This would be great, because so many poker players are looking for a wide variety of games to play online. Texas Hold’em will always be a popular favorite among the poker sites, but other games like Omaha and Seven Card Stud are also popular.

When you sign up to play at an online poker site, you can actually make your money go a longer way than it would in a real casino. Online poker sites want your game play and some of them are offering really nice bonuses.

Sites like Party Poker and Poker770 have running promotions to double or even triple the amount of money you deposit into your account.

At the time of signing up, make sure you use a Party Poker bonus code 2012 or a Poker770 coupon code to claim your deposit bonus.

Answer 1:

The casino makes money by either taking a small amount from each pot, or, as is the case in the UK, charging a “sit-down” fee– you buy your seat in the game.

Answer 2:

You only play against other players. At low limits, the house takes a cut of each pot, and at higher limits they charge a set amount per hour for your seat. There is no charge to get into the room in any casino in the United States. Some European casinos charge you just to enter. When you walk into the room, they’ll have a board listing the available games and limits. You sign up on the waiting lists for the limits you want to play, and when there’s an open seat, they call you. Waits can be fairly long in Atlantic City, especially if you play holdem.

If you are open to playing other games, such as seven-card stud, or to a few different limits, you shouldn’t have trouble finding some game quickly. The lowest holdem limit is 2-4. Next largest is 3-6, then 5-10, then 10-20. Holdem is spread only at the Taj Mahal and the Trop to my knowledge. $100 is more than enough for a session of 2-4. If you are a winning home game player, you should be able to handle 5-10. The problem with 2-4 is that the stakes are so low and the house cut of the pot is so large that it’s hard to make any real money even when the opponents are really bad (which they are).

Answer 3:

In games below $10/20 the casino takes a “rake” of 10% of the pot, up to $4 max. In games above, the casino charges for time. This amount varies by casino & limit. Usually, no more than $10/hr. There is no charge to get into the poker room. You only pay while you play. To get into a game, you go to the poker desk and see what games are available. If there is a seat open in the game/limit you want – you’ll be directed to someone who will seat you in that game. If there is a waiting list, add your name to the list & they will call you when a seat is open. Fri/Sat nights are busy and there is almost always a waiting list. It helps to put your name on more than one list. For example, I’ll wait for the $10/20, $5/10 and $3/6 games. Ideally, I want the $10/20. However, I’ll play in the others if they are “good” games, while waiting for a call for $10/20. Holdem is usually spread: $2/4, $3/6, $5/10, $10/20, $20/40, $30/60, etc. Sometimes you’ll find a $15/30 or $4/8 – they are pretty rare, however. Stud looks like: $1/3, $1/5, $5/10…..similar to holdem, but the betting varies depending on if the board is paired – and on which “street”.

To play holdem, I’d suggest the following buy in $$$’s: $2/4 – $100, with another $50 in reserve (don’t play $2/4 – it’s not worth the time); for $3/6 – $150/$100; for $5/10 – $200/$150; for $10/20 – $400/$200, etc…. Sounds like on your $500 you’d be looking at $3/6 or $5/10. You’d be a little short stacked at $10/20 and we’d try to squeeze you. That and the game is a little tougher than $5/10, less players see the flop and much more raising. Short stacks usually can’t handle the variance.

Answer 1:

While I can’t guarantee I’m right, I’m pretty sure that any income made overseas by a U.S. resident is subject to U.S. Federal Income tax. If you pay taxes to the foreign country, you might get an offset to that amount, but I doubt you’re paying any Costa Rican taxes at the Planet or Paradise Poker sites.

Answer 2:

It is defiantly taxable, but the US Gov’t has no idea that you earned the income – so they put the responsibility on you to report it in “other taxable income not reported” – this is were they get you for tax evasion (But don’t worry – that only holds true if it is over 10% of your AGI “adjustable gross income”)

Answer 3:

The short answer: Yes. If you are residing in the US, it doesn’t really matter where you earn the money. It’s taxable. If you are a US citizen who lives abroard (or is physically present in the foreign country for a substantial part of the tax year), then foreign income is excludable.

Expect the closing shortly (30-90 days). The slot machines are coming. Sad. Any hope that the action would continue at the Prez if IOC closed its room have also been dashed. The Old president is due for mandatory dry-dock soon, when the smaller replacement boat is brought in, there will be no poker room. Additionally, it is rumored that IOC has made a bid to purchase the Prez, some say it is a done deal. So what are the odds that IOC reopens a room on the Prez?

