Casino Review

Common Poker Mistakes of Newbies

2011-09-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

Poker is serious business. It's a game that requires concentration and skills. No one wins poker by just luck. It takes more than that to be successful.

Despite that fact, poker games like Texas Hold'em are still gaining popularity. As a matter of fact, some people have even quit their jobs and took poker as their primary means of livelihood. This is the reason why more and more people are joining the poker community. Poker rookies can be found in a lot of online poker sites and these rookies, without proper education, makes the same mistake over and over again. If you are one of them, read on and discover the five common mistakes that beginners like you should avoid at all times.

1. Playing too many hands before the flop. This could be the worst mistake that any rookie can engage himself into. When does this happen? Normally, it does when players get used to the rules of the game and then became impatient. What happens is that eventually, they play too many hands then folds much too late in the game. Of course, this is not the best move. Poker is definitely a lot of when you are in the hand. It's just unfortunate that you cannot play every starting hand if you want to win the pot.

2. Bluffing too much. This is another very common mistake that rookies make. This is also very critical. You cannot bluff anytime you want. You need to pick and choose the right time to bluff. Ask expert poker players and they will tell you that bluffing is a very minute part of the game but it's very essential. It can be a tool that you can use to hit the pot. Pick your bluffs wisely and do not overdo it. Poker players who have been on the game for too long will definitely know when your bluff is authentic or not.

3. Playing more than your bankroll will allow. Bankroll management is one aspect that most rookie players tent to overlook and fail to understand. One success, even the lack of it, can make newbies greedy and play at a buy-in level which is relatively higher than the games that they should be actually playing. One thing that has to be remembered is that anything can happen in a poker game as it is a gamble. Second thing, risks are always involved if you want to win the big bucks. For these two reasons alone, you have to learn how to properly manage your bankroll so you can backup your actions for the stakes that you are playing.

4. Bad positional play. Good positioning is simply anticipating what your opponents will do first before it's your time to act. Observe your opponent's betting and behavior and you will definitely make informed decision about the things that you want to do next. Rule of thumb: play more starting hands in the latter part of the game and play it more aggressively.

5. Not thinking about the long term. Poker should always be viewed as a lifelong game. You may play bad hands from time to time but if you make correct decisions based from your previous game experiences, you will definitely play better hands the next time.

Important Rules For 5 Card Stud Poker

2011-05-16T11:42:00.000-07:00

If you want to succeed with anything, it is important to know the basic set of rules. That is also the same with gambling. Without prior knowledge in the rules set, you will be nothing more than a mediocre sitting at the table, hoping for a fluke. But if you really want to hit the jackpot and get more than a fluke or two, you need to familiarize yourself with the rules and by familiarizing, you also have to memorize it by heart.

The simplest and most initial form of poker is the 5 card stud poker. This is probably the game where all poker rules were born. If you want to be a successful and seasoned poker player, you have to master the rules of this game first to achieve the confidence to play the more complex forms of poker.

Here are the rules:

1. The first bet on the table is called the 'ante.' This bet is done by all poker players and is non-refundable. The 'ante' makes up the pot for which the game is played.

2. The 'bring in' is done by the player who holds the door card with the lowest value. The 'bring in' is commonly half the value of the lower wager.

3. If you are not playing for the bring in, betting on the first round is initiated by the player with the door card of the highest value.

4. Each player has four options to choose from in every betting round. A player can make a bet, or make a check to evaluate how the other players are doing. At this point, the player can make a bet or raise the bet. Fold and leave the game is also an option. Players who feel that they don't have very strong hands and very little chances of winning leave the game. Players who stay or survive the game are dealt for the next round.

5. Individual cards have different values and each hand's value is computed according to the value of each individual card. Low cards are those from 2-9. They are computed for their face value, hence, 2 spade is worth 2 points. High cards include the Jack, Queen or King. Ace is the card with the highest value, 6.

6. The river card is the last card dealt to a poker player. After the river card is dealt, the last round of betting is initiated and players are required to call their final decisions at this point.

7. The player with the highest value at the end of the game wins the pot. The pot increases because it is the sum of all the bets made in the previous rounds. Rarely would you see a table where all players survived the end. More often than not, only one or two players are left at the end of the game. If the surviving players have the same type of hands, the individual value of the cards are taken into consideration.

Of course, knowledge of the rules is not enough to make you a winning poker player. Practice. Doing so will enable you to find your groove and eventually, you'll learn strategies that can get you closer to the pot.

Amid crackdown, al-Jazeera endures

2011-02-05T06:27:00.003-08:00

Though few foreign news organizations have escaped the onslaught of attacks against journalists in Cairo by supporters of Egypt's regime, none has faced quite so many challenges as the pan-Arab al-Jazeera satellite network.

Since the country's pro-democracy protests first erupted Jan. 25, the network's phone lines have been cut, nine of its staffers have been detained at various times, its satellite signal has been repeatedly blocked and on Friday, al-Jazeera said in a statement, a "gang of thugs" stormed its bureau, smashing equipment and setting it ablaze.

