The WPT Continues....

The road to the $3.3 million dollar first place prize of the WPT Championship continues.

Professional poker players were everywhere to be seen on Day 2 of the WPT Championship, accounting for more than two-thirds of the field. Day 2 started out with 421 poker players, the combined survivors from Day 1A and Day 1B. All in all, by the end of Day 2, there were 188 survivors left.

Many pros started hitting the rail almost as soon as play started on Day 2. Ted Forrest was out early as was Florian Langmann. Poker Road's Paul Wasicka raised 2,400 with both the Flying Dutchman Marcel Luske and Florian Langmann calling him. The flop was king of clubs, 10 of spades, and the 5 of clubs. Langmann checked, and then Wasicka bet 4,600. Luske mucked it while Langmann check-raised it to 15,000. Wasicka moved all in and after briefly thinking about it, Langmann did as well. Wasicka was holding pocket aces while Langmann turned up a queen of clubs and a 9 of clubs, giving him a straight and flush draw. However, the turn and river was of no help to Langmann - a 2 and 3 of spades, giving Wasicka the win. Later in the day, Wasicka too found himself hitting the rail.

Also finding themselves out at the end of Day 2 were five time WSOP winner Layne Flack, Erick "E-Dog" Lindgren, winner of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event at 2007's WSOP Freddy Deeb, former Card Player Player of the Year winners, David Pham and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, WPT title winners Tuan Le and Alan Goehring, 2005 WSOP main event winner Joe Hachem, Yahoo! Co-founder Jerry Yang, Sammy Farha, Jennifer Harman (the only female to have won two bracelets at WSOP open events), Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari, and the even the Poker Brat himself, Phil Hellmuth. Day 1A saw Poker Road's Doyle Brunson and Barry Greenstein holding on with about 80,000 chips each, but Day 2 found Doyle down to 48,300 while Barry was up to 111,100.

Robert Mizrachi used consistent play and good timing to make his way to the top of the chip lead with 523,200 by the end of Day 2. Also finding himself near the top of the lead board was Carlos Mortensen, winner of the 2007 WPT Championship. A second win this year would really set the poker world abuzz. Tom "durrrr" Dwan was still wearing his Chiquita banana hat, holding on in 76th place at the end of Day 2.

The start of Day 3, the top ten chip leaders were Robert Mizrachi (523,200), Jayde Tran (406,700), Eric Richards (399,500), Bryan Devonshire (393,400), Cory Carroll (384,700), John Celii (376,800), Carlos Mortensen (371,600), Kenny Tran (367,400), Michael Gracz (364,800), and Jonathan Kalmar (333,900)

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For more articles about Online Casino, Poker, Blackjack, Backgammon, Bingo, Sports Betting go to Gambling Articles, or to Learn to Gamble at http://superrake.blogspot.com, or Myspace Gambling Blog at http://www.myspace.com/pokertracker. If you would like to play some casino and have your deposit matched 500% up to $5.000 now, go to room: Betway.

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The World Poker Tour Championship Begins

As a big name boycott ends, the WPT Championship finds itself low on poker player quantity, but high on quality.

The World Poker Tour Championship started Saturday at Bellagio's Fontana Lounge, but something is missing - poker players. This year, 210 poker players turned out for Day 1A, which means it does not look like the tournament will match its numbers from last year. Sunday was better, bringing in 335 poker players, a strong rebound which should guarantee a nice prize pool. It looks as if over $13 million will be awarded to 100 players, with the winner taking home a little over $3 million while second place will have to settle for a little over $1.5 million.

Some of the better known poker players in this year's field include Mike Sexton, Jonathan Little, Michael Gracz, Brandon Cantu, Andy Black, Joe Sebok, Scott Clements, Tony "Bagels" Cavezza, Hoyt Corkins, J.C. Tran, Marcel Luske, Eli Elezra, Gus Hansen, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Mike Matusow, Bruno Fitoussi, Barry Greenstein, and eleven time World Series of Poker champ Phil Hellmuth.

One of the reasons some names are missing from this year's WPT Championship may be the WPT boycott many players were observing. On July 19, 2006, some of the biggest and most respected names in poker - Andy Bloch, Annie Duke, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Phil Gordon, Greg Raymer, Joe Hatchem, and Howard Lederer - rocked the poker world when they filed an antitrust complaint against the WPT. Specifically, the poker players disagreed with wording in the WPT tournament documents, fearing that that it would caused a conflict with their endorsement deals. As the lawsuit dragged on, Hatchem and Raymer dropped the boycott. Hatchem went on to win the WPT Five-Diamond World Poker Classic in December of 2006, taking home $2.1 million.