Answer 1:

I started playing casino poker about a year ago and visited the Lady Luck and President 2-3 times a week. There was a game every night, and tournaments were decent. However, over the last 4 months the rooms have really slowed down. I started playing at Meskawki about 3 months ago and love it. No bad beat rake, very well run tournaments, solid dealers. Plus they spread 4-8 every night instead of the 3-6 and 2-4 crap in Davenport. You should give Meskawki an honest try…they have a great pot limit holdem game on Friday nights and a 4-10 half kill Omaha game that goes most nights. On a side note, I did return to the President on Sunday for one last night before I venture out to Seattle next week and walked down to find one table of 1-4 Stud at 6 p.m. I think that’s a definite sign that Poker is about history in Davenport.

Answer 2:

I wasn’t knocking Mesquaki at all. I’ve played there numerous times. I started dealing Poker on the President, about 8 years ago or so. You should have seen the action then…13 games going almost 24/7, with lists as long as your arm, for a year, then it started to slowly dwindle to what remains. It hasn’t been “good” for a long time. Limited player base, excessive drop/jackpot, and Chicago action are the culprits in the demise of the action in the QC’s. I moved on and went to Harveys in Council Bluffs to help open the room there. It lasted about 18 months before things started to go downhill, and I moved here to Arizona. The keys to the success of poker here in Phoenix/Scottsdale is the HUGE player base, and the fact that POKER is i major part of the Casino Operation (2nd behind slots, which are limited, of course). BUT, there is no internal competition between other, more profitable, table games here…No house banked games…hence no Blackjack, Craps, or Roulette. The fact that poker was so
much less profitable than those house banked games is why poker took a distant
5th out 5 in terms of importance to the house in the Midwest. Poker was doomed
from the start. Best of luck to you and Mesquaki. I think that room is going to be better than it is, with the increase in players that it will surely soon see.

Answer 3:

Nope, grew up in Des Moines….and I agree about the player base…you would think that with the growing popularity of poker that those two rooms would be able to survive but oh well. I didn’t mean to imply that you were knocking Mesquaki.. Was just suggesting to others an alternative when the Riverboats shut down their rooms…

Answer 1:

Assuming you refer to S.692 aka HR3125 (the Kyl Bill, aka The Internet Gaming Prohibition Act of 2000), this is not as devastating to thee industry, though this is the one in more immediate danger of becoming a law. This act applies only to the online casinos, and has no penalties or restrictions against the act of gambling online itself — it merely restricts the right to operate a gambling business online. Of more dire consequences if passed is HR4419, aka “The Internet Gaming Funding Prohibition Act”, introduced May 10th. This bill applies to the gamblers themselves, somewhat indirectly. It makes it illegal to use a credit card, OR a check, OR any legal tender, to buy cyber-chips at an online casino! S.692 has passed the Senate, and could be voted on in the House this week. Tell your Congressman to vote no. HR4419 has been referred to committee (Banking and Finance), and is not scheduled for any House vote soon. If your Congressman is on the Banking and Finance committee, tell them to oppose HR4419.

Answer 2:

You are reading out of date reports. As I understand it, the Kyl bill makes it illegal for a US citizen to operate an online wagering site. What I don’t understand is why would this be needed? Haven’t they already prosecuted Americans for operating offshore sports betting facilities?

Answer 3:

Yes, and then they lost at federal appeals. Some Dallas bookies were convicted of operating a gambling website out of the Bahamas. Monies were not collected in the US; they were sent to Canada for deposit in a bank there and drawn on by the Bahama book (much as Planet Poker works). The Fed Circuit Court said that the deposit of money was not a bet, they overturned the convictions.

Answer 1:

I was at Canterbury Park about a week ago and they did not have the 8- 16 game going when I was there (Thursday night and Friday afternoon). They did have a 6-12 and a 10-20 going, though.  I played in the 10-20 Thurs. night and the action was fair to good as I booked a modest $150 win in a couple of hours.

Answer 2:

I was out there last night, and the 8/16 was going strong all night.

As for “unbelievable action” I don’t know.  I railed the game a little, and didn’t find the action to be any more or less than any other game out there.   Of course it changes with the players, so YMMV.

Answer 3:

Heard similar comments from a woman used to California rooms when I was in the game a couple of weeks ago. I rank myself a fair to middling’ Omaha8 player and some of the hands I saw played to showdown were things I wouldn’t have played (not that *means* anything…). I can usually get $1-200 out of that game but ran into a run of cold cards and the game tightened up significantly. Got into a $2-6 Hold ‘Em game and finished up a rack.

