Online Poker News

Thoughts are being raised in the USA to legalise online poker and start to collect some taxes from the game. Legal online poker is fast becoming a reality. New Jersey may pass legislation by next week. Nevada has passed rules on how to regulate the websites already. California intends to take it up when the legislature reconvenes this year. More and more states are taking up the fight to get some much needed dollar taxes.

If poker players are willing to pay a fee and pay taxes on their winnings, to take part in a game or two of online poker, you will be hard pressed to find an elected official who will say no. In a time where education budget cuts and city services budget cuts are the focus of so many press conferences, finding willing tax payers is a jackpot for state and local governments. Legalising online poker is surely one way forward.

Poker is a game played by many people across the globe, and it has seen a remarkable increase in the number of players, due to the internet. This increase is believed to be partly the result of the growth and accessibility of online poker, which attracts many people who are learning to play.

Poker has been traced back to the early 1800s, when an actor named Joseph Crowell described it being played in New Orleans, Louisiana, with a deck of 20 cards and four players waging against who had the better hand. Jonathan Green, an American gambler and thought to be one of the most skilful card players in the US, described in his book the spread of the game from New Orleans, up the Mississippi River and throughout the rest of the country.

The World Series of Poker started in 1970 and thereafter poker tournaments became increasingly popular. Modern-day poker has thrived alongside the evolution of the internet, with many different online poker sites available, offering all types of poker to whomever wishes to play.

As well as being convenient for players who wish to participate remotely, online poker has made the game far more accessible to those who are novices. The environment of an online poker room is not as intimidating as that of the casino table, and with the running costs of an online venue being so much cheaper than those of an actual casino venue, companies can afford to offer much smaller wagers to players, which is an encouraging lure for beginners.

Poker, a simple game that can be played in a sitting room or a casino with equal facility, has morphed into one of the most surprising internet successes of the digital age. Once seen as a male-dominated game, providing an excuse for American men to socialise while a wife provides food and drink, or for bad men to start gunfights in movies, playing poker is now a way for women and men to make extra cash from the comfort of their own laptop.

In traditional games, around the physical poker table, players not only calculate the odds of their cards beating their opponents, but also try to read “tells” – the ticks people are said to exhibit when lying, showing honesty, or suppressing other emotions. A “poker face” has value in the physical game. The online poker player focuses instead on the cards and patterns of play. They learn to calculate the odds quickly, play maybe eight simultaneous games, and make a good living thereby.

Online poker, perhaps surprisingly, is not particularly good business in real-world casinos. The high degree of skill players bring to the table lowers the casino’s edge, and they have to rely on table fees, the drinks and food consumed by players, and the public a tournament might draw. Online poker, on the other hand, not only entices gamblers in, but also takes 5-10% of the fixed stakes as a fee and offers side bets.

Victor Chandler Poker continues its Advent Calendar Christmas celebrations today with its Christmas Draw. The €1,000 freeroll starts at 7.30 p.m. Central European Time and registration opens 10 minutes prior to the start. The all-in-all-the-time format will see the top 10 players receive cash prizes within 48 hours of tournament completion. First place will receive €250 from the €1,000 prize pool, reducing to €25 for number 10.

The Chandler festive promotion has been a huge success so far this year and has given away Harrods Christmas hampers, cash prizes via several freerolls, and free entries to a variety of guaranteed tournaments at the site including pot-limit Omaha.  Victor Chandler Poker is one of the UK and Europe’s biggest online poker rooms, and is powered by leading independent gaming company and bookmaker Victor Chandler.

With the internet making poker accessible to a worldwide audience, the number of players entering the poker community has surged in recent years.  Full time professional players are being joined by the occasional poker player from all walks of life.  They are benefitting from a wealth of strategic, tactical and psychological tips through dedicated websites, television and technical books on the subject. 

The poker player has options of a variety of different forms of the game including five card draw, stud poker and the increasingly popular Texas hold’em, all of which comprise international poker tournaments where jackpots reach vast amounts of life changing money. 

Success for the poker player comes from a full understanding the rules, skill in reading the game, and being able to bluff and counter bluff competing players. 

Using online casinos, the poker player has the advantage of being able to play at any time day or night without having to leave home.  In addition, players are able to play multiple poker tables at the same time thereby increasing winning opportunities whilst spreading their stake money.  Playing online, poker players can enter satellite tournaments with winners gaining access to World Series tournaments. 

Traditional poker, whether in conventional casinos or in online poker rooms, is supplemented by video poker machines, aimed at those players wishing to play alone and people seeking to enjoy the excitement of poker in a less intimidating poker playing environment.