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Sky Poker Free £5 Sports Bet & 500 Poker Point Promotion

The good folks over at Sky Poker emailed us today to let us know about their new promotions which include an £5 sports bet for new players. This promotion is only good until midnight February 20th and gives new players a free £5 sports bet in addition to the free 500 poker points you already get for signing up (Can be used for 2 £1000 freerolls). In order to receive the free bet, players must open a new account and accumulate 50 poker loyalty points by Feb. 20th (very attainable, about 2 hours of poker play). If you are interested in receiving the bonus please click here to be taken to the promotion page where you will claim it. Stay tuned for more exclusive offers from our poker partners.

Virgin Poker Launches Poker League

Virgin Poker announced today the launch of a 2008 poker league for their players with a total prize pool of over €150,000. The league is based on participation in multi-table tournaments on Virgin Poker and awards players league points based on how they do in tournaments on the site.

Prizes are awarded on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis including a top prize of €3000 for the best performer of 2008. Best weekly participants will be awarded from €250 (1st) to €10 (16th – 20th) with top monthly winners receiving anywhere from €1500 (1st) to €20 (41st – 50th). Additional bonus prizes include a WSOP Main Event Package for any player in the top 3 every month of the year, an EPT Package for any player in the top 5, or a GUKPT Package for a player who ranks in the top 10 every month in 2008.

This is a new promotion so there is still lots of room for those who have not signed up yet to jump on board and start ranking in the top positions. If you are interested in joining the league we offer a €100 bonus for new players at Virgin Poker. Click Here To Visit Virgin Poker

Competition In The Internet Poker Market

Internet Poker has experienced steady growth over the past five years as new online poker sites continue popping up on a monthly basis hoping to attract new players and become the next Party Poker. With all of the competition in the current marketplace, many of the top Internet Poker sites are having to offer players extremely large bonuses or cutting edge software to differentiate themselves in this competitive space. The reality of all this competition is that operator margins are becoming increasingly smaller as the market continues to grow, however this creates a great market for the consumer or player who wishes to maximize their return when depositing at a poker site.

The Bodog gaming brand is probably the most notorious for their massive bonus offers. Bodog ran a very long promotional campaign whereby they offered new players a 10% unlimited bonus, meaning that players were free to deposit as much as they liked with no maximum restrictions. Altough Bodog has since discontinued this promotion, it goes to show you how much sites are willing to shell out in an effort to attract new players. Information on current Bodog bonuses can be found on our BodogPoker Review.

Another site that has really stood out from the competition over the past year is PKR poker. PKR launched the first scalable 3D poker room and has since experienced massive growth by offering a video game style poker room in a 3D atmosphere to the poker market. On the promotion side, PKR has rolled out some large player bonuses available to players using various PKR Poker Codes. PKR also went one step further and introduced their casino brand this year to the market with then hopes of further increasing their share of the 3D gaming space. Our PKR Casino Review details all of the casinos features including games offered and best bonus codes.

Overall, it is evident that the internet poker market is reaching its peak level of competition and that new operators are forced to dream up unparalleled promotions and bonuses to attract and retain new players. As the market continues to grow and expand, we expect to see some exciting promotions become available to the market so stay tuned.

William Hill Poker Offers Insta-Play No Download Poker

William Hill Poker has announced the launch of an insta-play poker client for their poker room which allows players to access the website remotely from any computer and play without having to download the traditional poker software.

This is a great step for William Hill in providing their poker players with an easy and accessible way to play poker on the site without the hassle of download the online poker software. All you have to do to use the no download version is go to the William Hill Poker website and press play instantly to be connected.

The William Hill Poker room also offers players a great $500 monthly loyalty bonus in addition to their other fantastic promotions. Check out William Hill Poker Here.

Betfair Poker Software Glitch Pays Players Big Time

Betfair Poker is scrambling to retrieve what is estimated to be close to £1,000,000 which was paid out into player accounts due to a small glitch in their poker software. The glitch was related to the sit and go poker tables on Betfair and apparentely if all players went all in on the first hand, the winner would receive 1st place prize money and all other players that lost would receive 2nd place prize money. Once the glitch was discovered groups of players started abusing it and quickly moving up the limits in an attempt to amass as much money as possible. The group of players quickly withdrew this money and Betfair is now in the process of trying to recover it.

The incident is said to involve approximately 20 players on the Betfair site although no official numbers have been released. Betfair declined to comment on the issue which was first brought to public attention on Jan.12th of this year. Currently none of the players are facing charges and rumours have suggested that a large portion of this money is locked in various Paypal accounts, although some of the players have withdrawn through bank transfers which at this point are non-reversable.

