Bodog Poker - Bodog Offers Millions in Guaranteed Tournaments

Daily Poker Tournaments at Bodog Poker
Bodog Poker is proud to offer daily poker tournaments including guaranteed pots of $100,000 regardless of how many players compete!

 

More tournaments, more players, more fun! Join PokerStars.com.

* Visit an online poker room, sign up, make your first deposit and
receive the listed bonus. Please check terms and conditions for each
bonus at the respective poker room’s web site.

List in a PR6 Web Directory for Free! This site is listed under Comparing Directory
Description

Online Poker Room Reviews

The information below is a summary of our individual poker roomreviews.
If you would like a full review on a particular room simply click on the name of that room.

Poker Stars Review

Rating Summary Player Traffic 10 / 10 Player Quality 7.5 / 10 Software 9.5 / 10 Bonuses and Promotions 8 / 10 Customer Support 9 / 10 Overall Rating: 88% 1st Deposit Bonus: 100% up to $600 Bonus Code: Stars600 Visit Poker Stars

Poker Stars opened for play money beta testing September 12th 2001 and began
offering real money games in December 2001. As the leading tournament
online poker room it has produced players who won their way to become
the 2003 (Chris Moneymaker) and 2004 (Greg Raymer) World Series of
Poker Main Event Champions.

Player Traffic 10/10

Up to 15,000 cash game players and 100,000 tournament players can be found at the Poker Stars tables
during peak periods. This makes Poker Stars by far the largest online
poker room for both cash game and tournament poker.

Quality of Players 7.5/10

In previous years Poker Stars has had a reputation of having very tough players at any games or
limits. As the player numbers has grown the competition has decreased
to a level that is about average compared to other rooms as a whole.

Games Offered

	Limit	Pot Limit	No Limit	Scheduled Tournaments	Sit’n'go Tournaments
Texas Hold’em
Omaha
Omaha Hi/Lo
7 Card Stud
7 Card Stud Hi/Lo
Razz
5 Card Draw
2-7 Triple Draw
H.O.R.S.E.
H.O.S.E.

Software 9.5/10

Since opening with an extended
beta testing stage, Poker Stars has had the most stable and functional software of all the online poker
rooms. Even with tournament sizes of more than a thousand people the
software runs quickly and smoothly.

The statistics provided to
players are comprehensive. The lobby lists tables with average pot
size, players per flop and hands per hour. Statistics offered to seated
players include flop seen by position, pots won with showdown and pots
won without showdown. In tournaments players can also see their current
position and the average chip stack sizes of the players remaining.

Bonuses and Promotions 8/10

Poker Stars offers a first deposit bonus of $100 up to $600 and there is an
occasional re-load bonus, typically 20% up to $120.

Players are able to earn
Frequent Player Points (FPP) by playing real money games that can used
to enter tournaments or make purchases in the FPP Store. A VIP Club is
offered to all players with a variety of membership levels based on the
amount of Frequent Player Points earned every month.

Customer Support 9/10

Customer support is provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by e-mail only. Responses are received in
minutes for the majority of enquiries and the quality of responses is
excellent. Poker Stars has some of the most competent customer support
representatives in the business.

Bodog Poker Review

Rating Summary Player Traffic 7.5 / 10 Player Quality 8.5 / 10 Software 8 / 10 Bonuses and Promotions 9 / 10 Customer Support 9 / 10 Overall Rating: 84% Sign-up Bonus: 110% up to $550 Bonus Code: REVIEWPR Visit Bodog Poker

History

Bodog.com, founded by
flamboyant billionaire Calvin Ayre, has
operated an online sports book and casino since 1995. In 2004 the Bodog
Poker room opened for business and with a great marketing campaign by
the owner has seen the site grow by leaps and bounds.

Player Traffic 7/10

During peak times there can be
up to 4,000 real money and 20,000
tournament players found on the tables at Bodog poker.

Quality of Players 8.5/10

Due to the fact Bodog Poker has
many of its sports and casino
players venture to the poker tables the level of play is mostly below
average no matter the stakes being played.

Games Offered

	Limit	Pot Limit	No Limit	Scheduled Tournaments	Sit’n'go Tournaments
Texas Hold’em
Omaha
Omaha Hi/Lo
5 Card Stud
7 Card Stud
7 Card Stud Hi/Lo

Software 8/10

While the graphics aren’t the
flashiest around the software at Bodog
Poker is fast and stable. The lobby displays the average pot size and
percentage of players who see the flop for each table and your
statistics while playing are available at each table. Players can play
up to a maximum of 3 tables at the same time with ease due to the
“Picture in Picture” table view.