Yet throughout, al-Jazeera has remained on air, broadcasting live pictures of the masses gathered in Tahrir Square with pre-positioned cameras and airing phone interviews with analysts and correspondents across the country.

And in what represents perhaps an ultimate act of defiance to the effort to shut the network down, demonstrators in the square have rigged up a giant screen so that even those protesting can follow al-Jazeera's supposedly banned coverage of the event.

"The people are gathered here today with one message only: 'Leave, Mubarak,' " declared news anchor Jamal Rayan on Friday night, in a typically emotive telling of the day's events.

"This is a pilgrimage by the Egyptian people in homage to democracy," added Rayan, who famously wept on-air two years ago during Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip.

It is such unapologetically passionate coverage that has earned the network a devoted following across the region as well as the ire of many of the region's leaders.

Its bureaus have been shuttered in Bahrain, Kuwait, Morocco and most recently Tunisia, until the government there was toppled. The network has not had an Iraq bureau since the government expelled it in 2004, citing its shamelessly sympathetic coverage of the insurgency.

The network's sister channel, al-Jazeera English, is run as a separate entity, and there has been no attempt by the Egyptian authorities to shut down its signal.

But it is the Arabic version that remains the most popular television news service in a majority of Arab countries, said Fares Braizat, of the Qatar-based Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, who has surveyed viewer preferences across the region.

"Al-Jazeera has given people a voice that they didn't have before," he said.

The network is partly funded by the Qatari government, itself as autocratic as any in the region, in just one of the curious idiosyncrasies that have endowed the tiny emirate with clout beyond its size. On numerous occasions, regional leaders are known to have placed frantic calls to Qatar's emir, begging him to curtail al-Jazeera's coverage - most recently Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh this week.

Bad luck and Yasi's tail behind the drenching

2011-02-05T06:27:00.001-08:00

VICTORIA has been lashed by the tail of cyclone Yasi, producing severe storms and torrential rain.

The moist air from Yasi, downgraded from a cyclone to a tropical low after its winds eased below gale force, was dragged south in an arc from Queensland's north-west, through Alice Springs and as far south as Melbourne.

A large cold front heading north cooled the warm monsoonal air and caused huge cloudbursts that dumped up to 200 millimetres of rain in just two hours over Melbourne and regional Victoria.
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Moisture remaining from cyclone Anthony was also hanging over the state and contributed to the deluge.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Stephen King said the weather was unusual for Melbourne.

''We have had extremely high moisture levels in the air from both ex-cyclone Anthony and Yasi … Then we had a [cold] trough yesterday that triggered the thunderstorm activity,'' Mr King said.

''This sort of rain coming from the tropics, you get it in Sydney and Brisbane, it's not that unusual, but to get it this far south is probably quite rare.''

Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs were among the worst-affected areas. Lyndhurst recorded 180 millimetres of rain in the 24 hours to 9am yesterday.

Mildura, in the state's north-west, recorded 142 millimetres - the town's highest daily rainfall total on record.

Ex-cyclone Yasi was yesterday hovering over the Northern Territory, about 430 kilometres south-west of Mount Isa, causing heavy rain in far west Queensland. It is expected to continue to spread moisture into south-eastern Australia today, but its influence will diminish by tomorrow.

While the wild weather across Australia in the past two weeks may feel like an end-of-days movie, experts say it is the product of bad luck and normal long-term weather patterns.

Environmental scientist Stewart Franks at the University of Newcastle said cyclonic activity and recent major flooding in Australia's eastern states were the result of La Nina activity, which has been intensified by Pacific Decadal Oscillation, or low-frequency cooling in the mid-latitudes. Associate Professor Franks rejected the idea that category-5 cyclone Yasi was unprecedented. He said cyclone Mahina in north Queensland in 1899 was stronger.

Climate change groups have argued that record-high sea temperatures in the Coral Sea, while not responsible for the cyclone, have likely contributed to its intensity.

''We have had a warming in the atmosphere, and a demonstrable warming in the oceans, and that extra energy drives intensification of those [cyclone] systems,'' said Climate Institute chief executive John Connor.

''On the eve of the second anniversary of the bushfires, where we had unprecedented fire weather conditions, the point that I've been trying to make is that if you want a picture of a hostile and costly environment, we've been having this in spades over the past few years.''

But Professor Franks said the half-a-degree increase in water temperature in Australia's tropics was far too small to intensify cyclones.

He said the current La Nina cycle, which began during the New South Wales storms in 2007, could continue for the next 10 to 30 years.

He said the eastern states could expect a continuation of wetter conditions in the next few months, and that in the tropics there was a chance of more cyclones.

But Victoria will at least have a chance to dry out, with rain expected to clear today before a fine week.

Welcome

2011-02-02T07:19:00.001-08:00

Welcome