Becoming an Online Gambler

There’s a lot more to online gambling than casino games. Anyone who has followed the Worlds Series of Poker for the past few years knows that slowly but surely online poker players have started to creep in from anonymity and take center stage.

They've even had the audacity to win the main event for two years running.

But online gambling isn’t just poker, either. It’s everything. Every form of gambling you can imagine (and more than a few that you can’t) from progressive slot machines to bingo halls, international lottery drawings and sportsbetting.

There are even more than a few sites where you can bet on the winners of reality television shows or what the last digit will be at the closing bell of the Dow Jones.

The point is, that before you dare to venture into the cyberspace void in search of new gambling adventures, you'd best know what you’re looking for and how to find it.

Getting Started: Finding the Best Sites

Although becoming a successful online gambler involves many steps, the most crucial one is also the most obvious ­ finding a place to play. Or rather, finding a good place to play.

Despite the Internet so often being likened to the ‘Wild West’, online gambling itself is a far cry from those wicked saloons of old. The increased competition, a higher level of player awareness, and the development of 'watchdog sites' that patrol the online gambling industry has made it a relatively safe medium.

However, just because it’s safer that does not mean it's devoid of risk. Nor does it mean that all sites are created equally. Sometimes, even the most well intentioned site may not be quite up to par, resulting at best in an unsatisfactory experience and at worst a complete fiasco.

Luckily, avoiding such problems is relatively easy--it just takes a little effort and a little bit of homework.

Below are some of the basic steps you need to follow when looking for a new online gambling site:

Make sure that the site is reputable. Always find out everything you can about a site before depositing a cent. Read site reviews in respected gambling magazines, visit gambling portals and check out what’s being said about the different sites.

You might also consider visiting online gambling forums or chat room (available on many gambling portals) where players meet to discuss gambling topics.

There you’ll find first-hand accounts of player experiences that may help steer you towards ­ or away from ­ a particular site.

Ask yourself: Does this site fit my needs? Although choosing an online gambling site requires a lot of objectivity, it is also a matter of personal taste.

For example, if you’re the sort of gambler who likes to mix it up, playing a little blackjack then maybe a couple of pulls on the slots while waiting for the results of the Yankee game, you need a site that caters to both casino gamblers and sportsbettors.

On the other hand, if bingo is your only love, you’ll need to refine your search to include only sites that offer it.

See for yourself. Once you have narrowed down your selections to a manageable level, begin visiting the sites and examining them. Really study them. Are the graphics top quality? Did the designers put some thought into the site's development or does it have that 'thrown together' look?

Does anything about the site make you feel uncomfortable or wary? Your answers to these questions will help to determine if the site is a worthwhile contender for your business or just some fly-by-night operation.

For a little extra insight, consider calling the site’s customer services department with some basic questions to see what kind of a response you get.

If the associate is hesitant or unable to answer your questions, seems uninterested, or is just plain rude, consider that this might be the type of service that you’re likely to receive should a real crisis arise.

Now that you have found a place worthy of your attention, the next step is getting down to the business at hand: becoming an online gambler.

Becoming a Player

In days past when the number of online casino could easily be counted on a single hand, getting online, downloading the software and establishing a player account was a tedious series of events that made the trip to the local casino more than worth it.

But as technology advanced, so too did the entire process and what we're left with is the streamlined progeny of those early pioneers.

Gin Rummy Rules

Gin Rummy is a skill-based card game for 2-4 players. The game is played with one standard deck of 52 cards. In a 2 player game each player is dealt 10 cards. In a 3-4 player game, each player is dealt 7 cards. The goal in Gin Rummy is to be the first player to get rid of all the cards in your hand, by melding them into sets and runs and laying them down.

A "set" contains 3-4 cards of the same value, while a "run" consists of 3 or more consecutive cards of the same suit. The players must begin a turn by drawing a card either from the stick or discard piles, and adding it to their hand. To complete their turn, players must discard a single card from their hand onto the discard pile. There are three ways to win a round of Gin rummy: Gin, Knock and Undercut.

