Bingo Wonga is a new breed of online bingo review sites that also includes the games from popular online bingo sites.

Bingo Wonga also have a great range of the latest online slot machines such as Tomb Raider, Spiderman , Call of Duty 4, Monty’s Millions, Da Vinci Diamonds plus many others. As well as free online slots, they also have free online Keno, roulette and even blackjack.

Bingo Wonga only promote the very best online bingo sites that have set high standards in regards to great support, fast and easy cash outs and quality game play.

In real terms they have simply “cherry picked” the very best online bingo sites such as Virgin Bingo. They realise that online bingo players seek out value for every pound they deposit plus require outstanding promotions. Better still Bingo Wonga has dozens of the games from each online bingo site that you can play completely free before you even think about signing up. We find it refreshing that they simply don’t list every online bingo site preferring to only promote the very best brands.

Perhaps the best aspect of Bingo Wonga is simply their great range of free games. All games are completely free without any restrictions or time limits. If you are contemplating signing up to an online bingo site then Bingo Wonga should be your first port of call.

While sitting around a poker table no matter if it’s a friendly game at a acquaintance’s house, a Texas Hold’em tournament in a casino, or just a table at any old online gambling website there are always the same characters sitting at the table. Those of you who are frequent poker players know what this means.

Characterizing a player is somewhat important because most “characters” play alike. If you beat them once you can win them again. While joining a table of players you have never met before it is helpful to get a quick three or four hand read on who and what kind of characters there are. 3 – 4 hands is enough to pick on the “tells” the players unknowingly give away while playing.

Some of the characters you will meet are for example the sunglasses or cap wearing “pro’s” or advanced players, tight and conservative players, the long- pause thinkers, aggressive and loose players who are regularly loud and rude.

The long- pause thinkers, the women who play poker are “characters” and believe it or not, but most women who play poker should not be underestimated and don’t let their acting fool you. An inexperienced looser is characterized by thinking he is always getting bluffed so try not to bluff them because they will call you with a pair. Not trying to discriminate but ethnicity also plays a part on characterizing.

Be warned, don’t mess with the cocky on-a-roll players. When winning a big hand after hand, you should fold until they loose the wind from beneath their wings because luck sometimes comes in consecutive hands. Pre-flop raisers are most annoying but relax they mostly just try to steal the pot and there is always a pre-flop raiser at the poker table. Try to accept them with open hands because they are the players that make the pot interesting. The rare pre-flop raisers have a high pair or high suit cards. Most characterizing is done by looking at a player’s body language, speech patters and betting/ chip handling manners.

Like Bordeaux wines or fast cars, poker is great entertainment if used with moderation.

It is estimated that there are millions of online poker players in the world and this figure is expected to continue rising in the near future. Cool but how many are addicted to poker? And what is poker addiction, or more generally a gambling addiction to online casino games like online video poker?

In the United States it is believed that between 2 and 5% of players are pathological and dependent on gambling. This is because the game of poker provides an immediate satisfaction. Our brain is very sensitive to such feelings and may crave for them on an ongoing basis. This is because the brain releases a substance sending waves of pleasure to our mind: dopamine. It stimulates the feeling of satisfaction and pushes players to repeat the experience.

If you think that you are addicted to poker, you should consult a specialized website.

Poker addiction may develop over poker games, following a series of bad luck where the satisfaction has lessened so that the game of poker becomes an obsession to get this intense pleasure again. The online poker player spends more time in the game, he forgets everything around him, lies to his friends and family, becoming aggressive and isolated.

Despite attempts to stop playing, the desire to gamble becomes uncontrollable, the player has become a compulsive gambler, eventually diving into a veritable hell. The financial and social consequences can be impressive: debts, unpaid rent, fractured social environment, etc.

So what to do in a case of poker addiction?

This type of addiction should not be taken lightly, although most poker blogs do not spend much content dwelling on this aspect of the game. If you feel like falling into a spiral of obsession, you must know how to pause, to take a break from the game for a few days, living normally during this period. The game of poker should first of all be and remain a game, nothing more.

Some aid organizations exist which will support players in need of advise. Note that it is very easy to ask your online casino or online poker room to block your access, or to limit it. This is one more difference with land-based venues that do not really have the means to check for people asking to be self-banned.

Recently I was just thinking of when I started to play online poker a while back. It seems an eternity has passed already since that time.

The first contact with online poker was a shock to me. The possibility of earning money while having fun and most importantly at home, had never crossed my mind before.

