Online Poker

[mrskippy]

OK, So I'm pondering the online poker scene. Poker Room looks cool because they have the other table games. Poker Party or whatever it's called is cool, because they give a slick bonus (but require a $50 minimum deposit).

What I want is low stakes, possible draw poker, cheap tourney entry fees, and possibly a place that gives some good deposit bonus/free chips.

[mrskippy]

QuikSand? Anyone?

[TredWel]

I can only speak from experience about Party Poker, which is a site I can recommend highly. Lots of tables, levels of limits, all ranges of tournament buy-ins, and as you mention, a good bonus.

The only problem that you might have is that they do not offer draw games. They only play Hold 'Em, Omaha, and 7 Card Stud to a lesser extent.

[mrskippy]

Cool. I might give that a shot. I noticed some .50/1.00 games.


What are the cash out rules like? I know some of them require certain playthrough before cashing out.

[TredWel]

Originally posted by mrskippy
What are the cash out rules like? I know some of them require certain playthrough before cashing out.

The only rule concerning cash outs is that it must be $50 or more. There are no playthrough rules that I've noticed concerning cashouts, assuming you're playing with your own money. Bonus money has to be "earned" by playing a certain number of raked hands before it's placed into your account, but after that it's yours to do whatever you want with.

[mrskippy]

Raked hands meaning completed hands?

I got going tonight. Of course, played a few hands, was down a few bucks. Than hit a few hands to break even. But that time everybody left. No matter, I'm even for now.

.50/$1 Hold Em. I've played Hold 'Em before and like it. Fairly simple really, if you use common sense.

Anyway, if there's ever an FOFC Real Money night at this place, I wouldn't mind joining in the fun.

[QuikSand]

So far, I've found the financial side of PartyPoker to be pretty seamless. I put in my initial deposit there, earned my bonus, got a fair measure ahead, and then withdrew all my initial stake. (I'm using the third party connection to my checking account for transactions)

Since then, I have switched my money over to Empire Poker (run by the same site, with commingled tables) and have just earned my bonus on my initial stake there. So, they have now given me $125 in free money for playing. Not too bad.

PartyPoker's best attribute, by conventional wisdom, is its popularity. They have many, many games running at all times - so you can pretty much always get a game at the level you want to play. Plus, with their aggressive marketing, they attract a lot of low-skill players. Particularly playing $.50/$1.00, you'll find a fair number of people playing for real money without much grasp of how to play well.

It sounds (from rec.gambling.poker) that more seasoned players prefer a few other sites-- Paradise Poker, for instance. I haven't really fished around much, but now that I have exhausted my signup bonuses, I'm open to a change. PartyPoker does deliver the fish, though.

[SplitPersonality1]

Originally posted by QuikSand
PartyPoker does deliver the fish, though.

Deliver the fish? That's an unusual expression. Quik, is that a regional thing?

[QuikSand]

Originally posted by SplitPersonality1
Deliver the fish? That's an unusual expression. Quik, is that a regional thing?

More of a poker thing.

poor, loose poker player = "fish"

[SplitPersonality1]

Originally posted by QuikSand
More of a poker thing.

poor, loose poker player = "fish"

Duh. Brain cramp. Carry on.

[TredWel]

Originally posted by mrskippy
Raked hands meaning completed hands?

In order to make sure the site stays in business, the site will take a percentage of every pot for itself (called the "rake"). This is small, usually working out to less than 10% of the pot, which is much smaller percentage than B&M casinos.

The thing is, there's a minimum size that the pot has to reach for the table to start raking, $5 for Party Poker, for example. Therefore, if you sit for a hand whose pot does not meet that minimum requirement, it's not a raked hand, and doesn't count towards total number of raked hands.

[KWhit]

2 questions QS (or anyone else who can answer):

1: On Party Poker, how do you get the $ bonus? I didn't see a link on there about it.

2: When you deposited money in your account, what did you use? Netteller? What's the consensus on the safety of this? Any advice you can give about funding the account?