Gin - is when players meld all the cards in their hand, laying them down on the table at once and discarding their last card onto the discard pile - while having no deadwood (unmatching cards) left. Knock - is when players meld all the cards in their hand and their deadwood count's total equals 10 or lower. Finally, Undercut - is when players' deadwood count is equal to the Knocker's or lower.

After players Gin, their opponents may lay their melds down onto the table, to decrease their deadwood count and therefore reduce their amount of penalty points. After players Knock, their defeated opponents may lay their melds down onto the table, and add matching cards to the Knocker's original melds only. Therefore, the Knock move provides the defeated players with an opportunity to reduce their amount of penalty points far more than Gin.

The winners of multi-round Gin Rummy games are the players to accumulate the highest amount of points. Gin is the move that rewards the winner with the highest amount of points. Players who Gin are rewarded with 25 points, while their defeated opponents receive double the amount of their deadwood count as penalty points. Undercut rewards the winners with 20 points, and their defeated opponents receive the difference in the counts of the winner's deadwood and their own - as penalty points.

The last winning move is Knock. This move rewards the Knocker with 10 points, and his defeated opponents are all credited with their deadwood count minus the Knocker's deadwood count as penalty points. In Gin Rummy, Aces count as 1 point and all the face cards are worth 10 points, while all other cards are worth their face value.

Playing Heads Up Texas Hold’em

Poker tournaments are very popular and many players are giving them a try after having only played in side games. Playing at the final table of a tournament is different than a side game because as players get knocked out they are no replaced. This means that you must make adjustments for short-handed pay. You must adjust more when you get down to two players.

Playing Texas Hold’em heads up against a single opponent requires a completely different strategy than playing at a full table. Many players I have talked to tell me that they have the most difficulty adjusting to playing heads up play and are not very successful when put in that situation. The reason for this is that they are used to playing a very tight game. In a heads up situation, you can’t play tight and expect to win.

When you are playing heads up you can’t afford to wait. Many times it comes down to who can steal the most blinds. Therefore, you must loosen up and call more or you will go broke. Queen – Seven is called the computer hand because computer simulations show this hand is will win 51.77 percent heads up against a random hand. So with this hand or any hand higher than this one you are almost forced to play. A small pair or even a single Ace or King can be a big favourite in heads up play.

Be the Aggressor

A player in the small blind can win by raising with every hand if the player in the big blind keeps folding to a raise. For example: The blinds are $50 and $100 which means there is $150 in the pot. The player on the button is the small blind and must act first before the flop. He raises by putting in an additional $150 bet. If you as the big blind fold, then the small blind has risked $150 to win $150. If you fold half the time, the small blind will show a profit. He still will almost certainly profit in these situations since he will not only steal your blind, but will also sometimes win when you call as well.

If you only call in the big blind with a third of the hands that you are dealt. Then the small blind can raise every time and if you call, he can fold if you bet on the flop unless he flops a good hand. When this is the case, he's going to win $150 two out of three times, plus he's going to win more sometimes. He's going to lose the $150 less than one out of three times.

If you find yourself against a player using this strategy you will need to counter it by calling more or raising him. You have to let him know that it could cost him more than $150 if he raises you every time.

Analyze Your Opponent

You need to judge your opponents. Poker is a game about making judgments. You need to test the waters by doing the raising and being the aggressor. If you find yourself in a game with a passive player, you now know how to beat him. If on the other hand your opponent is also aggressive you will have to use some discretion and very your play. If your opponent is very aggressive, you will be able to trap him when you have a good hand. If you check he will more than likely bet and you beat him when he bluffs.

Act First

Playing heads up poker is a lot like playing chicken. This means you will need to bluff more before the flop and sometimes fire away after the flop with nothing. With just two players there will be many times when the flop doesn’t hit either player. Many times, it is the person that acts first who will win the pot. Just remember that occasionally your opponent will have a legitimate. Although you don’t want to be bluffed out of a pot you will sometimes have to give it up to save your self from elimination.

Chip Stacks

The size of your chip stack makes a big difference in how you play. If you have a big stack you can be much more aggressive as you opponent might be inclined to fold more often waiting for a big hand. While this may work there will be a time when they are forced to make a stand. Although you want to keep the pressure on you also don’t want to double up your opponent too often or you will soon find yourself with the short stack. You have to use selective aggression.

