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Jake Cody triumphs at EPT Deauville
Jake Cody has been crowned champion of the EPT Deauville event in France, fending of competition from 768 players including two former World Champions. The final took place on Monday January 25, where Cody was up against a tough final table that he did well to get through. read more

Beginners guide to poker where to play for free till you master the game (source: poker-skool.com)
Poker Skool – Beginners guide the first thing YOU need to learn is where to get $100 for free we show this and other tips and tricks, (source: poker-skool.com) – RSS and News widget on Feedzilla.com

Online sportsbooks were the first to be introduced in the internet and they were followed by many, one among them being online poker. Online casinos were also introduced in the mid 90s, the same time when sportsbooks reached the internet. Microgaming, that came up in the early 90s is a good example and has now become a casino software developer.

In 1998, Planet poker entered the scene and was the first to create an online poker gambling rooms. It was the first and the last of its kind for quite long. With passage of time, many new and big poker sites reached the net carrying a maximum rate of about 3 dollars with an initial rake of five percent. The industry was recognized only in 1998 but it noteworthy that the rates have been almost the same.

In 1999, Paradise Poker was created and this has now become the leader in industry. It was around this time that Dutch Boyd created Poker Spot.

Though Poker spot is the pioneer in running poker tournaments online, they faced whole lot of problems. The group did not collect the deposits of the players from its credit card partners. The company did not remit the winnings of the players as all deposits it held, were not returned. This resulted in their fall.

The introduction of the Netellers e-cash system has reduced the repetitions of the problems encountered by the Poker spot group in other poker players. The online poker groups are provided with funds from the Neteller system. The Netellers e-cash system frees the players from the trouble of using the wire transfer or credit card to deposit money in order to enter the poker group. This has helped in the minimization of frauds and improved the credibility of the company.

In the year 2001, online poker industry welcomed the entry of the two giant firms, Party Poker and Poker Stars. Paradise was on the lead until 2003, when they were overtaken by Party Poker due to the latter?s strategic advertising. The launch of World Poker Tour along with the Party Poker Million strategies attracted a lot of people and drove the group to success.

Chris MoneyMaker also contributed a lot to the popularity and growth of online poker. He was charged with 40 dollars to enter the poker room. He won the satellite tournament conducted by the Poker stars and was qualified for the final and the main event. He won the topmost prize of 2.5 Million dollars in a game considered to be one of the biggest of the World’s Series of Poker tournaments and in which about 839 participants had contested.

The creation of the site http://www.pokertips.org made online poker more accessible to all people especially to those who were new to the field of online poker. In 2004, that is one year after the launch of the site, the game became very popular with the fascinating story of Mr. Moneymaker adding another feather to its cap. The companies pocketed huge amounts and there were other entrants like Noble Poker and the Full Tilt Poker to the industry as well.

Sportingbet, a listed sportsbook acquired Paradise Poker and this contributed to the growth of gambling industry. A lot of companies considered listing in the stock market as it helped them get funds to aid expansion of their business.

The United Kingdom has passed a legislation which states that gambling is legal.

Today we have a lot of sites that educate people who are new to the industry on the game. They aid in developing the skills of the beginners and making them professionals. Here are a few books on online poker: the Super System which is by Doyle Brunson, the Hold ‘em Poker for the Advanced Players and this is by Sklansky,Malmuth, the Killer Poker which is by John Vorhaus and Texas Holdem which is by Ken Warren. You are advised to learn the basic skills and the poker theory from experts.

