2009      Mar 7

Bingo is likely the easiest betting game in the world; all you need is the online bingo cards, the online bingo chips, the willingness to play, and attentive eyes. Even kids could do it, if it were permitted.

Object of Bingo:

Your object in online bingo is to fill the pattern the game demands before your opponents, having the lowest number of calls. The patterns are chosen before the game starts, being clearly explained to all the players. Patterns can be full horizontals, verticals, diagonals, an X or a cross, a box, or ‘block out’, in which you will have to fill out your entire card.

Bingo Cards

Your Bingo card will have the letters B-I-N-G-O across the top five columns. Each column contains a set of numbers, ranging from 1 to 75.

The B column only has the numbers from 1-15, the I column only contains numbers 16-30, the N column always only has numbers from 31-45, the G column will only have numbers from 46-60, and the O column only has the numbers from 61-75. Each column randomly contains 5 numbers from each of their respective ranges.

The middle grid, the third row of the N column, is labeled ‘FREE’ and need not be filled.

The Game

Depending on the type of game, you may have more than one bingo card at a time. The game begins as soon as the host announces the pattern to be completed.

The host will then begin to call out a letter, either B, I, N, G or O, for the column and then a number, e.g. O-70. The letter only facilitates the ability to find the number since no number appears in a column outside of it’s assigned letter.

The host keeps calling out letters and numbers until somebody finishes the pattern required for that game.

Once you complete the pattern you should immediately yell the word ‘Bingo’! This tells everyone that you have completed the pattern and have won the game.

The host will usually verify all the numbers and their positions on your card.

Sometimes another bingo game may resume with the same pattern with a different prize.

Etiquette Tip

You should never yell ‘BINGO’ if you haven’t actually formed the pattern yet, this halts the game and can be extremely irritating for other players.

Bingo Law

If you wish to host your own Bingo game, it’s important to verify the legal ramifications. For example, in the state of Arizona, players have to be at least 18 years of age. I’m sure that’s a common law but it must be known to avoid trouble. Also, cash prize winners are to sign for prizes awarded. Be sure to check your state’s website regarding Bingo law.

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2009      Mar 6

Poker brand names are all over the place in the modern era and this is something that is nothing short of astonishing considering how many politicians over the course of their careers have tried to crusade against poker. With it being looked down upon by the right wing parties of the United States and Europe, truly it is nothing short of remarkable that poker brands and in particular online poker brands have been able to prosper financially as much as they have. Principally, there are two reasons as to why this has happened. The first is the people and the second is the economy.

The people of the first world are big poker fans, of that there can be no doubt now. With the World Series of Poker seeing its first thousand person registrations come after it was made clear to all by Chris Moneymaker in 2003 that absolutely anyone could fin the World Series of Poker Main Event, it has become clear to all but the most blind-partisan politicians that people in the first world and elsewhere around the world too just love playing poker.

Since people love playing poker, politicians that come out too far against poker end up getting defeated eventually. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 was the most indirect attempt to ban poker ever thought up in Congress and the man that created it still ended up getting defeated in the elections later that year. Since the government basically reflects the people in a free society, poker brand names are now here to stay because poker is now here to stay as well.

The second reason has to do with the economy. One of the biggest things about democratic societies is that for the most part they also tend to be market-orientated. This means that profit is one of the big motives to go into business. Well, the love of the people for poker means that a lot of people are playing it which in turn means that online poker sites are booming and making huge profits.

Many countries have realized that legalization, taxation and regulation of online poker sites is preferable to outright banning them and with the recession having hit this is especially true in present times. For this reason, online poker brands are probably here to stay for a long time to come as they provide a stabilizing financial influence on many of the worlds markets. There will always be online poker profits, no matter what happens to the rest of the economy and this gives them power.

Poker Sponsorship is a big part of todays online world, in many more forms than just the normal sponsorship of other brand names. For more on the latest regarding Poker Sponsor news, visit our website.

2009      Mar 5

The acronym HORSE stands for Hold Em, Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, Seven Card Stud and Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo.

Hold Em is a game that most people are aware of, even if they do not play it on a regular basis as it is currently the most popular poker variant in the world. The full name of the game is Texas Hold Em and it involves each player being dealt two down cards to start the hand, with five community cards that everyone can use to make the best poker hand being dealt in the middle of the board face-up. The particular variant of Texas Hold Em that is usually played in this game is the limit variant which has strict limits on the amount of money that can be bet, although in home games it is not uncommon to see high action games where all of the players voluntarily agree to substitute no limit or pot limit rules for the normal limit rules.

Omaha Hi/Lo is a game that is similar to Hold Em, except in Omaha you are dealt four cards face down initially and must use exactly two cards from your hand and three cards from the community board in order to make the best hand. Additionally, the Hi/Lo addendum means that half the pot goes to the highest hand while half the pot goes to the lowest hand with a low needing to be at least 8-low or better to qualify. The best low hand is usually A-2-3-4-5 as most of the time in Omaha Hi/Lo flushes and straights do not count against your low hand.

