be used for casino transactions)
The best known ones are Neteller, Moneybookers, Western Union & Stormpay but there are others such as Citadel.
All pretty much offer a similar service in that you open an account with them – for free and you can then deposit money into them using either a credit or debit card or by wire transfer etc, once you have deposited money into them you can then use this account to deposit and withdraw funds from your online casino or poker room account – in most cases immediately.
All have a range of different services attached to them and, obviously they have to make there money somewhere, a range of different charges – as an example I deposited £25 into my Neteller account from my UK credit card and was charged a 98p handling fee by Neteller – which was taken directly off the credit card – approx 4% charge which is quite a lot especially if you are depositing large amounts into the account.
However one of the main advantages of using services such as this is that you can accept money and deposit money in different currencies – all converted at the payment services conversion rates and you can use one account to fund a range of different casino and poker accounts – and of course one account to receive all of your winnings!
One final word of caution on this though – when using your credit card to deposit funds into your payment service account just check with your card issuer that they do not treat these deposits in the same way as they would treat a deposit to a casino and sting you with high rates of interest on the transaction.
Snail Mail Methods
Need I say anything – if you really don't want to use any of the above or you are scared about leaving your details on the internet then you can always send a good old cheque (check!) and wait for it to clear – some (not all) online casinos and poker rooms accept this method.
Conclusion
There are a myriad of different ways for you to enjoy your online gaming and deposit and withdraw money safely, if you do struggle to use your credit card then one piece of advice which the banks would kill me for saying is to balance transfer the money off your credit card into your bank account then use your debit card to deposit the funds (thus avoiding the hefty interest charges) – be careful though for balance transfer fees but this is a whole different article!
Poker is not entirely a game of luck, but rather a game of skill and how you can take the cards you are dealt and make them win. This requires knowledge of odds, bluffing, and the general rules of the game not to mention the other cards opponents have showing. So, if you are interested in playing poker online you can really learn how to play well and win money. It's not just about what you are dealt, it's how you play the cards you are dealt so focus on learning rules and strategy before you begin playing poker online for money.
Learning how to play poker in a real casino or with other people can frequently be intimidating and your nervousness and anxiety will take over making it more difficult to think and play your hands efficiently. Of course, in time, this wears off as your confidence builds, however there is a way to avoid this situation altogether and that is with online poker. You can easily enter an online poker room and start practicing and learn how to play. Also, most of the top poker sites have poker rooms where you can practice and play for free, so take advantage of this situation and log some hours in the practice poker rooms. You will build your knowledge of the game as well as your confidence and once you have become good enough you can give a paying room a try. You wouldn't enter a marathon without training and you should not enter an online poker site without practicing if you do not want to lose your money.
Strategy
Strategy is important and this is the key factor that will help you win many games even if the cards did not fall just as you were hoping. Also, many players lack strategy and are too cocky to think they need it, so simply do some research on the strategy for your preferred poker game and implement these as you are practicing. The more your practice the easier strategy will become and before you know it your brain will simply be thinking in a strategic way. This is important and it will train you to become a really great poker player.
Of course, the online free poker games seem silly to many and just a way to pass the time like Solitaire or any other computer game. However, if you are truly interested in becoming a better player all you have to do is really focus on the practice games as if they were real games and the money was real as well, implement the strategies you are learning, focus on mistakes and why certain moves did not work, and you will really become a better poker player. When you are a better poker player you may begin playing for money online and will be prepared to play against the many talented card players that are in the online poker rooms.
Keep in mind, however, that the play tables are not as well laid out as the money tables, so after a few hands you should be able to learn and start winning a few hands. However, if you are not winning with the play hands after a couple hours of playing then you either play poorly or are not implementing the strategies you have learned, and likely a combination of both. Remember, if you are losing on a regular basis in the play tables then there is no reason to enter the money tables because you will lose again and this time real money. So stay focused when you are learning how to play and understand that if you can't win at the free tables you will never win at the pay tables. Once you have played the free games for a while and start winning some, then you should move on to some of the cheap real games. There are games for one cent and two cents online, so you should consider playing those as your second step in the quest to become a good poker player. While the free games will help you learn how to play the game and the basics, you must take a step up every once in a while to challenge yourself and to learn more in order to become a better player. As long as you continue practicing and moving up a step at a time you will become a great poker player and win a lot of money. However, if you try and join the professional players when you still are learning the rules of the game you will simply lose money and your self esteem. Don't let this happen and take it one step at a time.
Becoming a Player
Now that you know how to become a player you need to start practicing. Check out some of the top 10 poker room sites on the Internet and then start playing the practice hands. By doing this you will be able to learn a lot faster and save your embarrassment for a bad move because you are in front of your computer screen and nobody can see you. In the past, learning to play poker took a lot of time and guts because individuals had to endure playing with those better than themselves and individuals who would surely beat them for some time. However, you can avoid this situation altogether by simply playing the free games online and taking advantage of all that is made available to you. Then, when you finally do make it to the money games you will be able to hold your own and will likely win which is a ego booster and will only help you to continue playing well. Don't think the free online poker games are a waste of time, but rather utilize them and make them teach you the ins and outs of poker so you become a truly great player.