Peer-to-peer poker is a new interactive network for poker players to play internet-style poker while in the confines of a real casino. Players can play in restaurants, lounges or at the bar, and the action can be added to the casino revenue without using up any valuable floor space. Progressive Gaming International Corporation, the leading provider for gaming diversified technologies, has signed a limited exclusive license agreement with Harrah’s Licensing Company.

Harrah’s is expected to begin installing the World Series of Poker peer-to-peer network in the hotel prior to the general public. The system is expected to be attractive to players because they will be able to track their play, and there will always be open tables. The games are an option while waiting for a real table and your name is on the waiting list. The system was approved after its debut at the ICE Show in London.

1. Never draw to low end, or sucker end, of a straight. You’ll get the card you want only to be beat by a bigger straight. Draw to nut straights only, if you’re getting proper odds.

2. Play more aggressive when you have position on your opponents. Being last to go gives you an edge against everyone else; take advantage of this and win free chips.

3. Don’t call a raise in the big blind just because you have something invested. Your position is poor and you’re most likely up against a good hand that has a higher winning percentage.

4. Make large bets when you think you have the lead. Don’t let your opponents draw cheaply on you. Bet half the size of the pot so draw hands will be making a mistake to call.

5. Read hold’em books and document your play. Organization will make you a winner.

Learning to play Texas Holdem is only educational to a degree. You can read books and follow strategies that other professionals write about, and most of this information is good. But playing poker the way someone else tells you to will only take you so far. To become an elite player you have to develop your own style and a skill-set that fits your own persona. Originality is a powerful weapon if you have the intellect to develop some at the tables.

The best poker players are able to make decisions based on more than just their cards and what mathematics and strategy may dictate. A good poker player is factoring every piece of information available during a game, and playing at a level above cards and bets. Learn what’s successful for you and play your game. Following your instincts will add an important factor to your game, on top of the strategy.

There are lots of up-and-comers in poker. Young players are winning WSOP bracelets every year. The up-and-comer who’s getting the most attention is Annette Obrestad. She has only been able to be play poker for a year now and she already has five cashes, including her recent WSOP circuit win for $1.8m in September. We’ll have to wait a couple more years before she hits Vegas, considering she just turned 19 years old.

Another young player of note is Bertrand Grospellier. He is a high-limit online player and has eight cashes in live events since 2005. He’s known for playing up to 14 games at once and is already a member of Team Pokerstars.

Eric Froehlich has already won two WSOP bracelets and plays in most of the top tournaments online. At only 23, he has the potential to win enough bracelets to cover his entire arm someday.

Texas Holdem is addictive for lots of reasons. The first and foremost is because of the human ego. For some reason most people believe they are good holdem players once they learn the game.

Poker is such an attitude sport that confidence is required to be successful with any consistency. If the people playing the game all believe they should win, the game will certainly become addictive for those who do not understand that the game involves a lot of losing too, for everyone who plays.

The other factor is the dream of winning it big. We all dream of the good life where we make it big by winning easy money and having freedoms enjoyed by only the rich and famous. With millions of dollars being won by everyday Joes all the time, it’s not tough to see why many become obsessive with the game, to an unsafe level.

To ask if the house always wins seems a bit silly to me. One needs only to look at the growth of the gaming industry over the last 50 years to know that the house wins in the long run.

The only time it might seem that the house doesn’t win is if someone finds a way to beat a particular game. When this rare situation occurs it’s only a matter of time before the house discovers it and shuts it down. But they still benefit from these situations because the publicity that follows the news of a big winner increases the popularity of the casino.

All games and machines are mathematically guaranteed to show a profit over time. No games are set against the house, and all provide an edge for the casino. All you are hoping for is to be part of the payout instead of the intake, giving you a chance of exiting with your wallet bulging with newfound money.

There are lots of places to find poker action on the Vegas Strip. But the days of heading downtown to Binions or another old-time poker room are long gone.

The best poker rooms are in the best casinos these days. The Wynn has one of the newest and fanciest rooms in town with great staff that will spread just about any game you ask for. Caesars has a giant room that separates tournament action from cash action, and low limits for no limit holdem and lots of Omaha Hi/Low action.

The king of Vegas poker action is still the Bellagio. It’s where the biggest games are played and the best in the world can be seen on a daily basis. Modern poker rooms are designed to be like the Bellagio, which provides limit action as high as you can imagine, and no-limit games are spread on many levels.

1. Drawing to the low end of a straight. If your card comes, you’re still easily beat.
2. Letting your emotions get the best of you. Stay calm or leave the game.
3. Raising with the second-best hand. Sometimes it’s wiser to call than raise.
4. Playing too many hands in poor positions. The worse your position, the better your hand must be.
5. Calling too much. Poker is about folding and betting, calls should be rare.
6. Staying in a game that you can’t beat. Don’t take it personal, find a better game.
7. Chasing draws when the bet is too big. Keep your drawing odds in your favour.
8. Playing outside your level. Play in a game where you have 200 times the big blind.
9. Bluffing at multi-player pots. It’s not a high percentage move with three or more players.
10. Playing tight at a short table. Get aggressive at a short table.

If you’re concerned about cheating in poker, especially online, the only realistic type of cheating that does go on is collusion. It’s not as common as it was before, but on a rare occasion I still run across some idiots that think they can get ahead by playing together and sharing info.

It’s done by two or more players all playing at the same table and communicating with each other via telephone or something like MSN. They know each other’s hands and try and force players out of hands by raising and re-raising each other, then one of them folds on the river once they’re head to head.

Unnoticed it can make a small amount of profit in the correct setting. It doesn’t take long to recognize when you’re in a situation where this is going on, and most sites can recognize this behavior once it’s pointed out to them through hand histories.

Deciding when to bet in Hold’em is dependent on the situation in which you find yourself. If you’re playing at a table where the players are calling down to the river often, betting should be done only with a hand you feel is in the lead. This situation is not good for bluffing.

If you’re at a table full of tight-style players who can be pushed off of pots easily, it’s a good idea to bet at any flop that doesn’t have an Ace or King in it. Tight players play big cards, and when the flop has none in it you can pick it up by betting into it.

Another good time to bet is when the flop has a pair or three to a straight or flush. Betting into these flops will scare off everyone except the opponent that may have the big hand. Then you can get away from it if you get called.