A whole new world opened to me, but probably not as easy as I had imagined at first sight. Here is a quick summary of my journey that will better define me. And if you can get some advice from this story, then even better.

Like many other beginners, I spent countless hours watching poker on the television like WPT replays, listening to the advice of Mike Sexton and other pros chatting or getting interviewed. The sums of money involved made me almost faint, and like many gamers, I wanted to be part of this money machine.

Unfortunately for me, the transition from the micro-limits at Absolute Poker to the EPT London did not happen overnight. The learning was painful, costly, in loneliness and by tiny incremental steps.

Poker is no exception to the rule, like any art, mastery comes with experience, and a lot of it for the ones who understand the meaning of the word mastery. If I had to give a few words of advice to a beginner, it would be: progress step by step, bankroll management is the cornerstone of your development and survival as a poker player, never play above your means and always be patient.

Never try to rebuild your bankroll at a higher limit, while slightly on tilt to add to your troubles. This is not the way for solid poker because you can catch up your losses half the time, and use your credit card the other times. Take it from someone who has lived this experience many times, you will feel really miserable when you lose everything. Because it puts you in the face of reality: mathematically, you’re a fish!

Nothing is more important than the love of the game of poker. If you do not love poker, you cannot stand the variance and the downswings. You must put aside the amount of money involved, and only consider your bankroll as a tool that reflect your skill as a poker player.

Be the master of bankroll management and you will have the foundation for building up your skills.

Why playing video poker online?

In today’s casinos and online casinos, the game selection does not stop from increasing with plenty of gambling games to choose from, old and new. Roulette for example is a very old game believed to have originated in seventeenth century France (roulette means little wheel in French), while Badugi Poker is a game that only appeared in American casinos in recent years.

So with so much choice, why do many smart casino players prefer playing video poker? Of course there are plenty of reasons and it can be a matter of preference related to each player. But there are two good reasons to play online video poker compared to other games according to Phil Ivey, a top poker pro.

The main benefit is that the house edge is very low at video poker, so low that it is even possible sometimes to find machines with a payout percentage surpassing 100%, an ideal situation for any gambler.

Obviously video poker machines with such an amazingly positive expected value for the players are far and between, but they exist. Also unlike any other game, you can see the payout and house edge for each video poker machine. Let’s first review the house edge for other casino games.

The house edge for European Roulette is 2.70%, 5.26% for American Roulette. Keno is very unfavorable with over 25% house edge. Blackjack has a low house edge around 0.50 to 1% depending on the casino rules, while Baccarat is slightly over 1% and slots range from 1% to 25%.

With respect to video poker, Jacks or Better is the standard game variation with a low house edge of only 0.46%. No other game has a lower house edge except Blackjack played from a single deck using Las Vegas rules, but nowadays casinos rarely offer such a game. But wait, that’s not all. Here is a list of video poker games with a negative house edge.

Full Pay Double Double Bonus has a -0.06% house edge, Full Pay Double Bonus a -0.17% house edge, Full Pay Jokers Wild (Kings or Better) a -0.64% house edge and finally Full Pay Deuces Wild a -0.76% house. These are the machines you should seek if you want to put all chances on your side while playing video poker.

This is the advantage of video poker that if you pick a specific machine, you will know exactly the house edge, as all machines are built the same way and run like clockwork. This is not so of slot machines. Also unlike slots, video poker is a skill game requiring to apply a strategy, which makes it more interesting.

Overall, video poker is a game with a lot of fun and it is not costly to play it given the great odds offered to the players. So if you have yet done so, give it a shot.

Macau is the Monte Carlo of the East.

With a flourishing gaming and tourism industry, Macau just might be the world’s fastest-growing tourist trap.

If you want to get technical, it’s actually a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China. An area barely seventeen square miles in size, it’s only slightly larger than the island of Manhattan.

Its streets and local culture bear the marks of both Cantonese and imperial Portuguese traditions, but visit the small peninsular region and the first thing you’ll notice might be the thousands of people from Hong Kong riding the hydrofoil and ferry services 40 miles southwest into town. They’re not here to see the ruins of Saint Paul’s Cathedral or sample the local cuisine. They are here to play, and there are more of them coming with every passing day.

While the place widely known as “the Monte Carlo of the Orient” does have a modest textile industry, the economy is anchored by the more than 8 million tourists who visit the region every year, most of them with sit and go tournaments and gambling on their mind.