Some of the best Online Poker Sites

Texas Holdem Poker
StudStrategy
Low Limit Omaha
Poker School Online at pokerschoolonline.com
Ichiban Poker
Poker Performance Psychology
PlayWinningPoker.com and playwinningpoker.com
The Gamblers Edge at thegamblersedge.com
Poker Pro Association
Low Limit Holdem at lowlimitholdem.com
PokerStrategy
Poker Pages at pokerpages.com

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State Senator Introduces Online Poker Bill in New Jersey
A lot of people are asking whether existing online card rooms will be permitted to keep on operating in New Jersey since bills were introduced in the state a few weeks ago that will offer legal intrastate Internet poker and sports betting through Atlantic City casinos. read more

EPT Deauville final table all set
Play gets underway on January 25 at the final table of EPT Deauville in France. The event has produced some real drama over recent days and now it is Teodor Caraba from Romania who leads the pack going into the final day of action. Of the other players at the final table there is another Romanian present, Claudiu Secara, showing just how much progress Romanian players are making in the world of poker. read more

Aussie Millions gets off to a great start
Aussie Millions has just started up again in Australia and has already seen its first major winner. The famous poker tournament started on January 14 and has attracted some of the best poker players in the world, including Phil Ivey and Joe Hachem. It is held at Crown Casino in Melbourne, and will go on for two weeks. read more

Free Poker – If you are looking to play online poker for pure recreation, and not for money, ensure that the site you are interested in accommodates “free” players. Most online poker sites do cater to free players.

Software Download vs. Web-based – Most, if not all, online poker sites require you to download their poker client software onto your computer system to run. If you are adverse to downloading such software onto your system, then you might want to check to see if the poker site alternatively has a web-based poker interface, which allows you to play poker on the site from within your browser. Software installs run the potential risk of viruses and/or adware being loaded onto your system (although most of the reputable firms would never do that), but software installs on your computer generally run a lot faster than web-based sessions. Software installations harness the power of your local PC’s CPU, whereas web-based interfaces rely on downloading any screen real estate updates over the Internet during play. This can be slow, particularly, if you are running over a slow internet connection (e.g., a dialup line). Hence, if you are after speed, select local software installations; if you are concerned about your computer’s safety or cannot afford the disk space used by a software installation, select a web-based poker site.

Methods of Deposit/Withdrawal – If you are planning to play poker for money over the Internet, it is very important to consider the methods of deposit and withdrawal that a poker site supports. Many of these sites permit major credit cards to be used, which seem to be the universal deposit mechanism of choice. Others permit the use of bank transfer, ACH transfer, checks, and wire transfer from banks. Most poker sites also support some form of 3rd party eWallets, which provide an intermediary between banking institutions and the poker site itself. The main criteria to look at are: 1) What methods of deposit/withdrawal are supported by the poker site, and how many of these methods are supported by the locale that you live in ?; 2) Is it legal to fund/withdraw to/from a poker site, from the jurisdiction that you are playing in ?; 3) What are the fees associated with the 3rd party eWallet companies that you are able to use, and how reliable are they (this latter question can be researched on some of the poker message forum boards) ?

Locale Restrictions – Some poker sites restrict the playing for money (and even free play sometimes), based on your locale, and the laws governing gambling in your locale. You should check with the laws of your local jurisdiction and check with the poker site, to see if there are any imposed restrictions on play, based on your locale.

Support – You should definitely look at the methods of support that a poker site offers. Poker sites generally provide one (or more) methods of support that include: telephone support, fax support, Email support, and live chat support. The more of these that a poker site offers, the better. For telephone support, check and see if the poker site offers toll-free support from your playing jurisdiction or not.

Game Variety – Depending on your level of poker playing expertise and your interest in variety, it is important to determine which game types the poker site supports. Almost all of the sites offer Texas Holdem, but depending on your level of interest, you should check to see if they offer games like Five and Seven Card Stud, Omaha Poker (and all of its variations), Blackjack (not poker, but often included as a game option), Stud (and its variations), Draw poker, Tournament support, and limit and pot limit games. Tournaments in particular are very popular with online poker sites, and some site tournaments offer very large prize pools.

Bonuses – Most, but not all, of the poker sites offer some form of bonus to the player, when you initially sign up with the site. Each site’s bonus is somewhat different, but of the one’s that offer first time bonus, it is usually predicated on a minimum initial deposit. Many bonuses are also calculated based on the amount of money deposited and spent on the site. Additionally, many sites offer reload bonuses, which are bonuses that are offered to existing customers, beyond their initial deposit bonus, and as an incentive to keep you as a customer.

