Online Poker Tools Blog

Party Poker, based in Gibraltar, began in 2001 as an outcropping of Party Gaming, which currently hosts a variety of online games, including online casino games and backgammon. As one of the first online poker sites, Party Poker achieved huge success very quickly, becoming the most widely trafficked poker site on the Internet, offering texas holdem games of booming popularity.

Popularity of Party Poker

The growth of Party Poker dovetailed conveniently with the popularity of poker worldwide. The 2003 World Series of Poker was watched more than any other poker broadcast before it, largely due to the innovation of hole card cameras allowing viewers to see what cards players held. Watching amateur Chris Moneymaker, who had won his seat online (though not on Party Poker) win the entire tournament inspired millions to pick up the game, often online.

Contribution of WPT

Also coming into existence and contributing to the popularity of poker at this time was the World Poker Tour. The WPT is a series of high stakes poker tournaments which also features the hole card cameras. Party Poker had a strong relationship with the WPT, choosing WPT commentator Mike Sexton as their spokesperson and advertising frequently during the telecasts for their poker texas holdem online.

Although advertising gambling services in the U.S. is illegal, Party Poker and other sites get around this by inviting players to check out their “.net” site as a non-wagering training poker site.

Of course, once there they can be easily directed to the real money “.com” site. Another contribution by the WPT was their televising of the “Party Poker Million,” a high stakes WPT tournament that featured players who had won their seats on Party Poker

Current State of Party Poker

Like many online poker sites, Party Poker no longer accepts U.S. players in the wake of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. However, the site still enjoys a tremendous amount of traffic from its players from Europe and other parts of the world.

At this writing, the WSOP 2008 promotions are ongoing at Party Poker!

Cryptologic is by far one of the oldest online casino networks in the world. They were innovators of online casino software and have been publicly listed since 1996. They pride themselves on having over 200 casino games available to their clients, in addition to bingo and online poker.

Cryptologic is available all over the world, with online casinos that support any number of languages and currencies.

Features of the Cryptologic Software

Cryptologic offers Marvel Super Hero slots, bringing beloved comic book characters to the online gaming experience. Now comic book fans can play slots with themes based on Thor, the Silver Surfer, the Hulk, Blade, the Punisher, Iron Man and even the X-Men.

Cryptologic is a successful and trusted name in online gaming with over two million players in 240 countries having participated in Cryptologic games. Cryptologic promotes itself as a “Blue-Chip” e-gaming company, with their eye on the bottom line as well as on providing the best gaming experiences possible. Cryptologic was awarded Gambling Online’s top casino software prize in both 2005 and 2006.

In 2007, Cryptologic partnered with the World Poker Tour to provide an online casino that would cater to WPT fans. The site is set to include Millionaire’s club, Cryptologic’s extremely popular progressive jackpot machine that has awarded millions of dollars.

Cryptologic Poker

Cryptologic delivers first-class software to a number of poker rooms including InterPoker, Sun Poker and William Hill Poker. Poker traffic is abundant and you’ll find all the usual games plus a couple more. There are plenty of freeroll poker tournaments to join as well.

Unfortunately, the poker sites in the Cryptologic poker network do not accept U.S. players at this time due to the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in the U.S.

Some poker players are confident that they have nothing left to learn about the game of poker (and maybe they’re a little too confident), but many are interested in improving their game to either move up in limits or to have more fun and success at the limits they are playing now.

Two ways to improve your poker skills are by reading poker books and simply through practice, playing as many hands as possible. Is one method better than another? Consider the pros and cons of both.

Reading Poker Books

Some players take pride in the fact that they had never read a poker book before they started succeeding in poker. Others have been playing for so long that they haven’t had the opportunity to read good poker books in the past. Does this mean that books are a waste of time?

The fact is a poker book can be a great investment if it is the right book. Just because the title of a book says “Play Winning Poker” doesn’t mean that you are guaranteed to drag pot after pot just because you have read the book. It’s important that the books you study are written by players with years of experience in the field and impeccable credentials, players like Doyle Brunson, David Sklansky, T.J. Cloutier, Tom McEvoy and Dan Harrington.

The value of a book written by a player with no notable success at the poker tables, or whose claim to fame is having recently won their first World Poker Tour event or WSOP bracelet is questionable. If you want to learn how to play poker online, perhaps you’d better go with a really successful internet player. It may help to look at some reviews of poker books or talk to people in the know before choosing your study materials.