Beware the Limper

Limping in, means to simply call the big blind when a player is in the small blind. Players limp in from the small blind for two reasons. They are either trying to see the flop cheaply or they are trying to trap an aggressive opponent who they hope will raise from the big blind. If you have a big hand in the small blind and know your opponent will raise then you can limp in and try for a check raise. If you know the big blind will always raise if you limp in from the small blind then you must raise first. Your objective in heads up play is to try and extract the most money from your opponent. To do this you will have to mix up your play to keep your opponent guessing.

Practice

Becoming a proficient heads up player requires practice. You can practice at one of the online poker sites. Get together with a friend for some free practice or enter the small sit and go tournaments to hone your skills.

Would you like to try something different?

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Rummy History

Rummy is a family of games all sharing the "draw and discard" structure. Besides this unique play pattern, the main goal is to get rid of all of the cards in your hand by forming either sets or runs. All of the Rummy games contain some kind of a scoring system making the play for money much more attractive. There are many theories regarding the origins of the Rummy games, each one attributes the invention of the game to different people or nations around the world.

The Orient

One of the earliest card games to incorporate this play pattern is the Chinese card game from the 18th century named Mahjong (see also, Mah-Jong, Mah-Jongg, Mai-Jiang). Soon enough, many western versions appeared worldwide, bearing names such Conquian, kanhoo and others. The common assumption regarding the swift spread of these card games and their variations is attributed to Chinese immigrants, British and Portuguese merchants who were familiarized with the game during their stay in the mainland.

Mexico

Some versions trace the Rummy origins to the Spanish game "Conquian", brought to America by the Spanish communities to immigrate west. David Parlett considers this game to be the ancestor of all Rummy games, and mentions its similarity to the popular modern game of Gin Rummy.

Rummy is a family of games that share a similar structure. All these games include a similar game play pattern that consists of drawing and discarding a card during each turn. This is done in order to help players meld the cards in their hands into sets and runs. A set is a three or four cards meld of the same rank. A Run is a three or more consecutive cards of the same suit.

The most popular variant of the Rummy games is Gin Rummy. Most versions state that the game was invented in New York during the early decades of the 20th century.


It is believed the game's name derives from its inventor's fondness of the alcoholic drink of Gin. The game became most popular when it was adopted by Holl ywood's elite and famous movie stars back in the 1930's for they enjoyed playing this exciting and quick game on the set during takes. Another reason for the Rummy games' popularity is believed to result from the great depression period, when people did not have many financial resources to engage in outdoors entertainment activity, and turned for some indoors quality time with family and friends.

In the last couple of years, many Rummy variants have gone online, offering players from all over the world to join in play and enjoy the variety of Rummy entertaining qualities. Whether it's about people who grew up playing the Rummy games, or the new ones to pick them up, the Rummy games are here to stay for many generations to come. Joining people in play and providing them with the ultimate quality time, the Rummy games continue to play a dominant role and always have a special, fun and exciting variation to offer to each and every one of us.

Poker Mathematics

A big question amongst many poker players is whether or not you need a good knowledge of poker mathematics to be a winning poker player. The simple answer is that it is by no means essential to incorporate mathematics into every situation, but by doing so you should be giving yourself more of an edge. The maths involved in poker decisions is not complex by any means, and anyone with a standard level of education is able to perform the calculations quickly in their heads whilst at the poker table.

Mathematics can be used in poker to work out the probability of certain cards being dealt at any point during the hand. If we are able to work out the probabilities, we can then determine whether or not it is worth calling a bet to chase after a draw. So obviously if we can work out that a certain draw is unlikely to be completed by the river, we will be less inclined to call big bets to try and catch those cards. Using the probability of completing a draw along with the amount you have to call in relation to the pot to figure out whether it is profitable to chase after a draw is called pot odds.

Pot odds can be worked out calculating the number of outs in relation to the number of cards left in the deck as well as the bet amount we have to call in relation to the size of the pot, then these number are compared to work out if a call is profitable. For example, if we are on the flop and we have a flush draw, there are 9 cards left in the deck to complete our hand. There are 47 cards in total left in the deck, 38 of which will not make our draw, so by putting these numbers together we get a ratio of 38:9, or put more simply, 4:1 odds of making our flush by the next card. Therefore, for every 4 cards that will not make our hand, the other 1 card will. If you find this method difficult, you can use poker odds charts to help you quickly figure the odds out.

