Archive for February, 2009

Beginning Omaha Poker – Starting Hand Selection

Thursday, February 12th, 2009

Omaha Poker shares many characteristics with the better known Texas Holdem. However, there is a major difference with 4 ‘hole cards’ being dealt to each player instead of just 2. This in turn means that the hands shown down are, on average, far stronger – and requires some adjustment to the way that poker players think about their starting hand selection.

This article looks at how players new to this form of the game should approach the decision as to which hands to play and which to fold.

The key hand selection strategy for Omaha poker is to choose hands which contain cards that work well together. At showdown each player must use exactly 2 cards of their own and 3 from the ‘community cards’ board to make a winning hand. This means that the number of 2-card combinations is an important factor.

For example, you are dealt 4 cards before the flop A-B-C-D. There are 6 potential 2 card pairings here:

A-B, A-C, A-D, B-C, B-D and C-D

With 4 cards close in rank, having 2 suits or all being ranked 10 or higher you have the possibility of all 6 combinations working for you. On the other hand if ‘D’ is an off-suit 2 then the potential showdown pairings are immediately reduced to 3 – now only A-B, A-C and B-C work in your favor.

Reduce this to a single pair and 2 ‘rags’ and you will see that you only have a single combination working for you. Omaha Poker hands are usually won by nut straights, flushes or a full house – making sure that your hand contains cards which work well together will ensure that you maximize your potential to make a hand strong enough to win at showdown!

High pairs are playable before the flop in this form of the game, however caution is advised with holdings such as an over-pair – particularly if the flop shows possible straights or flushes. Holdings such as A-A-x-x (where the ‘x’ indicates an unrelated small card) are powerful but not a huge favorite against many coordinated hands that your opponents might play.

For example A-A-2-7 of 4 different suits is actually a small underdog to 5-6-7-8 of 2 suits – the latter holding is known as a ‘rundown’ and is a potentially strong hand in Omaha due to multiple possibilities to make straights and flushes.

There is considerable debate concerning which is the strongest starting hand in Omaha. Some people believe that A-A-J-10 double suited (that is or 2 suits with the potential to make 2 ace-high flushes) is the best. Others argue that A-A-K-K double suited is even better – since a 2-pair holding will flop trips approximately 1 time in 4.

Visit the internet’s largest Omaha Poker Strategy resource now for 100′s of quality strategy articles covering all variations including Pot Limit Omaha, PLO8 and Tournaments!

Betting Online Sports

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

There is no better feeling than betting on sports constantly online and winning. The world wide web makes it possible to bet on sports 24 hours a day 7 days a week from anywhere in the entire world. All you need is an internet connection and a few dollars to start with. Now, comes the fun part. It is time for 07 madness March Ncaa time leading in to 08 this year. Ncaa mens basketball picks are the most popular form of sports betting online. If you know the odds and study the game and lines, you can make some serious cash fast!

When it’s march madness time, its all about trying to guess the final team out of 64! It seems like an impossible challenge, but trust me it’s very possible. Ncaa mens basketball predictions that people usually pick for march madness is to NOT go with the number one team overall. It is very rare that the number 1 team overall takes it in march madness. It is the most exciting thing to watch and there are so many upsets it’s not even funny.

Ncaa odds of predicting all 64 teams correctly are 1 in over 5 million. You are guaranteed to get some picks wrong, you just don’t want to get them wrong in the later rounds.

The NCAA tournament is incredibly random. Who could have guessed last year that George Mason University – a No. 11 seed – would make the Final Four? Believe it or not 1,853 out of more than 1.5 million people who entered ESPN.com’s Tournament Challenge. This is why college basketball favorites die in march madness. What this tremendous unpredictability means is that you’ll never have a shot at winning your pool if you don’t pick a cluster of upsets.

Put it this way, don’t pick the higher seeds to win all the games. I think even most casual college basketball fans know better than to pick all the No. 1 seeds to make it to the Final Four. Even picking 3 number 1 team’s are risky! This is not guaranteed like daily nba picks where it is much more predictable to for see a winner. The last time 3 number one teams made it to the final four was 2001. I suggest you go with two No. one seeds and then some combination of twos, threes and fours for the last two spots.