Five Tips To Playing Poker Like A Pro

So you want to play poker like a pro? You want to be winning millions a year, travelling the globe and living in the fast lane…..is it possible? Yes. In this article, we will cover five strategies employed by the top poker pros that allow them to consistently win at poker and maintain an advantage over the competition:

1. Self Control: Almost all of the majorly successful pros have a strong degree of self-control and discipline not only in life but in the game of poker as well. This is such a vital component of becoming a great player in the game of poker as the temptation to succumb to frustration and go on Tilt is so common and can be deterimental to a players game. All of the top professionals are aware of the effects of frustration and have learned to effectively control themselves when these situations arise.

2. Instinct: Another extremely important attribute that all professional poker players must possess is great instinct and the ability to listen to it.  If you watch any of the top players you will see that they have this innate ability to know when something is up and most of the time when they will win or lose a hand.  Almost all poker players have this, but learning to listen to it is the hard part.  Really listen to yourself when you play poker because most of the time your first instinct is right.

3. Passion: Poker can quickly become a boring game when you are playing 10+ hours per day 6-7 days a week.  To become a true pro you need to be dedicated to the game and really enjoy putting in the hours that are required to keep your game sharp.  This passion will help you through the days where you fold for hours on end or when you have a poor day playing.  Remember, if you don’t love the game, don’t try to be a pro at it.

4. Bankroll: This is probably the most basic aspect of becoming a pro but it is definetely crucial if you truly want to succeed.  Far too many people try to turn professional without the proper funding to do so.  If you want to play poker professionally, make sure that you have an adequate bankroll to play within your chosen limits and enough money to sustain a bad month at the tables.  Underfunded bankrolls are a sure way to ended a pro poker players career.

5. Knowledge: Being a poker pro means knowing all the games, rules, strategies and tricks inside and out.  Expect all of your oppenents to have all this knowledge as well so it is important that you constently study, practice and study some more.  Most of the top professionals watch countless hours of footage, read hand histories and study their opponents playing styles in order to gain an advantage while playing.  This type of research is essential in developing a sound poker game.

Hope you enjoy the article and the tips on playing poker like a pro.  If you want to play poker with some real professional such as Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen and others check out Full Tilt Poker.  They offer a $600 bonus which you can get by visiting our Full Tilt Poker Page via this link.

Interesting Upcoming Poker Game Variations

With the explosion of Online Poker and Texas Holdem over the past few years, there are many poker games that are becoming increasingly popular with poker players. This is a look at some traditional and non-traditional poker games that are making their way into the mainstream:

Omaha Poker:

A cousin of Texas Holdem, Omaha Poker is similar in play including the flop, turn and river as well as following the same betting patterns as its popular counterpart. The difference in Omaha is that each player is dealt 4 instead of 2 hole cards to be used against a community flop. Unlike Texas Holdem, the player must use 2 of their four hole cards to make their hand (a common mistake unknown by new players). Because of this, there are no one card flushes, full houses, etc. in Omaha. The reason this game has picked up with players is because of the incredible amount of action involved. Since each player has twice as many cards as usual, the hand combinations that any given player could have increase significantly hence creating more betting during the game.

Crazy Pineapple Poker:

Very similar to standard Texas Holdem, Crazy Pineapple Poker features all the same rules in terms of the flop, turn and river and sharing community cards to make a hand. The difference in Crazy Pineapple Poker is that each player is dealt three hole cards and there is a round of betting before the flop. After the first round, the flop is dealt and another round of betting commences. Here is where things get interesting. After the second round of betting, the remaining players must discard one of their three hole cards and they will be left with two for the rest of the hand (essentially Texas Holdem). This game creates lots of action and adds a nice twist to standard poker games.

Double Flop Texas Holdem:

Like the name suggests, this game lays out two flops for players to make their hands from. Betting and hole cards following the same rules as Texas Holdem and in this game pots are usually split between two players, however on occasion players are lucky enough to win the entire pool of chips. This variation adds alot of excitment to the game and is full of second chances.

Draw Poker:

Probably the most known and recognized variation of poker, Draw Poker is a very simple poker game whereby players are dealt 5 cards to make a winning poker hand out of. Players follow a two or three round betting structure and are allowed to discard anywhere from 2-4 cards (depending on the house rules) to improve their hand. This is a great game for beginners and is historical one of the most popular versions of poker.

Deuce To Seven Triple Draw:

This game is similar to Five Card Draw Poker in that players are dealt cards and given three chances to discard and replace cards in their hand. Each round of draws is also followed by a round of betting except the object of this game is to get the worst possible hand you can. In Deuce To Seven Triple Draw, flushes and straights do count against you and your main goal is to weaken your hand every draw. The “best” possible hand to get in Deuce To Seven Triple Draw is 2,3,4,5,7 Unsuited. The game may seem a little complicated at first, but it is quite fun once you get the hang of it.

If you want to test out any of these games Pokerstars offers all the variations mentioned above. They also offer a $50 bonus for new players. Click Here To Visit Pokerstars Now