Bonuses and Promotions 9/10

The bonuses and promotions
offered by Bodog Poker are excellent.
Bodog Poker offers an initial deposit bonus of 110% with a maximum of
$550 (Bonus Code: REVIEWPR).
Players can earn points
through the Bodog Player Point program which can used as entry into
certain tournaments and occasionally a points to cash promotion.
Additionally there is Tournament Leader board promotion where players
can earn special prizes determined by their multi-table tournament
performances for the week, month and year.

Customer Support 9/10

Bodog Poker customer support is
handled by e-mail or by phone. The
e-mail support may take a couple of hours to reply but the responses
are clear and of high quality.

Visit Bodog Poker

Full Tilt Poker Review

Rating Summary Player Traffic 9 / 10 Player Quality 8 / 10 Software 9 / 10 Bonuses and Promotions 9 / 10 Customer Support 8.5 / 10 Overall Rating: 87% Sign-up Bonus: 100% up to $600 Bonus Code: BONUSRPR Visit Full Tilt Poker

History

Full Tilt Poker opened for
business in July 2004 and with an
aggressive marketing campaign has gradually grown to be one of the
leading online poker rooms. Full Tilt sponsors some of the biggest
names in poker including Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer and Phil Gordon, who
can sometimes be seen playing at the tables.

Player Traffic 9/10

During peak times there can be
up to 60,000 tournament and 10,000
cash game players found at the Full Tilt Poker real money tables. The
cash games consist mainly of Limit or No-Limit Texas Hold’em tables.

Quality of Players 8/10

Historically even at lower
limits the players at Full Tilt Poker
tended to be quite a bit tighter than those found at most other online
poker rooms. Although these tight players were not necessarily be good
players it did make it much more difficulty to win than rooms with
looser players. However as the room has grown in size the competition
has gotten considerably easier, especially in the Omaha games.

Games Offered

	Limit	Pot Limit	No Limit	Scheduled Tournaments	Sit’n'go Tournaments
Texas Hold’em
Omaha
Omaha Hi/Lo
7 Card Stud
7 Card Stud Hi/Lo
Razz
HORSE*

*HORSE is a fixed limit mixed
game. Each letter stands for a
different game, with the game changing each time the level changes in a
tournament.

The 5 games are:

H – Texas Hold’em

O – Omaha
Hi/Lo – Eight or better

R – Razz

S – Seven
Card Stud High

E – Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo – Eight
or better

Software 9/10

The software at Full Tilt Poker
is excellent with no discernable
bugs or problems. Available for both MacIntosh and Windows platforms
the software runs smoothly, quickly and is easy to navigate. While the
cartoonish graphics may not be to everyone’s tastes they do provide a
welcome change from the staid visuals found at most other poker rooms.
Statistics provided in the lobby to assist table selection are average
pot size, percent of players seeing the flop and hands per hour.

Bonuses and Promotions 9/10

Full Tilt Poker has one of the
best sign-up bonuses found at online
poker rooms – 100% up to $600 by either visiting from this site or
using the sign up code BONUSRPR.
Every few months
there are additional 50% deposit bonuses offered. Players can also earn
Full Tilt Points through real money play which can be redeemed for
special points tournaments or merchandise.

Customer Support 8.5/10

Full Tilt Poker offers 24 hour
support via e-mail only. The response
time is fast, usually within half an hour, and the quality of responses
is very high.

Visit Full Tilt Poker

---

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Titan Poker Review

 

Rating Summary Player Traffic 8.5 / 10 Player Quality 8 / 10 Software 8.5 / 10 Bonuses and Promotions 9 / 10 Customer Support 9 / 10 Overall Rating: 86% 1st Deposit Bonus: 100% up to $500 Bonus Code: RRTITAN Visit Titan Poker

 

---

 

History

Recently
opened in 2005, Titan Poker is
part of the rapidly expanding iPoker network of internet poker rooms
that use Playtech software.

Player Traffic 8.5/10

There can be up to approximately 5,000
cash game and 25,000 tournament players found at the Titan Poker tables
during peak hours. As part of the iPoker network you can find yourself
playing against players from other affiliated sites such as Noble Poker.