When you begin winning you will be famous and you can give your college basketball free predictions out to others to share your greatness for the game. There is no better feeling than winning your march madness pool and impressing you friends. With some studying of the brackets and knowing the history of the brackets will put you on the right track. No person will correctly guess all 64 teams, if you do there are many sites that will offer you over a million dollars if you do, so if you are this good at guessing you are a million dollars or more richer! Good luck this year!

Chris Grisham is the creator of Sportsbook Investing, the premier website for making money betting online sports. He has successfully been beating sportsbooks for years using his proven system and top sports picks based on lines, trends, angles, and years of experience. Learn about his system for FREE at http://www.SportsbookInvesting.com

Nail Salons May Spread Fungal Infections

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

Getting a manicure or a pedicure is like playing Russian roulette. If you’re not careful, you could end up with a nasty fungal nail infection that could ruin your nails!

This warning comes from Dr. Marta J. VanBeek, assistant professor, Department of Dermatology at the University of Iowa College of Medicine in Iowa City, who said that while most nail salons conscientiously keep their places clean, some are perfect breeding grounds of stubborn fungi that can compromise your health.

“Look at the salon with cleanliness in mind and ask yourself these questions: Are the stations clean? Does the nail technician wash her hands between clients? Are there dirty implements lying around? If the salon does not appear clean, then move on,” VanBeek said.

Her advice is timely considering the growth of the salon industry that serves millions of people worldwide. In 1995 alone, Americans spent an estimated $5.2 billion on nail services, half a billion more than in 1994, according to the Nails 1995 Fact Book. During that time, there were over 34,000 nails salons across the country – an increase of 2,000 over the previous year.

Today, there are more than 50,000 nail salons in the United States with women (and some men) spending more than $6 billion a year on nail care and cosmetics. That figure doesn’t include the number of beauty salons that offer nail services.

People often go to these salons for artificial nails which are the most requested service, the Fact Book said. At the No. 2 slot are manicures followed by nail jewelry and nail art. Unfortunately, these beauty services harbor an ugly secret: they can give you a bad case of fungal nail infections that are common in the elderly and can spread rapidly from one family member to another.

Removing the cuticle is usually the first step in getting a manicure or a pedicure. New York dermatologists Drs. Herbert P. Goodheart of Mount Sinai Hospital and Hendrik Uyttendaele of Columbia University Medical Center said this is not a good idea since it can lead to inflammation and infections of the surrounding tissue and nail root, and cause permanent nail deformities.

“The cuticle is a barrier that protects the skin and the delicate nail matrix, or ‘root’ of the nail. Pushing back on the cuticle can injure it and expose the paronychium or skin fold around the nail, to bacteria and result in infection,” VanBeek said.

Unclean instruments are another cause for concern. While the states regulate their respective salons and their technicians, they can’t always monitor what’s happening in your area unless something goes wrong. And often it does. In 2000, over 100 infections were traced to footbaths used in nail salons.

“Unclean implements are especially dangerous if the skin around the nail is broken. This can occur with overzealous manicuring – if, for example, too much of the cuticle is cut or pushed back too far. If the cuticle is cut or separated from the fingernail, infectious agents can get into the exposed area,” explained Paula Kurtzweil of the US Food and Drug Administration.

To avoid trouble, see your doctor at the first sign of infection. Many antifungal medications are available but they are generally expensive, contain harsh chemicals that can do more harm than good, and may affect your heart and your liver. One notable exception is Somasin AFS, an all-natural fungus fighter made from a powerful herbal blend that destroys persistent fungal infections in just seven days. For more information, visit http://www.somasin.com.

Janet Martin is an avid health and fitness enthusiast and published author. Many of her insightful articles can be found at the premier online news magazine http://www.thearticleinsiders.com

March Madness – NCAA Mens Basketball Picks

Monday, February 9th, 2009

You know what time it is? March madness time! The greatest, most thrilling, and lucrative thing to watch on television all year. Have you been following all year? Do you have your ncca mens basketball picks yet for march madness? Well if you don’t…You need to seriously start doing some research and coming up with your winning picks.

