Online poker can be great fun, and with a little expertise, it can bring in big money, and lead to trips to Vegas, Poker Cruises and Championships with fame and celebrity attached.
With poker championships now broadcast worldwide on TV, poker is becoming a hugely recognised game of skill and chance, and unlike snooker or many other financially lucrative games, with Poker, you can start at home in your bedroom on your own computer. The stakes have never been so high!
Unfortunately, when there is so much money to be made, some people will always try to find loopholes in the system, and naturally the underworld takes notice. Thus the online poker industry fights a daily battle against cheaters, hackers and con men.
Many hardcore players simply play several games at one time, which is completely acceptable, but others fall into temptation of multiple accounts, ghosting and account flipping.
First and Foremost, online security takes precedence for all major online poker sites, and cash wise, transactions are secured with 128 bit encryption provided by the major credit companies worldwide. While the accounts are secure, the games themselves need to be secure too; while some poker sites use real dealers online within a place of employment, others use secure artificial intelligence, that is accredited and tested by the appropriate regulating bodies to ensure that performance is truly random.
Pacific Poker uses the trusted MD5 RNG, which provides absolutely random results. The system has been rigorously tested by running millions of rounds and examining results. The system is also systematically tested and accredited by regulating government bodies in each country the games are played.
However, certain loopholes have been exploited by completely legal and credible companies, offering “Software Companions” or “Poker Buddies” which can offer statistical analysis of a poker game, some even reading your cards, offering advice and detailed analysis of the opponent’s actions.
The poker industry is aware of this; many poker sites have been cracking down on these programs that try to read cards, using programs to detect this software, and henceforth, not paying the customers who won money using them. They also change there online poker software frequently which can cause the programs to crash.
Ghosting however, is similar in a way where in a game of online poker, a player has other experienced players sitting in the same room with him, or has contact with other online players via MSN Messenger, or Team speak. In this way a player has a wealth of experience at his disposal, and will inevitably be a formidable force to recon with. In the same way, using software that does not directly interact with the Poker Software used in the game could be used to get a statistical analysis of the game, this could even be run on a separate computer to avoid detection.
Tomorrow we will look at multiple accounts, account “flipping” and see what motivates people to take such dangerous and nefarious risks.
Pacific Poker have been listening to your feedback and have worked hard to create a variety of tournaments and buy-ins to suit your needs and poker speeds.
You can now enjoy their exciting new $20,000 Guaranteed, from Tuesday through to Saturday at 15:30 PPT. There are new guaranteed and fast tournaments and bigger payouts in existing guaranteed tournaments.
Stay in longer and win the game by trying one of Pacific Poker’s rebuy tournaments they have a wide range of buy-ins to suit all bankrolls and games for all levels of experience!
These new tournaments and changes mean that you have more tournament choice, more often, more cash to win and the best poker experience online! Find out more about the new tournaments that Pacific Poker have added to their showcase, and remember, be sure to tell them what you want and keep on winning with Pacific Poker!
Imagine the following: You are playing in a tournament, probably the best you’ve ever played, and have already beaten five other poker players. You’ve almost reached that unbelievable final table. You go all-in with pocket aces. But wouldn’t you know it! You take a terrible beat and leave with little more than you put in the buy-in.
In a Headhunter tournament, this would never happen. Why? Because you earn cash for every player you eliminate. Imagine - you receive a share of the prize pool even though you don’t make it to the final table!
Play in WPT’s Headhunter tournaments and you’ll come out the hunter, not the hunted in this jungle type atmosphere.
The Headhunter Challenge is an exciting, new type of multi-table tournament where a player wins cash for every player they eliminate. How is this accomplished? A portion of every buy-in is assigned to players’ “Heads”
The more players you eliminate, the more cash you win. On the flip side of the coin, however, the more you win, the bigger target you become to others - the value of your own head increases with every hand you win. It’s tough in the jungle! But the rewards are plentiful.
Pacific Poker and 888.com would like to extend our warmest congratulations to our sponsored player Michael Keiner (username MKeiner) after his first bracelet win in event 14 of the 2007 WSOP on June 11.
Michael won event 14, a $1,500 seven-card stud tournament and pocketed an amazing $146,987 of the $525,000 prize pool. With not only this, he walks away from the final table the proud owner of a coveted WSOP gold bracelet.
Michael speaks of his win:
“The money doesn’t count. This is it, ten years now I’ve been waiting!”
His excitement said it all as he raised the bracelet high in the air, having fended off 384 other entrants including tough competition from other professionals including Barry Greenstein and Greg “the Fossil Man” Raymer; this achievement could not be more deserved.
888.com is proud to sponsor Michael and we are delighted to see him accomplish new heights in his professional poker career – well done!
Party Poker is one of the world’s largest poker rooms, and they always have some fantastic promotions and Prizes to be won!
Now you can win up to $100,000 by if you manage to get dealt one of these perfect poker hands.