Once you’ve made the right choice, you may well find the books pay for themselves. These books impart ideas that it may have taken you many years and many dollars to discover on your own. They will show you winning ways to think about the game of poker that you have never thought of before. There is no question that reading and studying the right poker books can have a positive benefit on your game.

Playing the Game

Doyle Brunson didn’t have any poker books to read when he was starting out. He could only learn through experience. In his formative poker years, Doyle was constantly dealing out hands and analyzing probabilities, trying tactics and revising his impressions, doing everything he could to understand the game of poker better than others. This process was incredibly time consuming and sometimes expensive. Doyle’s own book, Super/System, compiled much of this information so that others can learn it right away.

Does this mean practice is no longer important for poker success? Absolutely not. Doyle has also said that the reason there are so many young superstars on the poker scene today is because of online poker. He explains that through the ease and speed of the Internet, a 21 year old player can play as many hands at the online poker sites as Doyle did in fifty years of play. This experience is what has allowed such meteoric success. Doyle and other pros all agree that there is no substitute for experience.

The Final Word

The answer, as you may have suspected all along, is that both reading books and playing are vital for poker success. The books will give you grounding in the game and ideas, and the playing will help you fine tune those ideas. Constantly learning about the game and implementing your lessons is the best route to poker mastery.

Poker players often find Omaha a welcome diversion from their usual Texas hold em game. They find its added complexity very appealing. What gives Omaha that complexity is the fact that you are dealt four cards instead of two and must use exactly two in your hand.

This creates many more possible winning combinations, generates big pots and makes for some tough decisions. Five-Card Omaha is richer still.

How Omaha is traditionally played

Traditionally Omaha is played with the same structure as Texas hold em, with a small blind and a big blind and betting before and after the flop and on the turn and river.

The only real difference between these poker games is the fact that in Omaha you have four cards to choose from and must choose exactly two. But this difference changes everything.
Omaha is often played hi/lo split, where the best hand splits the pot with the lowest hand provided that hand is no better than 8 high. Omaha is also popularly played pot limit, especially the all high version of the game.

How Five-Card Omaha is played

Five-Card Omaha is nearly identical to the traditional version except that each player gets dealt Five-Cards instead of four. You still must use exactly two in your hand.
No more than eight players can play Five-Card Omaha at once or the dealer would run out of cards. If eight players are playing, 45 out of the 52 cards in the deck are in play - meaning if there is a good card you don’t see, it is probably out there somewhere.

Strategy in Five-Card Omaha

Because almost all the cards are out, you will generally need the nuts, the best hand, to win. The second best hand will almost never be good enough.
Only play hands that can become the best. Don’t draw to king high flushes or low straights. Never expect two pair to hold up. If there is a pair on the board, know that at least one of your opponents has a full house.

If you are playing hi/lo, the best possible low will almost always be needed to win that half of the pot.

Other notes on Five-Card Omaha

It will happen much more often in Omaha that you will be dealt trips. When this happens you should muck your hand immediately unless you have a hand that can still make the nut low and high such as Ad 2d 5c 5s 5h.

Here since you have the best low draw and can make a straight or make the nut high with a diamond flush, you have a marginally playable hand. In most cases though, the trips means one of the cards that matches your pair is dead which reduces your odds considerably.

You should probably bluff very rarely in Five-Card Omaha since it is so likely that an opponent has or is drawing to the best hand.

Five-Card Omaha is a game that has gained a lot of popularity in live poker. However, you’ll rarely find it on the poker sites.

No-limit Texas holdem allows the best opportunities for bluffing, since you can put your opponent to a decision for his whole stack at any time. In limit varieties of poker, it only costs an opponent one bet to see your cards on the river, and your opponent can calculate at any time how much the hand is likely to cost him. The bluff equity is even bigger in online poker tournaments, where players often struggle to survive.
Most of the time a bluff in limit poker requires you to figure out that your opponent has been chasing a draw and missed, and will fold a better hand simply because it wasn’t the one he was chasing.
Even this will probably only work if you have been betting on every street with only one opponent so the pot is not too large. In no-limit poker on the other hand, every bet may bring with it the threat of busting the player who calls, so players have very difficult decisions to make and bluffs are a much more effective tactic.

