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How to play Badugi Poker?

Badugi poker, also known as Padooki poker, is said to have been originated in Asia. Even though it can be played as a no limit or a pot limit game, the most common variant of Badugi poker uses a limit game. If you’re wondering how to play Badugi poker, be rest assured that it is really easy to master. The strategies and rules are quite similar to a normal game of poker. All you need to do is understand the subtleties and variations in the gameplay and the rules. Badugi poker is considered to be a four card game where players need to have the lowest Badugi, i.e., a hand where no cards have the same suit or the same value. If you get two or more cards from the same suit or the same value, the one with the lowest value is kept and the others are discarded. As a result, your hand might transform into a 1 card hand as well.

Understanding the Game Structure

Badugi is a game of poker that is quite similar to the triple draw in its structure. The major difference is that each player receives four cards instead of five and that the hand values are different. There are a total of three drawing rounds wherein players are allowed to discard anything between zero to four cards from their hand and draw the same number of cards from the deck. A round of betting follows each draw and another round of betting is conducted after the final draw. The main object of Badugi poker is to create a win by making the lowest Badugi hand or by getting all others to fold.

The Gameplay

All players are dealt with four cards. The game begins with a round of betting. Once the betting is complete, players can discard anything between zero to four cards and draw the same amount of cards from the deck. This is then followed by another round of betting. The discarding, drawing and betting process is continued for two more rounds. Once the third draw has been played, there is a final round of betting before players (those who are still in the game) reveal their hands to determine the winner.

Badugi Hand Values

The main idea of Badugi poker is not to have cards of the same rank or the same suit in your hand. This means that if you have two aces or two hearts in your hand, you need to change. Having a hand where each card is from a different suit and has a different denomination is the best hand that a player can have. This is followed by the three cards, two cards and one card hands. If players have the same number of cards in their Badugi hand, the card values are compared in order to determine the winner. The player with the lowest highest card wins. If the highest card is the same, the second highest card is checked and so on.

Badugi Strategies

Here are a few strategies to help you out with Badugi poker.

– Your starting hand selection is extremely important. Chasing the game is extremely difficult and expensive in Badugi poker.
– A completed Badugi is always known to be more valuable than a one card draw.
– Try to complete your entire hand as early as possible, even if your lower ranking hands need to suffer.
– If you complete your Badugi before everyone else, consider escalating the bet size to increase the pot value.
– Be extremely careful while changing the high value cards in your Badugi as the card that you receive in the draw might just ruin your entire game.

What percentage of hands should you play in poker?

Did you know that there are 169 possible hands that poker players could be dealt to start with? Out of all these hands, only 5 hands are considered to be “excellent” hands – AK (Same suit) JJ, QQ, KK and AA. Irrespective of your chip position and bankroll, you should always ensure that you play these hands as long as the bet amount is not very high. However, if you have players who have been betting and increasing the bets, you should try to refrain from playing unless you have kings or aces.

By now you must have begun to realize that the main secret of winning in poker is to understand which hand to play. Remember, playing every hand and basing your decisions on the first set of three cards that open up can make you lose a huge sum of money. You need to realize that most sensible players end up folding approximately 80% of their hands. However, if the pot has not been opened before your turn, i.e., no one has called the game before you, you should try your hand in that particular round. Once someone ahead of you raises, your hand selection should be narrowed down considerably before you play further. What this essentially means is that it is OK to bluff, but the best bluff is always the one where you control the outcome of the game, i.e., you have cards that are worth playing with. For example, you should never play in a game where you have a JQ and another player has raised the bet. In this case, KK, AA, QK and KA have a better chance of winning the game.

Let’s bring statistics into the equation. It has been observed that most of the players who end up on the winning side play about 18 – 22% of the hands. If you’re new into the world of poker, you simply need to understand that you should be playing a maximum of 15 – 20 rounds in the entire session. Look at it this way. If your opponents play about 45% of their hands and you play anything between 20 – 25%, you should normally have a major advantage in each of those hands. However, the importance of blinds should not be diminished either.

Another factor that vastly influences the percentage of hands you should play is whether the game is played in a passive or an aggressive manner. There are a number of hands that can hardly be termed as playable the moment someone raises the pot. A raise normally indicates that your opponents have anything between above average – excellent hands. This considerably reduces your own odds of winning.

