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I simply adore all the games of Poker and have been playing Poker for a long time now. But you’ll be surprised to know that I have never tried my hand at Let ‘Em Ride Poker.

All my Poker buddies used to tell me about the interesting side bet option that can sometimes lead us to the hefty progressive jackpot in the game.

One day my friend referred me to this online casino that offers the game of Let ‘Em Ride Poker with the progressive jackpot linked to the side bet.

I registered myself on this online site and planned to practice the game on the free casino game of the Let ‘Em Ride Poker first.

I read the rules carefully and was amazed to see the progressive payouts starting from $75 to 100% of the whole pot of progressive jackpot. According to the rules, I placed $1 on the side bet first and then $2 on the ante wager.

Progressive payouts in the Let ‘em Ride Poker are only attached to the hand ranks: Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four-of-a-Kind, Full House and Flush. Initially, I had no luck with the side bet rewards as I could not manage to pull out any of these hand ranks.

I however did not give up as I found it quite challenging. After few fruitful efforts, I got a Flush. I won $75, which is quite decent. If I had wagered $3 on an ante, then I would have won only $24 on drawing a Flush.

But just pulling out that one dollar to wager on the side bet got me $75. Did you see the difference? Since then I have fallen in love with this betting option in the Let ‘Em Ride Poker. Now I have my eye on getting a Royal Flush that can get me 100% of the progressive jackpot.

All you poker lovers out there, come and be part of this progressive side bet venture that you can find only in the game of Let ‘em Ride Poker. I am sure you will be smitten, like I have been. Have fun!

I really don’t know why but whenever I sit down to play Pai Gow Poker, I end up getting two low pairs. It was out of sheer desperation that I decided to take the bull by its horns. I decided to devise a strategy or trick to split a two low pair hand. I felt that if I put in some thought, I would definitely expand my odds of winning.

The first thing that struck my mind was to check on the Internet. Searching on Google, I was taken aback to find that I was not the first to encounter two pairs in Pai Gow Poker. I got a dozen search results that explained tricks specifically designed to win a two pair hand in Pai Gow Poker. I examined it, understood it properly and then sat down to try it out on two pair hands that I seem to get oh-so-frequently.

As per the strategy I first assigned some specific levels to the various card values such as, 2s through 6s as low pairs, 7s through 10s as medium pairs and Jacks through Aces as high pairs.

I finally sat down to play Pai Gow Poker online. When I pressed ‘deal’ after placing the bet…I was not at all surprised a to see a two low pair hand had been dealt to me. This hand included- 2-2-5-5-10-K-9.

In the case of a two low pair hand being dealt this strategy asks you to play the pair with the highest value in the five card hand and the pair with the lower value in the two card hand.

Following it I too split my cards in such a way so that it looked like this: 5-5-10-K-9 and 2-2.

I was amazed when both my hands turned out to be better than the dealer’s hands and I won the game. You can also apply this tactic to the hands with two high pairs, medium pairs and so on.

But yes, there is one thing that I would like to warn you against- don’t expect that this trick will work wonders every time you employ it. It is just a strategy and not a magic wand that will always bring in a fortune. There have been times, when even after employing this trick I’ve lost the game because the dealer’s cards were better.

I have progressed some more and have picked up similar tricks for different permutations and combinations of a low pair. A low pair with a high pair, a low pair with medium pair, a low -medium combo with unpaired Ace and King…and so on and so forth. Trying out strategies can be quite addictive. Do it yourself and enjoy the rush of adrenaline.

Poker is all about hand ranks. If you don’t know what you are holding, you are defeated even before you start playing! And in order to wager wisely, you need to know which hand is the best and which is the worst in terms of payouts. Here is a ready reckoner:

High cards: This hand does not contain any pairs, straights or flushes. For this reason it is referred to as Garbage. If this is the case, your first card is compared to the first card of other players. The hand which contains the highest first card among all hands wins. It is considered the worst hand due to the low payouts attached to it. However, the odds of being dealt such a hand is very high — 50.12% –so just cross your fingers and hope for the highest first card as well!

Pair: Two cards of the same value (e.g. 9-9) along with three kickers (unmatched cards) is known as a pair. Payout wise this hand ranks better than high card but the chances of being dealt a one pair hand is a less, 42.27%.

Two Pair: This hand consists of two separate pairs (e.g. 4- 4 and K-K) with one kicker. The possibility of drawing hands with two pairs is just 4.75% but this hand is still considered good as the payouts are decent.

