Recent forecasts have predicted that online gaming revenues will rocket by just over 9% a year, peaking in 2015 at $182.8 billion. This is a phenomenal figure from a non-traditional industry, highlighting the public thirst for online gaming with cash stakes.

In the past, gambling was much more limited in scope. The average man may enjoy a trip to the bookmakers, or, a once in a blue moon trip to the horses. Now online gambling markets are available in our homes, and the range of products on offer is enticing. No longer are we confined to an uneducated wager on a horse or a punt at the football scores – the world of online gambling has brought us sites dedicated to some of our favourite social games.

Poker is prevalent on all online gaming sites. It’s a game that has come a long way since its early Wild West origins. Poker enjoyed popularity throughout America right through the last century. Towards the end of the 20th century it really began to take hold in the UK as a popular social pastime, and now it has reached a pinnacle, with easy internet access for rookies and pros alike.

The stakes you wager are down to you, and most sites will try to encourage responsible gambling. The onus is on the punter to curtail what they can afford to lose and most responsible sites like Jackpot City will place an emphasis on the fun intentions of the games available.

The end result was a large number of US players no longer being able to play online poker. And the fallout from that is a much changed poker landscape. While there were probably a higher percentage of professional grinders in the American segment of the market, the loss of the entire US poker playing population has had a big impact on the online economy.

Even so, this event was not as disastrous as it might once have been. Following the UIGEA in 2006 many top poker sites made a big effort to target European players and that effort paid off. As we see in 2011, the removal of the Americans from the poker market had a net effect of reducing the population by about 18%.

While bad, this was nowhere near as bad as it might have been. It remains to be seen what will happen next.

Poker sites are always offering players promotions, offers and bonuses in an attempt to encourage players to try out their site. In terms of these kinds of promotional offers, poker sites are similar to casino sites and bingo sites. Indeed, welcome bonuses are everywhere and they can make a huge difference to the bank roll of a player. One of the very best kinds of site for bonuses is bingo sites – especially the extra value added by the dawn of free bingo.

Free bingo is something that has hit the online sites over recent years. These games offer players great value, as the cards cost nothing but the games usually still have real cash jackpots on offer. In fact many of the free bingo games around today offer jackpots of £50 as a day to day normality. This means that players can join up at the site and get playing straight away with the chance to really win something for nothing!

In addition to bingo, bingo sites also provide a whole range of other games, such as table games more commonly found at casinos, scratch cards, fun instant games and chat games with bonus points up for grabs, and of course a huge selection of slot games.

The slot games that has everyone talking at the moment is lost island, a cool slot title with great winning opportunities. Lost Island is an exotic adventured-themed slot with images and background reminiscent of an African jungle. Players are surrounded by tigers, tribal masks , exotic plants and gold coins as they spin the reels in an attempt to grab some treasure!

Lost Island is only one of a vast collection of slot games commonly available at online bingo sites. Other titles can give players the option of playing games inspired by famous films, superheroes, exciting countries and ancient civilizations, as well as fun retro style slots and slots with cute animal characters or even insects. There really is something for everyone in the world of online slots!

It is still the free bingo games on offer that attracts the attention of so many poker fans keen to have a go with the new craze for online bingo. In fact, there are many other areas of bingo that have called poker fans to take a closer look. One of them is the social aspect of the game, the fun of the camaraderie and spirit of togetherness that a bingo game can generate between players. This is something quite new for many poker players who are more used to playing against people than with them.

The personality of poker is quite different from that of bingo – but both are highly intriguing. The player of each game is after something different –but perhaps the poker player can find something in bingo they will enjoy just as much in the very spirit of the game.

While free bingo is a fantastic element of the game which poker players will love, the social aspect is another piece of the bingo world poker fans will be excited to embrace. Free bingo, big wins and friendly faces – poker players can find it all in the world of bingo.

A follow on to this strategy is if players call raises with pocket pairs. Once again these players are attempting to win a big pot on the cheap. There is nothing essentially wrong with this however it does have several problems attached to it. Firstly if this is the only way that you can play pocket pairs then you are going to have something of a problem when you come up against better players. With tiny pocket pairs then you are simply not going to flop a set often enough and your pairs will play badly post flop and you will find that you are going to have an awful lot of pots taken away from you.

In full ring games then there is absolutely nothing wrong with folding small pocket pairs in early position. We will see why right here but let us first imagine that you open raise with such hands. Your position is terrible and so many players can call or even three bet you and all of which places you into a bad situation. If you limp then in tight and more aggressive games then you are going to find that your limps are being attacked far more which is going to present you with another problem. If you fold then you have wasted money for nothing and if you call then we are back to the same problem where your opponent has position and you are being forced to basically hit the flop.

