PaddyPowerPoker.com Poker Academy

Posted June 13th, 2009 by
Categories: UK Poker

The poker academy at Paddy Power provides extensive help to new players, as well as useful information for those who have played the game before. Upon opening this section of the web page, you will find a list of topics covered.

To play poker at paddypowerpoker.com click here!

 

 

These topics from Paddy Power include, a detailed poker odds calculator including starting hand calculations. This is a tool which can help new players understanding of the game a great deal, but even those who are familiar with the game already, may wish to input a few situations and view the odds.

Unless you are a pro online poker player, you are unlikely to know the exact odds of every scenario and so there is something for almost every player here. An extremely knowledgable team of poker experts also give tips on strategy here, complimenting the odds calculating tools already present.

There is a resident expert on hand here to answer letters personally, which is always helpful. If you are new to the game completely, you will find slang terms for many hands that you might encounter at the tables. Also in the academy section you will find the tools to review your hand histories. This gives you a chance to look back and examine where you may have gone wrong, and why. Overall, the poker academy provides a great service to poker players I feel. of course the new players will use this section more often, but there is a lot on offer for more experienced players too.

For more on UK poker follow the link!

CelebPoker.co.uk - Qualities that make a good uk online poker room.

Posted June 4th, 2009 by
Categories: UK Poker

There are a number of aspects that make the best online poker sites like Celeb Poker stand out, with the most important point being to make sure the customers feel they are playing in a secure and enjoyable environment. Most players who are new to the game will be looking for information on game strategy, and a good sign up bonus as much as they will be looking for a place to put these to use.

Play online poker now!

 

The qualities you look for in a poker room can change depending on the type of player I feel, so it has become important for online poker rooms to excel in several different areas if they wish to attract differing types of player.

Offering as many games as possible in view of player traffic onsite, is always a good starting point I feel, because the basic differences between players are the game types they enjoy. Diverse games along with a schedule of interesting and varied tournament types is important I feel, but players can differ on a broader sense than this.

The casual player who enjoys an hour playing online after work for instance, might wish to see good value guaranteeds, or regular low buy in tournaments scheduled for instance. Players who take their game more seriously might look for lots of satellites that might provide the stepping stone they need to better things.
Qualities such as smooth graphics at the tables and excellent support staff are something which attract all players equally in my opinion. It is fair to say that overall though, many of the qualities in a site will be sought after more by some players than others.

For more online poker and UK Poker click the links!

Special Software Features of 888Poker.com

Posted June 4th, 2009 by
Categories: UK Poker

Choose any UK poker room online, such as 888Poker, check their schedule, and you will find dozens of MTT’s of varied types and buy ins. Multi table freezeout tournaments have perhaps not been as popular as cash games over the years, but for me, they encapsulate what the game of poker is about. We play MTT’s so that we can start in exactly the same place as every other player in the tournament, and over a period of hours, grow stronger whilst preserving our tournament life. This struggle to not only survive, but to prosper in an environment where one mistake could be fatal, is what poker is about in my opinion.

Click the link to play online poker now!

 

Different varieties of tournament have grown over the years, with bounties, double or nothing tournaments, and ever growing guaranteeds. All of these provide a twist to the enjoyable format of MTT’s, and attract a good level of player interest too.

Part of the attraction with these tournaments is that you can log in, scan the list and choose the tournament you want, but you can even play multiple tournaments at once if you choose. This is not something you can do in live play of course.

I think it says a great deal, that the World Series is almost exclusively conducted in the form of freezeout tournaments, and I hope that cash games never take over completely.

They can be frustrating when all your hard work is undone in the blink of an eye, but then that is all part of the excitement of playing online MTT’s.

For more UK Poker and Online Poker click the links.

Current Promotions at PaddyPowerPoker.com

Posted June 1st, 2009 by
Categories: UK Poker

The first promotional offer I should mention with regards to Paddy Power Poker, is the first time deposit bonus. This is a generous offer to the tune of 150% on top of your first deposit amount. This offer is applicable up to the amount of $600, and is released in $5 increments for every 450 points you earn within the first 90 days.

Play online poker now at the UK’s best poker room - PaddyPowerPoker.com!

 

Also running at the moment, is a competition to find a new player to become a pro for Paddy Power Poker. You must have at least reached the level of ‘General’ in the VIP system to qualify, and must play in an event onsite to determine which players will battle it out in the live game to decide the winner.

There is also a promotion running called ‘Double Up’.
This involves playing in specific tournaments which generate a number of points to players, both for participating, and winning.