Answer 1:

I have been beta testing the new stat king software for some time it is one of the best tools on the market at the present moment. It will give you the standard deviation. Whether you play to tight or to loose. It is simply the best tracker of your poker results. The version I have been testing has Mason Malmoth giving advice and keeps poker results where ever you play and can break down the results. It will predict your earnings out to the end of the year. I have been fortunate enough to have been offered a version as a beta tester. It is a new technology and only can increase your earning and is simply the best program written today to keep all your results.

Answer 2:

I am doing a review on it now, for Card Player. I have used the old Poker Stats since 94. It was written for Windows 3.1, and not Y2K complaint. That along with its unresolved bugs. I still found it useful—- UNITL I started testing StatKing. It will do everything you want or need in record keeping, plus track your performance, by hour, day, location, game etc. It’s quite comprehensive, but easy to learn. Lots of bang for the buck.

Answer 3:

Wrong what my version may have more features. Since I am beta testing it my version may be different then the market version.

Answer 1:

In South Lake Tahoe the only poker room is at Harvey’s Casino. I don’t know about the year-round action. I go over the July 4th holiday each year when it’s packed with tourists. There are plenty of locals though, and it’s a pretty nice card room. They spread 1-6 stud, holdem, and omaha with a jackpot.

Answer 2:

North Shore offers the only other poker alternative – The Hyatt spreads Hold ‘em and Pineapple (I can’t remember if it’s crazy or not). Normal 2-6 limits, etc.

Answer 3:

The Harvey’s room is great. Well run, good 1-4-8 game. Nice locals, great tourists, various jackpots, higher stakes, plus nl or pl game a lot of the time too. I found the game very easy to beat, a lot of tourists. Also, I won a nice Royal jackpot of a few hundred. — I have never seen a royal jackpot anyplace else.

 Answer 1:

Depends entirely on whether you are new to the game or not.  If you are it’s definitely worth playing in.  You get a great mixture of decent, experienced players (chancing their arm before the cash games), bad but habitual players and total beginners.  Top prize usually comes out at around the £300 mark which isn’t bad but, for a beginner, just the experience of playing in a casino, often at a self deal table, is worth the buy in alone.  Be warned, during the re-buy period (1st 50 minutes) everything you’ve read about poker goes out of the window.  It’s mayhem.  People go all in with mediocre hands all the time, so you never know what you’re up against.  I even saw one guy CALL all in with an only a little under the buy in amount, and he held 3 5 off-suit.  All you can do during the re-buys is hang in there and hope to catch some cards.  If you do you can soak up a serious amount of chips because, at £5, people don’t care how many times they buy in.  After the re-buys are over things tighten up considerably and the tournament settles down.  It’s a great laugh, the people are friendly and the staffs are great. I doubt you’d regret giving it a try.

Answer 2:

Something where the players will give you respect for a good hand rather than seeing it doggedly to the river with a pile of crap because it’s so cheap.

Answer 3:

There are other, neighborhood poker clubs in Paris — I’ve played in the Marais near the Place des Vosges and in Montmartre. Though you’d better speak a bit of French if you want to play in them.

Answer 1:

Folding is clear in the scenario you present. You have everything working against you — three bets with a fourth possible to draw for a 23-1 shot which may not be good because a full house is possible now and probable if another J hits let alone another nine or a running pair like 10-10 on the turn and river. But, let’s say we change the hand to the opposite end of the backdoor flush draw situation. Let’s say there were seven players in pre-flop and you called the raise from the big blind to make 14 bets in pre-flop. The flop is Jc–5s-4d. The under the gun player bets and gets five callers to you. Now, you have the right odds to take off a card which could lead to the nuts and lots more money coming into the pot (implied odds).

Answer 2:

He had a flush draw and an over card Lee, not a backdoor draw. The fold was still right though, because the pot wasn’t all that big (no raising preflop), it was going to be very expensive to draw, there is a good chance he’s drawing dead, and you don’t have as many outs as you think because of the chance your flush card fills somebody up)
Your analysis of a backdoor draw below is right, just not what he’s asking.

Answer 3:

Well, nothing lost for the beginner players. My explanation on backdoor opposite ends of the spectrum may help and you’ve given a clear explanation on the posted scenario. I hate making my hand and losing the pot … so much so that I may fold too often in situations that are more marginal than the one outlined.