Ferguson, Duke, Bloch, Gordon, Lederer, and the WPT just settled the suit, but not in time for any of them to play in this year's championship. WPT does have a new standard form release being used at this year's championship, however, it admitted to no wrongdoing and no money was exchanged as part of the settlement.

Back to poker news! Day 1A saw Daniel Alaei went all in against Roy Winston, but lost when a 3 of Hearts came out on fourth street. Paired with a Queen of Hearts and a Four of Hearts, that gave Winston had a flush and Alaei was eliminated. The end of Day 1A saw Billy Baxter, hot off his second Five-Star World Poker Classic preliminary event win, in first with 167,150 chips, Darrell Dicken in second with 163,675 chips, Steve Billirakis in third with 156,800 chips, Scott Epstein in fourth with 147,800 chips, and Brandon Cantu in fifth with 145,125 chips.

Tom "durrrr" Dwan played well on Day 1B, despite having to wear a Chiquita banana hat. He lost a bet with Alan "The Usher" Sass that he would arrive on time for the tournament and must wear the hat the entirety of the tournament as punishment. The end of Day 1B found Paul Chaudersonin first with 200,900 chips, Kenny Tran in second with 193,025 chips, Robert Mizrachi in third with 173,375, Juan Carlos Mortensen in fourth with 172,075 chips, and Jordan Morgan in fifth with 171,750 chips.

Play resumes at noon today and the tournament will finish up with the final table on Saturday, April 25th......

For more articles about Online Casino go to Casino Articles, or to Learn to Gamble at http://superrake.blogspot.com , or Myspace Gambling Blog at http://www.myspace.com/pokertracker

If you would like to play some casino and have your deposit matched 500% up to $5.000 now, go to room: Betway

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Master Backgammon Easily

Of all the many games devised over the centuries, the backgammon board game must rank as one of the most successful. Its long history, and its continued popularity with a wide age group testifies to how easy it is to understand the backgammon instructions.

The instructions governing the backgammon set up are probably the first of the games rules the novice player encounters. Although there are some variations in the opening positions of the counters in different varieties of the game, the standard arrangement of a board divided into twenty-four narrow triangular points chief objective of the game, to be the first player to remove all their counters from the backgammon board, is a simple idea that is easily grasped. Novice players also quickly understand the instructions concerning the movement of checkers according to the result of the dice throw. Certainly, there are additional rules, for example, when it is permitted to hit your opponent’s checkers, and how it is permitted to block in opposing checkers, that the new player needs to remember, but once again there is a very quick learning curve. The biggest challenge about learning to play backgammon is not mastering the instructions, but rather acquiring an effective backgammon strategy. Although reading is useful aid, the strategy is only mastered in the course of playing experience, including both traditional backgammon board games, and Internet backgammon games.

Although, as we have stated, learning the backgammon instructions is a speedy process, you still need to start somewhere. For many players, it is sufficient to read the instructions printed on the inside of the backgammon game they have bought, or received as a present. These instructions invariably describe the backgammon setup, and provide the basic information you require to play a game. The amount of instructions you need to know is not so great that the information cannot be adequately be presented on the inside of the game box, yet it is still possible you might want additional details. Over the last fifty years many books have been published that include comprehensive backgammon instructions as well as playing tips.

A valuable “hands on” instructions learning experience is offered online. A search for free backgammon brings onto your computer screen links to a number of sites providing a backgammon download. Online backgammon allows you to play against other players from many different countries and it is also an excellent medium for learning backgammon instructions. You can find the instructions displayed on all these sites and may if you wish print them out, but most players find it more interesting learning these instructions via free games against the computer. There is no better way of getting an understanding of how the game is played. It is possible that when you are playing against a friend, that they may not have learned properly or remember all the games rules and so you might both make moves that would not be acceptable in any backgammon tournament. However, the backgammon computer is programmed to only make legal moves and to permit its human opponent to make legal moves.

