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Understanding Casino Bonuses
Online casinos are in a lot of competition with one another.
They each want to capture the attention of new online casino players and keep the players they already have happy and coming back. This is why the online casinos make it a point to offer exciting bonuses to their players. And they use attractive bonuses to entice and lure the players.
Online casino players can do themselves a favor by understanding casino bonuses and exactly how they work. This way, they will know how to spot the really good ones and how to go about getting them.
When it comes to understanding casino bonuses, the first thing players should know is they come in many different types. One popular casino bonus players will see a lot is the initial deposit bonus. This bonus matches a players deposit by a predetermined percentage and for a certain maximum amount of money.
Many online casinos also offer no deposit bonuses. Each online casino will have its own way of offering this bonus. Some will offer players a bonus for registering and they can keep the bonus once they clear it. Others will offer players a bit of free money and a specific amount of time to spend it. They will be able to keep any of the cash they have won at the end of the time allotted.
Online casinos will often offer other types of bonuses as well. They may offer their players a referral bonus. This is a bonus the players will be given in exchange for bringing their friends to the online casino for enjoying the casino games as well. Some of the online casinos that offer this bonus will also give the referred player a bonus as well. Some other bonuses include loyalty bonuses, redeposit bonuses, game specific bonuses like if you only play roulette online for example, and others.
Understanding casino bonuses is a very important part of playing at an online casino because it offers the players the chance to have even more fun and win more money. Anyone looking forward to a casino bonus needs to do some reading up on the requirements of the bonus so they know they are eligible and so they know just what they have to do to clear the bonus. For example such bonuses usually apply to specific games, not all games.
Understanding casino bonuses is a little of homework, but it will you get the most of what is on offer in the Internet. Simply put, by making use of these bonuses, you the player will be able to get a lot of extra cash into your account.
Three Tips To Improve as an Internet Poker Player
Almost everyone who plays internet poker has dreams of earning a living playing online from the comfort of their own homes. What could be better than being your own boss, waking up whenever you want to, not having to travel anywhere, and the ability to win as much money as you could dream of! Sound easy? Well it's not, and you might already have found that out the hard way, by shipping your bankroll to other players at the internet poker tables.
In this article we will discuss things which could take your poker game to the next level – and then the next! Playing poker is not easy anymore. Most players who are professionals have either had huge tournament wins, are sponsored by an internet poker room, or are living off their cash game success which could turn anytime. If you want to stop losing money at the poker tables, read the following three tips and put them to action to become a better poker player!
#1 – Poker Training Sites
There are lots of training sites out there nowadays. For a small monthly/yearly fee you can become a member of a poker training site and watch hundreds of in-depth strategy videos discussing each hand played as well the reasoning behind making each play. The vast knowledge on offer at poker training sites is quite remarkable, and is also a reason why internet poker is harder to win at nowadays – everyone has watched training videos and became better. Choosing the right poker training site is crucial however.
Phil 'OMGClayAiken' Galfond created Bluefire Poker which is a poker training site which specializes in cash-game poker. If you mostly play cash games then this is the best training site for you. However, if you are mainly an MTT (multi-table tournament) player then a site such as Real Poker Training or Poker Pwnage is the best site or you.
#2 – Internet Poker Tools
If you currently aren't using any internet poker tools then you are way behind! A vast majority of internet poker players are using some sort of poker tool, whether it be an odds calculator, or even a data mining tool which provides them with opponents' statistics. Not all poker tools are allowed at poker sites so if you do purchase one, make sure you read the poker sites rules and check if your poker tool is allowed, otherwise you could be banned.
Newer poker players would be best investing in a poker odds calculator such as Texas Calculatem. It provides you with instant odds on your hand and indicates whether ou should play the hand or fold. More experienced players who play a lo of tournaments and sit and goes would be best investing in Tournament Shark which gives information on your opponents results. You can find out more in our internet poker tools section.
#3 – Play on an easier poker site
Playing on PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker? Yes, most aspiring pros do. These sites have the most players and biggest guarantees, but if you really want to be successful you should be hunting the fish at easier poker sites. One of the current easiest to-beat poker sites is PowerPoker, very well-known for having the softest players and games. PowerPoker was launched in early 2025 and are sponsors of high-stakes poker player Ilari Sahamies aka 'Ziigmund'. New players to the site can enjoy a 110% up to $600 bonus.
Improving your game takes time and you won't have overnight success, it is like everything – you must work at it. Reading poker strategy articles, watching training videos, discussing hands on forums etc are just steps to becoming a better, winning poker player Choosing to play at an easy internet poker site is just another step, similar to table selection. You won't want to sit down at a table against Phil Ivey for all your cash now would you? Everyone starts somewhere, if you have the drive to succeed you eventually will! Good Luck.