Quality of Players 8.5/10

The opposition is of a similar standard to
that found at Party Poker especially at the lower limits where numerous
weaker players can be found. At higher limits there is mostly
short-handed play where as expected the level of competition can be
tough.

Games Offered

 

	Limit	Pot Limit	No Limit	Scheduled Tournaments	Sit’n'go Tournaments
Texas Hold’em
Omaha
Omaha Hi/Lo
7 Card Stud
5 Card Stud

 

Software 8.5/10

The software supplied by Playtech and used
by Titan Poker and the other poker rooms on the iPoker network is
available in numerous languages including English, German, French,
Italian and Spanish. The software is visually appealing and the
functionality is good with no noticeable bugs although the game-play
can be a bit slow at times. Statistics displayed in the lobby include
average pot size, players seeing the flop percentage and hands per
hour.

Bonuses and Promotions 9/10

Titan Poker offers numerous bonuses and
promotions to new and existing players. There is a sign-up bonus of 50%
up to $500 maximum and there are unique bonuses for players that can
win multiple, 5 to 6 depending on the bonus, sit and go tournaments in
a row. And finally there are bad beat bonuses and a Titan Poker VIP
Club that rewards frequent players with freeroll tournament entries and
loyalty cash bonuses.

Customer Support 9/10

Support is available via live chat, e-mail
and telephone with toll-free numbers available for UK based players.
Most inquiries are answered very quickly and the quality of support is
high.

Visit Titan Poker

---

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Party Poker Review

 

Summary Player Traffic 9 / 10 Player Quality 8.5 / 10 Software 8 / 10 Bonuses and Promotions 9 / 10 Customer Support 8 / 10   Overall Rating: 86% Sign-up Bonus: 100% up to $500 Bonus Code: RPRBONUS Visit Party Poker

 

 

---

 

History

Party Poker opened in 2001 and is
credited by many as playing a large role in the creation of the online
poker boom with its aggressive marketing. Party Poker is currently
listed on the London Stock Exchange (PRTY – PartyGaming PLC).

Player Traffic 9/10

Once the largest online poker
room with a reported 5 million users,
Party Poker has been overtaken by Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker.
However there are still 10,000 cash players and 60,000 tournament
players during the busiest times. Due to the number of players from all
over the globe a game can generally be found quickly no matter the time
of day.

Quality of Players 8.5/10

Many of the players are
beginners or casual players, especially at
the lower levels. As you play higher level games they do get tougher as
expected however you can still find many opportunities to play players
of a lower standard.

Games Offered

 

	Limit	Pot Limit	No Limit	Scheduled Tournaments	Sit’n'go Tournaments
Texas Hold’em
Omaha
Omaha Hi/Lo
7 Card Stud
7 Card Stud Hi/Lo

 

Software 8/10

The software at Party Poker is
fast and reasonably reliable. There
can be some glitches with the waiting list to get into games and other
minor annoyances such as noises and graphics but overall no major
problems at all. Tables are re-sizable and hand histories are now also
stored on the hard drive. Players can play up to 10 tables
simultaneously and the software includes statistics showing the average
pot size for each table in its lobby section, which gives a pointer to
finding the juicier games.

Bonuses and Promotions 9/10

Party Poker
is an excellent site
for ongoing bonuses. Usually every month or two you will be entitled to
receive a 20% bonus for any extra money deposited. They also have a
players club where players can earn points that they can trade in for
merchandise.

Customer Support 8/10

Party Poker claims to respond
within 24 hours to emailed questions
although we have found that they are usually much quicker than that
(they often respond within the hour). For immediate support there is 7
day, 24 hour telephone support available which is toll free from many
countries.

Sometimes there can be
miscommunication as the support is based in
India but Party Poker does value their loyal customers highly and
generally provide good support and do their best to help.

Visit Party Poker

---

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everest Poker Review

 

Rating Summary Player Traffic 8 / 10 Player Quality 8 / 10 Software 8 / 10 Bonuses and Promotions 8 / 10 Customer Support 7.5 / 10 Overall Rating: 79% Sign-up Bonus: 100% up to $100 Bonus Code: None Required Visit Everest Poker

 

 

---

 

History

Everest Poker is medium sized
poker room that is targeted towards
European and Asian players. It was the first online poker room with
multi-lingual support. Currently 16 different languages are supported
including Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Japanese and many
others.