There is nothing like entering your local march madness pool at work and winning! You impress them with your ncaa mens basketball tournament predictions. It is more than just winning first place in the pool; your pride, dignity, and self-respect is on-the-line. If you were bragging all year how good you are in the march madness tournament and know your ncaa odds of winning out of 64 teams and you give yourself a total let down your ego will be deflated.

Let me give you a little piece of advice. Do NOT pick all number one seeds to go to the final four. The last time just 3 number one seeds went to the final four was in 2001! March madness is not like daily nba picks where it is EXTREMELY predictable, you have to live on the edge of your seat and take risks.

You need to take smart college basketball favorites to use in your march madness pool or brackets. You need to read in between the lines for example, if you see a 12 vs 5 seed match up and the 12th seed has potential of crushing the 5th seed, more than likely it will indeed happen. Or that 15th seed beating the number 2 seed a few years ago? Remember Iowa State going down? It happens all the time that’s why it is called march madness. It is were Cinderella teams are born. Remember George Mason? They made a name for themselves going to the final 4 a few years ago? I bet you didn’t have them in your bracket to go to the final 4 that year? Well I did!

I study ncaa mens basketball picks ritually, at least 5 hours a day. All trends, statistics, injuries, location, etc… to come up with the best picks. I play more for a constant stream of incoming, then as a hobby. I have a love for the game and by far march madness is the best time of the year. The college basketball odds of winning all 64 games are slim to none, well if you do there are plenty of sites willing to pay you over a million dollars or more.

If you do a little research, planning, studying, and praying you may be on the road to winning millions of dollars. Anything can happen, especially in march madness. Throw the ncaa odds out the door for number one teams winning it all, more than likely it is going to be a number 4 or 5 seed coming from know where to snatch the title. Should I say Syracuse? They had such an incredible run. If you are a sports fan, march madness is seriously what it is all about!

Chris Grisham is the creator of Sportsbook Investing, the premier website for making money betting online sports. He has successfully been beating sportsbooks for years using his proven system and top NCAA Mens Basketball Picks Learn about his system for FREE at http://www.SportsbookInvesting.com

Poker Calculator Strategy – Sitting Out a Round

Sunday, February 8th, 2009

There is an advantage when using an empirical poker calculator to actually sitting out a round while playing in your favorite ring game. This happens at live brick and mortar tables all the time, but in casinos it’s more for dinner, cigarette, and washroom breaks. Those kinds of sit-outs don’t have nearly the benefit of using a poker calculator because you don’t get to monitor the action in your absence.

Let’s say you have attached hold’em indicator to your 9 seated table at full tilt poker that is playing 2/4 limit hold’em. You get in the waiting list with only one player ahead of you, but you have done the right thing in opening the table up, because hold’em indicator is collecting statistics for you even while you wait.

About 15 minutes later you get your seat and decide to sit until the big blind comes around.

This usually happens in a live game too and it gives yourself a chance to check out the competition for those few hands before you are the big blind. Since we are online, you already have a storehouse of statistics from the previous 15 minutes of play representing exactly 13 hands of action. Add the few hands when the blinds get to you and you have some surprisingly accurate information to peruse about your opponents already, even though you haven’t invested a nickel yet!

Hold’em Indicator poker calculator actually starts attaching profile icons to your opponents after only 8 hands, and they get more and more accurate as the game moves on. It’s easy to see how that would be an advantage when entering a game, but there are also the times when the table changes several players in a short period of time, when you need a break to take care of personal things at home.

Well in that case you can just press the sit out button in your game window and the software keeps collecting the vital statistics for you in your absence. If somebody’s stack size changes, you will know it. If an opponent has all of a sudden become inexplicably loose, you will know it. If someone is tilting you can find that out too with surprisingly reasonable accuracy.

When three players change at once in a nine seated limit game, it could easily change the whole dynamic and that could very well be a good time to take your break, sit out a couple rounds and let the software do some valuable research for you. In fact, you may even want to change tables because of the new make-up! It is surprisingly powerful how you can easily save money when your poker calculator gives you this kind of heads-up!