Types of Slot machines
Slot machines have always been popular with people enjoying a casino game or two.
In case you are someone who frequently visits the live casinos you would see that it is the slots area which attracts most of the crowd. Interestingly in the past table games were the most popular games and slot machines were only introduced as a test to use unoccupied space. The rest is history.
As a game if you want to win at the slots, there is no need to use any kind of planning or strategy. This means you can be completely dependent on your fate. This is one characteristic about slot that makes it so appealing to many. With the increasing vogue of slot machines there has been a gradual development of the types of slot games that are provided by casino operators. In case you do not know which are the different kinds of slots games, let us run through each type to have a look.
The most popular form of slot machines games are the straight slots. In this type of games, there is a particular winning combination of symbols that is marked in front of the machine. There are typically three or more columns of symbols which spin on when you press the button. After the spinning stops, in case your machine stops at the winning combination, you will win the prize.
Another type of slot game is the wildcard slot game. This format provides you with a higher chance of winning. However if you win on this machine you probably would get a lower payout rate. Here a wildcard symbol is used. You might need to hit on a particular symbol which would win you the winning combination.
There are yet other kinds of variations of the slot machines. You can even have access to free slots games. The game of slots multiplier is very commonly used these days. Multiplier slots are just like the other slot games. The only difference is in the kind of payouts that they provide you with. The payout of the machine would be directly proportionate to the amount of coins that you insert into the machines.
Similarly in bonus slots, the winnings would depend on the amount of coins that you insert added on with other additional bonuses. The progressive slot is another type of slots machines which right now is quite popular.
The slots machines you can win the biggest prizes at are ones sharing their top prize with other machines in the same casino or sometimes at other casinos too. This way the pool of money rises faster in the form of a jackpot. This is how casino millionaires are made and this shows that some players indeed win big time against the casino. The secret is to stop playing big cash once you have made a fortune, so you do not give it all back.
Online as well. And you can play online casino games and enjoy great Welcome Bonus! This is the difference with the brick and mortar casinos, online casino will give you a bonus that you can use to place bets on their games. Have a look.
Bonus codes for gaming sites
What are the bonus codes for gaming sites?
All gaming sites offer a bonus in one form or another. As these markets are competitive and the competition gets even more intense, each operator has to offer a bonus to new players. Not doing so is a guarantee the site will close due to a lack of new signups. And most operators offer bonuses for existing players too, such as redeposit bonuses or special promotional bonuses like a weekend bonus for example.
Usually the above gaming bonuses require a bonus code in order to get activated. These codes may trigger different bonus levels and this is why it is recommended to do some research to find out the bonus situation for a given gambling site before signing up. For instance the best Party Poker bonus code is PPBUK260. Use it and you will get a 150% bonus up to £250 when you make your first deposit at Party Poker, plus £10 free.
Another important factor is to determine how fast and easy it is to redeem your bonus. Normally the bonus is released pro rata the rake you generate, but this ratio will vary from one room to the next. Savvy players will know which stakes and game variations enable them to convert their bonus the fastest. As some poker rooms offer bonuses with a one month duration whereas others give you a full six month before bonus expiration, this is another parameter to take into account.
Whatever your style and level, do not pass on these opportunities to make extra money. As this is really extra money the room are giving you to convince you to try their tables. Yes they also offer redeposit bonuses after you become a regular player. But these bonuses occur infrequently and they have a lower percentage than the new depositor bonuses.
So the best promo you will ever get is when you sign up and this is why it is important to do some home work first to get math right. Study the bonus and the VIP Club if they have one. This is another form of promotions where you get more cash back on a monthly basis. Also do not make too small a first deposit if you play a lot and convert too fast, this would be a missed opportunity for you. It is better to deposit too much and withdraw some later, than to deposit too little. There is no risk with your money if you join a trustworthy room like Party Poker.
What Free Poker Can Teach You
Many so-called poker ‘experts’ argue that the free poker tables offered by sites like SkyPoker aren’t any use to people who want to become really good at the game. Certainly, they represent excellent entertainment, so the argument goes, but the real players play for money, no matter how small the buy-in is.
This theory has solid foundations, but is fundamentally false. It’s based on the fact that people play differently when there’s no actual cash in the pot, that people raise, and bluff, and play cards that they shouldn’t in the hope of something coming out on the river that they would have folded long ago if there was actual money on the table. For a beginner, this strange behaviour can be confusing, or worse still, you can go along with it, and before you know it you’ve formed a lot of bad habits that will only see you lose money if you ever play for the real thing.
