Going up a level, changing gears… when playing poker is tough, but if you want to get better you have to do it!

Many beginners start playing free poker online at the freeroll games then progress to the real money games and work their way up through the different limits on the tables.

Its good to find your level and feel comfortable there and if you want to increase your bankroll then its important you feel confident at your poker table.  But where is the challenge if you continually play with poker players that are one level below yours?  Sure you may win more but who are you really fooling???

Challenge yourself… push yourself to the next level and change gears!  Your poker game will only get better.  You may lose a bit as you get into the next level but you will make that money back over time as you get better and improve your poker game.

Mark I want to change my poker room, any suggestions?  I’m sure that I can find better poker bonuses at other online casinos or online poker sites.  Can you help me?

Regards, Patsy

Well Patsy, I suggest you go to a poker portal, knock on the door and see who answers… (sorry that was a poor joke!).  Go to a poker review site and choose another poker room – its a matter of choice, find the best one that fits your needs.

Whilst you are in the poker review site then look for the best bonuses and high roller casino, it should be quite straight forward to find.  Or ask around whilst you are playing poker and see what the other poker players have to suggest.

Try that and if you still have questions, come back and ask some more.

Did you know that blue and not green, was the original color associated with St Patrick, the Patron Saint of the Irish?  There are ten interesting things that Faith Central have come up with.

St Patrick’s Blue is the color used on Ireland’s Presidential Standard (flag) and the Irish guards have a blue plume on their bearskins.  The green color only came in the 1800’s as a sympathy of Irish Independence.

And how did they get through a day with all the pubs closed in Ireland???  Its no wonder they changed that after the 70’s.

Its good to keep abreast of casino gaming software developments and if you want to know more about top online casino software, have a look at this page.

One of the things I enjoy the most about playing poker is watching the flop, turn and river cards being dealt.  You just never know whats coming your way… are you going to have some luck on the river?

How often have you been sitting there with a good starting hand and you end up with nothing at the end – because of the community cards… or you are sitting there with nothing and suddenly a straight, a flush or three of a kind comes your way…. thank you dealer!!!  More like thank you Lady Luck!!!!

And thats why if you just hang in there, somtimes your luck can turn on the turn card, or turn on the river… and why even the best of the poker pros can be beaten by a rank outsider in poker tournaments (ok maybe the rookies have played the odd hand or two of online poker to be able to beat the pros…).

I’m not a fanatic football fan, but when there is a big tournament I like to follow the games.  Like the World Cup Soccer for instance or the European championships.  Perhaps the odd glance or two at the English League or the Italian and Spanish Leagues.

I am however a betting man, I can’t help myself in that regard… I am always working out the odds, no matter what it is… I just cant help myself I have to bet.  I’ll be doing some football betting that’s for sure!

With the Soccer World Cup coming up in South Africa next year I will be looking closely at whats happening in the football world.  I always start looking at the qualifying rounds as you can tell how good a country is doing then.  You can see which countries are on form but its not the only form guide because some countries are masters at lifting their game when the big occasion comes along.

I cant be bothered about going out to find a bookmaker, so I use online betting to place my bets.  Works for me, saves me time and I even get free bets.  Now I just wish that I could make some money.  Problem is as soon as I win, I take all my winnings and place another bet.. and then lose it all!

I don’t know why, but I just like to watch or listen to the news sometimes.  Its sort of a mini-compulsion not too bad, but it is still a need.  The silly thing is that most times I get really irratated watching the news, with the absolutely stupid things that happen out there in the world, that have no meaning at all sometimes.  And then sometimes the news is just plain boring… I suppose its better that it is boring then at least nothing terrible has happened!

The funny thing is that when I was younger I used to laugh at my parents and grandparents with their obsession with watching the news… now I’m doing it… damn… falling into the same pattern.

Having the latest online poker news helping you keep informed is really important, that way you can find out the best poker bonus and poker deals… or where the highest paying poker tournaments are.. and of course you can get some of the latest tips on poker strategy.  But maybe you know all this good stuff already and just want to follow what’s happening out there… like me…

I have a few feeds that come from different poker sites and poker blogs, that way I can keep informed with all the latest developments in the world of poker.  I like the short, precise and to the point news feeds, that way I don’t spend hours having to read all the rubbish.

Its worth bookmarking a good site when you find one or setting up the RSS feed, that way the poker news comes to you and you don’t have to go looking for it.

Poker rakeback is an excellent way to increase your poker winnings or limit your losses.  In order to make the most of your rakeback deal though you have to know the method your poker room uses to calculate your rake contribution.

Your rakeback is directly dependent on the amount of rake the poker room allots to you.  This is called your MGR and the more you have of it, the more rakeback you’re entitled to.

Different playing styles yield different amounts of MGRs and different poker rooms use different methods to determine individual MGRs.

Some of these methods offer advantages for certain playing styles over the others.  This is why it’s extremely important that you determine which of these rake contribution methods fit your playing style the best.

The dealt rake method takes the resulting rake in a hand and divides it equally between the players who are dealt into the hand.  That’s right, if you’re not in one of the blinds, you do not even have to commit a single cent to the pot in order to earn MGR and thus rakeback too.  This method obviously offers an edge for tight passive players, who will have loose aggressive guys generating rake back for them.