The next step is to work out the ratio between the size of the bet we have to call and the total amount in the pot. So if the size of the pot is $50 and we have to call $10 to try and hit our flush, the odds we are being given are 50:10, or put more simply, 5:1. Now when comparing the two ratios, we have 4:1 odds of completing our hand with 5:1 odds to try and hit our hand. This means that the odds are in our favour because the odds we are getting from the pot are greater than the odds we are getting from the cards. Therefore if we make the call, this will be a profitable call in the long run.

As mentioned, mathematics is all about poker in the long run. Just because you are able to work out the pot odds for each individual hand, it does not mean that you are more likely to win the hand. You may lose many hands in a row, but as long as you have the correct pot odds to call each time, in the long run you will come out on top as a winner. Poker mathematics is a great weapon to add to your poker arsenal, and it is good to know when you should and should not call bets for each drawing situation.

Online Casinos

Many people around the world play at online casinos, and that's fine if it's your only source of gambling. However, online casinos are nowhere near as close to the real thing when it comes to simulation. Take Craps for example. The casino determines what number rolls by using a random number generator. However, just how random is random? If you have been in a casino, you know that every single person at a table has a unique rolling pattern. Some stack the dice and casually vault them into the air. Others shake them up and rocket them to the back wall, while other frequently launch the dice off the table or fall short of the back wall. There are even players who change their rolling pattern every roll or point.

An online casino does not have the ability to simulate this. Sure, they can manipulate the random number generator, but there's still no way to accurately simulate table action. Having programmed, I know that a random number generator is not all that random. Worse, if the computer simply "picks a number"; it is not even a proper setup to being with. Let's keep looking at Craps. Does the casino have a random number generator that simply picks a number between one and twelve? If so, all the numbers have an even shot at coming out, which is against true probability. Perhaps they list out all probable combinations and then the computer selects one. This would be a little more accurate, probability wise, but it still lacks the real randomness of live action--and weird events are more likely to ensue.

What I'm about to tell you is true and happens more frequently that one would imagine. A tester recently played at an online casino (Craps) to monitor number frequency in the field. Within the span of just 150 rolls, the computer rolled 11 non-field numbers in a row and then followed it up a handful of rolls later by rolling 12 non-field numbers in a row. What's the big deal you ask? Well, first, the field has a 44.5% chance of winning on every roll and second; the probability of throwing 11 non-field rolls in a row is .0015%. The probability of throwing 12 non-field numbers in a row is .0008%. These events should happen once every 667 rolls and once every 1176 rolls respectively, yet both where seen within a handful of rolls from each other within the 150 rolls monitored.

But wait, there's more. Within these same, now historic, 150 rolls, a six was not thrown for 13-16 rolls 5 times. The probability of not throwing a six 13 times is 14.5% (9% for 16 rolls)--this happened 5 times in 150 rolls. The same happened to the eight--in fact--there were two instances where an eight was not thrown for 18-20 times. The probability of this happening is 5-7% and it happened twice.

When you add all of these things together, you get a more accurate picture of just how unrealistic random number generators are for simulating real casino action. I am not trying to scare you away from playing. In fact, money can be made and fun can be had at online casinos. However, you need to realize that you are playing in a different environment with different rules. You can't go chasing bets thinking they are overdue, mathematically, to come in, because this is a different world with a different way of producing outcomes. Playing strategies that you would use in a real live casino might not be applicable in an online casino.

Have you ever tried skill games?

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Casino Betting Systems

Betting systems should always be taken with a grain of salt. Casino games have been designed to give the house an edge for the long term, and there isn’t a system out there that the big guys in Vegas haven’t heard of. Having said that let’s keep in mind that most strategic players do come out on top on many occasions, especially in comparison to emotional players.

Emotional players play just for the thrill of the game, and that’s only natural – gambling is one of the most popular forms of entertainment online and off for a good reason. Players who follow their feelings are all up for losing themselves in the excitement, taking risky bets, or following intuition rather than dry odds and statistics. But these are not the players that look for or use betting systems.

