Poker Winning Systems #1

Don't hold four cards of an inside straight, an inside straight is one, where the possible straight can be completed only one way. An outside straight is one that can be completed in two ways and so is twice as likely. The exception to this rule is an ace-high straight.

Dont hold three cards of a straight except for -K-Q-J.

Don't hold three cards for a flush - do not hold three cards of the same suit unless it is also a potential straight flush.

Don't hold a kicker with any pair or with three of a kind - a kicker is a single high card - J, Q, K, A - that has the potential to turn into a winning pair.

What those words mean:

Fold
You fold when the cards that yoz hold are so lousy that to remain in the game would spell certain doom. At this point, you have no further monetary commitment to the hand, your cards are never revealed.

Call
In order to call, you are requied to contribute the equivalent amount of chips as the other players since your last bet. The player to the left of the dealer has the ability to "check" because the value of the pot has not yet been established. This is applicable on the first round of betting.

Raise
Similar to a call except this time you get to increase the value of your bet when the chance to do so arises since the last time you bet. This is a good strategy if you fel that you have a strong hand or want to see who's - bluffing - and who isn't. There is generally a maximum limit that you can raise per round.

The player with the highest hand value wins the pot. But before this can happen, all players are requied to either fold or call during that particular round of betting. Now, if someone was to raise during the round, then we are requied to start all over again. When the cycle is finally complete, all the players must reveal their cards.

Poker General Rules

The objective of poker is to win the pot. You can do this by having the best hand or by convincing the other players that you have the best hand and force them to drop out.

Poker Hands

A poker hand is made from the best arrangement of five cards and are ranked as follows, highest first:





Royal Flush - A-K-Q-J-10, all same suit




Straight Flush - Any five consecutive cards, all same suit





Four-of-a-Kind - Four cards, same value (eg. four 8's)





Full House - Three-of-a-Kind and a Pair





Flush - Any five cards of the same suit





Straight - Any five consecutive cards





Three-of-a-Kind - Three cards, same value





Two pair - Two cards-same value, twice





Pair - Two cards-same value, once

No Pair - Five dissimilar cards, mixed suits

Seven Card Stud

This game is one of the most detailed and complicated of all poker games because of the sheer number of hands that can be made from seven cards. In addition to its compexity, it can be a very expensive game, having five betting rounds, each involving potential raises and re-raises. Becase three cards are hidden, the other players' hands are difficult to compute. This adds to the game's volatility and the rollercoaster effects on your bankroll.
The game begins with each player being dealt two cards face down. These are called hole cards.A third card is dealt face up. In games with antes, the person with the highest face-up card starts the betting. He can make a wager or he can check (indicate he won't make a wager but will remain to see if anyone else bets) or he can fold. All players will ave the opportunity to match or raise the total bet as the play goes around the table. Or they can fold.

When the betting finishes, a second round is dealt face up. Now, the best two-card hand initiates the betting. Another round of raises and re-raises ensues.

A third round is dealt face up with the same procedure as before.

Now, a fourth round is dealt face up with the same procedure as before.

On the fifth round of play, the card is dealt face down. The final round of betting begins. All the remaining players now have four cards face up and three cards in the hole. The player has to make the best five-card poker hand out of his seven cards.

Euro 2008 Odds

The Euro 2008 odds are now available with all online bookmakers as betting ahead of the European Championships in Austria and Switzerland gains momentum. The pre-tournament favourites are Germany at best odds of 4/1 with Paddypower. Joachim Low's side are in Group B along with Croatia, Poland and Austria, none of who should pose any threat to the three time Euro Champions progressing through to the knockout stages. The Germans have an impressive record at major torunaments and once again hold major claims to winning at Euro 2008.

Odds to win Euro 2008
Germany 4/1
Spain 11/2
Portugal 7/1
Italy 15/2
France 8/1
Croatia 12/1
Holland 14/1
Czech Republic 14/1

Comparison

Spain are the well fancied second favourites and many peoples tip for the tournament at odds of 11/2. They have only won the the Championships once before and are known as being perenial under achievers in major competitions but heading in to Euro 2008, they have as good a squad as any other team in the tournament and if they hit form they will be hard to stop.

Many people will be looking towards Group C to provide the eventual winner with Italy, France, Holland and Romania making up the socalled 'group of death'. Current World Champions Italy, along with France, who they beat in the World Cup final two years ago are the two teams fancied to progress through to the last eight and are odds of 7/1 and 8/1 respectively to go on to win the final. That would mean Holland would be heading home early, but Marco van Basten's squad is packed with talent and cannot be ruled our of contention and at odds of 14/1 to win Euro 2008 they are sure to ave plenty of supporters.

Another team who will be a popular selection on many betting slips are Portugal. Beaten finalists in 2004, Felipe Scolari's side are sure to have a point to prove and with Cristiano Ronaldo in the team, they are capable of once again goign all the way at odds of 7/1. Ronaldo is in great form and heads to the tournament on the back of an English Premier League and Champions League double and can be backed to be the top Euro 2008 goalscorer at odds of 9/1. German striker Miroslav Klose and Fernando Torres of Spain are also 9/1 to win the golen boot.

