Royal Flush Poker

There is so much to say about www.pkr.com in terms of what it offers the poker player, and playing poker here really is a joy. It has been my favourite site in recent weeks and I have had some good results too.

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One of which came in the ‘Terminator’ tournaments as I managed 2nd place and the lead, in terms of players ‘terminated’. If you are used to general simplistic avatars, you will find www.pkr.com a whole new experience altogether. With catchy music and great tournament schedules in the lobby, and wonderful 3D action at the tables, you will struggle to enjoy poker if you find yourself back playing at the regular poker rooms.

The opportunity to design your own character, changing clothes and appearance at will, creates a great sense of satisfaction as you create a player in your own image.
The usual large scale gauranteeds, satellites to major tournaments, and freerolls are available, along with very competitive first time deposit bonuses. There is also an online store in which you can use your frequent player points, and a help and support section which is of a high standard.

There are many players on this particular site who are preoccupied with gesturing and interacting at the tables, and this can be exploited, but on the whole, the site has a fair share of stronger, and weaker players. I have grown to love this site recently, and it has now become my favourite poker room online. Until the other sites bring their game into the 21st century, things are likely to stay that way.

www.32redpoker.com is not only a poker site but a site which offers a variety of different games. Sports based games, and puzzle games can offer some relief from the stresses of playing poker all the time, and provide some much needed, light hearted enjoyment.

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As for the poker side of things, there are several games of poker on offer too. Texas Holdem is their most populated game, as is the case with most sites these days, and there are Sit n Go tables, MTT’s and cash games available at all levels. This means that whether you are a beginner or an experienced player onsite, there will be a game for you. Other poker variants are on offer too, with Omaha being the other key game offered.

Although this is a game which is often considered second best to Holdem, I have grown to like this particular variation of the game, and feel that it offers much more excitement for those who are not patient enough to sit and wait for the perfect preflop hand. With many combinations of cards being interesting in their own ways, there are usually multiple players to a flop on the lower levels of this game. The hi/lo variation of this game is exciting too, and if you have never tried Omaha in any form, I recommend that you do.

The other game offered at Red Poker, is Stud, with 5 Card and 7 Card formats available. This is a game that used to be very popular, and despite it’s diminished following, in large online poker rooms, you should still be able to find a game if you wish to. Comparitively speaking, Red Poker offers a good list of games in terms of poker, and otherwise.

The first and most noticeable promotional offer from www.celebpoker.com is their exceptional 200% cash match for first time deposits. This is the largest I have seen online and shows a great desire to keep their players happy and start them off on the right foot.

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The loyalty points system they have in place also provides the chance to redeem any points earned for merchandise in their store, or to enter specific freerolls. There are also Jackpot Sit n Go’s going on at Celeb Poker which gives the best players onsite (or the luckiest) their chance at a 10,000 Euro cash prize if they can win 6 in a row.

As well as this, there is a league table in operation, with more chances of huge cash prizes. Satellites are going on the the 20,000 Euro buy in event which takes place on November 30th, with a prize pool that could top the million Euro mark.

Added to this, are the usual numerous freerolls some of which are promotional freerolls with large prize pools, reserved for the most loyal of players. ‘Rake Race’ is another ongoing promotion where the players who generate the most rake over a set time can win a share of thousands of Euros. Bad Beat Jackpots are also running along with many other great chances to win big, so if you haven’t read about the promotions at Celeb yet, drop by their homepage and take a look.

One of the more obvious promotional offers available at www.skypoker.co.uk, are the televised poker tournaments.

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I am a big fan of these as I think it provides a great opportunity to improve your play. The insight into how effective your own, and your opponents play is, can be very valuable to your development as a player. You can see what works, and why it works which is great, even if these tournaments at skypoker.co.uk can be difficult in terms of winning a seat and making it onto the televised show. Other promotional offers include the bonus on the initial deposit which operates in an unusual way.

Many sites offer a set percentage of the first deposit as a bonus payment, and although there are some that release this bonus in increments based on points earned, Sky poker bases the amount of bonus on the amount of points earned in first 30 days as a player onsite. This does give the chance of a very nice bonus, but this is dependant on either playing a lot of poker, or playing on the bigger money tables, and personally, I prefer a set percentage bonus released immediately.

Sky Poker also has a league running which is good to see, as leagues are being seen in an increasing number these days in poker, and I think they are a good idea, as they give skill a chance to shine through over the long run. Overall the promotional tournaments such as bounty tournaments, along with freerolls, guaranteeds, and the aforementioned offers make for a very reasonable promotional package to be found at Sky Poker.

www.betfairpoker.com - One of the first plus points I should mention about Betfair is that as a betting company, their poker room will often have players coming in for some fun without having a very astute tactical game. This means that the more experienced players can make good profits if they are at the top of their game. Betting companies are also well known for being secure and reliable which is one of the most important aspects of any poker room.