You will also find a cash race promotion running at the moment which gives away great cash prizes for those that can work their way to the top of the weekly leaderboards.

The ‘PaddyWhacker’ bounty tournament is another promotional offer, involving a special tournament every Thursday in which a member of the Paddy Power staff will be playing. Eliminate this player for an extra $100.

Along with the great points system in place here, there is also an online shop in which you can spend these points, as well as being able to spend them on tournament tickets too.

Other well known promotions such as Jackpot Sit and Go’s help to make up what is already an interesting list of promotional offers, details of which can be found onsite.

For more online poker and UK poker click the links!

Celeb Poker Reviewed

Posted May 25th, 2009 by
Categories: UK Poker

The first time deposit bonus for Celeb Poker stands at an excellent 200% up to an amount of 500 Euros. By industry standards this offer is above average and shows the poker rooms intent to make new players feel as welcome and as happy as possible. There is a Sit n Go leaderboard running too which offers big cash prizes to those skilled enough to make it to the top. If you are starting from the bottom you will be pleased to know that Celeb poker are currently adding cash to their freerolls too.

Play online poker at CelebPoker.com now!

 

The amount of Euros given away each month runs into millions, and so if this is your favoured type of tournament, you should be happy here. Bad beat jackpots are also running here which provide a huge cash boost to sooth the pain of a horrifiyng bad beat.

You will find a very generous FPP system in place here, which gives players the constant goal of accumulating enough points to purchase nice merchandise from their online store.

The refer a friend bonus on offer is excellent here as for each online poker friend you refer, you will receive anything up to 500 Euros depending on how much your friend plays in the first 30 days.

Visually this site is good, and there are reliable operatives available to help you in Help and Support 24/7. Overall Celeb Poker really does look like topping most other sites in terms of bonuses, and it should get more recognition as a very high quality online poker room.

For more online poker click the link.

CoralPoker.co.uk: Case Study 1

Posted May 25th, 2009 by
Categories: UK Poker

Playing online poker at Coral Poker is great. This hand was an interesting one which took place between myself in the big blind, and a friend of mine in the small blind. I had been dealt (Jh,4h) and the action was folded around to the small blind. I play aginst this player most weeks and so when he raised four times the big blind, I felt completely certain he had a marginal hand at best. The problem I had with putting in a relatively small raise, was firstly that I am known for playing aggressively. I will get called far more often when making smaller raises I feel. The main point though is that I know he has a fairly weak hand and there is no way he had a strong enough hand to call an all in.

Play online now at CoralPoker.co.uk - click here!

 

I made the all in reraise, never for a moment thinking he would call. But after thinking for a long time, he did call, showing (Kh,8h). This means that basically my read of the situation was entirely correct, but there was one point I did not consider. My opponent knew me as well as I knew him, and as he explained later, he felt very strongly that I had reraised heavily, purely because I knew his hand was too weak to logically call. His recognition that I was reraising strongly for this reason alone, whilst probably being weak myself, meant he felt he could well be in front with his (K,8).

I personally feel it was an excellent call on his part for all his chips. It is one thing to think that your (K,8) might be in front, and even to work through that same reasoning as to why, but pushing all the chips in is difficult in this position.

For more online poker click the link.

888Poker.com player promotions

Posted May 22nd, 2009 by
Categories: UK Poker

I should first mention that 888Poker.com Pacific Poker offer a 100% first time deposit bonus. 25% of this is given instantly, and a further 75% is freed up as you play for cash onsite.

To play online poker at 888Poker.com click here!

 

This is a good offer, and it is nice to see a lump sum of the online poker bonus paid instantly. Aside from this, new players also gain access to a first depositors freeroll. Also running at the moment is a telvised tournament being dubbed the ‘poker ashes’. This is an event that pits Britain against Australia and should make interesting viewing.

There is also a chance to compete against big names in this months promotions, as well as deep stacked events and large scale guaranteeds. Double or Nothing tournaments are available too, as well as all the usual cash games and regular tournaments you would expect. There is a refer a friend bonus on offer here comprising of $50 for you and $25 for your friend to help get them started.

Help and support are of a good standard at the UK poker website, 888Poker.com, too, with friendly staff there to help you whenever you need them. If I were to point out any negatives, I would say that the visual aspects of the play at tables could be improved, but then this is the case for many poker rooms these days. Leaderboards give the chance of cahs prizes to the most dedicated players onsite, and most of what 888.com offers looks very good.
Overall I think that 888.com are an excellent poker room at which to play, and they should continue to get better with time.

coralpoker.co.uk review

Posted May 22nd, 2009 by
Categories: UK Poker

Coral Poker has introduced some interesting new additions to it’s site recently, one of which is it’s dice tournaments.