How to Bluff
Many players are afraid to bluff because they are sure they are giving off some form of “tell” that will scream out to their opponents: “I have nothing! Call me!” In fact, such tells are less common than people think, and they can be corrected. It may help to think of a bluff not as a bet with nothing, but rather betting that your opponent is weak or not confident in their holding.
When playing in your favorite online poker rooms, giving off tells is less of a problem, of course.
When you bluff, you must bluff an amount that will scare your opponents. If you bet ten percent of the pot, you might as well just check. These “post oak” bluffs are rarely effective because opponents will be willing to pay just to satisfy their curiosity. The only time such a play may work is if the board is so obviously scary that someone with a made hand would fear that any bet would lose everybody.
For example if four players check a $50 pot down on a board of Ac Kc 3c As Jh, a $15 bet on the river may just take it down, as opponents may assume that a player who hit a flush or three aces was slowplaying hoping for action and is now desperate for any little coin he can get. Of course if you are raised you can fold immediately with little investment lost.

Setting up a Bluff
The key to a good bluff in poker is telling a convincing story. The bluff has to make sense or it will not work. If the board is Ad 3d 4s 6s 9s and you have been calling all the way, a big bet on the river is unlikely to convince anyone you have a flush since you called a flop bet with no real flush possibility. On the other hand, if that last card is a diamond you have a great bluffing opportunity, as someone with a diamond draw would be likely to call all the way to the river.

Knowing Your Players (and Yourself)
Some players are loose players who call everything. These are bad players to bluff for obvious reasons. In general, the better the player is, the more bluffing opportunities you may have, since strong players are capable of laying down big hands, whereas weak players may commit all their chips with top pair completely oblivious to the play of the hand.
Knowing your opponents may be hard at the large online poker sites, but you must at least try to judge their behavior.
Similarly, be aware of your image. Let’s say you generally only bet when you hit top pair or better on the flop. You bet out on a flop of J 8 3 and check and call an opponent’s bet of half the pot when an A comes on the turn. If you push in a large bet when an 8 falls on the river, a savvy opponent will call you like lightning.
You should only make this play if you have set it up by betting out with middle pair in prior situations.

A subject that often stymies new holdem players is how to handle flush draws. The common flush draw scenario occurs when you hold two of a suit and the flop brings two more of that suit. What to do? Should you bet? Raise? Call a bet? The answer will depend on the situation, specifically things like the size of the pot, number of opponents and your position in the hand.

The first thing to know is that you shouldn’t be playing suited cards unless they are also big cards. The following operates under the assumption that your flush, if you make it, will win the hand on an unpaired board. Playing 8 4 suited changes things as you may make your flush and lose to a bigger flush. Try to avoid being in such a situation by folding all but the highest suited card combinations.

Pot Odds and Flush Draws

Your odds of hitting your flush on the next card are roughly 4-1, which many poker websites can tell you. This means if you can win four or more dollars for every dollar you invest in the pot, you should call a bet. For example, if there is $40 in the pot and you have a flush draw and the bet is $20 to you, you are risking $20 to win $40 which is only 2-1 and not profitable unless you believe that you will be able to extract at least $40 more from your opponents after you hit your flush. This concept is called implied odds. Furthermore, if the $20 call will put you all-in, your call will allow you to see both the turn and river. Your odds of making your flush with two cards coming are closer to 2-1, so in this case the play is more likely to be profitable.

Betting Flush Draws On the Come

Some people like to bet flush draws “on the come,” meaning betting before they make their hand. This is particularly popular in poker online, and can be an effective play if you are in late position. If everyone checks to you, a check may not be your best move, since even if you make your flush you may not win any money as there is nothing in the pot. A small bet here may either build a pot for you to take down if you hit your flush, or allow you to win a pot uncontested without a made hand. If the turn does not bring your flush, you can even make a large “semi-bluff” bet, trying to represent that you have a made hand and are trying to get rid of flush draws.

Special Notes about Flush Draws:

If you have suited pocket cards and flop a flush draw with top pair, you should play the hand fearlessly. It is impossible for you to be in very bad shape, as you have either the best hand already or the best draw. You can bet, check-raise and even call an all-in bet with impunity. Of course you can lose the hand, but you will either be way ahead or slightly behind. The worst scenario is an opponent who flopped a set, but even then your flush will win as long as the board does not pair.
Don’t pay to draw to a flush if the board is already paired. You may miss your flush, or you may hit it and lose your whole stack to a full house. You should only pay to draw if you are confident that hitting your draw will give you the best of it.
A safe to experiment with your flush draws is to engage in some freeroll poker.