Marty Smith has been a winning player online for more than 3 years now and has video reviews of all the poker calculators so you can see them being used before you decide which one is right for you. He also has a tournament strategy video series that is free just for signing up.

Why a Casino is Fun

Sunday, February 8th, 2009

People love playing at casinos and their popularity is undeniable. Compared to a couple of decades ago, casinos are widespread throughout the United States. Cruise ships, state-licensed casinos, and Native American casinos entertain millions of people every year and make billions of dollars.

What could possibly be the attraction of a place that will most likely take your money? First of all, going anywhere and doing anything costs money, so the fact that visiting a casino may cost you money is not really an impediment. The keyword in that last sentence was “may” because you might actually win money when you play at a casino, and this definitely cannot happen at other entertainment venues.

The appeal of a casino begins with the environment it creates for its patrons. Casinos have common elements such as they are noisy, have lots of bright lights inside and out, and flashy gaudy carpeting that (luckily) can’t be found in other places. The exciting and exotic atmosphere of the typical casino combined with the presence of gambling imbues it with a speak-easy mystique that makes it a tantalizing place to play.

A casino provides people with a place to go that is different than their other choices. It’s not a movie theater or shopping mall or bar. Sometimes a casino resort includes these elements but they are only extras tacked on to a casino. There is not another type of entertainment venue that quite delivers the excitement, flash, emotion, and slightly gangster flair that can be found in a casino.

For special events like weddings or just a big date, a casino also offers itself as a place where you can dress up. Although casual dress is fine for visitors as well, you are not the least bit out of place in formal attire. It just adds to the whole scene when some people are dressed up.

Most importantly, giving adults a place to play is what casinos do best. Gambling is an adult activity, and rightly so. When friends and relatives go out to a casino and run about trying different games and trading stories on their wins and losses, they recapture the feeling of being a kid at a carnival.

And the gambling can give you the biggest thrill. While playing, you have the hope for a win to excite and sustain you during the losses. Then, on the times when you do win, you truly have a good time. Winning anything is fun, and winning money is even more fun. It is especially satisfying to win while gambling because the odds are against you the whole way. You can feel smart and victorious as you cash out and tuck the money into your wallet.

Games that suit about every taste and comfort level are offered at a casino. The slot machines and video poker machines are the most popular because they are the easiest to play. Table games such as blackjack, roulette and craps are commonly found at casinos as well. Some people feel intimidated by these games because they do not know the rules for playing. However, if you are interested in trying some cards or dice on your next casino visit, then you have no reason to be shy about playing. Floor supervisors and dealers will tell you what to do. The point of visiting a casino is to have a good time, so be sure to play the games that interest you.

A free how to play craps guide is available from Falbe Publishing.

Tracy Falbe is the author of multiple nonfiction and fiction books, including Get Dicey: Play Craps and Have Fun based on her years working as a Las Vegas craps dealer.

Advantages of Playing at Online Casinos

Saturday, February 7th, 2009

There a lot of great reasons to choose online or land-based Casinos anywhere. However, there are a few points you should consider before deciding which one to choose.

Online Casinos and Bingo Games present some interesting and unique advantages over their land-based counterparts. Playing online is technically easy, requires less expertise and is more convenient in comparison to traveling long distances to Los Vegas, Atlanta or Macau. Plus, a player doesn’t need to worry about walking through dark parking lots.

There are a lot of advantages to playing online from home that most people wouldn’t have even considered. For instance, you do not have to worry about getting infected or sick or worry about the person sitting next to you. The player can play from his home computer without worrying about issues like dress code, smoking problem and other such issues. As an added advantage many of the big online casinos accept multiple currencies so that people in different corners of the world could be playing the same game.

Most online Bingo companies offer both versions of the game: seventy-five and ninety number. What this does is that it presents more choices for players. In fact most players who play at land-based casinos might not have even heard about a second version. Online casinos normally have several rooms or hours that offer a range of card prices. This way the players can play conveniently and choose according to his budget.