Remember, the more sessions you play, the more experience you gain. And the more experience you gain, the more rounds you should be able to play. And as most pros like to put it, the number of hands you play should actually depend on your own skill levels. The more advanced you are, the more hands you can play and succeed in.

Food items that can help you with online gambling

Whether you believe it or not, online gambling ultimately boils down to luck and probability. Now you might not believe in luck in the cosmic sense, but you do admit that there are days when you feel like you have won a lot more while gambling online compared to most other days. Let’s just take these days to be lucky for you for argument’s sake. Now, you might not believe in luck and might just tone down these acts to random acts of nature, but there are a few individuals who go out of their way to ensure that their luck never dwindles. In fact, a few people are also known to believe that there are certain food items which can help you increase your luck while gambling online.

Eating your lucky meal
As they state, fortunes favours the brave and the prepared. You need to figure out the food items that bring you the most happiness and define them as a part of your lucky meal. Remember, being happy allows you to create your own luck and if you don’t believe in these sort of things, simply believe in the fact that it always helps to be happy and satisfied before you gamble online.

Keeping cinnamon also helps
A common superstition is to keep a stick of cinnamon in one’s wallet or purse to ensure that there is a steady income and prevent sudden financial setbacks. Well, how far it actually helps can be debated, but it surely allows you to make your money and your credit cards smell nice.

Common food items that people eat to bring luck
According to many, there are a number of food items that can actually help gamblers to increase their luck. Some of these items include dairy products, soy protein, egg whites, fish and game meat. As funny or weird as this sounds, you can find numerous instances of people vouching for the fact that they fared much better at online gambling after eating one or more of these items. Luckily for the logic freaks, studies have come up with a logical explanation for this superstition. It is believed that all such items contain an amino acid known as Tryptophan. Tryptophan is particularly useful in increasing the level of serotonin in a person’s brain that helps to get rid of anxiety and depression. Simply put, having food items which are rich in Tryptophan help you to feel lighter and happier, which ultimately brings forward the notion of feeling lucky.

Lentils are also known to bring in luck
Many people also believe that having Lentils right before you sit down to gamble is also considered to bring immense luck. No doubt that this superstition comes from the fact that Lentils are considered to be good luck charms for improving finances and many people in Brazil eat lentils as their first meal of the New Years to ensure a year of prosperity and happiness.

Double your luck
If you’re looking to try out one or more of these foods, you should look at trying to double your luck. Basically, you need to ingest your tryptophan rich food items along with carbohydrates in order to substantially increase the benefits of Tryptophan. Therefore, instead of dairy products, you could try out a grilled cheese sandwich. Instead of having fish, why not order for a pizza with extra anchovy toppings. Not only does this help you to try out these funny ways of increasing your luck, it also helps you to double it and prevent yourself from looking like a fool.

How to enjoy Texas Hold’em

Texas Hold’em is a very competitive game. At times, it can become quite frustrating as well. It’s a game of chance after all, and the outcome of a hand is often unclear even after the river has been dealt.
No matter why you play it, poker should be first of all about fun. And this is why we have prepared a ‘To do list’ to help you enjoy poker the way you should!

1. Master the rules
You need to know the rules of the game you are playing. If you are a beginner, it might be a good idea to look for strategies and tips; the Internet has all the information you are looking for. Help things go smoothly by paying attention to what is going on at the table and by doing all the thinking before it’s your turn to act.

2. Be prepared to lose
Like everyone else, you most likely enter a game hoping to win. Still, you should also be prepared to lose. A good idea is to simply consider the money you are playing as the cost for a fun night out. That way, if you are going to lose you’re not going to feel too sad about it, and if you are going to win it’s going to be an even more pleasant surprise.

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3. Positive attitude!
It doesn’t matter if you are winning or not. Maintain an open posture and a smiling face. Don’t sit on your chair looking angry, and don’t get upset over other players’ style of playing. You are there, first and foremost, to have an enjoyable time. If you win, act friendly toward the other players; perhaps invite them for a drink. Next time it could be you in their place. If you lose, congratulate the winner. Whether it was luck or skill, he did better than you this time.

4. Learn new games
If you play for fun, then why not take a look at other varieties of poker? Maybe you will find another one, beside Texas, which you like just as much. There are many fun poker variations which you can learn and then perhaps play them at home with your friends.

5. Be nice to the casino staff
Casino staff is often overworked and underappreciated. Remember that it’s not their fault if you lose, but that it doesn’t hurt to show generosity if you win. Don’t hesitate to spark up a conversation with the dealer at your game table. You might just realize he’s got some interesting things to say.