All of which could be true, but if you’ve taken enough time to read this article, it almost certainly won’t happen to you. With enough self-control and the right game plan, free poker can be a great way to get the ball rolling.
First of all, it’s the ideal situation to learn how to read your opponents in an online environment. In real life you can see people’s faces, see how they tick, see what they do with their cards, online you can’t do that, you have to judge their actions from how they bet, from whether they delay or play quickly, from whether there is much discussion in the chatroom. All these things are useful, because, until you get to being really good, you’re probably only going to play for money online, and the tools to read people in online games are the same at any level, so start looking for them quickly.
Secondly, free games are exactly how real players react when they’re tilting. They make stupid decisions, they stick when they should fold, they fold when they should raise, etc. If you think your opponent is tilting that’s all very well, but they might not be, so learning to work out when someone is playing irrationally and when they’re playing their hands is very useful. Think of free online poker like a set of opponents on permanent tilt, and you’re trying to make the most of it.
Finally, the really good players take excellent notes and they can play multiple tables. Free games is the best place to start with this, you have to learn to make precise, clear, and useful observations that you can learn from later, and you should learn to handle games at several tables. Don’t try to play eighteen straight away, of course, just two or three will be sufficient but playing well in several different tables, and calculating odds and assessing people quickly are exactly the skills you’ll need when the stakes get higher.
How to bluff
Here are some tips and tricks about Texas Holdem and how to use Bluffing In Texas Holdem Poker to make money. If you are dreaming of playing in a big money tournament then this is a good place to start.
Don’t worry about the texas holdem odds. Play the people and be aware that you will always live or die on the river. There are times to bluff and times not to bluff. Some people cannot tell the difference. You most certainly want to get caught bluffing a time or two a night just to make sure that you do not get pegged as a tight player.
A very good bluff that does not even look like a bluff is raising before the flop with Big Slick Ace/King. Before you do this you must be mindful of your position on the table. Cool, if you are the dealer or acting just before the dealer but of less use as you travel back toward the blinds.
Before you decide that you are going to bluff, look at the reward if you pull it off. How much money is in the pot? Some people call this pot odds, and have a whole lot of complicated calculations to make before they decide. I just look at it.
There is either a large stack of chips or a small stack. If there is a large stack of chips I will attempt a bluff. Bluffing is simply selling an idea. The idea is that you have the best hand. It helps a lot that your opponent can see right on the table that there is a possible straight or flush. Is there a pair? You might have three of a kind or a full house.
Don’t show your hand to any spectators in an attempt to bluff. Everybody knows that if you show your hand after the cards are on the table then you are probably bluffing.
Reading The Texas Holdem Poker Board
When you look at the flop always take your time and use the same abount of time every time. Don’t look at any of the other players when you raise your head. Look instead at a neutral place or the dealer. You should not have picked up your cards until you have had a chance to study the other players at the table pick up theirs. Holdem can be fast paced but you can slow it down some without being obnoxious about it.
Check Raise
When you are playing Texas Holdem you are going to want to check raise from time to time. The check raise seems to some people to be sneaky and underhanded. Coming as it does from a hand that first checks, pretending to have a weak hand, to a hand that will raise. It can really ruffle some feathers, especially those guys who are trying to limp into the hand.
They want to get all the way to the river without spending any money. You want them to spend money. The other day I was playing and was dealt the seven of spades and eight of spades. I know that there are long odds of catching a flush on the flop and the eight has lots of over cards that will beat it, but I was feeling lucky. The flop comes seven of diamonds, seven of hearts and a king of clubs.
Cool, I flopped a set. Fortunately for me another player flopped kings over sevens. His two pair looked pretty good to him. I could tell because he was eager to bet. I thought about it for a long time, making him wait. Then checked. He bet his KK/77 and I raised him. It changed the whole complexion of the game. He had thought he was top dog until I raised. He called me. On the turn the fourth seven came up. It gave him the full house and me the nut four of a kind. I checked again. He could barely hide his glee as he bet.
Do not get lost in the raises and reraises. Too many of the poker players, if you could call them that, call every hand. You need to find a game that will not tempt you to do as they do. As in everything you do in reality what you train to do in practice.
There is the classic story of a police officer who when training on the firing range was taught to fire six rounds and then stop and pick up his ejected brass. When he was drawn into a real gun fight that is exactly what he did. He fired six rounds, stopped, and picked up his brass. He was, unfortunately, killed.