Player Traffic 8/10

During peak times there can be
up to 5,000 cash game players and
10,000 tournament players found at the Everest poker tables. The most
trafficked times are during evening hours for European players.

Quality of Players 8/10

The level of play is slightly
worse to average compared to other
online poker rooms. The lower limits have many bad players and a soft
table is usually easy to find. As the limits increase the quality of
play and number of tough opponents increases considerably.

Games Offered

 

	Limit	Pot Limit	No Limit	Scheduled Tournaments	Sit’n'go Tournaments
Texas Hold’em

 

Software 8/10

The software is available in 16
languages with Texas Hold’em being
the only poker game currently being offered. The graphics are nothing
spectacular but not bad either with speed of play about average. Everest Poker
basically has good and stable
software – not as good as some poker rooms but not as bad as others
either. The lobby statistics shown are average pot size, hands per hour
and percentage of players seeing the flop. Also included in the poker
room client software is a tutorial to help beginners get started.

Bonuses and Promotions 8/10

Everest Poker has a $100 bonus
available for new players. Also
available is the Summit
Points Program which awards
points
for play in real money cash games and tournaments. These points can be
used to enter real money tournaments, Everest Poker merchandise or even
Points for Points
poker games and tournaments.

Customer Support 7.5/10

Support is only available by
e-mail. While support is generally
helpful they are on occasions slow to respond.

Visit Everest Poker

---

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mansion Poker Review

 

Rating Summary Player Traffic 8.5 / 10 Player Quality 8 / 10 Software 8.5 / 10 Bonuses and Promotions 9 / 10 Customer Support 9 / 10 Overall Rating: 86% 1st Deposit Bonus: 100% up to $500 Bonus Code: RPRBONUS Visit Mansion Poker

 

 

---

  

History

Mansion Poker opened in 2004 as an
independent poker room with software developed in-house. In 2005 along
with the Fox network, Mansion Poker produced 26 episodes of the “Poker
Dome Challenge” which was broadcast in the US and internationally. In
2007 Mansion Poker moved to the iPoker network and Playtech software.

Player Traffic 8.5/10

There can be up to
approximately 5,000 cash game and 25,000
tournament players found at the Mansion Poker tables during peak hours.
As part of the iPoker network you can find yourself playing against
players from other affiliated sites such as Noble Poker.

Quality of Players 8.5/10

The opposition is of a similar
standard to that found at Party Poker
especially at the lower limits where numerous weaker players can be
found. At higher limits there is mostly short-handed play where as
expected the level of competition can be tough.

Games Offered

	Limit	Pot Limit	No Limit	Scheduled Tournaments	Sit’n'go Tournaments
Texas Hold’em
Omaha
Omaha Hi/Lo
7 Card Stud
5 Card Stud

 

Software 8.5/10

The software supplied by
Playtech and used by Mansion Poker and the other poker rooms on the
iPoker network is available in numerous languages including English,
German, French, Italian and Spanish. The software is visually appealing
and the functionality is good with no noticeable bugs although the
game-play can be a bit slow at times. Statistics displayed in the lobby
include average pot size, players seeing the flop percentage and hands
per hour.

Bonuses and Promotions 9/10

Mansion Poker offer an initial deposit bonus of
100% up to $500. There are a variety of other promotions including a $1
million monthly tournament, double point days and freerolls with the
chance to win tickets to Tottenham Hotspur’s games.

Club Mansion is the loyalty
program opened by Mansion Poker in 2009
which involves earning points that can be converted to cash or
merchandise.

Customer Support 9/10

Mansion Poker offer telephone
support, toll-free from many places,
in several countries and multiple languages. There is also e-mail
support that usually responds within an hour.

Visit Mansion Poker

General Poker

Poker in general has a lot of
rules and theory behind it.

Rules

• Playing Cards – Standard Deck
• Playing Cards – Miscellaneous Decks
• Standard Poker Hand Rankings
• Low Poker Hand Rankings
• Betting Basics
• Antes / Blinds
• Betting Structures

Articles

• Improving your play
• Online Poker Bots – Threat or Not?
• Analysis of Party Poker ‘Sidebet’

Downloads

• Records.xls
  - A very simple Excel 2000 spreadsheet for poker record keeping. 

               Feel free to modify.

Standard
Deck

The standard deck consists of
52 playing cards, and is used in a
variety of games including poker, bridge, blackjack and solitaire.

