What is the highlight of Jerry’s seven year poker career? There is no hesitation in his answer at all: “My breakthrough weekend at a Casino Regina Poker Classic in which in four tournaments I took a first, second, and third and won best overall.” Indeed, Jerry is the number one money winner in the seven year history of Casino Regina Poker Classics with slightly over $100,000 in prize money. In fact, in statistics compiled by Edmonton pro Dave Klassen, Jerry is the number one money winner in Canadian poker tournament history with a total of $112,432 in prize money (won at Casino Regina, Cash Casino Calgary, and Casino Yellowhead Edmonton).

It is easy to understand why Jerry says that tournaments generally, and no-limit hold’em tournaments specifically, are his favorite form of poker. In ring games he prefers pot-limit Omaha in which he has frequently won or lost $5,000 to $10,000 in a single evening. But as Jerry says, “Nothing beats the feeling of making the final table of a big poker tournament and playing for twenty or thirty thousand.”

If there is a poker highlight there must also be a lowlight. At the 2003 World Series of Poker Jerry was the chip leader to start the final table in consecutive super satellites. Seven times he held Big Slick and failed to convert even one of them into a winner. He was very disappointed. In one of the two super-satellites he had over thirty percent of the chips in play but Big Slick did him in.

Is poker all that Jerry does? No. He professes a love of the outdoors. In keeping with a healthy lifestyle and plenty of exercise, hiking is a favorite and relaxing pursuit. His other passion is harness racing. While most poker players will place the occasional sports or horse racing wager, Jerry has gone beyond that. Not too long ago he used to own harness racing horses. He likes challenges and owning harness racing horses was a challenge.

In fact, that is precisely what Jerry loves about poker, It is a very complex game that no one can completely master. He cannot imagine what he could replace poker with. He intend to die playing poker. For him, it is the fountain of youth. He rides his exercise bike to keep his body young. He play poker to keep his mind young.

Certainly Jerry is known for his youthful demeanor and sense of fun. He is not hard to pick out of a poker crowd with his distinctive hat and gentlemanly countenance. In Casino Regina Poker Classics his side bets with Edmonton some poker players are something of legend. They frequently have more riding on their last-longer bet than they have invested in the tournament and their mutual teasing and kibitzing adds to the fun.

It should also be noted that Jerry is known for his aggressive style. It is no fun to find your seat in a tournament and discover that you have him sitting on your immediate left. There will be two things you can be sure of: Jerry is going to put you to a lot of tough decisions; and you are going to have a lot of trouble putting him on a hand. Good luck. You will need it.

Just gotta play through the downswing. I had another 8 buy in downswing yesterday at 100NL but already 15 buy-ins up from the down point. At 100NL it is very important to get position on the big donks. Don’t be afraid to get up from the table and sit back down or join the wait list in order to get position. Just today I had bad position on a donkey with a huge stack and could not get anything going. I got up, managed to get a seat to his left and got his 4 buy in stack pretty quickly.

Hope the holidays are pleasant for you all. A little bad news as I just found out my little girl has the measles even after receiving the first two vaccinations for them. I believe she has been suffering from the virus now for several days and had the spots a couple of days ago but now they are going away. I suppose the vaccines kept it to a somewhat limited case but still not a nice thing to go through for a kid. Hopefully she will be fully recovered before the trip this Sunday.

Well made it through my first week of no alcohol in a very long time and it hasn’t been terribly easy as another Christmas party was today with more free wines and my supervisor took our lab out tonight for dinner and they ordered wine and the smell of it wafting through the air was very tempting but I was able to abstain so making progress I suppose.

Need to put in at least an hour or so of work tonight as I haven’t played any today and I need to make some progress on the bonus. Will probably crank open 10 tables of limit to build up some frustration before I go to sleep.

They will often be found in the chat box berating opponents who’ve beat them in a hand, or rubbing it in when they take down a pot. They will use words in the chat box that their mom’s don’t tend to use. Also, their screen names will often tell you. ‘UMass1′ or ‘USCbigDawg’ are likely college students. At nearly every micro/low-stakes NL table, one or two of them will make themselves obvious.