Online casinos permit players to select free casino games that he or she wants to play. This is quite a shift from the rigid structure followed by land-based companies. Many of these sites offer wide a variety of games from progressive jackpot games, coveralls, regular bingo as well as other variations. Players can also take advantage of various side games to win additional money. The player can use the auto-dauber and doesn’t need to check cards or mark numbers. It is much easier and convenient than playing Bingo in real life

Online casinos are multilingual – a major advantage. Even if English is not your first language, you still have the opportunity to play online casino. You can play in your native language in comfort. While playing online, there are several means to pay such as Credit Cards, FirePay and NETeller. This is quite convenient in face of the fairly stringent choices available in land-based casinos.

This Advantages of Playing at Online Casinos article is property of Online Casino Reviews

Why Forex Traders Fail

Friday, February 6th, 2009

Amazingly enough according to estimates, 90 percent of Forex traders lose money. Futures traders fare a little better, 70 to 80 percent are losing traders. Another fact is that the Forex traders lose their trading capital in record time, 6 months, compared to Futures traders at about 12 months. To put all this in perspective I will do a comparison with small business start-ups and how they cope with failure. Further I will also look at the reasons traders and businesses fail. For those of you that think this comparison is not relevant, think again. Why is Forex trading different from any other business? The motive is to make money, right? Otherwise, it would be no different from roulette or any other game that can be found in Las Vegas or Macau.

According to the article, “Survival and Longevity in the Business Employment Dynamics Data,” (Monthly Labor Review 2005) Amy Knaup shows that about 60 percent of business establishments that opened in second quarter of 1998 were still in existence 24 months later. In other words, only 40 percent of new businesses failed within 24 months, that is much better than any traders can show. So why is it that business and traders fail and are there any similarities. Let’s have a look at another 2005 study “Small businesses: Causes of bankruptcy” by Don B. Bradley III and Chris Cowdery from the University of Central Arkansas. In this study, they authors elaborate that roughly 90 percent of the business failure is due to “poor management caused by a lack of knowledge.” So what kind of knowledge are business owners lacking? The areas where knowledge is lacking are many but the following are the most common:

  1. Bad management practices
  2. Poor choice of location
  3. Failure to invest in new products and efficient technology
  4. Lack of adequate financing

In some ways Forex trading is more straight-forward than starting a business (no incorporation, no sales or marketing etc), but on the other hand it is also more complex and illogical since we are dealing with human consensus and expectations driving exchange rates up and down seemingly at random. Going through the above four reasons for business failure and translating it into the Forex trading equivalent we get:

  1. Bad profit and risk management
  2. Poor choice of Forex broker
  3. Failure to invest in a proper trading and charting platform
  4. Under-capitalized

But for a Forex trader it usually doesn’t stop here. Most people signing up for a Forex broker account do so without much knowledge about the Forex market and the psychology involved. On my website I have created a free Forex trading course that addresses the deficiencies that lead to failure of Forex traders. In order to make it easier for traders to grasp the difficulties, I developed the “Three Pillars to Profit”:

  • The Right Trading System, i.e a validated Trading System that produces consistent profits
  • The Right Psychology, i.e a Psychology that supports your trading effort towards consistent profits
  • The Right Experience, i.e an Experience that promotes confidence in your Trading System

This probably seems obvious but believe me, it isn’t. Contrary to what all Forex Brokers want us to believe, Forex trading is not easy.

We have established that Forex traders and Business owners face pretty much the same problems, but why is it that Forex traders fail to such an astounding degree compared to business owners. The “Three Pillars to Profit” I think explains it all, because most traders that enter the Forex arena are severely lacking in all the three pillars. Would you start a Supermarket if you had only 1 or 2 weeks of experience as a Supermarket clerk? Would you start a business without having any idea about how to generate sales or market your products? If you answered No then you are smart, but this is exactly how many aspiring Forex traders approach their new venture. They don’t have a clue of what they are doing.

Not only are Forex traders disregarding the “Three Pillars to Profit”, they are doing it with a certain naiveté and Get-Rich-Quick mentality that is just devastating to their success.