Each card’s value consists of
one of the thirteen ranks and one of
the four suits. The values each of these may take on are:

• Ranks:
  Ace, King, Queen , Jack, Ten, Nine,
  Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two
• Suits:
  Spade (),
  Heart (), Diamond (),
  Club ()

In poker typically the ranks
are ordered from highest to lowest as
listed above, although an ‘Ace’ may count as either the highest or
lowest card. Suits rarely if ever are given an order in poker, as
opposed to bridge where suits are ordered from highest to lowest as
listed above.

Related Links

Brief History of Playing Cards
- The web site of
the International Playing-Card Society is for those interested curious
about playing cards.

Miscellaneous
Decks

Joker’s Added

One or more jokers can added to
a Standard
Deck
as wild-cards. This type of deck was commonly used at California poker
rooms in draw poker games. The jokers have an effect of making stronger
ranked hands more common and is thought to increase the amount of
betting.

Reduced Deck

Reduced decks consists of a Standard Deck
with some cards removed. A reduced deck sometimes used in European
poker games of stud or draw poker consists of 32 playing cards – the
2’s, 3’s, 4’s, 5’s and 6’s being removed. Again this has the effect of
making stronger hands more common and thought to increase the amount of
action.

Standard
Poker Hand
Rankings

Below is a ranking of five card
poker hands from a standard 52 card
deck.

Rankings are listed from highest to lowest.

When a hand may qualify for two different rankings the highest is
chosen.

Note: Suits are not used in poker hand rankings to break ties.

1. Straight Flush

Five cards in sequence all of
the same suit. An Ace can count as
either high or low – A
K
Q
J
T
and 5 4 3 2 A
are both possible straight flushes.

Ties are broken by the highest
ranked card (5 for a 5 4 3 2 A
straight flush) in the sequence.

2. Four of a Kind

Four cards of the same rank and
a fifth card of a differing rank.

Ties are broken firstly by the
rank of the four similar cards and
secondly by the rank of the fifth card.

3. Full House

Three cards of the same rank
and two cards of a different rank.

Ties are broken firstly by the
rank of the three similar cards and
secondly by the rank of the two similar cards.

4. Flush

Five cards all of the same suit.

Ties are broken firstly by the
rank of the highest card, secondly by
the rank of the second highest card, and so on to the fifth highest
card.

5. Straight

Five cards in sequence. An Ace
can count as either high or low.

Ties are broken by the highest
ranked card (5 for a 5
4 3
2 A
straight) in the sequence.

6. Three of a Kind

Three cards of the same rank,
and two other cards of differing ranks.

Ties are broken firstly by the
rank of the three similar cards,
secondly by the rank of the highest other card and thirdly by the rank
of the second highest other card.

7. Two Pair

Two cards of the same rank, two
cards of a different rank and a
fifth card of a different rank.

Ties are broken by the rank of
the highest pair, secondly by the
rank of the lowest pair and thirdly by rank of the fifth card.

8. One Pair

Two cards of the same rank and
three cards of differing rank.

Ties are broken firstly by the
rank of the two similar cards,
secondly by the rank of the highest other card, thirdly by the rank of
the second highest other card and fourthly by the rank of the third
highest other card.

9. High Card

Five cards of differing rank.

Ties are broken firstly by rank
of the highest card, secondly by
rank of the second highest card, and so on to the fifth highest card.

Appendix A – Frequency of Five
Card Poker Hands

The following table list the
frequencies of each poker hand ranking
given a selection of 5 cards from a standard 52 card deck. As can be
seen the order corresponds to how poker hands are ranked.

Low
Poker Hand Rankings

There are a number of games
where the low poker hand wins all of the
pot (eg Razz, Lowball) or a portion of the pot (eg Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or
better).

Low hands are ranked in the
reverse order of the Standard
Poker Hand Rankings
with some slight modifications. There are three common types of low
poker hand rankings: ace to five, ace to six, and deuce to seven.
Additionally, in some games like Omaha Hi/Lo there is a rule that the
hand must also qualify to win the low portion of the pot.

In all versions of low poker,
when breaking ties the highest cards
are compared first, followed by the second highest cards and so on. A
hand containing 7
6 5
4
2
will rank higher than 8
5
4 3 2
because the highest card in the first hand (7) is lower than the
highest card (8) in the second hand.