Almost half of Macau’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) comes from gambling, part of which can be found at the small number of racetracks around town, like the Canidrome in northern Macau or Racecourse in nearby Taipa. But people are coming to Macau in droves primarily to sample its immaculate casinos and hotels. And how can you tell that Macau is about to become the gaming world’s new boom town? Americans are starting to invest.

“The key for us is just to draw the parallel between what has become a successful model in Las Vegas. Obviously you have to adapt it a little bit for culture and remain sensitive to that,” says Ron Reese, Executive Director of Communications for Las Vegas Sands Corp., owner of the Sands Macau. “Operating off the coast of mainland China is different from operating in Nevada.” The Sands Macau used to be the only American-owned casino property in Macau, but that is changing.

After the recession, a lot of Las Vegas tycoons are starting to invest in Macau. So if you have not visited Macau and you like gambling, put it on top of your list if you want to be taken seriously as a world class gambler.

Poker is a Dirty Business

Poker is a very glamorized game on the outside, thanks to ESPN, the Travel Channel and other networks broadcasting players as young as 21 years old winning hundreds of thousands of dollars in televised tournaments.

Many are college drop-outs who are riding the wave of the Poker boom, and taking advantage of all the loose money floating around the poker world both online and in live games everywhere.

In almost every city in the civilized world you can find a Poker game 24 hours a day whether it be in a local casino, or a home game. Most, if not all of the players in these games have their hopes and dreams set on becoming the next Average Joe to hit it big in the game we all know so well and obsess over.

What many of these hopefuls don’t realize, is that when the cameras are not rolling, poker is a dirty business.

They don’t see one of the best tournament players of all time borrowing money from everyone he meets on the strength of his name. Or his wife having to FedEx his tournament Buy-in directly to the hotel so he doesn’t lose it in the Craps game on the way to the poker room.

They don’t see a very well known internet player racking up over $100,000 in debt to, and allegedly hacking into the account of another well-known player. After repeated attempts to collect, to my knowledge the debt still isn’t paid off.

They don’t hear all of the allegations of chip-dumping in big buy-in tournaments by a syndicate connected to a well known poker player and mentor.

They don’t hear about how one of the greatest, most well known and respected players of all time allegedly making big money early in his career by playing partners with other locals, to squeeze unknowing tourists of their bankrolls.

They don’t know why a certain WPT final table participant just couldn’t make it to the WSOP tournaments for day two, even though he was in a great chip position. They also have not read the cryptic interviews with the player in regard to his absences, as reported by a known poker journalist.

They don’t know that an astounding number of players in these big-money tournaments are backed, or in debt so much that they see little or no money from what they win. In an interview with one WSOP winner, the player was asked what he would do with all that money. “pay some people back that I owe probably” he replied. “What about the rest?” the reporter asked.

“Oh they will just have to wait.” the player responded.

People seldom understand how shady and desperate people become when large sums of money are involved. Money changes people. It makes them do crazy things, but then again–it also makes the world go ’round.

Good Luck at the Tables

888 Holdings PLC is a public company listed in the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol 888. It is a holding company founded in 1997 that operates a number of very profitable online gamblign websites.

888 belongs to the FTSE250, and as such is a major British company. Its operating subsidiary, Cassava Enterprises, is incorporated under the laws of Gibraltar, where the operations of the company are conducted, thus benefiting from favorable tax and gambling laws. The major shareholders are brothers Avi and Aaron Shaked who control about fifty percent of the holding company, and brothers Shay and Ron Ben-Yitzhak who own another 11%, leaving the rest as passive minority shareholders.

Pacific Poker is 888’s online poker subsidiary. Started in 2002, Pacific Poker is one of the major online poker brands, offering all major poker variations such as Texas Holdem, pot-limit Omaha and Stud.

888 knows how to offer a warm welcome to its new players. They offer a first deposit bonus, but online other poker rooms where you need to “grind” the bonus in order to convert it into real cash, at Pacific Poker you will instantly get 25% of your welcome bonus as soon as you make your first deposit. You are also entitled to their First Depositors Freerolls when you join.

The online casino website of the group is Casino-on-Net, which was launched in 1997 and has served 13 million people. Casino-on-Net promotes responsible gaming and always attempt to address the problem of compulsive gambling. The measures implemented in this regard are the prohibition of players under the age of 18, the ability for every player to set maximum allowed deposit amount, blocking access to the casino at a player’s request and the training of their employees to guarantee that they recognize compulsive or underage gambling when it occurs.

Phil Ivey has two homes. The one that poker built, and the poker tables at the Bellagio.