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For more articles about Online Casino go to Casino Articles, or to Learn to Gamble at http://superrake.blogspot.com , or Myspace Gambling Blog at http://www.myspace.com/pokertracker

If you would like to play some casino and have your deposit matched 500% up to $5.000 now, go to room: Betway

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Sports betting, differences between american and european markets

Sports betting is the general activity of predicting sports results by making a wager on the outcome of a sporting event. Perhaps more so than other forms of gambling, the legality and general acceptance of sports betting varies from nation to nation. In North America, for example, sports gambling is generally forbidden except when associated with horse racing (though a few legal sports books exist in Nevada), while in many European nations, bookmaking (the profession of accepting sports wagers) is highly regulated, but not criminalized. Proponents of legalized sports betting generally regard it as a hobby for sports fans that increases their interest in particular sporting events, thus benefiting the leagues, teams and players they bet on through higher attendances and television audiences. Opponents fear that, over and above the general ramifications of gambling, it threatens the integrity of amateur and professional sport, the history of which includes numerous attempts by sports gamblers to fix matches, although proponents counter that legitimate bookmakers will invariably fight corruption just as fiercely as governing bodies and law enforcement do.

Aside from simple wagers--betting a friend that one's favourite baseball team will win its division, for instance or buying a football "square" for the Super Bowl--sports betting is commonly done through a bookmaker. Legal sports bookmakers exist throughout the world (perhaps most notably in Las Vegas). In areas where sports betting is illegal, bettors usually make their sports wagers with illicit bookmakers (known colloquially as "bookies") and on the Internet, where thousands of online bookmakers accept wagers on sporting events around the world. (In the United States, the legality of Internet wagering is ambiguous, due to the fact that online bookmakers generally operate outside of the U.S. Many online bookmakers do not accept wagers from the U.S. due to these unresolved legal questions.) The bookmaker earns a commission or "vigorish" by regarding the money at risk as less than the size of the bet placed. A common line is a $110 bet on a fair coin which pays $210 to win and $0 to lose. On this line, it costs $220 to bet both sides of the same coin simultaneously, but the combined bet always pays $210. The $10 loss constitutes the vig. There are opposing positions on whether the winner or loser can be construed as paying the vig, but this debate is not especially meaningful. If you view $110 to win $210 on a fair coin as $100 at risk, then it will appear as if the loser pays the vig; if you view the same line as $110 at risk, then it will appear as if the winner pays the vig. It happens that standard practice among bookies is to adjust odds so the amount at risk remains constant from the winning side of the proposition, hence the common perception that the loser pays the vig. Vigs expressed as percentages suffer from the same perceptual bias. On the line as given in this example, for a fair coin, the bookie has an expectation of making $5 for each $110 bet placed, which is often divided out and expressed as 4.5% Odds on teams or opponents are quoted in terms of the favourite (the team that is expected to win, thus requiring a riskier wager) and the underdog.

Bookmakers generally offer two types of wagers on the winner of a sporting event: a straight-up or money line bet, or a point spread wager. Money lines and straight-up prices are used to set odds on sports such as soccer, baseball and hockey (the scoring nature of which renders point spreads impractical) as well as individual vs. individual matches, like boxing. For these sports, bookmakers in Europe and Asia generally use straight-up odds, which are quoted based on a payout for a single bet unit; for example, a 2-1 favourite would be listed at a price of 1.50, whereas an underdog returning twice the amount wagered would be listed at a price of 3.00.

American bookmakers generally use money lines, which are quoted in terms of the amount required to win $100 on a favourite, or the amount paid for a $100 bet on an underdog. The amount "won" in a bet is the net amount over and above the initial bet. If a person wins $200 on a bet of $100, the bookmaker actually pays the winner $300 (i.e. $200 plus the initial bet of $100).

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For more articles about Online Casino, Poker, Blackjack, Backgammon, Bingo, Sports Betting go to Gambling Articles, or to Learn to Gamble at http://superrake.blogspot.com, or Myspace Gambling Blog at http://www.myspace.com/pokertracker. If you would like to play some casino and have your deposit matched 500% up to $5.000 now, go to room: Betway.

If you would like to play some poker and have your deposit matched 110% go to Doylesroom (American players welcome!) Qualify for the WSOP at PokerStars.com. Sign up now! come and play where all poker brains play

Livebetting with Bwin and Unibet

The fast growth of cyberspace networking brought along a new component to sports betting, by introducing the latest concept of livebetting or online betting. This opportunity is provided by Bwin, the famous sport betting bookmaker on the internet.