Ace to Five

In this form of ranking low
hands both straights and flushes are
ignored and an Ace counts as the lowest ranked card. The best possible
hand is Ace 2 3 4 5 of any suit, even if a flush. Note also that a pair
of aces beats a pair of 2s.

Ace to Six

Ace to six low hand rankings DO
count straights and flushes, but the
Ace still counts as the lowest ranked card. The best possible hand
contains cards of rank Ace 2 3 4 6 not all of the same suit.

Deuce to Seven

Deuce to seven low hand
rankings counts straights and flushes, and
the Ace is the highest card. This form of low poker hand ranking is the
exact reverse of the traditional Standard Poker Hand Ranking system.
The best possible hand contains cards of rank 2 3 4 5 7 not all of the
same suit. Note also that a pair of 2s beat a pair of Aces.

Qualifiers

In games like Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or
better to qualify, to win the low
portion of the pot a player must not have a pair and must not have a
card higher than an 8. For example, 7 6 4 2 A
qualifies for the low portion of the pot under these rules, while 9
4
3
2
A
and 5
3 3
2
A
do not. If no player qualifies at the showdown for the low portion of
the pot, the whole pot is distributed to the high hand winner.

Betting
Basics

Betting Options

When it is a player’s turn to
act, the following options may be
available.

1)
Fold

The player discards his hand and forfeits the chance to win any portion
of the pot.

2)
Check

If there has been no bet made on the current betting round a player may
choose to check,
putting no more money into the pot but
remaining in the hand.

3)
Call

If there has been a bet made in the current betting round a player may
choose to call
the bet, matching the current bet amount.

4)
Bet

If there has been no bet made on the current betting round a player may
choose to bet,
putting money into the pot, the amount
depending on the betting structure.

5)
Raise

If there has been a bet made on the current betting round a player may
choose to raise,
first calling the current bet amount then raising the current bet to a
larger size, the amount depending on the betting structure.

Antes
/ Blinds

Antes and blinds are forced
bets put into the pot by players before
any cards are dealt. A poker game’s betting structure may have either
or both of these bets. Antes and blinds are used to stimulate action as
without these bets players could fold all but their strongest hands
with no risk. In fact poker has correctly been said to be a fight for
the antes and blinds.

Antes

Antes are a forced bet that is
placed into the pot by every player.
This amount does not count towards the bets made on the first round of
betting. Typically antes are used in stud games and tournaments.

Blinds

Blinds are bets placed into the
pot usually by 1 or 2 players. These
amounts are counted towards the bets made on the first round of
betting. There can be blinds of different sizes as in Texas Hold’em
Poker or Omaha High Poker where the player one position after the
dealer places a small blind bet and the player two positions after the
dealer places a big blind bet twice the size of the small blind.

Betting
Structures

Limit

In poker games with a limit
betting structure the bet and raise
amounts are limited to a certain size. Each round of betting may have
different limits, normally with higher limits on later betting rounds.

Examples:

1. With a $3 limit on the
   current betting round and a current bet of
   $0: The player to act may check or bet $3.
2. With a $3 limit on the
   current betting round and a current bet of
   $3: The player to act may fold, call $3 or raise the current bet to $6
   (call $3 + raise $3).
3. With a $3 limit on the
   current betting round and a current bet of
   $6: The player to act may fold, call $6 or raise the current bet to $9
   (call $6 + raise $3).

Pot Limit

In poker games with a pot limit
betting structure the bet and raise
amounts are limited to the size of the pot plus the bets and raises
made on the current betting round. The minimum bet size is equal to the
big blind and the minimum raise size is equal to the last bet or raise.

Examples:

1. With a big blind of $5, a
   pot of $100 and a current bet of $0:
   The player to act may check or bet between $5 and $100.
2. With a big blind of $5, a
   pot of $100 and a current bet of $50:
   The
   player to act may fold or call $50 or raise the current bet to between
   $100 (call $50 + raise $50) and $250(call $50 + raise $200)

No Limit

In poker games with a no limit
betting structure there is no maximum
bet or raise size. The minimum bet size is equal to the the big blind
and the minimum raise size is equal to the last bet or raise.

Examples:

1. With a big blind of $5, a
   pot of $100 and a current bet of $0:
   The
   player to act may check or bet between $5 and however much the player
   has on the table.
2. With a big blind of $5, a
   pot of $100 and a current bet of $50:
   The
   player to act may fold or call $50 or raise the current bet to between
   $100 (call $50 + raise $50) and however much the player has on the
   table.

