Author: horse-racing-free-tips

In part 1 of this 2 part series, we began to lay out for you exactly what online poker reviewers look for when evaluating an online poker room, using the poker review template from our own poker portal at Poker-Ranking.com.

In part 1, we explained in depth the following sections: Software and Graphics, Game Variation and Limits, and Traffic. In this concluding article, we will delve into what information is contained in the rest of the sections of a typical online poker review.

Competition
Here in an online poker review, you’ll find a gauge of the level of skill predominant at the various games (Texas Hold’em, etc.), types (Ring Games, etc.), betting structures (Limit, etc.), and stakes ($100/$200, etc.).

The term fish refers to players that aren’t very good. The call a lot of bad bets and can be intimidated easily. A good player can beat fish consistently with little difficulty.

The term shark refers to expert players that devour the fish. (For another appropriate animal reference, consider a fox in the henhouse.)

Bonuses
This part of an online poker review will tell you the signup bonus you’ll get (usually a percentage match against your first deposit), as well as any other bonuses available at the online poker room.

Some common bonuses are as follows:

Bad Beat Bonus: If you lose a hand holding higher than a certain amount (usually 4 Queens), you win the largest portion of a bonus that is shared amongst all the players that posted blinds in that round

Magic Hand Bonus: Every round (or hand) in an online poker room is given a number (which is how you can later refer back to earlier games); in a Magic Hand Bonus, the online poker room chooses a number (say, every one millionth hand) and gives every player who posted blinds in that hand a share of the bonus, the largest portion going to the winner of the hand

High Hand Bonus: Given to any player that gets the highest hand (above a minimum high hand, eg. 4 Kings) in a set period of time, without folding

Progressive bonuses (or Progressive Jackpots): These start at a certain amount (eg. $500) and each day that goes by without a winner claiming the bonus, a certain amount (eg. $50) is added, until someone wins the accumulated amount and the jackpot is then reset to its starting level.

Rake
Here is where the online poker review will tell you what the commission is that the online poker room takes for each hand. The average rake is 5% of the pot, up to but not exceeding $3. Many online poker rooms take smaller cuts from smaller pots or lower stakes games.

Some have a wonderful No Flop/No Drop policy, stating that if nobody stays in to see the flop, no rake is taken.

Customer Service
This section of the online poker review tells you the ways to reach customer support (toll-free phone, email, live chat), the hours (preferably 24/7), and most importantly, the quality, courteousness, and responsiveness.

Promotions
Similar to bonuses, but meriting their own section of the online poker review, promotions are special, time-sensitive events, generally with extraordinary prizes that include hefty jackpots, vacations, automobiles, and free seats in World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker events.

Deposits and Cashouts
You’ll find two things in this section of an online poker review: first, the payment methods accepted for deposits (purchases) and cashouts (withdrawals), such as PayPal, credit cards, NETeller, etc., and second, the promptness, reliability, and security with which they process these transactions.

Ease of Use
This section of an online poker review usually discusses the usability and intuitiveness (or lack thereof) of the interface. In addition, you’ll learn here about the layout of the lobby and the information given, including lobby stats like the following:

Hands per hour: Tells you how quickly the game moves and could be a gauge of the experience level of the players;

Average pot: Tells you how aggressive the players are and how much you can expect to win or lose each hand; and

Flop percentages: How many players at the table on average are staying in to see the flop; tells you how loose they’re playing.

With this handy, two-part guide to online poker reviews at your side, you should be sitting in at the perfect online poker table for you, any moment now!

Video Poker is a popular game that can be played in casinos across the world, or alternatively at home on your PC, through an Internet connection. The rules are very straightforward and involve the player attempting to get the highest combination of cards possible in order to win money. In this respect it is much the same as a normal game of poker, minus the interaction with other players. Of course, techniques used in a physical game of poker, such as bluffing, will be irrelevant here.

The game of Video Poker begins when the player inserts credit (either tokens, tickets or money) into the machine and presses the ‘play’, ‘deal’ or ‘draw’ button. A hand of five cards will then be electronically ‘dealt’ on the video screen.

The Video Poker machine also has buttons with ‘hold’ written on them, and players should now choose which cards to hold and which to discard. For the cards the player wishes to keep, the ‘hold’ buttons should be pressed so that they light up. The player can choose to keep any amount of cards they wish, from all to none.

After the player has chosen which cards he or she wishes to keep, they should press ‘deal’ or ‘draw’, at which point any new cards are dealt if desired. The game is now completed, with the Video Poker machine scanning the hand to see if it matches any of the winning hands listed in the payment schedule.

Typically, the minimum winning hand on a Video Poker machine is a pair of jacks with the prize money increasing for each better hand. A common list of winning hands begins with jacks or better, moving on to two pairs, three of a kinds, straights, flushes, full houses, four of a kinds, straight flushes and finally royal flushes. It goes without saying that the payment schedule can vary from machine to machine, so that experienced players are able to choose the most profitable ones every time.

