I get a bit tired of all the comments calling players donkeys.  Sure, there are some dumb moves sometimes, but we also can make mistakes and mis-read hands… even good players get it wrong sometimes and that is what is so great about poker – everyone has a chance of winning!

Inside real casinos, people hold back on their comments but it seems they get braver in online poker rooms.  Most likely because they don’t have to face the person face to face.  Its a bit like road rage, people’s characters change when they are in their cars, they get all aggressive.  But put them out on the street, without the protection of their car and they become more timid.

We all had to learn poker somewhere and we have all played the game at different levels.  To progress to the top you have to push yourself and jump into a bigger pond and play with the big fish.  Along the way we all make mistakes.

Give the donkeys a break!!  Quietly take their money, snigger to yourselves, but there is no need to go out braying about your victory (sorry… couldn’t help myself….).

OTS Software has some really good games to offer and the best part of it all is that they are for free!  Yes you heard me right…. I said free games!

Freeware, shareware and open source have really opened up the market and allowed enthusiasts to create programs at low cost and provide users with cheaper or even free software.  No longer can a few of the big software companies control and force users to use their software exclusively.

OTS Software wants to develop and grow a community of OTS Software gamers, that enjoy their games, that continue to come back for more games and who also help spread the word through the gaming world – about how great OTS Software is and how good their games are.

They have developed a neat Gaming Community Toolbar with loads of great features that are available at a click of the mouse.  The toolbar includes links to all the free games, news updates about OTS Software and new game releases, a Google search bar, even live TV, radio and weather.

The games are good, easy to download, they offer a wide variety that are suitable for all types of gamers and are easy to install – they’ll have you coming back for more!

I hope you enjoy them!

With the internet being so accessible to everyone, internet gambling companies have a lot of responsibility in their hands.  One of the industries main concerns is the control of underage gambling.

With the rapid expansion of the online casino gambling industry, lots of underage players have received unlimited access to gambling sites.  Despite the preventive measures that are in place, it is still relatively easy for minors to go around the preventative measures and play online casino games or online poker.

Experts say, that what causes concern is the short and long-term affects that gambling has on children and young people.  Underage gamblers are more prone to develop long term problems from the affects of gambling.  Children can suffer from higher amounts of problem gambling and show signs of becoming problem gamblers in higher percentages than that of adult gamblers.

Let’s face it, although children grow up very quickly now days, they are not experienced enough with life, to be able to prioritize what is important and to separate entertainment from real life.

The same experts recommend that the problem should be fought on a national level with the help of proper education and new programs.  But surely it is also the responsibility of the online casinos and online poker rooms to ensure that underage gambling is not taking place on their sites?

One thing is for sure – the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) does not prevent underage gambling.  The effectiveness of this law is questionable.  The sooner Congress changes the law the better – hopefully enough of them will come to their senses soon!

Well, hi there again, the advice is coming thick and fast, here’s a bit on online video poker. Try it out and have fun!

Among the several casino games available today, video poker has become very popular.  There are several versions of poker being played today.  Video poker has evolved from the original version of five-card draw poker.  But, unlike all other poker versions, video poker is played on an electronic machine by a single player.

Video poker is played on an electronic console and resembles the slot machine.  It has become one of the most popular casino games in the world today.   Just like the way poker has branched out into several variations, there are hundreds of different versions of video poker machines.  For players who enjoy the opportunity of playing poker solitarily, investing small and earning large, video poker is definitely, a clear choice.  Every casino game of video poker you play allows you to earn comp points for great casino promotions, including various vouchers from free dinners to free hotel rooms.

Video poker machines first came into being around the 1970s and have increased in popularity since then. Today, video poker is one of the most popular forms of casino games and slot machine gambling. New versions of video poker machines are being developed every year.   No matter how many variations of video poker there are, the basic objective of all the machines remains the same.  To win, while having fun! To win at video poker, a player must simply beat the machine with a winning hand.

The first step in playing video poker is to choose the game.   Decide the amount of coins you want to enter into the machine. Typically, you can bet between one and five coins. The extent of winnings will be in proportion to how much you bet. The machine will show the amount of credits you have entered. Most of the serious gamblers recommend always playing the maximum amount of credits. Once the game and betting limit is decided, the machine will deal you five cards. You can either keep the cards or get rid of them. Keeping the good cards and getting rid of the bad ones is the best strategy for video poker.

Try it and have some fun!

After playing poker for a long time, both online and offline, I have to tell you – I love online poker! When I started out playing back in the days, Internet didn’t even exist and if someone would have told me that in ten years you will be able to play poker on your computer with players from all over the world I would have laughed and called them crazy.
The Internet revolution
But the Internet revolution came and changed poker forever. In the beginning I was skeptic and couldn’t really see how you could play poker against someone who wasn’t sitting across the table. I mean what happens to tells, social interaction and so on?

Still I realized that I had to see what all the fuzz was about and once I tried online poker I was hooked. The first site I played at was the classic True Poker a poker room that was using realistic avatars, movements and sound, ages before PKR came along. But it wasnt until I found Party Poker that I got my real online schooling. The action at Party Poker was fast and loose – and still is. Man I loved the sit n’ gos, even at the $100 level, which was pretty high back then, the action was crazy. Before two rounds were over half the field was usually busted – and a solid player like me could make some serious money. But it wasn’t only the great action that hooked me; I also realized that online poker had some big advantages that could be exploited.

The advantages of playing online
You could take notes of your opponents and their style of play. This was before the poker rooms incorporated the note taking option in the poker software. At first I was using a notebook where I wrote down the information by hand, but it was hard to organize and I started using Excel instead. That the detailed recollections of my opponents’ actions had a great impact on my bankroll is an understatement.

Another novelty online was the speed. I could play more than twice as many hands per hour online as I could at my local poker room – and this was only at one table! This together with the possibility of multi-table play fundamentally changed the way poker was played.

Multi-tabling
Multi-table play is different in many ways, and there are both advantages and disadvantages. The major disadvantage, as I see it, is that it is impossible to have the same level of knowledge of how your opponents play. But even though this affects your winnings at the table, the fact that you can play several at the same time more than makes up for it. The major advantage is that you won’t get bored playing tight, solid poker, which is good news for a rock like me.

So all that I can say is that I am glad that I was wrong – I fell in love with online poker once I tried it and have never looked back since.

Mike G.

Online poker is constantly challenged here in the US. The latest threat is the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act introduced by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) earlier this year. The aim is to prohibit financial institutions from doing business with gaming houses and poker rooms based outside the US. This is just an other attempt to make it harder for Americans to play poker online.

Make your voice heard and protest against the bill through CardPlayer’s appeal against it.