Improving Your Poker Play

Introduction

You have learned the rules of poker and have tried your hand at play
money or low limit real money. Maybe you are holding your own or even
losing a little. Now you want to improve your play and become a regular
winning poker player. This article will give an overview of the tools
that can help you improve your poker game and some suggested resources.

Play and analyse

It may sound like a cliché, but nothing beats experience
combined
with an honest analysis of your game. Play as much as you can, but
always review and analyse your play. Could you have played a hand
differently to win more money or lose less? Which of your opponents are
solid and which are playing worthless hands? These are just some
questions you should be asking yourself.

Suggestions:

See our poker
room reviews to find an online poker room to play at.

Books

Poker books provide a valuable source of information. There are many
poker books out there, of varying quality. I recommend that rather than
buying many books and only skimming over them once or twice, that it is
better to buy a few high quality books and really study them. You will
find that as you play more and read the books a second or third time
you will pick up concepts and strategies that you had previously missed.

Suggestions:

Winning Low-Limit Hold’em (Lee Jones) – An easy to read book that
provides a winning strategy specifically tailored for low-limit games.

Small Stakes Hold’em: Winning Big With Expert Play (Ed Miller, David
Sklansky, Mason Malmuth) – An excellent book explaining how to beat low
limit Hold’em games. This book offers intelligent, no-frills advice for
the aspiring poker player.

Hold’Em Poker for Advanced Players (David Sklansky, Mason Malmuth) -
This book is a must for serious hold’em players who have mastered the
low level games and are looking to move to higher limits.

Software

Poker playing software has advanced considerably over the last few
years. Although not up to the standard of world-class chess or
backgammon playing software, poker software gives a level of play
equivalent to a poker player who is well above an average skill level.
This allows for a much more realistic “free” playing experience than
the often ridiculous play at online play money poker tables.

Suggestions:

Poki Poker
- A commercial version of the software developed by the The University
of Alberta GAMES Group. Poki-poker is the result of over 10 years work
in game theory, machine learning and neural networks. It provides
opponents of varying strength in both full table play and heads-up
play. In my opinion Poki-Poker is the strongest poker playing software
available.

Turbo series by Wilson
software
- Available now for over a decade, the Wilson Turbo series was the
first poker software of a decent standard that was available to the
general public. Over the years the playing strength has improved
considerably and there is a product for almost any game type – Hold’em,
Omaha, 7 Card Stud in either cash game or tournament format.

Record Keeping

Record keeping is essential if you want to become a winning poker
player. Records will give you the information that you need to analyse
your win rates, discover weaknesses in your game, and also to give a
realistic assessment of how you are doing. Without record keeping you
will only be guessing as to how well you are playing and weaknesses in
your game may cause you to lose money indefinitely.

Although there are many excellent commercial products out there for
record keeping, beginner players may find an Excel spreadsheet an
excellent free option. I have constructed a basic spreadsheet that you
can download for free here.

Suggestions:

Poker Tracker
- Derives data from the hand history records available from online
poker rooms. Provides detailed statistics on you and your opponents in
almost every aspect of play plus the ability to replay each hand.

Poker Office
- Similar to Poker Tracker but also has the ability to track your play
in real time as you are playing.

Hand HQ – A
service that can provide millions of hand histories from the leading
online poker rooms. This can provide valuble information for those
wanting to do deeper research into a particular poker game.

Conclusion

Taking the step from a competent poker player to a regular winning
poker player takes some work and dedication. Although you might not see
the results at first, persistence and hard work does really pay off.

Online Poker Bots -
Threat or Not?

Written by Harrison Elliot

28 September 2005

Editors Note:

Harrison (not his real name) is a regular player in our poker games at
home. Late one night (and after a number of beers) the conversation got
onto online poker and another player complained about poker bots (short
for robot) ruining online poker. Harrison, being recently out of
college (with qualifications in pure math/finance and experience
working for an investment bank) told us a story about how he wrote a
poker bot and re-assured us that there was nothing to worry about. I
asked him if he would like to write an article for our website and he
kindly obliged. Here it is.

Introduction

Online games from chess and backgammon to 1st person shooters are
rife with people who use computer assisted play or computer robots -
even when there is no money at stake. With the appropriate program any
player is able to play at a world championship level ruining the game
for honest players. What makes online poker different, given that there
are huge amounts of money at stake?