So this is where you need to have a Plan B when you play these types of hands. If you are playing six max games then why not raise with them? At least here then you can represent hands post flop when you miss the flop. Raising gives you the initiative and not your opponent. So unless I know that I am playing in very passive games with very bad players then I will tend to have a raise or fold strategy with pocket pairs and especially small pocket pairs.

In full ring games then I will also look to slip into my six max mode and I will fold the small pocket pairs during the early positions and open raise if I am in later position. Remember that when the first four players have folded in full-ring then you are essentially playing six max.

When you raise pre-flop you are indicating to your opponent that you hold a strong hand that you are happy to build a pot with. Your reaction to the flop gives out further information about whether you are happy with the texture of the flop in relation to your hand. A good player can further narrow down the potential hands that you hold. An important point here is that the decision on whether you or an opponent is bluffing is a separate decision, but certain bets that are “unexpected” given the action can go towards opponents deciding whether or not you are bluffing.

Let’s look at an example. You hold 88 and make a pre-flop raise of three times the big blind. You receive one caller from the blinds and the flop comes down a rainbow A Q 9. Your opponent checks to you and you check, slightly worried about the overcards. The turn is a 2. Your opponent checks again and you bet half the pot. What does this look like to your opponent? You raised pre-flop but checked the flop when checked to. Your opponent now knows you declined the continuation bet, so they can discount an Ace and pocket kings. It is unlikely you hold QQ or 22 so they may be ahead with their hand of 9 10 suited. Your range is now probably TT and lower pairs and they hold one of the tens and nines. They call. The river is a 7. You have shown no sign of betting and it is unlikely you would have checked twice with top pair or two pair. Your opponent makes a bet of half the pot on the river. What do you do? They have also not shown any real desire to take the pot and could be betting a busted draw, but could easily be sat on bottom pair which still beats you. Your opponent should give you credit for good starting hands but it is obvious the community cards did not improve your hand. A good opponent may put these down but there is a reasonable chance they would call given the action.

You must also think about what your opponent is thinking that you hold. There are many players who do not do this, but it can be really useful. For example, if you have won two hands so far in a tournament with AA then KK and you play another hand after one hour, you can expect that your opponent is thinking ‘this person only played two hands and they were really strong, therefore he/she is really tight so I must have a good hand to get involved with him’. Most players are not throwing chips away so if he continues to bet into us or raise us he must have something. Use your own image to help you work out your opponent’s range of hands.

Physical tells can be useful but most players understand that they should not be giving these away and are reasonably good at hiding them. Even if you do spot a physical tell it may be a deliberate physical bluff designed to mislead you. Online Texas poker relies heavily on betting tells and this is a skill much under utilised by inexperienced live players. This is perhaps a reason why skilled online players do so well live in the high stakes tournaments where players make less moves. Practise reading and interpreting the betting action so you are betting, raising and calling with more information.

By Malcolm Clarke

Kenny Rogers Wasn’t Lying – Great Hold’em Poker Starting Hands

It has been said a million times about hold’em, and it’s worth repeating. You gotta…know when to hold’em, know when to fold ‘em. When those pocket cards come your direction, they’ll either serve as a hole you want to fight from, or a hole you want to get out of. Most beginners find the allure of a pair in the pocket to be too tempting to let go. While a pair is often an excellent place to start, it shouldn’t arbitrarily become the horse you want to bet on – every online poker player should take their starting hand into great consideration.

A quick example: You hit a pair of 5′s on the deal. Unless you’ve got something against a pair of 5′s, you will probably want to see the flop, if you can get to it inexpensively. The flop comes A,7,10, no strong suit, and then the game immediately becomes about playing the players instead of your hand. Now, you won’t be drawing the nuts, but there is a slight chance another 5 could hit the board, or even another pair. However, someone playing with aces or faces will own a distinct advantage over your hand.

Pay particular attention to the way the table bets around you pre and post-flop. Are people in early positions betting, checking, check-raising? Are players in late positions staying in the action? If variables lean in the favor of a competitor, don’t fall in love with seeing the turn based on a “hopeful” starting hand, regardless of whether or not it is “made.”

Holdem Strategy – The Best Starting Hands to Play

Some great hands to ride are the wonderful occurrences of royal pairs, aces or digits that set up nicely for a straight – connectors. Playing suited connectors is also an excellent and strong move, depending on what the board shows post-flop. You experience potential for both a flush, straight or straight-flush with such a starting hand.