To play online poker at CoralPoker.co.uk click here!

 

To my understanding, this involves a very different form of poker with dice rather than cards, and certainly made me curious. This is perhaps not for the most serious of card players, but for some fun in the form of something a little different, it is worth taking a look at.

All of the usual good features of this online poker room remain in place, with a perfectly reliable customer support area who can be contacted at any time, transactional security which is flawless, along with strong player traffic. I think it is good that Coral are introducing new ideas onsite as it shows their endeavours to improve what is already a great poker room. The visual aspects of the site are fairly good here, alhough I would like to see the character avatars updated.

The UK poker game varieties include Omaha, Holdem, 7 Card Stud, and 5 Card Draw, which should suit most peoples needs I feel. The first time deposit bonus onsite is very flexible, giving players the opportunity to choose their own bonus, although they then have to earn the required points to trigger payment. There is an interesting tournament schedule at Coral Poker too, with guaranteed tournaments offering large prize pools.
Overall, I think there is a lot to like about this poker room, and whilst I do not spend most of my time here, I can see why thousands of other players do.

UK poker at PaddyPowerPoker.com

Posted May 22nd, 2009 by
Categories: UK Poker

This weeks live poker game at PaddyPowerPoker.com taught me an important lesson about taking unscheduled breaks in tournaments, because whilst they are often unavoidable, you should always try and make it back as quickly as possible.

To play online poker at PaddyPowerPoker.com click here!

 

Having nipped out for a quick cigarette, I decided to hurry in order to make sure I got back to the UK Poker game in time for the next hand. The dealer was just in the process of reaching for my hand to automatically fold it when I walked back through the door just in time. I looked down and thanked my lucky stars as I saw first an (A) then another (A) in my hole cards.

The blinds were already applying pressure and so it was reasonable to only put in a minimum raise from middle position. Only the big blind called with a relatively short stack, and I simply had to check a perfect flop of (Ac,9c,9d). My opponent had also checked and a (3) came off on the Turn. I was then faced with a pot sized bet, and saw that my opponent did not have much of his stack left remaining. I proceeded to make a small speech about not being able to see how the (3) had helped him, before moving all in. I was quickly called by an opponent who clearly felt he was in front with a set of nines, and ended up winning a nice pot.
Another hand earlier in the same tournament had seen two players take a quick break and upon inspection of their cards after the hand, one had (K,K) and the other (A,K).

It just goes to show that if you have to take a break from the tables to try online poker, you should always get back as swiftly as possible, as you never know when that crucial hand might turn up.

CelebPoker.co.uk Tournament

Posted May 14th, 2009 by
Categories: UK Poker

This was an Omaha hand that took place recently online at CelebPoker.co.uk. Having been dealt (6c,9c,Ad,Qh) I decided to call and see a flop. In cash games I quite often like seeing flops, as the Pot Limit nature of the game means it is never going to cost you all that much.

To play online poker at CelebPoker.co.uk click here!

 

 

The flop came down (6h,Jc,3c). One of the online poker players at the table made a bet of half the size of the pot, and I flat called feeling that perhaps my opponent had a hand containing (x,4,5,x) or a two pair. The Flush was also a worry and I should have really thought how difficult my situation might be if the club fell before I decided to call. The turn brought an interesting looking (6d) and my Celeb Poker opponents check made me feel that perhaps they had missed the Straight or Flush.

With this, I decided to try and pick up the CelebPoker.co.uk tournament pot there and then with a pot sized raise, and when my opponent called, I immediately felt that I had misread the situation and should slow right down on the river. But then the river fell, (9) to give me a Full House. Still there should have been alarm bells ringing, and my opponent even gave me a chance to lose a much smaller amount by checking the river. I foolishly raised it strongly, only to be faced with a big reraise. I almost folded, but in the end, I felt I had simply come too far by this point, and called.

My opponent turned over (J,6) for a better Full House and I was angry with myself for losing so much. Many players out there might have lost quite a lot in this pot, but I know that I was capable of folding at several points in the hand, and should have checked the river after I had got that far. I am always the first to admit mistakes in my own play, but I have had to make a few very difficult folds recently in Omaha cash play, and perhaps I was subconciously wanting to take the chance that my hand was good. Either way, it has left me more determined to play better next time I sit down at CelebPoker, which I suppose is the right way to react to such a situation.