The Kicker In Texas Holdem
Do not underestimate the value of the kicker in Texas Holdem Poker. It may mean the difference between winning or losing. You will be suprised to find out how many times a Texas Holdem hand comes down to a tie with the kicker as the tie breaker.
I usually start out in a Holdem game playing very tight. It is only after I have had a chance to take the measure of a few of the players that I will loosen my game. Remember you are not the one that sets the tone of the game. It is all the poker players that have gotten there before you. You have to adapt to their style of play and blend into the crowd.
Bad poker beat and how to deal with it.
If you have been playing poker online, you know how annoying bad poker beat is, and it is very important for you to know how to deal with it. First of all, you must understand what a poker bad beat is. There is no exact definition but it is said to occur when despite of having a very strong hand, you are beaten and you cannot do anything about it. It makes no sense when you have the upper hand and yet lose. It makes you sick since you thought you had the best hand, but you lost and you have to accept that fact.
Texas Holdem Poker is an online poker game where you get bad beats. These bad beats can be categorized into two types, one where you are helpless and have to resign to your fate and the other which you can certainly hope to avoid.
Let us first analyze the type where a bad beat is inevitable. You have got a pair of aces and the other player left in contention has a pair of fours. Now to have a pair of aces is considered to be the best possible combination but the flop is AQ4 and the other player selects the option to go all-in. You are left with no option but to call. You don't get a chance to fold your aces and lose to fours. When a four comes on the river, this is bad beat. This really is bad but you could have folded instead of calling, as AQ in not that strong a hand.
Now let us assume a second scenario where you can hope to deal with a bad beat. Imagine that it is again you and another opponent left on the table and you have got AQ. Your opponent is really low on chips and has got a poor J9. You think you have got a good chance and you choose to call his all in. Lady luck is not on your side and the flop comes 10 7 2 and it is your friend who hits 8 on the turn.
Well, you resign to your fate and start wondering what more you could do to win. It's not your fault and you have to accept the fact that in online poker games, bad beats are a part of the game of poker and they will occur, no matter what. You have to live with them and proceed without getting demoralized. Online poker is not different from playing poker in a casino when it comes to bad beats.
Have a go at Roulette and Blackjack
We all know that poker is a game where you play against other players and sometimes, you just come up against better players which can make it very hard to win. From time to time, you may want to take a step back from poker and have a go at a few casino games where you play against the house rather than other people and two of your best options are roulette and blackjack. Both of them are very easy to understand and play, not to mention the fact that they are good fun as well.
Starting with roulette, it is described by many as the perfect game of chance and that's because the game consists of a spinning wheel and a small ball. The wheel has 37 or 38 numbered slots (varies depending on the version of the game you're playing) and the idea of the game is to guess where you think the ball will land. There are several different bets that you can make to accommodate your predictions/guesses, some bets cover a large portion of the wheel, others don't. They all have different payouts as well so it's a very interesting game.
Talking about all of the different bets, odds, payouts, strategies and so on would take a long time, so you may want to take a look at a site that is all about the game such as Online Roulette which has a lot of detailed and easy to read information on the subject. If however you prefer a game with cards involved, you may be better suited to blackjack.
The aim is simple, you play against a dealer and you need to get card totals as close to 21 as you can without going over which results in a loss. The game starts by the two of you being given two cards each although you can only see one of the dealer's cards. Then you need to decide whether you want another card (hit) or if you're happy with your current card total (stand). You also have other options to consider such as splitting pairs, doubling down and surrendering.
The best way to play blackjack is with what's known as "basic strategy" and this is a simple card which tells you what you should do on each different hand that both you and the dealer can have. By following these cards, the house edge is cut down to less than 1% making blackjack one of most favourable casino games.
As with roulette, there are many different odds to take into consideration with blackjack and you would definitely be best off learning about basic strategy before you start playing for real money, whether it's online or offline. You can read about strategy and play a strategy trainer game at any good Blackjack informational site.
Either of these games makes a nice change from poker regardless of whether you're an online or offline gamer. As with most games, the more you play them, the better at them you will become although you should keep in mind that as with all games where you play against the house, they have a small advantage over you. Poker is the only game where the house edge is taken out of the equation but it also requires a lot of skill to master as you probably already know.
Carbon Poker bad beat jackpot
Carbon Poker has one of the best Bad Beat Jackpot initiatives around and with it currently being over $900,000, somebody out in the Carbon world will take home a huge payday for being very unlucky.