Playing against an online poker bonus, that is, playing to clear the bonus into your account, is a necessary part of the online poker experience. Those online poker bonuses represent free money to fatten your bankroll and give you the best chance of taking out the opposition. There are times though, when you need to take the focus off the fact that you are playing against an online poker bonus.

When You’re Not in the Mood to Play
Clearing your poker bonus should come organically. You should usually just happen to notice after a few hours of play that the bonus is cleared. If you’re checking every five minutes to see how close you are, you’re probably not in the right frame of mind to be playing winning poker. If an online bonus is causing you to play badly and lose money, it isn’t much of a bonus. You usually have a fairly long amount of time in which to clear your bonus. If you’re not in a playing mood right now, come back and clear that bonus when you are. Even if you only have ten or twenty raked hands to go, you could easily lose an entire bonus worth of chips in that time if you’re not mentally prepared to play. Unless you are up against the expiration date, the game and the bonus will be there when you get back.

When There’s a Big Tournament
Tournament play often does not count towards clearing your bonus, although more and more online poker sites are allowing you to earn bonus clearing time through tournaments. This is the same way that you can earn loyalty points (loyalty points are a promotion wherein you can earn credit to exchange for merchandise or tournament entries through continued play on the site). However, just because your tournament doesn’t count doesn’t mean you shouldn’t play in them. If you’re primarily a tournament player, or there’s a big tournament coming up, go ahead and play, and save the bonus clearing cash game for next time. If tournaments are your thing, just set aside a small portion of your bankroll for cash games and feel free to play at the lowest limits. A raked hand is a raked hand, and you’ll clear your bonus just as fast playing $2/$4 limit stud as you would playing $10/$20 Texas No-Limit Hold’em.

When There’s a Great Game Somewhere Else
If you’ve got a line on a great live game or a heavy action game going on at another site, go ahead and jump in and save the bonus clearing for another time. Sign-up bonuses give the poker sites in question no exclusivity rights to your play. You’re free to play where you want, when you want, as long as you get those raked hands in within a reasonable amount of time. Great poker games can be more profitable than ten online poker bonuses. If you can find one, go for it. No poker player can fault you for taking the most positive EV (expected value) move.

When you’re looking for new online poker sites, there are plenty of things to consider. The poker site you choose needs to have the right game selection, tourney choices, software features and funding options. You need to do your homework on these particulars. Read online poker room reviews and compare and contrast the different features of the site you’re considering. Before you open up an account with any site, make sure that you have explored a variety of bonus options.

Poker Bonuses Are a Must
If you make an initial deposit, you have to get a poker bonus match. It’s that simple. The most lucrative bonuses out there are offered for first time deposits. If you’re funding an account for the first time, and you don’t take advantage of these bonus offers, you’re taking money away from your bankroll.

Types of Poker Bonuses
There are all types of poker bonuses out there. Initial deposit bonuses will match the amount of your first deposit up to a certain percent. Reload bonuses are also match bonuses. Reloads are offered to existing players that have already made a first deposit. Referral bonuses are bonuses that are given to players that refer friends to open up new accounts. In addition to bonuses, poker rooms will also offer other incentives like free stuff, entry into freeroll tournaments, rakeback and VIP programs. With all these different types of bonus incentives, it’s important that you look beyond the initial deposit bonus when you compare promos in online poker.

Restrictions
All bonuses have restrictions. Comparing these restrictions is a big part of the bonus shopping process. When you’re considering a specific bonus offer, you need to understand exactly what will be expected of you. Do you have to play a certain amount of raked hands in order to collect the full amount? Are their limitations on the types of games you can play? Is there a set time for you to clear your bonus requirements? If so, how long do you think it’ll take you to fulfill all the bonus requirements? Are there a lot of weak poker games?
These are questions that need to be asked while you’re reading the terms and conditions of any poker bonus offer.

Bonus Codes
Online poker rooms advertise bonuses to attract new players. Third party affiliate sites also offer bonuses. These bonuses are more lucrative than the bonuses offered by the official poker room. If you want to sign up for poker room X, visit an affiliate first. See if this affiliate will offer a better bonus promotion for poker room X. You will need to enter a bonus code or use the affiliate’s link to download the poker room’s software and open up an new account. Taking advantage of affiliate bonus codes and rakeback programs will greatly enhance your bonus value. Bonus codes may also increase your play-through requirements, so keep that in mind.
Bonuses are essential. Make sure you understand what type of bonus you’re signing up for and what you need to do to claim this bonus cash. Browse through affiliate sites to find even better promos. If you do some homework, shop around and know what you’re getting into, you’ll have an easier time unlocking free bonus dollars.