Phil Ivey needs no introduction. At 32, this seasoned poker pro has revolutionized the game with his fresh, suave demeanor, savvy play, and intense concentration, making him one of the youngest poker champions in the world. Just as impressive, he has managed to do so while gaining the respect of pros 20-30 years his senior. His peers consider him one of the best players in the world. His is the lifestyle we associate with a world class professional poker player.

Phil is always ready for action and even does interviews while playing at high stakes games at the Bellagio. These, after all, are the sound bites of Phil Ivey’s game. During long games, players and Phil love to bet each other on card formations. It adds excitement.

Phil Ivey started playing poker for money when he was eight years old when his grandfather taught him the game and they played for pennies. He knew then he had an aptitude and passion for the game. He was 15-16 years old when he started to play for real money and realized the potential to make a living doing it.

How have the players from the Internet coming into live games affected poker? The Internet has enabled people to learn faster than those of us who picked up knowledge of the game at live games in the casinos or at home games. The Internet has truly revolutionized the game of poker, where a person can play a hundred thousand hands a month from the comfort of their home. Practice does make a difference in the game of poker.

How much poker does Phil Ivey play? Is it a job or a passion or both? Poker is really his life, and he is passionate about it. He work when he is called. It’s not a 9-5 job. He plays for a day straight, takes some time off, and can be right back at the table with just a few hours sleep.

Of course his your favorite online poker site is FullTiltPoker.com hands down. No site has as many pros dropping by your table. He enjoys the high stakes games and user-friendliness the site offers to the newcomers to the game. Plus tons of tournaments and bonus incentives for the players.

His favorite poker room in Las Vegas is the Bellagio which has a great poker room. In Atlantic City it’s the Taj Mahal Poker Room.

Is he ready to play at the drop of a hat or does he schedule his poker sessions? He receives calls daily and schedules time in. It’s a business like any other job¡ He goes to work each day and sometimes day turns to night and then day. It’s poker and there are no time constraints.

Phil was married and very happy but he recently files for divorce. His wife used to be his biggest supporter. If she wants to come see me, she knows all she needs to do is come to the game. They met when he was 18 and have been together 10 years. They both enjoy the lifestyle surrounding poker. They truly feel blessed by the success he has had, which enables his wife and he to travel and do things they always dreamed of.

Has he written or plan to write any books on poker? Yes he is very interested in writing a book on poker down the road. He lives it and he is passionate about it, but if he is going to do it he wants it to be special and helpful to the players out there. Keep an eye out for it.

If you’re considering turning pro and making poker your full-time profession, remember this: It’s a lot harder than it looks. I urge you to play part-time for a year or two, and if you keep winning, go for it. Look, I can teach you the game and you could beat me, but if we played constantly for a year I would win most of the time. To determine if you’re good, you need to win constantly. But do not mistake luck for being an expert. Poker is a tough game, and constantly winning is even tougher.

From video games to pinball to gambling, poker is why Sam Farha reflects on his early years in gambling and a misguided if successful youth.

Sammy Farha does not present himself as a particularly imposing fellow. Dressed to the nines in his favorite Italian leisure suit, he hardly inspires any deep visceral warnings. His casual demeanor, smooth charm, and broad smile are more likely to draw you in than send you running for the safety of higher ground.

Being five-feet, eight-inches tall (if that), probably does not strike much fear in the hearts of opponents, either. But get your chips in the pot against this World Series of Poker bracelet winner and you will quickly realize that this grinning, Marlboro-chomping Cheshire cat has got some claws and you are the rodent de jour.

With his aggressive, calculating style and trademark unlit cigarette (he replaces it whenever he starts feeling unlucky) pressed between his lips, this ultra-slick poker icon has become one of the most recognizable faces in the poker world. He has cashed in 11 major events, has won millions in international tournaments, and taken home two bracelets for Omaha in the World Series of Poker. But surprisingly, poker is not how the man who epitomizes the term “shark” thought he would be spending his life.

Born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1959, Farha spent much of his early years confronted with the fear and uncertainty of a nation ravaged by civil war. Strangely enough, it was amidst this turmoil that Farha first began his love affair with poker, sort of. “Since I was young, I always liked games, especially card games. I was really good at all card games,” recalls Farha. “But I never played poker back then. I was interested in pinball and arcade games. I was raised in a civil war so I did not have a lot of choices, and instead of hiding in a shelter, I would go to amusement centers. That is how we used to spend our time: playing these games and shooting pool.”

A good training it seems as Sammy is nowadays one of the best and most feared poker player in the world, especially in pot-limit Omaha.