For those of you who don't know how the Bad Beat Jackpot works, it really is as simple as saying the whole table gets rewarded for someone's monster hand getting beat by an even bigger hand. To get involved, players must sit at the selected Bad Beat Jackpot ring game tables in the Carbon Poker lobby and then simply play cards as per usual. Those Bad Beat Jackpot tables take $0.50 from every pot and put it towards the Bad Beat Jackpot that grows and grows until someone hits it.
To win the Bad Beat Jackpot a player actually has to lose; he or she must lose a hand with four of a kind 7's or better and both players (the winner and loser) must use both hole cards to complete the hand. When this happens, the losing player takes home 35% of the jackpot and the winner takes home of 17.5% of the Bad Beat Jackpot. The remaining players at the table that were dealt into the hand split up another 17.5% while, 20% of the remaining pot goes to reseed the next Bad Beat Jackpot.
Poker players are geniuses when it comes to calculating odds and doing math-related problems, but anyone can figure out that taking home 35% of $900K is a sizable chunk of change ($315,000) for actually losing a poker hand! This is actually attracting a lot of attention in the online poker world and traffic is booming as more and more players do not want to miss on that opportunity.
What are you waiting for, head on over to Carbon's Bad Beat tables to get in on your chance to make a huge score by actually losing a hand!
Beth Shak
Beth was born in Portland, Oregon on March 8, 1969. At 41 years old, the extremely beautiful and stylish Beth Shak is considered to be one of the most gorgeous women in the poker community.
She started playing cards only in the year 2025 by using 'play money' on the Full Tilt Poker website. She started playing live professionally in 2025 and today she already holds a number of accomplishments, which garnered her a top spot in the Women's All Time Money Winners.
She placed top ten in the second live tournament she ever joined which was the Ladies event of the World Series of Poker way back in 2025. By 2025, she ranked second, beating more than eight hundred other players in the World Series of Poker No Limit Hold 'em event. She also finished in the top 30 in the fifth season of the European Poker tour, which had more than 500 participants.
With all these amazing accomplishments, you would be amazed that poker is just a small part of Beth's life. She has a clothing line that she herself developed. This extended out to lingerie to include exclusive up-market shoes for which she has a passion. She owns 1,200 pairs herself as of the last count.
Fashion is obviously one of the key features in her life. Beth Shak says she dresses up appropriately sexy when she plays poker. A closely fitting top with jeans and high heels are her staple outfit on the felt.
She is also a dedicated mother of three; all the more so when she split up with former husband, Daniel Shak. Her commitment is admirable as she makes it a point to put her children's needs above playing poker. Aside from that, she is also active in philanthropic engagements and joins numerous poker tournaments for charity. She especially raises money for the palliative care program in The Children's Hospital in Pennsylvania.
With the help of the media's spotlight, she became much famous for her episode in 'Millionaire Matchmaker' where she tried to date guys and to find her soulmate. She also appeared in highly publicized events at the Playboy Mansion, got involved in a fashion spread for YRB Magazine, and also got featured on MTV Cribs. Recently, she appeared as well in the documentary entitled 'God Save My Shoes' which is basically about women's love for shoes.
With her busy schedule, she can not play poker as much as she wants to, but she has set a goal for herself. Her aim is to get a World Series of Poker Bracelet, no matter how long it may take.
UK Seeks to Regulate Offshore Online Gambling
The UK Government has recently put in new regulations concerning online gambling. The main purpose of the bill is to require all gambling operators that offer their services to British clienteles to get a license in the country, regardless of whether or not they are based offshore.
John Penrose a Conservative Member of Parliament who also holds the position for Minister for Tourism and Heritage made the announcement a few days ago. He mentions however, that "white listed" jurisdictions offshore, such as the Isle of Man, will receive a lighter treatment.
Furthermore, the regulations will not be duplicated, which means that the main supervisory body for operators based in the Isle of Man would, or anywhere else for that matter, still be their respective regulatory bodies.
It is expected that once the new legislation is carried out, the white listing classification would then be brought to an end. Furthermore, all gambling operators operating outside of the UK will no longer be able to offer any games to the UK market at all if they do not have the proper licenses.
While the recent issues on money laundering charges against some online gambling companies in the US have been considered while the bill was proposed, it is not the main problem the bill seeks to address. The bill’s goal is to eliminate white listing and instead impose similar regulations on all offshore online casinos that seek to operate within the country. The Isle of Man is perhaps the most affected by the bill considering the previous status of their online casinos which were white listed.
Currently, the Isle of Man yields a profit of more than £4 million to the Man Government, generated by online gambling. After the changes would take place, it has been foreseen that the revenues would decrease significantly.