In a couple of very new and rather exciting milestones for eCOGRA – the online Casino Bet site watchdog has recently received recognition from the AAMS and ISO – both important European accreditations. AAMS is the Amminstrazione Autonoma Monopoli di Stato, or for all us English speakers – the Autonomous Administration of the State Monopolies, and the Italian online casino industry regulator. Accreditation with AAMS means that eCOGRA now has status for testing websites for fairness in this newly deregulated European marketplace.

Why would testing need to be done? That’s an easy question to answer, for fairness purposes to see that RNG’s produce fair results. As eCOGRA is also a watchdog body, it provides a vital platform for customer complaints against licensed sites falling under a regulated authority. So as well as being a testing agency, they are also a monitoring service. They also independently audit websites for payment percentage results, which also determines fairness. The Audit staff working at eCOGRA has “Big 4″ auditing firm experience, which may be something of a surprise to you. As well as highly qualified IT and audit staff, eCOGRA also employs responsible gambling specialists and information systems experts.

eCOGRA also provides consultative services for companies wishing to license online products under the AAMS umbrella. This makes sure that these companies have all their ducks in a row. An online casino wishing to attract Italian players, will have much more luck in the massively competitive online casino industry if they are able to display the eCOGRA seal of approval. Take a note of this fact if you are a potential online casino player, the eCOGRA seal is worth the earth, to any site worth its salt. Informed players know immediately when they play at that site, they will be in very good hands.

ISO accreditation is a similar kettle of fish – this acronym stands for the International Organization of Standards, and is another very important milestone. This Geneva-based organisation offers companies accreditation for meeting exacting standards in systems orientated requirements. In other words – the systems used by eCOGRA for testing and monitoring, need to be rigorously tested and accredited too; to stand a chance of being considered completely trustworthy for the highly technologically advanced industry within which it operates.,

Chief Executive Officer of eCOGRA, Andrew Beveridge – said that they were delighted about making both of these announcements, and would be making news again in the not too distant future. It has become a critical part of their business to promote good values in remote gambling firms, which includes commitment and self regulation. Preparing these businesses to operate within a regulated environment is offering a highly regarded service.

Although eCOGRA is essentially an independent, management-owned, non-profit organisation, they obviously still have highly technical staff to pay, so the right accreditation is essential to meet new market demands. They plan to pursue approval as a testing agency in other emerging markets in order to provide a full service offering. During 2011 approximately 100 compliance reviews will be carried out

They are calling it “Black Friday” who they are though, I am not quite sure who first coined the phrase; but it was a pretty dark day for all those involved with Poker Stars, Absolute Bet and Full Tilt poker online. The Big Boys of US online poker finally go their comeuppance from the US Department of Justice and have now been indicted, the domain names confiscated and the sites effectively shut down. This is a really big news story in the world of online poker, where none of us believed that these colossal online money-making concerns could ever be shut down.

As well shutting down the sites on Friday the 15^th April, eleven people were also indicted and arrested; these included Raymond Bitar, John Campos, Chad Elie and the brains behind Poker Stars – Isai Scheinberg. I have to be honest, but I was under the impression that Isai Scheinberg never entered the US, for the precise reason that he might be arrested. It is possible he may have been indicted, but not arrested as yet.

The terms of the indictment accused Elie of opening “bank accounts” in the US through deceptive means. He is being charged on nine counts in the Department of  Justice indictment, including:

• violation of UIGEA
• conspiracy to commit bank fraud
• and money laundering.

Elie, who hails from Las Vegas was released after his court appearance in Manhattan today (Tuesday 19^th April) on $250,000 bail. Campos is being charged on 6 of the 9 indictable counts; was released yesterday on a $25,000 bond and passport surrender; he is vice chairman and part-owner for SunFirst Bank, which supposedly processed payments for both PokerStars and Full Tilt.