If you are an unexampled punter who chose sports betting, then you should know that there a lot of things to be learned. Start by finding out the names of some reliable bookmakers and learn the specific vocab of sports betting. First and foremost, make sure yourself that the name of the bookmaker chosen for online betting is trustworthy. SuperRake.com, whose purpose is to help those who want to start with online gambling, makes pertinent recommendations with regard to the best bookmakers, with a license in one of the European Union countries. The list comprises names such Bwin, Unibet, or Betfair, to mention only a few.

Unibet is a mature Scandinavian bookmaker, whose financial power makes it one of the most reliable bookmakers worldwide. You don’t have to speak Swedish in order to be able to find odds or place livebets - relax! You can choose one of the versions made available by the website in French, English, Spanish, Italian, or German. Unibet bookmaker policy establishes a minimum deposit of 25 €, a minimum stake of 1 € and a minimum withdrawal of 5 €. You can practice livebetting, but no betting exchange. With Unibet, punters can bet on disciplines forgotten by other bookmakers, such as tennis or mechanical sports. And what’s more, a livescore and sport statistics has been set up recently!

Another trustworthy first-rate bookmaker is Bwin, a German bookmaker most accessible for beginners especially. Bwin proposes many types of sports betting and contests. On the Bwin welcome page, the selection of betting can be done in one of the internationally used languages - French, English, Spanish, Italian, as well as in Greek, Portuguese, and Czech. The minimal placing is of only 0.1 €, and for beginners or those less inspired the bookmaker can make a selection of the 5 most popular betting. Bwin is typically recommended for beginners because it offers a large choice for the different modes of deposit available, practices low minimal placing and minimal deposits, as well as a quite high bonus for a new subscription.

The bonus given by the bookmaker is one of the guiding principles in your choice. Both Unibet and Bwin offer interesting bonuses. The 30€ Bwin bonus is granted to new customers only; it is exclusive and can be obtained only by accessing the classical link of Bwin. What is interesting with this bonus is the fact that Bwin doubles your first deposit, meaning you spent 30 €, and still you have 60€ in your player account. On the other hand, Unibet bonus for subscription is of only 15 €, offered in paid back betting. But check this out: no promotional code to enter, and if your first betting is loosing, Unibet grants you the money back.

In this industry the rewards follow the risks. Therefore, the odds from minimal placing does not compare by far with those following a bigger placing. Each bookmaker has specific rules regarding minimal and maximal placing. For maximal placing over 200€, the bankers reserve the right to run some verifications before validating the betting, which could take from a few hours to three days at the most, depending on the amount. Resource box: The basic idea is that bwin and unibet are promoting a responsible online gambling. Each of them establishes a maximal limit of placing to a monthly or daily debt limit, at the punter’s choice. Now, place your betting live and ask Miss Fortune to back and lay on your side!

Online casinos, also known as virtual casinos or internet casinos, are online versions of traditional ("brick and mortar") casinos. Online casinos enable gamblers to play and wager on casino games through the Internet.

Online casinos generally offer odds and payback percentages that are comparable to land-based casinos. Some online casinos claim higher payback percentages for slot machine games, and some publish payout percentage audits on their websites. Assuming that the online casino is using an appropriately programmed random number generator, table games like blackjack have an established house edge. The payout percentage for these games are established by the rules of the game.

Reliability and trust issues are commonplace and often questioned. Many online casinos lease or purchase their software from well-known companies like Wager Works, Microgaming, Realtime Gaming, Playtech and CryptoLogic Inc in an attempt to "piggyback" their reputation on the software manufacturer's credibility. These software companies either use or claim to use random number generators to ensure that the numbers, cards or dice appear randomly.

Online casinos can be divided into three groups based on their interface: web-based casinos, download-based casinos, and more recently live casinos. Some casinos offer multiple interfaces.

In probability theory and statistics, the odds in favour of an event or a proposition are the quantity p / (1 - p) , where p is the probability of the event or proposition. In other words, an event with m to n odds would have probability m/(m + n). For example, if you chose a random day of the week, then the odds that you would choose a Sunday would be 1/6, not 1/7. The logarithm of the odds is the logit of the probability.

Odds have long been the standard way of representing probability used by bookmakers, though the method of presenting odds varies by location.