Internet Poker
Finding a Winning Edge
by J. Phillip Vogel

No matter how adept you are at the game, winning poker often involves having some sort of an edge. Whether it's sitting in the hot seat against a table full of fish, or just finding that special opponent whose tells are so obvious the trick becomes milking them for every penny, having an edge can turn even a run of weak cards into a gold mine.

In the online poker world, however, getting that edge isn't always easy. There is no way to read you opponents eyes or gestures-you're staring at what amounts to a cartoon character-while actions such as long pauses can be meaningless since the delay could merely be the result of server problems rather than player hesitation.

Despite such problems, online poker rooms continue to post record numbers of players, many of who either don't know or don't care about such limiting factors. But for those players in search of some kind of edge at the virtual card tables, there are now many new sites boasting unique (and sometimes dubious) methods for improving one's game, bankroll and beyond. Let's take a look at a few of the web's latest poker upstarts and what they have to offer.

Top Poker (www.toppoker.org), a poker portal that provides reviews, rankings of poker rooms and other information, recently announced the addition of a poker psychologist, "The Angry Counselor," to their team, along with a series of articles dealing specifically with the psychological side of poker.

"Many poker players are so focused on strategy, odds and game mechanics that they overlook important psychological aspects of the game," commented Acapulco, webmaster of TopPoker.org. "The Angry Counselor's series of articles is entertaining to read, and it really helps poker players get inside their own mind and the minds of their competition."

The first collection of articles in Top Poker's new psychology section is designed to help players understand and improve their game. Topics covered include basic poker psychology, goal setting, the difference between intrapersonal and interpersonal psychology, dealing with bad beat syndrome, as well as uncovering the psychology of cheating, and reading other players. The series further continues with a collection of articles analyzing some of the biggest names in professional poker such as Annie Duke, Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and Greg Raymer.

Moving from traditional counseling to mental control, fans of hypnotism as a source for self-help can also find a little assistance online thanks to hypnotherapist Michele Burghardt. Catch the River (www.catchtheriver.com) has recently started offering her "No Tilt" audio series of hypnosis sessions as a way to give poker players a winning edge. Burghardt, who created the series to help her poker-playing husband enhance his game, claims that hypnosis can be used to retrain the brain to remain calm in stressful situations, eliminate unconscious behaviors and improve focus and concentration. According to her husband, the results have been very positive.
"I can't believe the difference these tapes makes," said Eric Burghardt. "I am so calm and I'm winning."

The "No Tilt" audio series includes four different CDs and covers a variety of poker topics including tilting, short stacks, bad beats and composure. Expansion plans are also in the works for a line of custom designed T-shirts and accessories.

Gone Fishin'
Wouldn't it be wonderful if every player who sat down against you had a sign emblazoned across the forehead that told whether he or she is a "Fish," a "Shark" or something in-between? Well, at least one site has started doing almost that.

PokerFishTracker.com, a new portal aimed at the growing online poker market, recently launched as the premier resource for tracking weak online poker players. The site features an extensive list of player screen names, with each player ranked according to his or her abilities-or lack thereof.

"PokerFishTracker.com was created to help everyone have a clear advantage even before they start playing," reported site representatives. "We have an updated list of bad poker players that you can play against, while also offering exciting news and promotions from major online poker rooms."

According to the site, Poker Fish Tracker representatives go to major online poker rooms and play against hundreds of different poker players. A player who is noticed making a bad play or a really bad call is recorded in the database. Once observed as a consistently, that player is posted on PokerFishTracker.com and ranked on a scale from one to five according to how bad the person plays.

"We are always looking for the biggest money losers and what type of players are doing the losing. The biggest money loser is referred to as a 'maniac.' A maniac is an extremely loose player who will play monster pots with any two cards." "Weak or tight players will give up a lot of pots because they do not like confrontations and can be very profitable to play against. Some other categories that we place bad players in are: Loose, Calling Station (CS), and Tight."

All of the different types of players can be found at Poker Fish Tracker and the web site is updated regularly for changes within the poker world.

More for Your Money
Finally, rather than targeting ways to help you get an edge over your rivals, some sites like Poker Club 24 (www.pokerclub24.com) and Crazy Poker (www.crazypoker.com) have created programs designed to reduce the overall cost of playing. Called "Rakeback campaigns" these programs allow players to earn back as much as 35 percent of the rake-the fee charged from the pot- on a monthly basis.

"We know this will raise some eyebrows in the online poker markets, but this is our way of doing business and by doing so we can really give something back to our respected players." said the manager of PokerClub24. "The online poker market is so hot now that one must come up with something out of the ordinary to stand out from the crowd and this is our way of doing so. By giving our players back a lot more then the casual reloads or gifts, we aim to become one of the most popular poker rooms among the more experienced poker players."

As I said at the beginning of this article, getting an edge in poker can be the deciding factor when it comes to victory. The sites detailed above, while different in scope, all promise to provide their visitors with some way of getting at least a slight leg-up on the competition. But remember, as compelling or unique as many of these sites are, their value to the poker player depends not so much on what they offer, but rather on what use the player makes of it.

J. Phillip Vogel is an online gambling expert and the editor for TheOPN.com. His next book, The Internet Gambling Companion, will be available in April 2006.

Net News

Million Dollar Backgammon Championship
Online backgammon recently took a huge leap forward in the online gaming race with the announcement that the game is to break a new threshold, holding the first $1,000,000 championship.