We are not really sure what has happened with Bitar and Scheinberg but what we do know is that things are all of a sudden looking up for 888, Bwin.Party, Wynn, and William Hill Poker. Why are we not surprised?

Apparently this week, more people than ever before were suddenly interested in online gambling news – particularly with regards to Black Friday and poker. The entire poker community has been scouring the news to see what fresh information is available, including me; but so far this is all I have got. The world of online gambling will keep turning despite all the fans of these sites who are more than likely in mourning. It is also highly probably that massive amounts of members’ funds may have been lost to these indictments. Of course we are also only guessing at this juncture.

European gambling sites have been doing massive business this week in the wake of the shut-down of these US poker giants, but will the situation last – we don’t know? At least let them make hay while the sun shines. Share prices are rocketing at other gambling concerns and it is believed that in the light of this DOJ indictment; European countries who have granted Poker Stars and Full Tilt licenses, may in fact reconsider approval; we can only wait and see.

On the recent announcement of the departure of Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth from the UB Poker stable, Annie Duke is going to be at anything but a loose end. She recently got engaged to Joe Reitman on Christmas morning, is currently writing a poker strategy bible with Vanessa Rousso and is planning to hit the felt at the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship as well as the Bay 101 Shooting Star events, but has planned a “light” poker schedule for the spring. There are any number of other given things she has going on in her life, so, leaving Unibet Poker, will leave anything but a gap in what already appears to be a busy life.

She recons she will be busy during the World Series of Poker and has planned to enter a good deal of events, but will also be addressing a conference for 16 year olds -Adventures of the Mind, where she works on the committee. She has appeared on Celebrity Apprentice as a contestant, and is a great ambassador all around for the image of female poker in a male dominated environment. So, if anyone thinks poker players only play poker and don’t do anything else; guess what, they are real people too, although the “real people” things they get involved in seem to be so much more larger than life.

Currently Unibet is busily re-strategizing their brand after having come out of a huge scandal relatively unscathed. They are the third biggest poker brand online and are just too big for it to all come to an end. They are also getting ready to make an announcement regarding their new poker pros and this is apparently going to be huge news.

As Annie believes the biggest poker story of 2010 was the Harry Reid bill; this is one for the History Books. Just as Washington State declares playing online poker illegal and gets Poker Stars and Full Till to depart from the state – mark down January 10, 2011, as an historic day for online poker!

New Jersey State has just won the race to get legislation for regulating and licensing online poker in the US. The State’s Assembly voted 63 -11, making it a unanimous vote – to get  a bill approved for making Internet wagering legal for the residents of New Jersey, through hubs which are compelled by law to be based at Atlantic City casinos.

While we don’t believe that Washington State residents will be rushing to relocated to New Jersey, just so’s they can play online poker, this is still very good news for both the industry and fans. Although we cannot help but be worried about some hue and cry – as like the Harry Reid bill, this bill called for a moratorium for current (illegal) online poker operators in the US. This would effectively mean that New Jersey casino operators would be given licensing preference, before any offshore operators could even think of applying. Also the fact remains that servers must be resident in this city and taxes must be paid. Most offshore poker operators are not going to like paying taxes too much for operating out of New Jersey.

It is quite hard to become a good poker player! Most of the excellent poker players especially in America have been playing poker since their childhood. It is a little bit like in England when you used to play bridge or hearts with your grandparents. So if you want one day become one of the best players of poker you need to work hard and seriously.

Be patient

You have to be patient to play poker. Most of the times you don’t have good hands so you have to fold and it can be long before getting something, so patience is one of the best quality to get. Also a tournament of poker can be played for hours, days or weeks. The world championship of poker is played during a week or two.

Be competitive

You have to play poker a lot and take it as a hobby or a passion. You have also to like fighting and being aggressive to be the best player. Liking competition and be ready for it is very important, you have to be ready like an athlete. An article from scientific showed that poker players can be faster and more concentrate on their activities than certain athletes. The average is very close.