They play too many pots/losing hands. They tend to over-bet in attempts to push around their opponents. They tilt easily, cannot control their emotions. They don’t pay enough attention to how their individual opponents play. They are bad at recognizing when they are being slow-played, and will often bet into a big hand that they cannot win. They are often unbluffable.

But they can be dangerous because nobody ever believes them when they make a big hand. They are willing to bluff, and tend to win a lot of small pots. They are fearless. Occasionally you will run into a young-gun who has the skills to play higher levels, but is limited by a small bankroll. You want to spot this player as early as you can.

Many college students have delusions of becoming professional poker players. Many play to try and earn extra money. Some play for fun, and some actually do make money playing online. We’ve already seen several college students become successful poker players. They tend to be one or the other – serious young-guns, or total donkeys.

If possible, gain position on them by sitting to their left. Play only premium hands in raised pots. In unraised pots when you have position on them, play hands that have a lot of implied value that are also easy to fold post-flop such as middle suited connectors. Try not to play big pots against them, without respectively large hands. Do not bluff them, remember that they are often unbluffable.

Trap them and induce bets by showing weakness. Slow play your big hands, they’ll usually bet into you. Call them less often. Either raise when you think you have the best hand, or fold when you don’t. The idea here is that if you have the best hand, they will likely call you anyway, so don’t be afraid of scaring them off like you would against a tight player. Don’t chase them by calling big bets post flop.

They will likely fire big after the turn which you may be committed to calling. Never assume that top pair with top kicker is good. They are likely to play weaker hands, but hit 2 pair, a small set, or a hard to see straight against you. Remember, K9 looks good to them. This doesn’t mean you fold top pair all the time, but it does mean that you should try keep the pot small. Pot size is always the key in low-stakes NL games.

The flop was a king, a jack and a six. The opener pot bet $30 and I called, hoping I would either pair a pocket card or hit the ten. The turn was a ten and I had a Broadway straight. The opener bet $75. I raised to $200 and he folded. I was wondering if I got the full value from my hand. In other words, should I have gambled on a river card, which could have resulted in another, much larger, bet?

Many hold’em players will try to calculate the odds of the opponent improving his hand against the value of the pot. This is tough as we do not know what he has or how much he will bet at the river. Here it was hard to put my opponent on a hand as he was so loose-aggressive. Hard charging preflop raisers who play a wide range of hands do not give away much information when they make a standard raise.

On the turn I hit a longshot in getting the ten. The opponent bet $75 hoping that I did not have a straight and he was also representing a possible straight for himself. But when I raised to $200, even such an aggressive player could no longer afford to stay in the hand. One interesting fact to recognize in hindsight is that raising would have been a good play even if I did not have the straight.

Two more interesting observations. If I had raise after the flop, I could have won with the worst hand. If I had called after the turn, I could have lost with the best hand. I guess I got full value for the hand. I played it safe and strong and I sent a message to the table. I could have chosen to play for a bigger river pot. Of course, some of the future value would have been at risk with a choice to gamble.

Sportingbet made online sports betting available to American players from 1998 to 2006. In 2006 the sports betting company got themselves into legal trouble after the enactment of the UIGEA, which made the transfer of funds from a financial institution to online gambling sites like Sportingbet illegal.

The UIGEA forced most online gambling sites to stop accepting money from American players consequently meaning they could no longer allow American players to play at their sites.

For sites that continued to accept American funds transfers, legal troubles were sure to follow. Sports betting, casinos, poker, and many other forms of online gambling were affect by the UIGEA and several companies got themselves into big legal messes within America. Sportingbet’s CEO was actually arrested in 2006 and this led to Sportingbet closing their doors to Americans wanting to participate in online sports betting.

After the settlement Sportingbet has finally cleared their name in the United States following suit after Party Gaming had a similar but larger settlement the year prior which helped clear their name in the U.S.

Sportingbet paid out only $33 million in fines to help settle their troubles and clear their name for the sports betting they provided to Americans after the UIGEA. Many Americans fond of past times like poker and sports betting are eagerly waiting for the day a change is made to the UIGEA bill which allows Americans to once again transfer funds to their favorite online gambling.