What is a betting system? The difference between a betting system and a game strategy is that a strategy is about game choices – it focuses on a specific game and its unique rules. For example, deciding when to stand or hit in Blackjack, or which cards to hold on to in video poker, are strategic decisions. But betting systems are about the money.

The most popular betting systems have been around for over a century. They are mostly used for even bets on the most favourite tables - Roulette, Craps, and Baccarat - but also on newer games like Casino War.

Most of these systems are based on betting patterns where the players change the sums of the bets to compensate for previous losing bets, working toward a point where they can quit while they are ahead. They are designated for a short term play on even bets, and are mostly suitable for low-limit table, to make sure the player can start with a low betting unit that will keep him playing for a large number of rounds without hitting the max limit of the table, or simply running out of money.

The Fibonacci betting system is one of the most well known betting systems for even bets. It’s based on a famous mathematical series where every number is the sum of the previous ones. Accordingly, here the player makes a bet the size of the two previous bets in case of consecutive losses. After a win the player goes back to the basic betting unit he started with. The idea here is that since the win pays 1:1, the payback will cover all previous losses because they have been taken into account.Another widely used system is known as the Martingale; a system where after a loss the player doubles the bet to recover the loss that preceded. Here the idea is that according to the probability theory, the player’s cold streak will eventually turn to his favour, giving him a chance to earn back the money that went into the losing bets.

Similar to these systems, and just as common, is the D’almbert where the player goes up a unit after a loss, and goes down one unit after a win. No wonder this system is also known as the equilibrium system - it’s all about keeping it balanced instead of running after streaks, cold or hot.

Betting systems are not for the easily distracted. They require a fair amount of discipline and self-control, and it feels more like work than play. However, for a short term play with the right conditions this work does pay.

…

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Betway.com

Revised Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice for 1 January 2009

1/10/2008

Following an extensive consultation the Gambling Commission has written to all licensees giving three months notice of changes to the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) coming into effect on 1 January 2009.

Each operator will also receive a copy of the full LCCP document alongside a letter advising them of the changes. Before 1 January 2009 all licensees will receive a new individual licence which will replace their existing one and detail the licence conditions and codes of practice that apply specifically to their business.

In addition, each personal licence holder will receive a letter setting out the changes to the three general licence conditions applicable to personal licence holders.

The principal changes to the LCCP which take effect on 1 January are:

• clearer requirements for operators to ensure customers know when they are participating in Gambling Commission regulated gambling; often websites include gambling products regulated in different jurisdictions and the change will ensure that customers are aware of this
• stronger measures to ensure remote licensees identify individual customers by linking their accounts, enabling better implementation of self-exclusion requirements and anti-money laundering requirements
• focusing the key events that operating licence holders must report to the Commission on potential threats to the integrity of licensed businesses
• a requirement for personal licence holders to report certain key events to the Commission to maintain our knowledge about key people in the industry
• changes to other conditions and codes to improve the clarity, consistency of language and layout of LCCP

Director of Policy and Communications, Beryl Brown commented:

"The revisions to LCCP sharpen the focus on social responsibility and benefit from the first year of experience in operating under the regulatory regime.

"Operators have a full three month period to prepare for these new rules taking effect on 1 January 2009."

The revised version of LCCP, entitled Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice October 2008 has been published on the Commission’s website alongside a responses document which explains the thinking behind the changes. The Commission has undertaken a full public consultation on the changes including workshops with key stakeholders.

Notes to editors

The Gambling Commission

1. The Gambling Commission (the Commission) regulates gambling in the public interest. It does so by keeping crime out of gambling, by ensuring that gambling is conducted fairly and openly, and by protecting children and vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling. The Commission also provides independent advice to government on gambling in Britain.
2. The Commission is responsible for licensing and regulating all gambling in Great Britain other than the National Lottery and spread betting, which are the responsibility of the National Lottery Commission and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) respectively.
3. Licence conditions set out matters that the operator must comply with in order to keep their licence; codes of practice concern the manner in which facilities for gambling are provided. Some codes of practice are designated ‘social responsibility’ codes and these have equal importance to licence conditions.
4. Details of the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice along with the original consultation document and the responses can be found on the Gambling Commission website.
5. A copy of the letters sent to personal and operating licence holders is also attached.