Be healthy

It is like a sport competition, if you are tired or drunk, it won’t help you. If you are tired, you will be stressed and irritated by everything. If you are drunk, you will be excited by the alcohol and you will play like a beginner or worse you won’t care at all and you will annoy everyone until losing.

Analyst

Be able to analyze the felt. Be able to read the river and able to read the game of your adversary. Most of the time, when you get a good game, you are just focus on it and forget that your opponent can get a good game as well and maybe better that yours. Don’t play stupidly, it is important to check if something can happen on the river and can beat you.

Psychologies

Analyze the gestural of your adversaries. Most of the time, people make same gestural when they are faking or when they are anxious. Women use to touch their hair and men moves their eyebrows. So if you can read your opponent through that, you will be able to play longer than usual. Also it would be a huge advantage for you. You also have to analyse the game and how your adversaries raise or call. It is important.

Be a comedian

Sometimes, you can hesitate and call, if you do that your adversary will think that you have nothing and he will play more to get you in his nets but actually, you will get him in your nets. It is quite hard to do it because most of the time, you get excited about your game when it is very good.

And, the most important, get some experience. It can be on Internet or on live in a pub or between friends but to be a good player you have to practice a lot. Good luck and the best for you.

HORSE is the acronym used for a tournament in which mixed games of poker play. Mixed games are becoming increasingly popular and the tourney consists of Hold ‘em (H), Omaha Hi-Lo (O), Razz (R), 7 Stud (S) and (E) Stud Eight or better. How these games are rotated in the poker tournament depends on the house rules of the poker room.

Often the rotation is determined by the amount of hands played or a specific time frame and HORSE has become a very popular World Series of Poker event. The rules of each game are the same as if they were being played individually and obviously it pays to be familiar with the rules of all these games. This tournament was first introduced to the WSOP events in 2006. This inaugural game has a $50 000 buy-in which attracted some of the biggest and best poker playing names in the world.

In the inaugural HORSE tournament Chip Reese beat Phil Ivey and Doyle Brunson to take this headline making title. Poker playing purist believe that this brought back a good deal of the professional wholesomeness of playing poker.
 
This series of mixed games is also being increasingly played at online poker room and one of the best examples of the game is found at Poker Stars. Poker Stars has evolved into a, incredibly sophisticated poker sit where virtually every form of the game of poker is played, even some of the very obscure brands.

Playing in HORSE tournaments is a very good exercise for any poker player as it stretches their knowledge and skills to the limit as well as expands ability. The player has to make an effort to learn all the rules and strategy of the games involved and if you are a strong enough player to play in real money game, you really should try your hand at these tournaments.

Just remember that if you are weak or have no knowledge of even one of the game played you will be at a huge disadvantage, so you need to up the knowledge ante. If you don’t pay attention all the time, you may even end up playing the wrong game. In other words when everyone else is playing Razz, you may still be playing Omaha Hi-Lo.

Mixed games offer the good poker player a true challenge of skill and strategy and for this reason it brings out the absolute best in a poker player. Most of these tournaments are played on “turbo”, which means the stakes rise every few hands or minutes, depending on the house rules, this speeds up the game. 

While professional poker players excel at this game, it can be difficult for the ordinary player as they are often played for huge cash amounts. However the advent of online poker has changed the game of poker for ever and freeroll HORSE tournaments may even be found if you are lucky.

HORSE  is a limit game when it is played in tournament form and some players prefer no-limit games. But this is just the way the cards are dealt!

You may have seen Badugi Poekr on the menu at the big popular poker sites such as Doyles Room and Poker stars and wondered what it is all about. This is a brilliant new way of playing poker, it is often played in mixed sessions and getting to the rules of the game it the first place to start learning to play. 

Poker is not just about 7 Card Stud these days, there are so many variations of the game, and the more variations you are able to master, the better poker player you will be. No matter how much people say poker is played for fun, this is not why we play, we play to win, to get even better at our game and to one day take the main table at the WSOP by storm, don’t we? I know I do! 