Three-of-a-Kind: It includes three cards of the same value (e.g. 6, 6, 6) with two kickers. With odds of just 2.11%, the chances of drawing such a hand is less but the payout is good.

Straight: Five cards in a sequence but not of the same suit (e.g. 8-9-10-J-K of different suits) is known as a Straight Poker hand. The probability of getting a straight is 0.39%.

Flush: Any five cards of the same suit but not following any sequence is a Flush (e.g. 4-7-10-J-2 of spades). The probability of being dealt a flush is 0.20%.

Full House: It comprises three of a kind along with a pair (e.g. 8-8-8-A-A). The probability of dealing a full house is 0.144%.

Four of a Kind: It includes all the four cards of the same value with one kicker (e.g. 4-4-4-4-10) and the odds of winning this hand is 0.024%.

Straight Flush: It has five cards in sequence and of the same suit (e.g. 4-5-6-7-8 of clubs) with 0.00154% chances of drawing it.

Royal Flush: And here we finally introduce you to the best Poker hand that is possible and that comprises an Ace, King, Queen, Jack and a 10 of the same suit.

So next time you play online poker, RECOGNISE a good or bad hand when you see one.

I am really passionate about video poker…now! But this was not always the case. In the beginning, I was over-cautious and played a single hand –hesitant to wager a lot, afraid to lose and not daring enough to take risks. Gradually, I started playing online video poker, but still stuck to the one-hand option. Once — it was by sheer mistake –that I clicked on the three-hand option while playing Jacks or Better. To my utter surprise, I bagged a Royal Flush. In all my years of playing the game, I had never once managed to get a maximum payout.

It was not as if I was ignorant of the rules of the game. I always knew that to play video poker I was required to bet a certain number of coins to get dealt five cards. I also knew activating the maximum bet would ultimately trigger larger payouts on the higher-ranked hands. However, I stuck to the minimum bets and played a “safe” game, under the mistaken notion that not losing much was akin to winning.

I would of course have my moments of joy and entertainment. The game is such that anyone will derive some pleasure for sure. For instance, I loved it when I got a Two Pair or a Jacks or Better. That was quite a frequent occurrence. Three-of-a-kind was a bonus for me, and Straight, Flush , Full House and Four-of-A-Kind were very rare. A Straight Flush was a distant dream, leave alone a Royal Flush.

Looking back, I think I played the game mechanically –I chose cards to hold, and drew poker cards to replace other cards without strategy and planning. Some video poker games which had the wild card option –maybe a two, a seven or a Joker – were my favorite. As they acted as substitutes for any card, it made my game easier. But a single hand was all I could handle.

After my Royal Flush win, I began to opt for multi-hand video poker more often. I soon realized that

I could play with 10 , 52 and 100 hands. The results were awesome and I really felt I was maximizing my chances of winning.

Soon, I became a votary of multi-hand video poker and now waste no time in advising others to go for it. True, Jacks or Better or Deuces Wild are known for a relatively higher payout percentage –they even touch 100% at times –but in my opinion trying multiple hands on any video poker game affords greater chances of winning. If you ask experts, they would probably say the odds are the same. But then I think one should also trust one’s intuition and take risks.

Have you ever played video poker? Try it for sheer excitement! Played online or on computerized consoles in casinos, it is pretty much like poker with winning hands like Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four-of-a- Kind and what have you! Players have an equal chance to win or lose. Many experts and professional video poker players have come up with strategies that claim to fetch a guaranteed win. These are invariably based on mathematical calculations that supposedly predict the outcome of the ‘draw.’

However it is a known fact that the hand that appears in a Poker game is random and cannot be related to the previous or the next hand. A randomness of a hand in video poker refers to the fact that there is an equal probability of any of the cards to be chosen when the ‘draw’; button is clicked. This “randomness” is decreed by law and online casinos have embraced a sophisticated random number generator (RNG) software to ensure true random selection and display of cards from a virtual deck.

The dilemma of Video Poker is whether the cards drawn are really a random occurrence or a randomness “controlled” through a manipulated RNG. Controversial as it sounds, such a thing is yet to be proved, but it does not stop many an unlucky player from suspecting the worst. Those who have suffered long spells of bad streaks have taken the trouble to record moves and outcomes, noted the winning combinations and matched patterns with probability theories. As the randomness of video poker hands remain random, the strategies vouched for by experts often go out the window and accusatory fingers are pointed.