In this article I will explain how I developed a poker bot and what
I learnt from this experience. My conclusion is that although it is
possible to construct a poker playing bot the threat from poker bots to
the online poker player is extremely small to non-existent.

“Games” Theory

For interest and college courses I had previously written computer
playing programs or bots for games including chess, Connect 4, Othello,
backgammon, bridge and various others. For games such as Connect 4,
Othello, chess and backgammon where all players have the same available
information about the game state, the theory on how to construct expert
bots is well known. Deep search techniques, looking many moves ahead,
are used for games such as Othello and chess. Recently (10 years ago)
it was discovered neural networks could be taught to play backgammon
better than almost any human player. Games such as poker and bridge
contain hidden information where the players can see their own hand but
not that of the other players. The published theory behind writing
expert computer bots for these incomplete information games is decades
behind the complete information games and there are doubts techniques
will be developed so that computers can play at expert or world
championship level. At present the best techniques for these incomplete
information games seem to involve some form of simulation and opponent
modelling.

Anatomy of An Online Poker Bot

There are 3 basics parts to a poker bot:

1) Data Gathering – observing the game state and history

2) Data Processing – using the information from the data gathered to
determine whether to fold, call or raise.

3) Output – Pressing the appropriate button on the poker room client.

My Poker Bot

My program was written in early 2004 with Microsoft .Net C++ and was
developed to play at one online room only. For the technically minded
the program relied heavily on MFC and the Win32 API.

1) Data Gathering

My bot gathered information about game state and history from online
poker tables by taking repeated screenshots and analysing the image. To
begin with I just observed games, taking screenshots automatically so I
could gather data on the position of the cards, chips and button. By
determining the color of a certain few pixels I was able to gather all
this information about the state of the game.
Eventually I was able to gather data from multiple poker tables (4 at a
time) by repeatedly bringing each window to the foreground and taking a
screenshot. From this screenshot I was able to determine my cards,
board cards, button position, who was left in the hand, pot size and
player bet sizes.

2) Data processing

This is the component that eventually bought my poker bot project to an
end, unable to develop a strong enough strategy to win consistently. I
tried various rules based, neural net and simulation techniques. At
best my bot was able to make a very small profit at $1/2 and $2/$4
limit hold’em, but nowhere near the thousands of dollars a week I
envisioned earning when I started the project. In the end it just
wasn’t worth my time to continue to put resources into developing my
poker bot further.

3) Output

This was the easiest component to write. This involved programmatically
moving the mouse pointer to the appropriate screen co-ordinates and
then sending a mouse down/mouse up command signalling a left-click. I
did give consideration to adding the ability for the bot to use chat
but never progressed that far.

Conclusion

Although you might run into a poker playing bot whilst playing
online the odds are it plays very poorly. At any level of play you are
much more likely to run into an expert human player than an expert
computer player.

Related Links

University
Of Alberta Game’s Group – World’s leading researchers into games of
all types. Home to Poki, arguably the world’s strongest poker AI.

Computer
chess programming – Excellent computer chess programming website.

Temporal Difference Learning and TD-Gammon
- Paper by IBM’s Gerald Tesauro on developing the first world champion
strength backgammon-playing program using neural networks.

Analysis of Party
Poker ‘Sidebet’

Introduction

With their latest update Party Poker have introduced a new betting
option named ‘Sidebet’. A Sidebet is a bet on the whether the flop will
be all of one color and is available on all real money and single table
tournament Hold’em and Omaha tables. In this article I will analyze
this Sidebet and how much the player is expected to win or lose for
every dollar bet.

Details

A wager is placed before any cards are dealt on one of two options -
whether the flop will be all red or all black. A bet of $5 or $10 can
be selected and if successful pays out at 8 for 1, which is equivalent
to odds of 7 to 1. This means for every $1 risked the player stands to
collect $8(win $7) if the bet wins.

Analysis of Bet

Whether you decide to bet on red or black the odds of success are
the same as there is an equal number of each color in a deck of cards.

Using the standard formula for selection without replacement we
calculate the expected win/loss for the player as follows:

Probability of winning = 26/52 * 25/51 * 24/50 = 0.117647059

Probability of losing = 1 – 0.117647059 = 0.882352941

Expected win/loss for player = (+$7 * 0.117647059) + (-$1 *
0.882352941) = -$0.058823529 for every dollar bet