If you’re a loose player who likes to fling his stack around recklessly, signing up for a rakeback deal which uses this calculation method isn’t exactly the best choice.

The contributed rake method is an improvement in terms of fairness over the dealt one.  The software only allots MGR to players who actually put money into the pot.  Those who don’t, do not earn any credit.

The problem with this method is that the resulting rake is still distributed equally among those who do put some money into the pot.  This way, a player who puts a lot of money into the pot will still generate rakeback for the guy who only puts a little.

The weighted contributed rake method is by far the most accurate MGR calculation method there is.  The algorithm that calculates your contribution only considers players who actively contribute to the pot.  Not only that, but the MGR is determined by taking the contributed amount into account as well.  If you contribute more money to the pot, you get more MGR and you’ll be eligible for more rakeback too.

If you’re a loose aggressive player, this is definitely the MGR calculation method you want to play by.

Make sure you know these subtle aspects before you sign up for rakeback.  Rakeback will offer you an edge regardless of the rake contribution method used by the poker room, but how big an edge it gives you should also matter.  As a poker player, you are obliged to make the most out of every opportunity you encounter.

If you already know what rakeback is, it’ll be extremely easy to get your mind around the concept of poker propping.  Square rakeback deals offer you around 30-50% of your rake back.  For most players, that represents a significant addition to their bankroll as it is, but there are always people who are hungry for more.

Poker Prop deals offer players rakeback percentages between 80-135%.  That’s right.  I know over 100% rakeback means you’re actually getting paid to play poker there, but these are real deals and they are responsible for turning many a losing online poker player into long-term winners.

There are some rakeback providers out there who have a nice selection of poker prop deals slapped to their offer.

Whenever people hear about such generous rakeback percentages, they immediately become suspicious that there may be a scam in the background.  After all, why would a poker room ever pay someone to play there?  If you know a thing or two about the online poker industry though, you’ll find the answer quite self explanatory:  Poker rooms pay certain players to play there simply because they desperately need to fill up their critical player liquidity.

To have your critical player liquidity in good shape means to have plenty of players on most of the popular limits playing at all times of the day.  It should be quite obvious why a poker room cannot function without its critical player liquidity.

Newly started poker rooms have few means to attain their critical liquidity and one of the most efficient ways is through offering poker prop deals and sometimes even square rakeback.

Now then, if you access a prop deal provider’s site, you’ll see that while regular rakeback deals are listed together with a review of the site that offers them, poker prop deals don’t reveal the name of the site which “hires” the props.

Some find this too suspicious.  Again, I have to tell you there’s nothing shady about it.  Here’s the reason why the provider withholds the data regarding the poker room: most online poker rooms are not exactly proud to resort to seemingly ‘desperate” methods such as prop deals.  Prop players are generally regarded as skillful sharks by the poker community (although that is hardly the case – most props are previously losing players who have found a way to turn the tables on the action through propping).  Nobody wants to play against such “sharks” and therefore the whole setup may end up providing unwanted negative publicity for the outfit.  That’s why you won’t ever get to know the name of the site till you sign up.

All sorts of details regarding the prop deals will be available though, and you will find out about the poker room too just as soon as you sign up. Whether or not such secrecy is efficient is debatable, however the poker rooms insist on it, and therefore the providers cannot disclose these details to the public.

You just don’t know what is waiting around the next corner.  Everyone’s life is full of twists and turns, highs and lows, good times and hard times – that’s life!

A conversation at a family function over the weekend stuck in my mind…

It went something like this… “….only a week to go until payday… we’ve just got to hang in there… we can do it…”  And, I wonder how many people are saying these words or something similar, right around the world, because the economic situation is global and being felt everywhere.

Last year we went on a fantastic holiday, we were living the good life… and then along comes a twist and turn and now we are wondering how to make ends meet… that’s life!

And then great aunt Martha tracked me down… once aunt Martha gets hold of you, you are pinned down… not for a count of three… no ways!!!  She makes sure she gets her point across and there is not a lot of listening on her side… I have learnt the hard way… to nod politely and agree to everything.  There was only once that I disagreed and I won’t do that again!

Markie boy aren’t you into online poker?   Ye….yesss aunt Martha.

Well me and the girls have discovered cash bingo, do you know how much you can win?  And before I could answer… I had online bingo explained to me… Aunt Martha is on a high at the moment she has something new to look forward to.  And good for her!  Her husband left her a tidy inheritance so she doesn’t have to worry about making ends meet.

Other family members on the other hand do have to consider balancing the income and expenditure…

Having a bonus to play on can double, triple or even quadruple your chance to win big. But although bonuses are free money, some come with some strings attached. Specifically, if you accept some bonuses, you may be required to give an online casino a specified amount of action on their tables or slots in order to cash out your bonus or winnings.
This action is called the wagering requirement. A casino dairy can consist of a set or list of casino games having the reviews and the strategies of the related games. It can include all kind of information relating to the casino world. Even a collection of Poker Rooms and online games of US Casinos reaches to forming a casino dairy.