Take for instance, Rob Singer, a professional and experienced Poker player, who played the game for nearly two decades before formulating his opinion based on empirical evidence and independent verification. In his study, he kept a track of the number of times he was dealt two pair, an open-end straight and four-to-a-flush, and recorded how many times he drew cards that completed a full house, a straight or a flush. After playing at least 30000 rounds, he concluded that hand outcomes were not as often as they should have been in a random machine. He is intent on proving that poker hands are not based on random outcomes but on ‘hot-and-cold-cycles’ in the machine Well, all the best to him, but me thinks one man’s randomness is another man’s losing streak and yet another’s winning streak!

As the debate continues, and as long as players are in a dilemma over the the randomness or certainty of the draw, interest in video poker will continue to grow.

One of my blog post readers, Cynthia warned me not to be reckless while playing at the free online casino. Aggression gets into the blood, and it can prove lethal at Texas Holdem Poker, Cynthia said. But I reckon playing at free online casinos gives me that extra courage to dare and do and learn to win, instead of playing defensively all the time.The game I just played at one of the free online casinos, makes it clear that being aggressive pays, but do it discerningly.

I noticed one reckless player at a free online casino who did not hesitate to raise and re-raise. I thought he was aggressive and would definitely win. But then, he did it once too often. With a non-hand like a 3-8 offsuit, he bluffed without winking an eyelid. Well, it may work sometimes at these free online casinos. Trying it often is plain foolish.They have a term for free online casino players who bet mindlessly like him: loose aggressive.

In contrast, a tight aggressive player is one who forces others to leave the pot, by taking the occasional risk with confidence. I count myself as one, after my experience at the free online casino yesterday.
I held an A-6 offsuit. Normally, players muck this hand. But I was at the dealer’s position –that is, on the button. The others folded, leaving me and the two blinds after me. Aware that it was a free online casino, I was hit by a streak of daring. I decided to play. Instead of merely calling the big blind as you may have expected me to do, I went a step further and raised. There was a strategy behind my decision. Had I called, the small blind would have had to place only half a bet. The big blind who had already put in a bet, would then get to see the flop for free. A call on my part would have at best given me a big blind with no guarantee that I held the better cards.
In contrast, a raise was just one bet after which the decision would rest squarely on the two blinds. It so happened that they chose to fold!  I had effectively managed to bluff my way through. See my point, Cynthia? Free online casinos can help you master a game

Free online casino can really spice up life. Here I was playing regular Poker for years, often bored by the predictability of my evenings. A chance visit to Dallas introduced me to Texas Holdem Poker, a community card game where players get to bet four times.

On returning to Las Vegas, I slipped back into my old habit of Draw Poker. Watching James Bond play the game in Casino Royale prodded me to try it at a free online casino.  Here are the basics:

You play the game with a standard deck of cards even at the free online casino. Each player is dealt two personal cards face down. Five other community cards are dealt face up on the table. One had to make the best five-card poker hand among players at the free online casino, combining the personal and the community cards.

At the free online casino also, the game starts from the left of the dealer, with a forced bet (small blind) which is doubled by another player (big blind). The money wagered is the pot, and the rest of the game is devoted to staking claim to this pot. Here is how:

After the bet, the two personal (pocket) cards are dealt. This if followed by a series of moves by all players. If you ‘call’ you opt to match the amount of money bet earlier and see the next card; if you ‘fold’ your cards, you choose to stop betting and relinquish your hand; if you ‘raise’, it means you increase the stakes by betting more than what has been bet. This can either prompt others at the free online casino to fold, call or make a ‘re- raise.’

As the game unfolds, the four rounds of betting are completed in the ‘flop’, the ‘turn’, the river card’ and the ‘showdown’, when each of the five community cards are revealed one by one. Guess what? You don’t have to use your pocket cards, if you have useless ones. Last night, at a free online casino, I played “the board,’ quite sure that the best cards were there. I was right and I won at the free online casino. It’s a simple game, but calls for a lifetime of learning, they say. So I am rushing back to pick up some more tricks of the trade. Thanks to free online casinos.

There are poker players and poker players. I have watched them at online casinos,  hoping to categorize them and beat them at their own gamble. But it was difficult to pin poker players down as the free online games has tutored them to disguise themselves with misleading names, suggestive aliases, wild gestures, and other screen gimmicks. Some even mask their Poker playing style. But stop by at a money online casino, and all the paint wears off. Money speaks and how! Just watch the chips and you can distinguish half-a-dozen different Poker player types.