Organized by Play65, (P65) the grand event is scheduled for summer 2006 at an as yet undisclosed location. Participants will win their seats in the event through a series of online satellite competitions held on the P65 site, www.p65.com, which will start later in the autumn and run into the New Year.

"With each passing month, backgammon is growing at a phenomenal rate," observed Elad Natanson, president of TC.ADS co-provider of P65. "This competition is testament to the growth potential of the game itself that new tournaments are entering the circuit, while the prize pool mirrors the prize developments that we have seen in the poker industry. This competition is a landmark event for the industry, the players, and the supporters of the game, which we hope will start the ball rolling for further awareness and expansion of what is truly an incredible game."

The online backgammon community as a whole has seen a tremendous surge in players in the last year, with servers recording registered player rates doubling and in some cases more. This is expected to rise again sharply with the announcement that UK digital channel Pokerzone has commissioned a four-part series following the recent backgammon world championships.

Rising Gas Prices Profit Punters
Bodog.com has added to its list of oil and gas wagers a bet on whether the price per gallon of gas would reach a national average price of US $2.70 by January 1, 2006.

Bodog.com has seen 75 percent of its bettors back the price per gallon of gas reaching a national average of US $2.70 for self-serve regular. The average price of gasoline surged to more than $2.49 a gallon at week's end. Chicago alone saw the price per gallon rise to US $2.64.

"As betting patterns are great indicators of the public mindset, we can say without doubt that the consumers expect fuel costs to rise substantially in the coming months," said Calvin Ayre, Founder and CEO of Bodog.com. "The jump at the pump comes at the heels of a hike in crude oil prices, which reached around US $67 per barrel last week."

With a voracious demand for oil from the United States and from growing economies such as China and India, the supply for this valuable commodity is falling short of adequate sustainable levels. The price per gallon of gas has come close to breaking the record set during the Iranian Revolution, when a gallon of gas cost about $3 in today's dollars.

GamblePoints.com offers Cash, Prizes for Play
GamblePoints.Com offers a new incentive point program allowing online gamblers to earn cash and prizes for gaming. By playing online and completing various offers, users earn incentive points that can be redeemed toward cash or various prizes including iPods, poker items, computers and even plasma TVs.

"GamblePoints is essentially a new comp program enabling online gamblers to earn even more rewards for their online play," said representatives of GamblePoints. "By signing up with our sponsor casinos or completing various nongambling offers, our users earn incentive points which they can redeem for various prizes including cash, cell phones and even a laptop computer. In addition, we also provide valuable gambling information such as game strategies, featured casino lists and various monthly contests."

GamblePoints.Com is easy to join through free registration and members can start earning incentive points immediately by completing gambling or nongambling offers and referring their friends through the "Tell-A-Friend" program.

For more information about Gamble Points, visit www.GamblePoints.com.

Vegas Partner Lounge Launches Multiplayer Casino
Online casino pioneers Vegas Partner Lounge has recently launched a new multiplayer casino, CrazyMultiplayerCasino.com, which allows online casino players to enjoy the competition and interaction of playing against each other in a variety of games.

"We are very excited to be leading the way in this exciting new trend," states Crazy Vegas Casino manager Trevor Penn, on behalf of Vegas Partner Lounge. "Players can now enjoy the added thrill and camaraderie of playing against each other while winning."

Players can compete and even join forces on blackjack (European, Atlantic City or Vegas Downtown styles) or slots (Double Magic, Fantastic 7s and High 5).

"With Blackjack, there are three- and five-seat tables to choose from with different betting limits. Players can chat to each other during the game and can even play together to try and beat the house! What's really great is that players can play at a table with their friends or just sit down and meet other blackjack players from around the world," said Penn.

The slots section works on several levels to suit players' needs, allowing a choice of Standard, Community and Pot slots options. The Standard option is a global slot bank game where players play alongside each other. The Community option works in the same way, but has regular as well as community payouts. The final option is the Pot option, which allows players to play against each other for a central pot.

"The multiplayer slots are sure to be a firm favorite and the added edge of competing with others is sure to spice up online gaming," said Penn.

Site of the Month: PokerStars.com
Of the nearly countless online poker rooms to have launched within the past decade, PokerStars (www.pokerstars.com) is considered by astute players everywhere to be among the very best, a fact recently proven by their celebration of an unbelievable online milestone-hosting their 10 millionth poker tournament. With that mark achieved, PokerStars has now hosted more tournaments than any online site, casino or card room and given out more prize money than any other poker site globally.

Known far and wide as the home of poker champions, PokerStars.com offers one of the largest selections of games and qualifiers to major poker events online. These include qualifiers to the $1 million PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, qualifiers to the "PokerStars World Cup" (an international poker event) and, of course, qualifiers to the granddaddy of them all, the World Series of Poker. In addition, each year PokerStars.com hosts the World Championship of Online poker (WCOOP) a 15-day, 15-event poker extravaganza that draws some of poker's best and brightest. This year's event-which began in September-boasted some 10,000 participants and a guaranteed prize pool of more than $8 million, making it one of the richest sporting events in the world.

Finally, PokerStars.com provides players with numerous sit-and-go and multitable tournaments, rebuy tournaments, shootouts and freeroll events plus a substantial collection of standard table games with stakes as low as 1 or 2 cents to as high as $100/$200.

For more information or to see why PokerStars is the biggest name in online poker today, visit their web site at www.pokerstars.com.

To read Casino Player in its entirety CLICK HERE to subscribe.