A Quick Baccarat Guide
Baccarat is one of the oldest and, debatably, one of the easiest, casino games. You can find it at Betfair.com, arguably the best online casino site out there. It is thought to have originated in France or Italy around the Middle Ages, and has a certain glamour attached as it is the game that James Bond plays in the earlier films.
There are similarities between Baccarat and Blackjack, the main difference being the player only makes one decision. Before the hands are dealt, all you have to decide is which hand will win - the player, the dealer or will it be a tie? Simple, right?
It starts with two hands being dealt into the middle of the table. The player's hand is dealt first and the dealer second, with the object of the game being to predict, prior to dealings, which hand will be closest to the points goal of nine. The three betting options;
1 - Dealer gets closer to points value of nine
2 - Player gets closer to points value of nine
3 - Both hands have the same point value and the game is tied.
Any combination of the above can be wagered on but a tied game has the highest payout of 9 to 1.
Values
All face cards and tens have a value of zero; aces have a value of one and all others are taken at face value.
Rules
Once each player has decided which outcome they are betting on, the Player and Dealer are dealt two cards, face up. Player acts first and if the cards equal more than nine, ten is subtracted from the total. For example;
5+6 = 11 - the score is 1
9+6 = 15 - the score is 5
10+9 = 19 - the score is 9 and is called a 'natural'
Canada’s Favorite Casino Games
With the popularity and advancement of the Internet, it is no longer difficult for Canadians to find an online casino. Today, Canadian players can easily search for online casinos by just keying in phrases related to casino or by reading casino reviews. They can even relax at home and have fun in playing their favorite casino games. But what are the most popular casino games in Canada? Let us find out.
● Online Slots. There are a lot of choices for online slots in Canada. You can play different versions of this online. The country features best online slot machines which provide large jackpots and fast payouts.
● Online Blackjack. If you are a first-time gamer, you do not have to worry because you can practice free online blackjack in several sites and even get a surprising welcome bonus that can go up to $400.
● Online Roulette. Online Roulette in Canada is simple. You can download its software, install it in your computer and you will be able to play the game for free.
Seidel Takes $250,000 Prize At Aussie Millions
What would you do if you had an extra $250,000 lying around? Maybe you’d bank it, buy yourself something nice or risk it on some Super Bowl predictions for the big game. Or maybe, you could use it as a buy-in for the richest poker tournament we’ve seen in a long time.
That’s exactly what 20 poker players did to compete in a high-stakes tournament. The $250,000 buy-in is the biggest ever (even though James Bond had a one million buy-in during the movie Casino Royale).
The tournament was filled with A-list players, including Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, John Juanda, and Hall of Famer, Erik Seidel. It just so happens that he outlasted everybody else and took home the biggest prize.
For anyone who’s been following >poker so far in 2011 knows that he’s been a man possessed so far this year, winning virtually every tournament he plays.
What’s he been up to this January? How about racking in a cool $3.4 million so far.
He made the final table of the six-handed event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and also had a fourth-place finish at another PCA Higher-Roller event. He took home a cool $618,139 at a 38-player Australian tournament and then, of course, he outlast 19 others at Aussie Millions.
In case you’re wondering, he’s now moved up to the third on the all-time earnings list.
Sam Trickett finished second and while he had some early luck, he’s probably disappointed he didn’t win. He held the chip lead throughout most of the night. Trickett probably won’t be too sour, though, as he was the winner of the $100,000 event last week and so far this January, has earned a cool $2.9 million.
There was one oddity about the tournament: there were three players, Paul Phua, Richard Young and Wang Qiang – all Chinese businessmen – who had to catch a flight later on in the day. Typically, this type of tournament may have a lot of slow play but it was agreed to make a faster structure that would speed up play, deliver a result and allow the men to catch their flight. Even with the stakes as high as they were, nobody objected. A lot of this advanced poker knowledge can easily apply to video poker as well. Give it a try today at GamblingCity.net!
Online Poker Comes Down to Elimination of Mistakes
There is the old adage about online poker that holds a great deal of truth and perhaps the key to success which goes as this; “Poker takes an hour to learn but a lifetime to master.”
And part of that lifetime experience of mastering online poker is to learn from your mistakes and to never make those mistakes ever again. In essence, poker is much like sports in that the teams that don’t beat themselves are the teams that survive, often against better personnel.
The first mistake to avoid is losing control of your emotions and ability to think rationally. Some of the greatest experts at poker, players who have enormous talent, knowledge and ability are unable to turn profits and win consistently because they lack self-control and the ability to shake off “bad beats” that are part of the game. Lesser players who are able to keep control of their emotions will prove to be the more effective players in the long run.
Second is the ability to manage your poker bankroll and chip stacks. Again, this is far more important than actual expertise and knowledge of the game itself. There are many super skilled poker players that simply fail to advance because of their total inability to manage their money.
Part of the mental aspect that you must have is the near certainty that your poker opponents will make mistakes and that if you can avoid errors and last long enough you will often get gift wins because of those poor decisions of others.
You can quickly move up in poker and enjoy success far more quickly than others if you simply don’t allow yourself to go on tilt and to eliminate stupid obvious errors at first before moving on to the more complex aspects of the game.
Australian National Poker League Provides All The Details
The Australian National Poker League is the headquarters of poker for Aussies fans. It sports an impressive website covering all things poker-related. These include specific geographic area coverage for states including: Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and Southern Australia. The action quickly hots ups as players get into the thick of all the poker gaming action. The APL as it is affectionately known is the largest Australian poker league with over half-a-million members – both pro and novice – all across Australia and the islands of New Zealand. And if you’re keen to get into the swing of community-related poker there are plenty of blogs and forums to share your thoughts, post comments and review poker rooms.
Indeed the gaming at the APL is unique on most every level but this league is certainly different from others in that it is 100% free for people to play – provided of course that you meet minimum age and regulation requirements. Since its inception, the APL has paid out a staggering AU$15 million by way of sponsorships provided by over 800 participating pubs, hotels and other venues. What’s particularly entertaining about the APL is that it makes poker gaming available to as many players as possible without the need for them to wager a cent of their hard-earned cash. And if you’re wondering if you can play online poker in Australia – then you’re bang on target because you can at au.888.com.
888 Poker Australia is the must-play poker room with a series of Scheduled Poker Tournaments, and similar to, you can Sit n’ Go Tournaments as well as regular poker games for players to enjoy. Australian poker celebrities in Shane Warne – the spin-wizard of cricket – and other big names in Brendan Edmonds poker, Christian Heich poker and Clint Jordanou of Melbourne are all highly respected players. Crown free poker Saturday is a catchphrase that is generating significant player interest throughout the Aussie poker-playing community. And for those poker players looking for scheduled tournaments between September and the end of 2010, there is plenty to go around at the Wanneroo Tavern on Thursdays at 18h00 and best of all, the games are free. For players wondering who’s hogging the top spot in the APL leaderboard, it’s David Morisson on 185 points in Tournament 2 with an average of 85.