Once the initial round has finished, the player can either choose to stay on in an attempt to increase their earnings, or press the ‘collect’ button to retrieve any credits that have been won. Further, some versions of the game allow the player a chance to double their winnings, in which case a further game is played. There are also variations between individual machines, with some virtual decks including wild cards and other varying elements to increase playability.

Do you know how to play Texas Hold ‘Em? Right now, Texas Hold ‘Em is the most popular poker variation in Las Vegas, at Internet casinos, in home games, and even in the World Series of Poker championship tournament. When you learn how to play Texas Hold ‘Em, you’ll be in good company. Some of the best poker players in the world excel at this exciting variation, and started their careers by learning how to play Texas Hold ‘Em. You can find out more about how to play Texas Hold ‘Em by playing at Internet casinos for points and credits instead of money; but first you have to learn the rules!

The first thing you should know about how to play Texas Hold ‘Em is the hand rankings. Texas Hold ‘Em is a variation of Seven-Card Stud, and the order of hands is the same as for standard poker. Because there are no wild cards, the highest possible hand is a Royal Flush, which is five cards of the same suit in sequential order from Ten to Ace. Below the Royal Flush is a Straight Flush, any five same-suit cards in sequential order; then Four of a Kind; Full House; Flush; Straight; Three of a Kind; Two Pair, One Pair, and High Card. As you learn how to play Texas Hold ‘Em, remember that in the unlikely event a High Card hand beats all the other hands at your table, most casinos don’t pay out for a High Card win.

Learning how to play the game Texas Hold ‘Em can be a lot of fun: there are lots of opportunities to place bets during a hand of Texas Hold ‘Em. Each hand consists of five stages, or rounds, and betting takes place after each round is dealt. The first round is called the pre-flop; each player is dealt two face-down cards. No other player will see these cards during the course of the game, and so they are called the hole cards or, more commonly, the pocket pair. The remaining five of the seven cards in Texas Hold ‘Em are community cards, dealt face-up in the center of the table for all players to view and use in constructing their hands. As you figure out how to play Texas Hold ‘Em, you can learn betting strategies that will help you increase your shot at winning.

The community cards are dealt in stages. It’s important to understand how to bet the rounds in how to play Texas Hold ‘Em. After the pre-flop, three face-up cards called the flop are laid out. The remaining two shared cards are placed one at a time, providing two final rounds called the turn and the river. Following the bets placed after the river, all players reveal their pocket pair and call their best hand. One thing to remember about how to play Texas Hold ‘Em is that when the five shared cards comprise the best possible understanding how to play Texas Hold ‘Em is the ticket to poker excitement; whether you play the game at home, in Vegas, or at your favorite Internet casino.

In texas holdem poker the term Fish is used to describe the weakest and least experienced player at the table. You never ever want to be the fish. It is commonly said that if you look around the table and you can not see the fish you are in his seat.

To avoid being instantly marked as the fish make sure not only appear as if this is not your first time in a texas holdem poker room in a casino but that you are there often. Make sure no matter how impressed by the place you are, you appear as if this is just another day playing texas holdem in the casino. If your skills at texas holdem will not allow you to go unnoticed then pick another game like roulette or blackjack.

Make sure you know how to play. Do not come into a casino poker room to thinking you will learn Texas Holdem as you play. This is not Uno it is Texas Holdem Poker and played for real money. I promise you that before you learn the game this way you will be broke and homeless. You should learn to play at home with friends or online in free money poker games against others or against the computer. Then as you improve start to play in online poker rooms for money.

If you were a spy trying to infiltrate into Russia during the cold war the CIA would have you trained on how to speak Russian and the proper idioms and accent as well so that you blend is as a local, well texas holdem has its own language as well and if you want to blend in as an experienced player you have to know the language as a native speaker. This means understanding what others are saying and being able to use the common expressions correctly in normal conversation. Not laughing at a joke because you did not understand it will make you stand out and some people are bound to notice and figure out you are not all you seem to be.

I am sure most of us have seen texas holdem on ESPN television and have sent he way to professional poker players dress. Many of them are wearing clothes will advertisements for poker related items. These players are being paid to advertise these items because of their high likelihood of being put on the TV. Some players wear disguises to try and hide their faces from the other players by wearing hats and glasses to hide their eyes. These players know that a small slip up can cost them the chance at winning the million dollar prize, so to make sure they do nt give up any information to another player they try to hide their faces. You are not playing in the big leagues so to try these things will just make you look stupid since everyone will know you are not a professional player by the fact they do not recognize you. This will then make you stand out and risk you being marked as an inexperienced player or “The Fish”.

Every player at a texas holdem poker table that spots you as the fish will then begin to focus on you till they find your tells, and believe me we all have them. It is just experience that allows some of us to hide them better then others.