Poker Winner Blog

Some of the first casinos in America were established during the early 1800s in New Orleans, along the Mississippi River. Although, at that time, there were no casinos on the riverboats themselves, informal gambling was a popular way for travellers to pass the journey. Professional gamblers, called sharps, would target wealthy passengers and relieve them of their money. Gambling moved westward with the expansion of the railroads and flourished during the time of the California gold rush and the Nevada silver era. Read the rest of this entry »

Studies have shown that today’s casino players are typically graduates in white-collar jobs with a higher than average income, who gamble to win money. A survey carried out by Roper Starch Worldwide Inc. of New York found that, for three out of four casino visitors, their prime motive is to win, while 57 per cent go for entertainment and recreation. Australians are the western world’s biggest gamblers, spending over $2000 a year per head of population. A close second are Americans at $1800 per head of population. Read the rest of this entry »

In the USA you will find the record useful if you have a big win, as gambling wins are subject to tax. Players can offset gambling losses against winnings, but the IRS requires players to keep an accurate record of dates, bets made, address of gaming establishment, names of people with you and the amount won or lost. Comps also count as winnings. In addition, proof of expenditure, like casino receipts and bank records, will need to be shown if you are audited. Read the rest of this entry »

Every strategy here is usable in your normal gambling sessions!

You divide your session into a beginning, a middle, and an end game. Your division will be based on money won instead of completed hands, rolls, or spins. I will develop this concept later in this section.

You then decide how much you wish to risk for your gambling trip, e.g., $1,000. Divide that by the number of days in your trip. For example, if you are going down for the weekend, you should allocate $333 for your Friday- evening sessions, $333 for your Saturday sessions, and $333 for your Sunday sessions. Read the rest of this entry »

Playing an unknown or short-pay game: Most players pay little attention to the payoff schedule. We often see someone playing a short-pay game while a full-pay machine sits idle nearby. Avoid any game that does not match the payoff schedule shown with a published strategy.

Holding too many cards: The most common playing error is holding a useless card (a kicker). In live draw poker, you can occasionally hold a kicker. For example, holding an ace along with a pair gives the possibility of making aces up, which is a pretty good hand in draw poker, and it has the deceptive value of making some opponents think you have trips. In video poker, two pair pays the same regardless of the ranks, and deception is futile. Read the rest of this entry »

What the games are like

Most Internet play-money games are loose action games. (That’s putting it mildly!) Players enter pots with guns blazing, firing bets and raises at will. Much of this activity is just smoke and mirrors, but when the smoke clears, someone will have made a hand. Don’t expect to win a pot without a struggle!

There are many family pots (pots in which all players participate in the action), and you won’t find many wallflowers sitting on the sidelines hand after hand. Betting is frequently capped (when players put in the maximum number of raises allowed). Hang on for the ride — if you have a hand. Read the rest of this entry »

Benny Binion

One of Las Vegas’s last true patriarchs, Benny Binion started out by running illegal bootlegging and gambling rackets in Dallas during the 1930s. Binion arrived in Las Vegas in 1946 (some insist to evade murder charges back in Texas) and bought the dilapidated Eldorado Casino. He renamed it Binion’s Horseshoe, and it soon became the epicenter of gambling activity. The Horseshoe wasn’t really built for common tourists; it was a place for real gamblers.

For more than four decades, Binion had a standing public offer: He would accept a wager of any size, from anyone who walked into his casino. More than a few eccentrics were entranced by Binion’s willingness to take the ultimate gamble, and there are many stories in Binion’s folklore (all true) of high- rollers with suitcases full of money riding on a single roll at the craps table. But Binion’s first love was poker. Read the rest of this entry »