These good advices can help you have a fun time at the casino even if you don’t win. Gambling is all about the adrenaline rush and having fun, and the sooner we remember it, the more we’ll enjoy our time at the table.

WSOPC 2014 To Set Up A New Record Of Participation And Prizes.

World Series of Poker is an international circuit of poker tournaments, open to any player over 21 years of age. The yearly circuit offers a total sum of prizes of $200m, so as you can see, it’s one of the most important poker events in the world, and one of the events that gathers more attention and media coverage.

This year 2104 it will be the 45th edition, and the organizers have just announced the calendar. So pay attention, maybe you should start checking for flight tickets. The WSOP main event, taking place in May 2014 will see a winner of over $10m plus the classic diamond ring.

One of the classic tournaments id the Annual Poker Extravaganza, organized since 1970. It takes place since the last 10 years at the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, and due to this jubilee, the winner will walk away with $10m prize, plus way more other prizes.

During the year circuit, a total of 65 winners will get one of the famous diamond rings. Last year it was 62, so the amount keeps increasing, and so does the circuit.

According to WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart, the organization expects 2014 to beat all the records in participation and prizes, setting a new bar in Poker tournaments. Mr Stewart also declared that the event is not just about poker, but there are many side events, so even if Poker is not your main hobby, you can always find interesting activities to keep yourself entertained.

ESPN and ESPN2 will cover the main events, so even if you can not attend, but are interested in checking one of the events marked in red in the poker calendars, you will still have the chance to follow it through TV and internet.

The event has also a social side, and for the last years they have partnered with One Drop, a charity trying to make water accessible for all citizens in the world. All winners will have the chance to donate 1% of their prizes to this charity. During the last 2 editions, in 2012 and 2013, $12m were donated to this cause by the tournament winners.

Bulgaria To Open Borders To Online Poker

Bulgaria has been the last European country to legalize online gambling, and is starting to grant licenses to the first operators. As today, some of them already got the license, for instance PokerStars.

For the online gambling operators, Bulgaria is a very interesting market, since it is very passionate to gambling and specially poker. And one of the best poker players, Dimitar Danchev, is actually from Bulgaria. He won the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure last year in 2013.

So far, the Bulgarian State Gambling Commission (SGC) has declared that this is just a testing period, and they want to check how the situation will evolve. The gambling industries have been pushing for quite some time in order to get licenses, and now that the first ones have been given, they want to start operating as soon as possible. However, it will take some time until Bulgarian society realize that the market has started to open. During some time, they will probably think they are playing illegally, until the situation is clarified.

Actually, most of the online gambling operators are still blacklisted, although the authorities have promised they will solve this situation soon.

Bulgarian government aims with this new legislation changes to end with all forms of clandestine and criminal gambling, which has been increasing in the past years considerably, to become a security issue for police and armed forces. Fighting against these mafias was a priority, and this will hit them badly, government expects.

So, if you are from Bulgaria, it’s just a matter of time that you will be able to play poker freely in your favorite online poker rooms. And if you are from some other country that still hasn’t open the market, we expect this gives you hopes and soon one day you will be able to play as well.

DISNEY COMPITING WITH CASINOS

Florida’s government and lawmakers, like the government in other States, are once again bringing the focus of the political and media influence to the topic of opening the State to casino resorts and gambling houses. And again, like many times in the past, they have found a strong opposition in The Walt Disney Company.

The battle between the gambling sector and the most famous entertaining company has been on permanently ever since the conversations about opening the State to gambling.

Disney World is definitely the biggest touristic attraction in Florida, and one of the top ones in the whole world. And probably the most valuable brand and image. So Florida can not afford to bother the relations between The Walt Disney Company and the government of Florida. The relationship between the State of Florida and The Walt Disney Company was born in 1971, with the opening of The Disney World, one of the pioneer projects in the world of the leisure mega centers. Its been a very fruitful and productive relationship for both parts, so its not hard to understand that The Walt Disney Company has a lot of strength when it comes to these important decisions.

However, lawmakers and institutions pro gambling are accusing Disney of acting with hypocrisy. The fact is that Marvel had signed some agreements in the past with slot machine developers to create games based in popular characters like Spider Man. And who owns the rights of Marvel comics since 2009? Yes, Disney. However, Disney spokesman has declared firmly that no new agreements have been made ever since they got back Marvel. Gambling institutions are a bit worried that Disney will not renew the old agreements with Marvel, so soon they will have to retire some of the most famous and fruitful games, with characters like Spider Man, The Avengers, Hulk or Captain America.