Razz is essentially lowball seven card stud. The game is played in the same manner as seven card stud would be played, except in this case the lowest hand rather than the highest hand ends up winning the pot. In most mixed games, Razz is played with wheel low being nut low in which case A-2-3-4-5 would be the lowest hand and neither flushes nor straights would count against your hand. It is also possible to play games of Razz where flushes and straights do count, in which case A-2-3-4-6 would be the lowest hand. Finally, it is possible to have variants where aces are only high, making 2-3-4-5-7 the best hand. In the case of these types of multi-variant games however, A-2-3-4-5 is usually the lowest hand.

Seven Card Stud is a game that everyone knows because it was one of the original popular poker variants. It involves two cards being dealt face down and one face up, with players receiving up to four more cards with betting rounds in between. Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo follows the same format, but utilizes the same scoring rules that you would see in Omaha Hi/Lo.

For more information on H.O.R.S.E and many other Mixed Poker Games, feel free to visit our website.

2009      Mar 5

The first thing that you should learn about 7-stud is that it is different from Hold Em. If there is only one thing you take from this article, make sure that it is the understanding that playing good 7-stud is quite a bit different from playing good Hold Em. Some of the general principles are the same, but the detailed strategies that make you a good player are different between the different games. Hold Em strategy should remain firmly in Hold Em territory and when you sit down at a table to play 7-stud, you should understand right away that your Hold Em strategy will not help you here.

The second tip that is worth taking away from this discourse would be to understand the difference in importance of position. The main reason for this is that position is not fixed in 7-stud as it would be in Hold Em. The position changes on each street depending on the cards the players are holding. For this reason, you are not going to have the opportunity to check-call with the intention of using position to bluff on the next street because you truly have no idea what position you will be in on that street. Keep this in mind when playing, as it is easy for a Hold Em player to easily forget that and lose a few bets as a result that they would not otherwise have lost.

The third tip that is worth following has to do with the idea of the bring in. The bring in is a bet that the worst up card makes on third street when they have the opportunity of either bringing in a bet smaller than the small bet or alternatively betting the small bet. Most novice 7-stud players will play it by the book and bring in with hands they intend to fold and bet the small bet amount with hands they intend to keep. However, it would not hurt to change this up every once in awhile. Occasionally bring in with a stronger hand that you can re-raise with and occasionally bet the small bet with a hand you intend to fold. This will misdirect your opponents if you show that hand later and is one of the principle ways you can let your opponents know that you change gears in a game of 7-stud.

Lastly, learn to pay attention to the up cards of your opponents. You end up seeing far more cards face up in 7-stud than you do in Hold Em and those cards will tell you a lot about where you are in the hand. Remember the cards that were folded as they are important to your drawing hands. It is not an easy skill to master, but it is one worth developing if you want to be a good 7-stud player.

7 Card Stud Strategy is somewhat complex, as is general Stud Tournament Strategy. For help on the finer points of both, visit our website and start increasing your cashes today.

2009      Mar 5

A famous poker player once said that one of the most important things for a beginning poker player to have was a guide telling them which hands they should play and which hands they should throw away. Now, this particular person was talking about Texas Hold Em at the time, but there is no reason why we can borrow this reasoning and apply it to the game of Razz in order to generate a list of starting hands that should be used by the beginner when they are just starting to get the hang of the game.

Whenever a player is just starting to get the hang of a game, the usual method is to start off playing like a rock and then make the transition to playing more hands later when the player understands how the game works better. With that particular piece of information in mind, the starting hand selection given below will make you a rock player. You will only enter pots when you have really good hands. In Razz, every hand is a drawing hand since the object of the game is to make the lowest five-card poker hand possible and for that reason playing like a rock means something a little different in Razz then it does in Hold Em. There are no made hands in Razz; no equivalents to pocket rockets or cowboys.

That having been said, there are good draws and there are bad draws. For example, a good drawing hand would be a hand that has three cards that you think would be part of a winning low hand. The best way to gauge this would be to think about qualifying low requirements in Hi/Lo games and realize that an eight low is usually a pretty good hand. If you want to play a few more starting hands, you can extend that to a nine low and play any three cards that are nine or lower (discounting pairs and trips, of course). This is a good way to start and it will make you into a medium rock that is willing to enter hands with pretty good draws.

If you want to be a serious rock however, you should extend those requirements to any three cards nine low or better provided that at least two of those cards are part of the nut low hand. This is a very strong draw and it is one that you can bet aggressively all the way down to the river. If you want to reduce the number of decisions you have to make on later streets, this is the strategy to use. Just wait for those hands and then bet them aggressively.

Razz Poker Strategy is sometimes difficult to grasp and that is what gives Razz Poker its infamous higher variance. For more Razz Poker Strategy articles, feel free to visit our website.

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