No one should forget that they begin every hand with the same playing odds as everyone else at the table and it goes for all online poker sites. Great starting hands will eventually come the way of each competitor. Staying patient to make strategical, strong plays with great starting hands will lead to far more showdown success than failure. If a starting hand isn’t there, however, there’s no reason to get in that deep. It’s not about winning every battle – it’s about winning the war.

It can be quite stress releasing to get away from the wild variety of poker playing styles that you come up against when you play a lot of online poker, and you can solely concentrate on beating the ‘house’ for a while.

The ‘house’ will never try to bluff you or fake you out, but must play by a strict set of rules that you know in advance. For me at least that can be very relaxing. Which leads me to the point of the story; in a recent wander around the various offerings from online casinos I came across this unusual roulette game from sky vegas which has three wheels turning on each spin.

It’s a little bit difficult to explain, but it sure is a lot of fun to play. I haven’t actually played for cash yet but the instant play version that you can play for free in a popup window has really held my attention for the last hour.

I know that there has got to be an optimal strategy for this cool game and I’m off now to figure it out.

Men Nguyen added another bracelet to his already impressive collection in this year’s World Series of Poker by besting the beastly 7-card stud field. This makes bracelet number seven for Men, and moves him into a sixth-place tie with Phil Ivey and Billy Baxter, and only a few back from uberlegends like Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth.

The money Men picked up was undoubtedly of lesser importance than the history-making bracelet, but Nguyen’s $394,800 take-home is still nothing to sneeze at. As the final table shrunk, the crowd began to pay more attention to the Players Champion opponents of a week previous, Vladimir Schmelev and Michael Mizrachi. But in a rare break from his table poise, Men took on a little of Scotty’s air and began riling the crowd up with some banter.

It was a clean sweep for Men, handling the final table until he sat heads up with Brandon Adams. Men had the chip stack and refused to come off a hand. The cards were on his side for much of the match, and even when they weren’t, Men approached the game fearlessly and caught a five-outer on seventh street.

Men is known as “The Master” for a reason. Whether he’s schooling amateur donkeys on best online casinos or suiting up in the WSOP to take down fellow professionals, he’s forever a hard nut to crack.

There are still dozens of events left in the WSOP, including the Main Event. Men’s running hot at the moment, and has just increased his odds in the big one. The world should be on the lookout as Men appears hungry for bracelet number eight.

It was abut 2005, and the internet poker boom was in full swing, but poker was by no means in it’s infancy even then. I was playing mainly two and three table sng’s at 888 and I was doing very well and cashing out nice and regularly.

But sometimes, like most players, I would switch to a cash game just for the heck of it. (I like cash, it’s where I came from).

So one night I was sat at a half empty 10 seat low stakes cash games and not doing so good. It was a mid week night and so you would expect that it would be a bit slow. Slow nights at slow tables tend to make the regular players a bit chatty, so there was a nice feeling at the table, with a bit of friendly chat and banter.

The players hadn’t changed much in a few hours, one dropping in or out every now and again, when suddenly two new players sat down within seconds of each other. It was habit back then, not so much now, to say hi to new players at a certain type of table, to keep the friendliness alive. So one of the seated players said ‘hi’ but got no answer.

Fair enough, not every one want s to chat, or even speaks English, so nothing unusual there.

After a few minutes, and a hand or two had passed, one of the players said ‘You ready?’ – just like that, didn’t make too much sense in the context of no conversation at the table. It does happen that a player that was multi-tabling would type into the wrong chat box by mistake. So nothing too unusual really, just a bit odd.

The the other new player said ‘OK’. That was it, nothing else. No one had spoken, so that too was out of context.

After the next few hands it became clear what was going on. These two geniuses had figured that by selecting the ‘ignore chat’ option on all the players that we wouldn’t be able to see what they were typing to each other.

And so they proceeded to tell each other what cards they were holding. In every hand.

That was some of the easiest money that I ever made at the poker table.

Having put your money in the pot, it can be very very difficult to throw your cards in, even when you know you probably should.

The ability to lay down cards that have lost their value will be one of the biggest earning traits of a good poker player. More so than most other advice, the advice to stop chasing will save you more cash than any of the other poker tips you will ever get.

Like I said in an earlier post about paying attention, when you have a premium hand like pocket aces, and you bet it out properly and are up against one or two remaining players, and the flop comes all wrong, with they suited cards or the bones of a high end straight, or trip kings, or any of a number of horrible set ups, the lay down here will save you – and saving is earning – the most money. And of course if you can not lay your hand down, simply because “I’m in now so I have to stay in”, then it will cost you the most money.

You do have to be careful of being bluffed off of a good hand because of a horrible flop, but if you have bet your hand correctly and read the table properly from the beginning then you should know when you are beat, and act accordingly.