Its going to be a tough battle. And most analysts see Disney as a winner, because they have more power when it comes to lobbying. And they also think that Disney has a point when saying that Florida has been always labeled as a family destination, not just because Disney World, but also because Sea World, one of the biggest marine parks in the world, opened in 1988.

Gambling in Africa

Let’s face it. People want to either gamble for fun or to get paid. The fact is, a lot of people in Africa can’t afford this kind of luxury. So who gambles in Africa?
This may be a controversial topic but there are a few rich folks in Africa although not many of them are known. The casinos in Africa aren’t the best either.

So who are these rich folks? They break down to a few groups: Warlords, traders, foreigners, politicians, celebrities among a few others. These people make enough money in one day to live in Africa for a whole year. They have so much money they just visit casinos to blow it all. Funny thing is, in Africa, the casinos don’t offer free drinks like the ones in America. It sucks but hey, at least alcohol is quite cheap in Africa, although it may be illegal in some places. If you’re rich enough, it doesn’t matter.

This is Africa.

However, do be careful when partaking in illegal activities in Africa. If you get caught and if you are put in jail… some say it’s quite… difficult to get out. Of course, if you spend enough money, this isn’t an issue. But what if you don’t have your money with you or you ran out of money? Then you’re screwed! African jails are some serious places that you never ever want to go to.

Gambling in Africa is quite different than gambling in more developed areas, but if you have the money, like most places, you can have a blast. So be very careful of the law, spend your money wisely and you can enjoy your stay like a king.

TAXI DRIVER RETURNS $300.000 POKER BAG IN LAS VEGAS

At the end of a regular day’s shift of last month, taxi driver from Las Vegas Gerardo Gamboa, happened to find out that some client left forgotten a bag at his cab. He opened it, in search for some documents or information about the owner, in order to give it back. But to his surprise, he only found six bundles of 100$ bills, a total amount of 300.000$.

Gamboa decided to go back to his office, and turned in the money. They contacted the police, who started an investigation that managed to determine, with the help of the casino authorities, that the owner of the money was a famous professional poker player, who asked to remain anonymous.

The vague poker player had then to go to the taxi office to claim the money back. Gamboa’s boss defined him as a nice guy, who was just feeling too embarrassed about his dismissal. But he was grateful about the kindness and the exemplar action of the taxi driver. Somehow it looked as if it wasnt the first time he lost his poker bag.

The taxi company rewarded Gamboa with a 1000$ check, and a steak dinner for two. And rumors say that the poker player rewarded him with 10000$ for his action. Gamboa, who has been driving his taxi for over 25 years now, declared that he didn’t do it for the money, or for attention. That’s just the way he was raised by his parents.

What would you do in Gamboa’s situation? Would you opt for the good citizen action? Or would you consider that after 25 years driving a cab, this was just a generous tip from a rich client? I want to believe that majority of people would do the correct think, although its hard to know until one finds himself in the situation.

NEW JERSEY TO LEGALIZE ONLINE GAMBLING

New Jersey became in the end of November 2013 the 3rd state of the US to legalize online casinos and gambling. So far, 13 websites have been launched. According to the authorities, the process is running smoothly, and it seems like the logical thing to do, since in the end its just private companies trying to enter a market and compete fairly to one another to offer a better service.

The gambling promoters have been defending that in a capitalist system like the one we live now, its just not reasonable for the state to try to control so many things, and that it has to allow private companies to compete freely. That’s the key to success and progress.

The gambling association tries to make the authorities see that the influence of internet gambling is unstoppable, and that it could also be beneficial for real casinos as well, and could reactivate Atlantic City as a touristic destination.

Obama’s government is not really cooperating in the legalization of online gambling. But we all know that Obama’s position is not the strongest at the moment, and his popularity has dropped drastically recently. However, the states are the ones that have the power to change the laws, so it wouldn’t be surprising if more and more states start legalizing online gambling in the upcoming months. In the end, they will get a piece of the cake too, by collecting taxes from users. Otherwise users will have to log in and play in foreign online casinos, which will bring no revenue to the American economy. Also, its quite probable that other states are going to analyze the situation of New Jersey to check if its something worth doing or not. So in that sense, it could be a good example to other states that could be considering giving the same step.

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