Happy-go-lucky: This poker player is yet to get over the free online casino days. Has a ‘very loose’ online casino playing style.  Gambles for pleasure, though what joy is there in losing is anyone’s guess. If passive, resorts to calling weak and marginal hands and under-bets. If aggressive, is prone to bluffs, raises and over-bets.

High Roller: This poker player is probably retired and so is a regular at online casinos. Adopts an ‘aggressive’playing style. Plays all hands and does not reveal any emotion even at an online casino.

Highly-skilled: Likes to imagine Poker is an art form. Practices the ‘too tight’ style; calls only best hands and folds if the betting turns heavy. Hates to lose in online casinos and hardly makes it to tournaments.

Overly-cautious: Scared to let go of a hand, this player is ‘weak tight’ in style. Does not take the lead and is always reacting to other’s moves. Often spotted in higher- limit poker games dictated by highrollers in online casinos.

Solid and confident: With a tight aggressive style, this poker player is known for careful hand selection, patience and decisive bets. Likes to corner opponents at the online casino.

Rich and over-confident: Gambles seriously, with a super-aggressive style. Picks on fellow online casino players head-on. Especially the ‘very tight’ and ‘tight aggressive’ in the knowledge that they play pot-odds. Targets small stacks to reduce their bet impact in the game.

If you recognize yourself as any of the above types, you will know who to opt for as buddies at online casinos. Also, you can always convert your type if you change your style of playing poker at online casinos.

I invariably choose my table with care while playing online casino games like poker. It has helped me win. So let me share with you the secrets of table selection in the online casino game of poker.

Lobby Clues: Online casino games post statistics about the average pot size and the average number of players per flop in the main lobby. Check them out and learn to interpret them.

Pot Size: The larger the pot size, the more chances at winning the online casino game.

Average number of players per flops: The more the average number of poker players per flop, the weaker are your opponents at that particular table in the online casino game. Strong poker players tend to see fewer flops. However, it also depends on whether you are a loose or tight poker player at the online casino games. A loose online casino games player has more opportunities at a table with tight players, whereas a tight player of online casino games may see better prospects at a table with loose players. Remember, shorthanded poker tables will always have less number of players per flop, compared to full poker tables in online casino games.

Stack Sizes: Stack sizes of poker players are a good indication of how your game would unfold at the online casino games. If there are more than two short stacks (between 10 and 20 big blinds) it means the larger stacks would play tight post-flop. If you cannot go after them, there is no point in playing online casino games.

Track Bad Players: When you spot weak poker opponents, mark them as buddies. Look for them each time you select you play online casino games and head for their table. The weaker your opponents, the stronger are your chances of winning online casino games.

Keep Notes: Make notes on starting hands of other poker players at the online casino games…on how they play drawing hands and small pairs. This can help you choose your seat when you next play online casino games. If a player is loose pre-flop, make sure you are to his left next time.

The above tips help to increase your chances of winning poker at online casino games, but you should be adept at the game and its strategies. Choosing the right table means a lot in online poker.

It is all very well to play online casino games for pleasure. In recent years however, statistics reveal that it is the number of people who play online casino games for money which is on the rise. It is really surprising that there are professional online pokers, who play casino games to make a living. It would be interesting to investigate poker as a cyber-world phenomenon and arrive at the factors that help people win online poker.

First, online poker players definitely need to know the game in and out. Unless you know different strategies and have picked up the dos and don’ts, you will not be able to negotiate odds and capitalize on a strong hand in online casino games.

Secondly, even if you know the game like the back of your hand, the choice of the online casino games site is crucial. Some casinos cheat, some do not pay well and some delay payouts.
Let us say, a player not only knows his or her online poker well, but has also zeroed in on the best online casino games site. Then does success sit squarely in the hands of luck? Not at all. Fortunately, most online casino games offer free roll tournaments, bonus codes and incentives which can increase a poker player’s winnings manifold.

Bonus codes are alpha-numeric codes that fresh players are asked to enter into their online casino games account. An attractive cash incentive is paid to the new registrant as a sign-up bonus which may range between 20% and 600%. This money opens doors to online poker tournaments without requiring you to pay anything as entry fee to the online casino games management. It is safe in your online casino games account, whether or not you win the poker game.
Some online casino games site, give poker players who wager money, invitations to the free roll tournaments. These carry huge cash prizes or a ‘satellite’ entry (pass) for bigger tournaments with better cash prizes, typically, the World Series of Poker or Poker World Tour. Normally, the entry fee to such events of online casino games is between $ 10,000 and $25,000.
Understanding the offers made by online casino games and taking advantage of them, is a risk-free way of winning.