Graphics and Useability – This is a very important consideration. Every poker site has a different look and feel to it. If you are going to be playing poker for money, it is important that you feel comfortable with the screen graphics and your ability to navigate (via mouse or keyboard clicks) through the poker program. If you feel uncomfortable at all with the poker site, you should definitely not consider playing at it for money. You should always test a poker site out in “free” mode first, before actually considering it for real-money wagering.

Game Features – You should always consider the game features that are available with a given poker site. Game features such as hand history, multiple simultaneous playing windows, player notes, audible and visual indicators, player statistics, connection status indicator, player chat, turbo games, and screen options should always be considered.

Rake – Rake is the amount of the pot that the poker site takes (as part of its fee for doing business), from each hand. You should always be aware of how much rake a poker site takes (compared to another site). Poker sites usually use a Weighted Contribution rake method or an Average Contribution method, when calculating rake. Obviously, the lower the rake, the more money you will take home on hand wins, but this criteria by itself should not dictate which poker site you use, since all of the above factors need to be taken into consideration as well. In summary, the aforementioned criteria should always be used, when deciding which Poker site is best for you. Depending on your preferences, some of these criteria should be given more weight than others. Happy Poker site hunting !!

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CelebPoker $ 19 Free Poker Money
There is a new site offering a free bonus at Celeb Poker. The bonus is an up front $19 in free cash with a further pending bonus of up to $180, which makes this potentially the largest free poker bankroll available online at this time. This bonus deal is available from CelebPokerMoney. There are a lot of countries [...]

Richard Ashby wins 7 game session
The first high stakes poker game after the new rules to the Full Tilt 7 Game went off on Wednesday. Since the blinds were lowered in the Pot Limit Omaha/No Limit Hold ‘Em game, the new games that went off on Full Tilt Poker was played at the $2000/$4000 HEROS tables. Regulars filled the table, [...]

Doyles Room Free Poker Bankroll
PokerSourceOnline.com have extended their free poker bankroll offer at Doyles Room to now include players from Canada. Prior to this the instant bankroll was only available to American Players. This is a $50 free poker bankroll offer, and the free $50 is deposited directly into your Doyles Room poker account by PokerSourceOnline when you have [...]

Ladbrokes.it Brings the Game to Italy
Italian online poker players will soon have access to online Texas holdem with Ladbrokes.it. In accordance with local laws, the site will only serve Italian players. The site features no ring games; rather all play is in tournament mode. Ladbrokes has been serving Italy for some time now as a sportsbetting operation, but the [...]

Freeroll Poker Tournament Explained
Whats a freeroll? True to their name, a freeroll poker tournament is a free promotional event sponsored by poker rooms and is a great reason to play poker online. Online poker rooms hope the allure of a free poker tournament will bring people to their poker rooms. While there are several different types of freeroll tournaments, two that stand out are the gargantuan-sized fields and the modest prize pools. You wont get rich playing at a freeroll poker tournament, but it presents an invaluable opportunity to gain some tournament experience. In addition, you may be the winner and take home a few dollars without ever making a deposit. You can almost consider the tournament as part of the poker bonuses offered by many poker rooms. It also gives you a free chance to see if you like a particular room before making a deposit. read more

Next year’s LAPC schedule just released
All the exciting details of next year’s Los Angeles Poker Classic event at the Commerce Casino ^Read about all the exciting events being held at the next LAPC, there are brand new events and more prize money on offer than ever before ^Mary Ashton^^LAPC 2010 has packed schedule and exciting new events^Jam packed with poker

Critical Thinking in Poker
From the very beginning of the boom in online gambling, opponents have preached against it. With the creation of additional Internet card rooms, the situation has only worsened and the reputation of sites related to such activities are seen in a negative light. Whether for objective reasons or not, some people believe that online gambling is a corruptive form of entertainment. We, however, do not share this point of view. Unfortunately, online poker opponents prefer to ignore the game's true potential as an educational tool for critical thinking.read more