It is possible that settlements like the one from the sports betting company, which helps clear their name, could mean hope for a change to the UIGEA in the not too distant future.

In the morning hours, you’ll tend to find less chat. People are more business-minded. Not in the sense of being pro poker players, rather as in the sense of being distracted by their day-to-day business. These are the people who are playing at work or instead of going to classes, etc. They may have a lot of other stuff going on, so you might be able to bluff a little more and bet people out of pots. Try it.

In the evening, online poker player is crazy. People don’t want to fold their holdings. You’ll face some serious bad beats and unfair defeats. If you’re easily frustrated or distracted, steer clear of the poker rooms in the evening. Oh yeah – the chat also picks up as someone might just try to use the poker room to pick women up.

Late at night, chat relates more to the game. This seems to be when the true players come out to play. If you want a challenge with players who usually know what they’re doing, this might be your best time of day to play, if you can stay up that late. Of course, if you’re a legend in your own mind, you could get eaten alive by the sharks.

Yes, these are general statements. Every poker room and every table within each poker room has a different feel to it, a different personality if you will. It’s up to you to find the games and places that benefit you the best no matter what time of day you play.

But chat is certainly one tool in your arsenal that you can use to win pots and make better profits playing online poker. Or if you like to socialize, it is fun too to chat on the Web while playing Texas Hold’em.

This is certainly an exaggeration, but gaming has definitively taken a totally different shape with the rise of the Web, like anything else.

People who had never before visited a real casino can now have the great opportunity to play the exact same games and more from the coziness of their home. It has become so easy to play these games. You can play in private, without all the public. These are two factors that make online gambling so popular: (1) privately you can play in your shorts if you wish, (2) no public watching you, especially if you are new to a game, like online video poker for example.

Millions of players play every day at the tables of hundreds of online casinos. Many current online gamblers were intimidated by the atmosphere in the real casinos. Filled with high rollers and regulars, these casinos can be scary to the uninitiated. And it is not easy to play with fun money or small stakes at some of the games like Baccarat, a favorite of high rollers. But online you can try all games and learn them for free, playing with so-called fun money.

In addition you can play from the most remote corners of the world using the Internet. The issue of finding and reaching the nearest casino has been eliminated. If there is a snow storm in Northern Canada or a train strike in southern France, it does not matter as you can play your favorite online casino game in just a few mouse clicks.

Online Casinos are easily accessible and offer a variety of games. You can find at online casinos practically every game: you can play online poker tournaments, the slot machines, craps, Blackjack, you can bet on your favorite number in roulette or bingo, and much more.

The casinos also offer bonuses and exciting prizes, both for new players and for their most regular players. Players can also get credits from the casino, they can join special VIP programs or play in special events that are not supported by normal casinos.

So if you have not yes tried an online casino, you do not have to wager real money if you do not want to. And the fun will always be there. Give it a try today.

Indeed you do. It is so easy to lose money when you are focused, let alone if you are playing in the wrong conditions.

You really need to pick your moments of fun. You are a human being like all of us and sometimes the conditions are simply too bad for being able to start a poker session serenely. Let’s see the little traps to avoid and especially when it is better to nap than to play online poker. There is an infinite supply of online poker games, so if the conditions are not good, wait for another opportunity.

It is important to begin a session of poker in the best possible physical condition. You cannot afford to take anything for granted and to ignore the physical aspect. Pay attention to small things that could make it is preferable not to play such as being tired. It will be useless to play poker as you will miss the necessary concentration and insight, so take a nap and come back when in a more favorable condition. This also applies if you are sick or if are not in the mind to play poker. You need to be physically strong so that your brain is 100% dedicated to the game and not distracted or tired. Especially if you are planning to play for several hours, you need to make sure that your fitness is great.

The psychological aspect is no less important than the physical factor. In order to play poker well, you must be well in your head. A good player has a life outside of poker and does not shut himself from outside influences. You can play many hours online and even make it your full time job, if you also spend some time with your friends or your family. You will get the best results if your life is well balanced. It is also good to have regular breaks from the game, for one day or a few days. Take breaks from time to time and you will come back rejuvenated and refreshed.