There’s a big difference between earning a nice online poker bonus and being trapped by a difficult bonus offer. If you’re a big-money player, find the most expensive bonus you can. If, however, your bankroll is much less formidable, then you need to be careful when you select poker bonuses and promotions.

Know Your Limits
If you’re a small stakes player, don’t sign up for massive, high-roller bonus offers. If you don’t plan on depositing $1000 in three months or playing through all the requirements that it would take for you to earn a huge match on a large sum, then why accept a bonus that’s out of your league? Don’t think of bonuses as free money. Bonuses are restrictive incentives. You will get out what you put in, but you have to follow the rules. If you have no intention of following through on huge deposit incentives and insane play-through requirements, then it doesn’t make sense for you to accept an offer that’s beyond your bankroll.

Learn to Let Go
Sometimes, when you sign up for a specific bonus offer, you realize that the bonus requirements are going to be difficult to fulfill. You might find yourself accepting the offer anyway, hoping that you’ll be able to step up your game and playing habits in order to meet all the requirements. If you’re struggling like crazy to unlock your complete bonus amount, stop and think for second. Do the math. Figure out how much money you’re losing in an attempt to get all of your bonus cash. There will be times when you will have to just stop and let it go. Sure, you may have lost your initial deposit without ever seeing your promised bonus match, but if you’re losing your money trying to earn bonus money, then it’s time to move on to other poker games.

Expected Value
Bouncing from bonus to bonus on different poker sites can create a negative expected value. Your goal should always be to have bonuses increase your expected value. When you’re attempts to grow your bankroll are thwarted by the fact that you’re chasing a carrot on a stick, it’s time to rethink your strategy. Bonuses should work for you, not the other way around.
Don’t lose money trying to clear an expensive bonus. If you stick to the bonuses that you know you won’t have trouble clearing, you’ll be in good shape. If you try to increase your bankroll by accepting offer after offer, you will have to satisfy a long list of requirements. Don’t put unneeded restrictions on your bankroll. Follow through on the bonuses that make sense to you, and let the high rollers take advantage of the big, hard-to-clear bonus offers.

Bodog is one of the rare trifectas in the online gambling world, offering an online casino, sports book, and poker room. These all-in-one gambling sites are often appealing. If a player likes to wager on sports, and also play a few rounds of craps, while winding down to a little Texas Holdem tournament, there are not many places online they can go.

Bodog Poker takes advantage of this appeal by offering steady bonuses and great customer service. Their bonus schedule is simple. They offer rewards on initial deposits, and unlike many other poker sites, they offer a solid 10 percent bonus on all reloads. At times, they even offer a special 20 percent bonus on reloads. Their bonus rollovers are very manageable. There isn’t any fine print when it comes to this site. What you see is what you get.

With tons of revenue to spend on marketing and advertising, it’s no wonder this site is one of the most popular in the world, landing founder Calvin Ayre in the Forbes 500.

Poker
Bodog poker is above average for many reasons. They offer all the standards that powerhouse poker rooms offer, including poker tutorial programs, free rolls, and the ability to practice by playing for free. They also have a nice lineup of celebrity professionals they sponsor, including 2006 WSOP champion, Jamie Gold. Their pros write exclusive articles for the site, offering up tips and strategies.
The fact that Bodog offers a bonus that can be applied to the poker room is very appealing. There are very few poker sites that offer players a re-load bonus available in the poker parlor.
Downside
On the downside, player volume at Bodog is a little light. Sometimes it takes a couple of minutes for a game to fill. Since the site is so popular, the level of competition at Bodog is not as high as other sites. Also, Bodog only offers Texas Holdem live. However, since they also have an online casino, a player can engage in many different versions of poker through the casino.
Customer Service
Customer Service at Bodog Poker is impeccable. They have a willing and able support team available around the clock to assist in any issues or concerns that may arise. They excel in other areas as well, offering top notch security and a variety of deposit and withdrawal methods, including a direct deposit. The graphics and sound effects at Bodog are above industry average, and everything about the site is user-friendly. It’s hard to find many faults with Bodog.