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The amount of deposit bonuses you receive as a new player will vary according to the amount of points you earn in the first 60 days onsite. The players who can afford to play on the bigger money tables more frequently, will of course earn themselves much bigger bonuses than casual players who play for smaller sums.

Despite this, there are many affordable guaranteed tournaments running each month, and betfairpoker.com put well over 2 million dollars into guaranteed tournament prize pools every month of the year. Other tournaments offered include a variety of MTT’s and STT’s in the game varieties of Seven Card Stud, Omaha, and Holdem. These three games are standard on most poker sites, and although this is sufficient for the needs of many players, it would be nice to see another game or two offered also.

Overall though, there are many positive aspects of www.betfairpoker.com and I would not be averse to playing poker here regularly. With continued work and diligence, Betfair Poker can become a very good poker room I feel.

www.poker.ladbrokes.com - Often in poker it can be difficult to put down a strong hand, but sometimes you simply have to trust your feeling that you are beaten, even if you have waited for the hand a long time.

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I was recently involved in an unraised pot with (J,8) and saw a flop of (Js,Qs,Jh). The two spades and the straight draw were my main concern when my opponent flat called a raise on the flop. The turn brought a 10 of spades and one of the worst cards that could have hit the board, and when my raise on the turn was met with a sizeable reraise, I knew I was beaten, and folded. My opponent did indeed show two spades, and one of the other players who had previously looked at me as if I was mad when I folded three jacks face up, seemed amazed when my opponent showed a flush. Needless to say, if he was in my position, his reluctance to fold a strong hand would have cost him all of his chips.

Generally, I would not advise players to simply fold every time a dangerous card hits the board, as there has to be a thought process beforehand leading you to the coclusion you are beaten. In the case of my hand, I know my opponent quite well and thought it unlikely on the flop that he would call my raise with a weak queen, and he would have raised preflop with (A,Q). I concluded he was probably drawing to a hand, but the queen was still a possibility up until the moment I raised him on the turn when the 10 of spades fell. There was no way he would continue in the hand with a queen, and the moment he reraised, it was clear he had made his straight or flush.
Almost any hand can be folded in the right circumstances, and if you feel you are beaten, you should never be afraid of folding. It is better to fold the best hand occassionally than to call for all your chips and lose them.

32redpoker.com have a very reasonable first time deposit bonus of 100% up to $500. This is around the industry average and represents an excellent starting point for new players to build their bankroll from.
Help and support options at 32red are very good indeed, as you can always find a member of their staff to help you by either phone, email, live chat, or by written letter.

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There is a Poker news section onsite, along with a poker school, providing informative help to both new players, and those who wish to learn more about the current goings on within the poker world.

In terms of promotions, there are a number of great value tournaments on offer in the latter part of October, and early November. These are part of an ‘Autumn Festival’ promotion and include guarantees, freerolls, and numerous other good value tournaments. Action points known as ‘Redbacks’ will also be earnt at double the rate during this time.

Bad beat jackpots, refer a friend bonuses, and other great bonuses are becoming more common with online sites these days, and www.32redpoker.com offers all these and more, to give their players the greatest chance of building a healthy bankroll. Graphically the site is fairly good, the lobby functions well, and there is a lot to like about this site. The good flow of players through the site is testament to the fact that in terms of the best poker rooms around, 32redpoker.com has the potential to be right up there.

In the past week I have taken part in two live tournaments, not finding much success in either. In the first I had a bluff go wrong when I missed my flush draw, partly because I did not read the situation as well as I should.

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Once my stack had been diminished by this hand, I found myself involved in a hand with (7d,8d). I do not mind playing suited connectors as long as it is not too expensive to see a flop, but sometimes you can find yourself in a lot of trouble when your draw misses. In this case, the flop brought two diamonds and options to make a straight with a 5 or 9. After moving all in neither the turn or river helped me and I was out fairly early. Just last night I played the second tournament and played better, although my luck hadn’t improved much as I saw my pocket kings beaten by (Kh,Jh). My opponent made a straight on the turn and eliminated me in 7th place.

Sometimes I feel it takes me a little while to get my reading of opponents hands up to speed, and I always feel like I play better as I get deeper into tournaments. Poker can of course be very unforgiving in this regard, and I feel it is always better to play for a little while before going to a tournament in order to get yourself into the right mindset.

I have not had much of a chance to play online recently, but PKR is my current favourite site and I have had some success with the ‘terminator’ tournaments running there. With this in mind, I shall perhaps make some time in the next week for online play.