Joerg Hausmann has been a trader for over 20 years, the past few years as a full-time trader. In order to help fellow traders become successful faster and easier, Joerg Hausmann created the “Three Pillars to Profit” integrated into a free Forex Trading Course. For more information and resources visit Joerg’s website, http://www.forex-trading-insight.com

Slot Machine Myths

Thursday, February 5th, 2009

Slot machines are a popular draw in casinos around the world, and even though each country has their different varieties of slot machines, the basic notion behind them all is the same. Traditionally, slot machines are coin-operated machines with three or more reels that spin whenever a lever on the side of the machine is pulled and released. Slot machines are affectionately nicknamed “one-armed bandits” because of their one-armed appearance.

Newer variations of the machine allow players to insert cash or even paper tickets with barcodes in order to play slot machines. Some of the more recent slot machines will even have a touch screen that starts the reels spinning.

Now, on to debunking some of the more popular myths about slot machines:

- The average slot machine never gets hot or cold. This is because the odds of a person hitting a winning combination of reels are determined by a random number generator that is built into the slot machine’s software. The odds never change.

Amusement with prizes (AWP) machines in Britain are the exception to this rule. These AWP machines are progressive, meaning that the chances of someone hitting a winning combination increases over time if the machine has not paid out yet. Some of these machines will also grant winning combinations if it will help the machine to meet certain payout percentages.

- Though there is a logic behind where slot machines are placed out on the gambling floor, higher paying machines are not placed in areas with more traffic. Machines with similar payout percentages are put together.

- The temperature of the coins inserted into the slot machine will not affect the payout received. Slot machines do not sense temperature and payout different percentages depending on the temperature of the coins used.

- Using a slot club card will not affect the slot machine’s payout. The card only allows the casino to monitor how much a player gambles with and the corresponding amenities that should be granted.

- In most jurisdictions, slot machines cannot have their payout percentages altered depending on the time of day or day of the week by punching in some numbers into a computer. To do this would require the replacement of parts inside of the slot machine and in many areas it would also require regulatory supervision.

Once again, British AWP machines is an exception to this rule, as these machines have percentage keys and dip switches, and changing the percentages does not require any supervision.

- Contrary to popular belief, a slot machine that has not paid out in a long time is not “due to hit.” It is impossible to determine when a machine is due to hit since each spin is a random event and has no dependency on the spin before.

http://www.casinocommons.com

Best Online Poker

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

Online Poker:
Online Poker is the Poker game played over the internet. Back in the year 2005, revenues from online poker were estimated to be USD $200 million per month and there was a drastic increase recorded in the number of poker players around the globe.

An overview:
An online poker game as compared to the land based poker game is economical. The reason for this difference is that online poker has lesser charges per head.

Online Poker games are considered more user friendly than a normal land based Poker.

However, besides the positive factors of online poker there are certain disadvantageous points as well. One simple example is that at times online poker players face a lot of player to player collusion.

Nevertheless, online poker has attained a lot of popularity in a very short span of time.

Some of the big names of this industry are given below:

www.titanpoker.com
Titan poker is the largest online poker website. The system requirements to download this software are:

- Windows 98, ME, 2000 or XP
– Minimum screen resolution of at least 800 by 600 pixels with 16-bit
– 30 mb of free disk space

Titan Poker assures to offer you certain features that are not available on any other poker website such as: full screen option, buddy list, player notes, titan poker points, real time transaction history, live support and real time game history.

Pokerstars.com:
Pokerstars.com is the second largest online poker website but the largest poker tournament arranger in the world. It was launched in September 2001. The owner of Pokerstars.com is a Costa Rican company, Rational Enterprises.

Pokerstars is somehow different from other casinos poker games. Pokerstars also offer top notch software’s and services. It offers multi player tournaments. Moreover, there is no limit and restriction on playing the side games.

Today, online poker is one of the most popular online casino games. Once it was thought that this game could never be played over the net, maybe this is the reason that it boomed incredibly.

Sara Sentor
Webmaster
http://www.playersden.org