Further information

Further information is available from the Commission's website.

Contact John Travers on (0121) 230 6700, (07852) 124624 or communications@gamblingcommission.gov.uk.

...

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Poker Positions

Whenever you play poker, whether it is online or live, you should always be aware of the way your opponents are playing. It is important to try and gather as much information as possible on the other players at the table to help you influence your decisions in later hands. Are your opponents tight or loose? Are they weak or are they aggressive? It is this sort of information that is key to making profitable decisions throughout each of your poker sessions. But apart from thinking about how you see your opponents, what are your opponents thinking about you?

This is also a key question that you should also consider whilst you play, yet it is something that is often overlooked. Knowing how your opponents view you as a player is just as important as having an idea of how they are playing themselves. This is especially true in the game of no limit Texas Holdem where psychology plays an important role. But why exactly is this important? And what effect should this have on your game?

Depending on the way you play, your opponents will be considering how to categorize you just like you do to them according to different playing styles. If you find yourself getting involved in numerous pots and regularly making continuation bets and bluffing, they may well be categorizing you as a loose and aggressive player in their minds. Similarly, if you are only getting involved with a minimal number of pots and only calling and betting when you have the best of it, your opponents will be noting down that you are a tight player that they should probably avoid having too many confrontations with.

If you feel that it is quite obvious that your opponents consider you to be a certain type of player, you can use it to your advantage by playing differently in future hands. For example, if your opponents think you are tight and only get involved when you have the best of it, you will find that you will have a higher success rate when it comes to bluffing because they will have a good reason to believe that you have a strong hand because of the way you have been playing earlier in the session. Conversely, if you have been playing loosely and have been entering a number of pots, your ability to pull off successful bluffs will be reduced because your opponents are less inclined to think you have a strong hand when you bet.

As a general rule, you should try and play the opposite to the way that your opponents think you are playing. So if they see you as a loose player, you should play tight, and if they see you as a tight player, it will be profitable to loosen up your starting hand requirements. It is never a good idea to fall into patterns when you play poker, so you should always try and change gears from time to time to keep your opponents guessing. If your opponents are unsure of the way you play, you will find that you can make more profit from them than if they know how you play and you continue to play the same way throughout each session.

So the next time you sit down at the poker table, make sure that you are always aware of the way you play and how your opponents will view you as a poker player. Having a good knowledge of your table image at all times is a valuable piece of holdem strategy that can save you a lot of money as well as help you to win money. But be aware that these kinds of impressions are built up over time, and so you should not expect players to have a concrete opinion on your style of play after only a few hands. Whenever you reach a showdown, try and consider the implications of your cards being shown to the table, whether you win or lose. This could help stimulate players to form opinions of your style of play that you can later exploit later on in the session.

Have you ever tried gin rummy?

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Poker Money Management

To be a successful poker player you have to be able to exercise good bankroll management skills. If you are unable to manage your poker money correctly, you will never be able to become a long term winning poker player. Even if you were the best player in the world, it would be impossible to be able to make money from poker if you did not use good money management skills.

Bankroll management basically involves playing at a certain levels and buy-ins to help prevent you from going broke at the poker table. You have to set yourself limits to where you can play poker due to the variance found in every poker game. There are always going to be times where you have runs of bad luck that you cannot control, and you will lose money due to the bad runs of cards, and not necessarily due to any bad play. Therefore there is no use in putting all of your poker money on one table, because there is a good chance that you will lose it all and not be able to continue playing poker.

As a result, it is important that we have a large bankroll to absorb the effects of this variance so that we can continue to play poker even when we have very bad runs of cards. In addition, we don’t want to go over the top and play at micro levels with a huge bankroll because it is unlikely that we will go broke, and we want to give ourselves the opportunity to win a decent amount of money from our poker sessions. Therefore there are useful rules that you can follow to make sure that you give yourself the best opportunity to make money from poker without going broke.