With several teams holding decent chances of winning Euro 2008, the best way to enjoy all the action is to have bet. And whilst opinions on the eventual winner are sure to be split, the only certainty is that a thrilling tournament awaits.

GambleBetter Euro 2008 Tip
Italy to win the final

The History of Bingo

What we know today as Bingo is a form of lottery and called a direct descendant of Lo Giuoco del Lotto d'Italia that was organized in 16th century and is still going strong. The European game of lotto, which had special playing cards with rows of numbers, had a caller who read numbers out loud. Players would cover the number if it appeared od their cards and the firstplayer to complete a horizontal row was deemed the winner.

A man named Ed Lowe saw a version of the game played in Jacksonville, Georgia in 1929. Players were using beans to cover the numbers. The operator of that game related the history of the game to Lowe, who, upon his return to New York, refined the game a bit.

Lowe, who owned a toy company, called the game Beano, which later evolved into Bingo because of an odd event. A woman, playing the game, was so excited as she covered all the numbers, that she yelled out Bingo instead of Beano. The name stuck. In 1973, by the waym Lowe sold his company to Milton Bradley for $26 million.

Ever wonder what the largest Bingo game in the nation might be? In 1934 at a Teaneck, NJ armory, 60,000 people showed up to play and 10,000 more had to be turned away.

William Fisk Harrah's father opened a chain of successful Bingo parlors in California in the 1930s. The operation was moved to Reno and became so successful that when the first Harrah's opened in 1946 it was dubbed The House That Bingo Built.

Strip Poker

Very funny video about approaching to a woman with a bit of help from poker.

Online casinos

Gambling online is, as its name suggests, similar to gambling and betting in a casino, but it is all done online, thanks to internet gambling. All games that can be played at a normal casino can also be played online, such as roulette, blackjack, cards, bingo and slots. There are online casino games to suit the very advanced gambler, and those that suit the very beginner. When looking on the internet to find suitable online casinos, a potential gambler will find that there are millions of sites dedicated to all sorts of casinos and online gambling and games, but the most popular of all fo these are without a doubt the ones that offer many different games rather than just specialise in one or two. This gives the gambler more options to play and win as they choose.

Casino Popularity

Casinos have always been popular. They have always played an important role in today's modern culture, particularly in some parts of the world, where casinos have more than just entertaining value. Those places are certainly Las Vegas in US state Nevada, former portuguese colony of Macao nad Hong Kong. As in other industries globally, casinos have not been left unaffected by the dramatic increase in the internet and world wide web users in business and personal arenas.

Like shopping, CD listening and other recreational activities, gambling now too can be done via the internet. Online casinos are growing at an astounding rate every week, with more and more users clicking in to take advantage of all the benefits that gambling online has to offer.

History of Gambling

The human race is one filled with gamblers and it seems it's always been this way! The very first gambling accounts were recorded around 2300 B.C. in China. The wagering of valuables in games of chance was also popular in Ancient Greece, despite the fact it was illegal. This mere technicality failed to halt such activities then, as it does today in countries around the world in which gambling is officially banned today.

The basis of so many of today's favourite gambling games such as Blackjack and Poker - are also thought to have been inventend in mighty China or even in nearby ancient India. It was sometime around 900 A.D. as the Chinese came up with the idea when they began shuffling paper money (yes, another Chinese invention) into various combinations. The strong connection to the Orient continues today, with the general Chinese term for playing cards translating to "paper tickets". The contemporary 52-card deck - used in US today - was originally reffered to as the "French Pack" (somewhere in the 1600's). This pack was adopted as which was later adopted by the English and subsequently the Americans.

Dice have beeen fascinating people and making them richer or poorer for over 2,000 years. Even the language of dice follows history. When Caesar made his ctritical decision to take his victorious army across the Rubicon against the edict of Rome, he took his retort from the lexicon of the dice player "Iacta alea est." The die is cast. History shows that game called Hazard was played by the most fashionable men of 18th and 19th century England. They rolled dice in luxurious private gambling houses and bet everything from coins to the family silver.

The Frenc learned the game from the English and called it Craps, a corruption of Crabs, the name for a pair of ones. When Europeans arrived in the Americas and other settled countries throughout the world, they brought their dice with them. As dice were rolled on riverboats, wharfs and in private houses, a simplified Americanised version of Craps developed. The popular game moved west with the fronntier, adding extra colour to thr nightlife of pioneers. Today it's played in homes and clubs across the country.

Legal or not, it's a part of american heritage. In 1776, sanctioned by the infant goverment of the US, legal gambling was used in a variety of ways to raise money for a young country. Two centuries later, the US government allwed casinos only in Nevada and one lottery in New Hampshire. However, in les than the next twenty years, gambling revenues had risen to $ 329.9 billion, an amazing 1900 percent increase! Gambling was legal out West from the 1850's to 1910, at which time Nevada made it a fellony to operate a gambling game.

In 1931, Nevada re-legalized casino gambling where Blackjack became one of the primary games of chance offered to gamblers. The world today recognizes the gambling dray card of Las Vegas as readily as any American icon and the glitz and glamour of that city has made it into many a Hollywood movie.