If you want to get in on the Badugi action then you need to learn how to play. It’s all pretty easy; you are not looking for pairs, matched suits or high hands. On the contrary, you are looking for cards of each suit in the lowest possible hand and the game starts off with each player being dealt four cards.  

It is so much fun getting creative to make the worst hand possible and you could say the “nuts” is having a rainbow hand of A – 4. If you are traditionally a crap poker player, this game may be absolutely perfect for you because it is completely arbitrary. 

Any rainbow hand, which means a hand of all four suits is a “Badugi” hence the name of the game. A hand which contains two of the same suite such as AsAh2d3c is called a three-card hand and it can actually still win provided no other player has a Badugi. Even one card and two card hands play, such as AsAcAdAh, or As2cAd2h, but they don’t often win! 

It is easy to see why the card ranking is the most difficult part of this game because in most cases it is the complete opposite of what we are used to. But it is this aspect which make is an important part of out poker skill repertoire, the ability to rank cards backward means we have the ability to adapt. Adaptation to any poker situation is tantamount to survival in this thinking mans game!  

The betting structure and drawing rounds are very similar to that of Texas Holdem and it starts with a Big Blind, Small Bind and Ante. Four cards are dealt the betting starts and the players can draw or stand pat. Three drawing rounds take place and after the last betting round is concluded all players in the game have a showdown. The best, or should we say the worst hand wins! 

This is a profitable poker game once you get the hang of how to play. The most important thing to remember is to get that low, rainbow suit hand, once you have one of each suit in your hand it is possible to beast a slightly higher 3 card, so get that Badugi, it is the winning factor.  

Regular poker players psychologize that they are in the game for the challenge, relaxation or just pure and simple fun, but this way of thinking is actually rubbish. If you play this game, you need to know why you are playing and precisely what you are attempting to achieve. Ask the question “do I want to be a winning poker player”, if the answer is “yes” then you need to change your mindset. But don’t worry too much; the majority of regular players still haven’t come to grips with what they are “trying” to do.

One thing which needs to be understood from the outset is that time is money, just like you punch in and out of work, and are being paid for your time. Winning poker is just the same – if you put in the hours, you should be rewarded for it and be able to measure this reward in dollar chips.

Preparation for games or tournaments is of vital importance, as important as understanding that accumulation of profits is the name of the game in poker.

Some poker players only see bad days, big winning days and prize pots, no matter what the size, and they don’t see the bigger picture. Falling into a trap where you believe that money is made lumps here, bits there and pieces somewhere else, doesn’t make sense. It is fragmented thinking and poker is supposed to be a thinking mans game.

Even the Bible says, “so shall you sow, so shall you reap” and the same applies to playing poker, or any other money making activity. The more you put in, the more you get back and it’s as simple as that! Your poker game needs to be planted, fertilized, watered – in other words “nurtured” so that it pays off.

Winning poker is basically plain hard work and until you get to the very top, it is completely un-glamorous and un-sexy too. Just another job so to speak, and when it becomes a job well done, you become a master, and you reap the rewards.

Playing in tournaments is one way to win, it is also important to participate in these games to improve your game and see how the other side lives. Don’t get ahead of yourself and glamorize poker tournaments they are job, just like we described in the preceding paragraphs.

Tournaments are where your poker skill is rewarded, the rake is relatively low and because skill is valued, tournaments are always a profitable poker activity. It is a good way to use your poker time and the beauty of playing online poker is that tournaments can be played any time of the night or day.

Playing in tournaments is much more profitable than parallel ring games because of the skill:reward ratio, and this is why top players participate in so many poker tournaments. Thank goodness for online poker, because without it, would be extremely difficult to play in land based tournaments as an amateur – flying all over the world and costing you a small fortune, which you more than likely don’t have!