In cash games, you should never put more than 5% of your bankroll onto the table at any time. So if you want to play in $1/$2 cash games and intend to buy in for the full amount, you should have a bankroll of at least $4000. This will then give you enough room to take a few bad beats and losing sessions, but still be able to continue playing poker without the fear of going broke. Another way of looking at the 5% rule is to remember that you should have 20 times the maximum buy in of the level you wish to play at in your bankroll. Most online poker rooms offer a wide range of limits, so it is perfectly possible to keep your bankroll under control, no matter how large or small it might be. Alternatively, if you are a tournament player, you should have around 40 buy-ins minimum for the level of tournaments you wish to play in.

It is important to remember however that bankroll management is only useful if you intend to play online poker regularly, and that you are a winning player. If you only play poker casually then it is not as important to have a set bankroll, but to just be careful with your money instead. In addition, bankroll management will have no effect on your moneymaking endeavours if you are a losing poker player. However, bankroll management will slow down the time it takes for you to lose the money if you are used to playing at higher stakes.

PokerStars 2008 WCOOP breaks online prize pool record

ISLE OF MAN, UK, September 29, 2008 – With a prize pool exceeding $10 million, PokerStars have broken the online poker prize pool record with the 2008 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event. The $5,200 No-Limit Hold’em event made poker history as the largest online poker tournament in history, with more than 2,000 players competing for 36 hours over two days. Carter King, also known by his PokerStars username ‘ckingusc’, a 22-year-old student from Columbia, South Carolina, USA, cut through the main event competition to take home the $1.26 million first prize.

The WCOOP festival of poker covers 33 different poker events - including the Main Event - all held online at PokerStars. This year’s total WCOOP prize pool of $39,958,000 - $15 million more than last year’s tournament series - continues the record-breaking tournament tradition at PokerStars, the world’s largest poker site. Players from 118 different countries participated. ‘PearlyJammer’ and ‘thedonator’ cashed ten times in the tournament series with ‘dorinvandv’ leading as the top money earner before the main event.

Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier continued his 2008 tournament and player of the year success in the WCOOP, cashing seven times and earning more than $400,000 over the two week period. He finished 21st in the main event, cashing for $22,942.50.

“The WCOOP is a great tournament to play, in preparation for upcoming tournaments like the European Poker Tour in London and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) in the Bahamas” said ‘ElkY’, the 2008 PCA Champion. “The prize pool is huge, and with such an incredible variety of players and styles, no other online poker tournament compares to the WCOOP.”

PokerStars held two more WCOOP related tournaments on Saturday, September 27. All of the 22,873 unique players that took part in the 2008 WCOOP main events were invited to participate in a “Player Appreciation $100K Freeroll” a free to enter event. A total of 10,182 players competed for a piece of the $100,000 prize pool, with the winner ‘Mongy’, from Torquay, UK, winning the $10,000 after nearly 8 hours of play.

There have been 121 WCOOP bracelet events since 2002 and all previous winners were invited to participate in a “Tournament of Champions” freeroll, which awarded a 2009 PCA prize package to play live in the Bahamas next January, to the winner. 70 champions participated in the “8-Game Mix” event, a true test of all-around poker skills, with player ‘genoa_st’ besting the field. ‘genoa_st’ earnt his champion status by winning the $215 No-Limit Hold’em event in the 2005 WCOOP.

For further details on the WCOOP and other PokerStars online tournaments, players should visit www.PokerStars.net

About PokerStars:
PokerStars is the world's largest online poker room (with 15 million players worldwide) and also the #1 poker tournament site. As the premier destination for the top players - with over 100,000 tournaments running every day-PokerStars is renowned for offering the best software and security in the online poker world.

PokerStars:

• Has dealt over 20 billion hands
• Has run more than 100 million poker tournaments
• Entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the first and only poker website to reach the 160,000 simultaneous players mark

PokerStars is the official sponsor of: The European Poker Tour (www.ept.com), PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Latin American Poker Tour (www.lapt.com), Asia Pacific Poker Tour (www.appt.com) and The World Cup of Poker.

PokerStars is the home of Team PokerStars Pro, a group of 30 veteran and up-and-coming players from around the world who play online at PokerStars and are sponsored by the site in international tournaments around the world. For more information please visit www.PokerStars.net.

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