Thanks.

[QuikSand]

I think that once you sign up with Party Poker, you are immediately granted the bonus, regardless of what you did to that point.

But, to be safe - do a google search on "Party Poker signup bonus" and you'll get a varuiety of codes - I think the best is a 20% bonus of your original deposit.

The bonus then sits in a reserve account, until you have played the requisite number of hands until it si released into your account.


I personally signed up with a service called (I think) IGS, that works through your checking account. I has been seamless thus far. I haveno experience with Neteller or the other options. IGS is free to deposit and withdraw, incidentally - as is (I think) Neteller.

[Radii]

I use Neteller and have had no problems with it. It's linked to your a checking account as well, similar to paypal, etc.

[mrskippy]

Hehehehe ...

So with Neteller last night I put in $50 (the minimum)

Played through my 100 raked hands, got the $25 bonus

Entered a $5+$1 NL Hold Em Single Table Tourney today, won the $25 first prize.

Now have over $150 in my account. :)

The tournament was a blast. $6 for some good, clean, long lasting fun (if your winning of course).

At first it was up and down, back and forth game. But towards the end I started picking people off one by one.

Until there were two. The other guy and I went in fairly even into the final two.

Than I got a decent hand out of nothing (a flush). Figuring to call my bluff, he calls for an all in. Puts me up with 6,000+ to about 300 for the other guy.

Next hand ... 3 Kings on my end ... game over. :)

I've found Hold 'Em to be quite simple. But I guess if you watch enough ESPN and Travel Channel poker contests, you pick up the game real fast.

On trips to Vegas I've always dreaded venturing into the poker room, feeling to intimidated to do so. Next time, I'll give it a shot. Good friends tell me that the same $20, $30 or $50 you sit with at a low-limit BJ table can last just as long or longer at a low-limit Hold Em table -- with the chance to walk away with some bigger money to boot.

[QuikSand]

Originally posted by mrskippy
Good friends tell me that the same $20, $30 or $50 you sit with at a low-limit BJ table can last just as long or longer at a low-limit Hold Em table...

Play poker at a level where you have a positive expectation - so your focus shoudln't be on how long the money lasts, but rather how well you can do with it. Of course you'll haevbad beats and losing sessions, but if you play well and pick your spots, you should be a positive-expectation player.

Good luck.

[mrskippy]

Originally posted by QuikSand
Play poker at a level where you have a positive expectation - so your focus shoudln't be on how long the money lasts, but rather how well you can do with it. Of course you'll haevbad beats and losing sessions, but if you play well and pick your spots, you should be a positive-expectation player.


Good point.

In general that is the rule of thumb no matter what in Vegas.

It's the reason I avoid the slots (though if I'm there for a week I usually save $20-$50 for the entire week to throw into a Megabucks or Quartermania machine and I also dump lose change in to the machines near the elevator) and stick with the game I know best:

Blackjack

Though last trip to Vegas, I did end my fears of stepping up to the craps table. And I love it.

Roulette is out, though I'll sometimes sneak in and play a $5 chip on black just for the hell of it.

I always play a $1 Keno card, again, just for the hell of it.

Video Poker usually will get a few $1's here and there. Usually the 5 cent machines. Have walked away with $250 on a $20 buy in there a few times.

Back to slots, one thing Vegas has done well is install things like Price Is Right, Family Feud, and assorted bonus game slots. And last trip I actually had some fun on these.

Tri-Card and Let It Ride. Both fun. I've done well with Let It Ride. Unfortunately you can dump money fast on all of these.

Rest of the crap in the casino, Big Wheel, Chuck-A-Luck, etc. is crap. Usually will do this when killing time, just like slots. And only if there are a ton of others playing, since the social atmosphere is the only thing that makes it worth going against a huge house edge.

All in all. My gambling rule.

Never bet more than you can afford, recognize gambling as a form of entertainment that costs money, and just have fun. If you win, awesome. If you lose, you at least got a few hours of quality entertainment.