If you have personal problems of any sort, it is highly recommended to slow down your online poker activities. This is known to negatively impact your game if you have something distracting and painful in the back of your head. In the worse case using online poker has an outlay for these issues is a sure recipe for money losses.

Make sure you are ready physically and mentally before you start any online poker session for better results.

Of all online gambling games, online blackjack is one of the most popular and interesting.

Blackjack is popular because it is simple to play. After all you just need to see if your cards are close to twenty-one or not, and how it compares to the dealer. It is popular for many other reasons, another one of which is the thrill and the feeling of pride when you took the right decision. It is interesting because it is quite a complex game. There are subtle rules (insurance, doubling down,…) to understand. Statistically blackjack is rather complicated and very few players really understand all the nuances.

There are numerous variations in blackjack and every casino has its own house rules, regarding some of the details of the rules (of course the main rules do not change). This is another angle making blackjack a sophisticated game. So one aspect of strategy is to understand how the small rules affect your expected value as a blackjack player, and then to seek the casinos with the most attractive rules, and finally to apply the optimal play with respect to these rules.

Blackjack is the game with the lowest house edge (it can be only around 0.50% in some places) and this is yet another reason to choose this game as it may not cost you much to play it, and you can even make good money from it if you become a master player.

The recent movie twenty-one contributed to the craze of blackjack and online blackjack, depicting it in a very mysterious way while recounting the adventures of the infamous MIT blackjack card counting team. Yes card counting is a unique feature in blackjack, as what the remaining cards are in the deck in the middle of a game may affect the odds of the hands to come, either in favor of the players or dealer. This information can be used by the savvy players to increase their bets when they have an over average expected value.

If you have not yet tried blackjack, consider downloading an online casino program. You can play with “fun money” first to get familiarized with the game. No need to take risks while learning.

His name was George. He was just a kid in his teens, raised by an alcoholic father and got his butt wailed and whipped for the slightest infraction on many occasions.

In his early teens he shot a man for insulting his mother, this was the first of many. When he was 19 years old, it is said he’d killed as many men as his years, he was what today’s shrinks would call a psychopathic serial killer. He was wild, unpredictable and deadly.

A stranger showed up at a NL hold’em tournament. On the very first hand, being on the button, he’d seen UTG raise it up 3x BB with 2 callers before it got to the Kid, who went all in. UTG thought for several seconds, then probably wisely laid down his AQs, next guy folded his pair of 8’s, and the cutoff seat quickly folded his A8o…the Kid raked in a nice little pot with his 67s.

George had a short fuse and a big chip on his shoulder, dangerous traits in the late 1800’s in the Old West. It was almost like he had a death wish, finding out who he was, quickly backed off and gave him plenty of room. Noone wanted to be the 20th notch on his gun.

Several times in the tournament, the Kid looked for good situations to “get it all in”, especially on the button, SB or BB. Once he got called by someone who had QQ and his stack was cut in half, but quickly it’d be replaced and kept growing. Every now and then, the Kid would get AK or AA, and someone would call with his AJ or TT and lose it all to the Kid. Someone even called with a J8s and exited the tournament. Everyone was licking their chops, but gave the Kid wide berth.

Then it happened. A fellow by the name of Johnson, who was the town’s marshal, befriended George. Actually he was no friend, he was just looking to take the kid down and gain a reputation. Beware those who overly pretend to be your friend.

Johnson came in a motel of sorts one day, and blindsided the youngster, pretty much shot him in cold blood. But noone protested. A cagey NL player, we’re all cagey in our own minds, limped in w/AA UTG. Beware of a really good player limping here, one other player limped also, and the Kid once again went all in from the SB. He had A4o UTG went all in also, the other guy folded, and the Kid got blindsided and lost 80% of his chips. A few hands later, he went over the top of a 3x BB raise w/his QJs, and lost to the A2o, probably best not to go all in over a 3x raise with only QJ, maybe go all in if no one else has come in yet, and you’re getting short-stacked, say 6-10 BB’s.

George never even reached the age of 22.

Wild maniacs may build fast stacks, and become big chip leaders early in a tournament, but very seldom go all the way. Be satisfied to grow steadily, and if you do find yourself big chip leader early on, perhaps switch gears and only play top premium hands.