Just earn 20 PartyPoints by playing at PartyPoker.com to get a card. Accumulate a five-card hand containing a pair or better and they will give you a cash prize.
You have from 00:00 ET on December 5 through 23:59 ET on December 15 to win the cash.
A Royal flush will bag you the top prize of $100,000, but there are plenty of consolation hands - a Straight flush gets you $500, Four of a kind $200, Full house $100, Flush $75, Straight $40, Three of a kind $20, Two pair $10, Pair $5.
And for the consolations thats obviously on top of the winnings you may make by having the hand if the hand wins! If you get the royal flush, you’ll probably have won the poker game anyhow unless you manage to be daft enough to fold!
William Hill’s sparkling new bonus allows players to receive a Cash Credit of up to $500 - each and every month! For every 1000 MPPs earned playing poker at William Hill, they will send a direct payment of $100 straight into your account.
The bonus is based on My Poker Points (MPPs), which automatically accumulate each time you play Poker. For each subsequent 1000 MPPs earned within the calendar month, they will add another $100!
eg. if you generate 2,200 MPP before 31st October you will receive $100 + $100 = $200.
If you then successfully reach the 5,000 target before the deadline, we’ll give you another $300 - taking your total cash bonus to $500!
On the 25th January 2008, the Ladbrokes Poker Cruise III sets sail from the Cape Liberty Cruise Port located on the New York Harbour in Bayonne, New Jersey for a 10 day Caribbean Poker Cruise.
The cruise will be visiting San Juan in Puerto Rico, Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas, Casa de Campo in the Dominican republic and Labadee; an exclusive private beach and water sports paradise.
This time the poker will be played aboard the deluxe cruise liner ‘Explorer of the Seas’, with every cabin having it’s own balcony and Wi-Fi internet connectivity.
Tickets have been available to win at Ladbrokes for a while now – but if you didn’t win, or you have just found out about the cruise, the last few tickets for the Ladbrokes Poker Cruise are now available as a $6,500 Cruise Ticket, which includes $1,700 expenses.
To join us on the Ladbrokes Poker Cruise III you now need to obtain a $6,500 ‘Cruise Ticket’, which can be won in the $900 + $50 Cruise Weekly Final that is held each Sunday evening at 19:15.
You can either buy directly into this freeze-out tournament or qualify via the $95 + $9 Cruise Daily Finals, for which there is a daily programme of satellites including the Cruise Freeroll which is held each evening (excepting Saturdays).
Once you have obtained your ‘Cruise Combo Ticket’ you are ready to plan the rest of your poker aboard the Ladbrokes Poker Cruise!
Are you game for a new game? One part poker perfection, one part casino cool, mix in a free $2,000 to win and we have a ridiculously generous offer – Pacific Poker’s fortnightly $2,000 Free Casino Mix-Up!!
Free entry to Saturday’s $2,000 Free Casino Mix-Up is yours just by trying your hand at Pacific Poker’s intensely action-packed and rewarding casino games, available from the Pacific Poker lobby, the Thursday before.
How to get FREE entry to the $2,000 Free Casino Mix-Up?
From July 5, just play any casino game at Pacific Poker on every 2nd Thursday between 00:00-23:59 GMT*,
You’ll then be eligible to play in the following Saturday’s $2,000 Free Casino Mix-Up tournament, at 12:00 (888 Time*) in the Multi-Table tab.**
It couldn’t be easier to share in $2,000 every two weeks - for free!
If you’re playing on Pacific Poker’s newest version – choose from BlackJack, Roulette, Video Slots and Video Poker.
If you’re playing on an older version of Pacific Poker – play BlackJack to be eligible.
Now that the five Pub Poker Championship have been completed, there will be a live grand final at the Ladbrokes Casino & Sports Bar in Paddington where some of the top-performing competitors (and lucky wildcards!) will play for a Ladbrokes Caribbean Poker Cruise ticket and be crowned the 2007 Pub Poker Champion!
The winner of the Pub Poker Championship will be joining us on the Ladbrokes Caribbean Poker Cruise as a deserving recipient the ticket worth over $5,500, PLUS, one for the winners’ pub too will be announced soon! They will have the chance to spend 10 days basking in the sunshine while Blighty shivers in winter, and play poker with top European pros and celebrities onboard!
The final tournament has now been completed and nearly 500 pubs have taken part! Now you can see if you are one of the top performing pubs or players, as the final leaderboards are live on the site!
Visit Ladbrokes poker to see the full results by clicking here!
The 100 players that pay the most fees to enter Satellites for each ECOOP Event, without qualifying for that Event Final, will get their chance to win a seat by playing into an exclusive bet365 ECOOP Freeroll.
Each Freeroll will take place the day before the Final Event and qualifiers will be automatically entered. All you need to do is check the lobby of the Freeroll to see if you are one of the lucky winners then make sure you are logged on when the Freeroll starts.
