The largest events scheduled include a $5,100 heads-up championship on 22 February. 22, a $5,100 eight-game mix championship on 17 February and a $25,100 high roller event on February 27. The Main Event, with its $10,000 and World Poker Tour (WPT) label will start on 25 February; a field of 600 participants is expected, this would generate a prize pool of over $6 million. The end of the Main Event will bring the series of 54 events to a close on 3 March. The 745 players who entered the same event in 2010 were bested by Andras Koroknai whose heads-up win over Raymond Dolan won him $1.7 million first-place prize.

The first event of the six-week poker extravaganza is the five-day $335 buy-in NLHe event that has a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million. With four starting days, last year’s equivalent event attracted 5,847 players who created a prize pool of $1.6 million.

The tournament is going to join the ranks of its competitors who are including events directed at senior citizens. This year will see the inaugural L.A. Poker Classic No Limit Hold’em Senior Championship on Wednesday, 23 February. The event will only be open to people of 50 years or older and will have a buy-on of $545. Tournament Director Matt Savage commented of the new event: “By giving our more mature players an opportunity to compete against others more in keeping with their own mindset, playing style, speed and experience, we create an environment that is exclusive and yet more relaxing,” said Tournament Director Matt Savage.

Many online poker rooms are offering very attractive packages for seats in the L.A. Poker Classic, this is definitely the best way (for most ordinary-earning people) to gain entry for events of such luch buy-ins.

Vanessa Rousso

Poker is a real man’s game, the pressure the action the thrills – it ain’t no game for genteel ladies…is it?

Starting off with a fact, there are fewer women pro poker players than men, not that there is some equal opportunities tribunal you can see about that. Also it’s not as if poker has a glass ceiling, if you want to play, you can play and if you want to progress, ain’t nobody stopping you but yourself.

Poker may be a male dominated sport but there are also plenty of talented women in poker who are up there breaking straights, wining pots and stealing hearts as the go.

Some guys say “girls just can’t play poker” these guys should get back in their time machine and return to the 1950’s.

In actual fact female sharks are the toughest and scariest poker players online, anyone who thinks lacking testicles is the same as lacking balls, doesn’t know much about the fairer sex.

While men tend to be the more aggressive players than women that doesn’t mean every woman you play with is a fold waiting to happen, that can be bullied out of every hand a casual toss of chips.

Today more female players then ever before, are learning to play the game, turning professional and going head-to-head (and hand to hand) with the world’s best male players.

When you think of “typical” female attributes, patience cool common sense, female intuition not to mention a vicious streak that would make a snake blush, does that not sound the bones of a great poker player?

Though poker is male dominated there are also a number of real talented women in pro poker who have been taking first place at big tournaments women like  Annie Duke, Vanessa Rousso, Jennifer Tilly, Clonie Gowen, Tina Wallman and many many  more…

A female player also has two big advantages over any guy at the table, please feel free to insert your own “Good Pair” joke here…

Despite the fact that there are few things more desirable to the average poker Joe as a beautiful woman, with a stack of chip who looks like she’s holding the nuts, don’t make the cardinal sin o thinking that a good looking girl at the table is just there for eye Candy.

If you do you’ll be outside in the cold with empty pockets before you’ve decided what cup size she is.

If you still think women have o place at the table, take a look at Liv Boeree’s website www.livboeree.com and count up her winnings!

The first way to do this is by taking the lead in a hand. If you raise a pot, stick with the betting and show them that you are not afraid to fire chips into the pot. If you are playing tight, this should be enough to get them to back off of the hands that you are in. Make the continuation bet, but also fire on the turn as though you have a hand. Even the most aggressive of players will step back when a tight player continues to fire on the turn of a hand that they have raised on.

Another move that you can make against an aggressive opponent is by calling down the pre flop raise and the flop bet and then fire away on the turn. The board is really of no consequence when playing against an aggressive player as they will play just about any two cards. This is more of a feel move that you have to make based on when you think they are truly weak. If nothing more than a value bet was placed on the flop, it could be a green light to make your move.

This is something that you are going to have to be committed to from the very start and regardless of what the turn brings, you fire away like you just made a set. If the board was on a flush or straight draw and you are isolated, it actually works in your favor as tight players will usually only bet when they have it and firing right away gives the impression that you have made your hand and could care less what they are holding.

An aggressive player can be a nightmare unless you can tame them. You are going to be out of position against them half the time and if you show them that you can be walked over, they will do it every chance that they get. In order to keep your stack, you are going to have to fight fire with fire and get them to back off when you are in hands or you are doing nothing more than making a donation to their kid’s college fund.

Make a late position push

So the blinds just passed you buy, and you got bullied worse than a ginger kid in a schoolyard. This is the ideal time to make a push. If all hands before you are folded and you are sitting in late position with a marginal-to-solid hand, then this is an opportune time to go over the top. The odds are very likely that the remaining players will not wake up with a legitimate hand to call an all in. Blinds are officially stolen, and you have just increased your chip stack dramatically without sweating the board. Also, if there is a call on your late position all-in, then you are almost sure to be entering the flop as a 60/40 underdog. Hey, life sucks as a short stack, and a 40/60 isolation is a great option for you at this time.

Isolate against the aggressive player

The best thing to do in any tournament is to study the table and recognize tendencies. Attempt to figure out who is playing tight versus aggressive. The information you gather early on is what could save you if or when you become the short stack. The ideal victim to exploit as a short stack is the overly aggressive guy. Most tables have this type of player, where they like to raise preflop in order to steal some blinds. If you wind up with hole cards that should be two lives, for example suited connectors, then this would be a great time to do a little gambling. The price gives you the best option in getting back in the tournament, where you will be isolated against a loose cannon and able to add in the blinds if you win the hand.

Don’t get cute

Being cute may work for a girl who wants free drinks, but you’re the short stack. There is nothing cute in your position, so now isn’t the time to attempt anything. If you get a solid hand, then push. You are the short stack, and the table is hovering over you like vultures. Chances are you will be getting called in an ideal situation, as a favorite. By getting cute and disguising your hand, you are risking hands coming into the pot that generally should not be involved. Too many hands will turn your favorite into another marginal hand. Isolate with the push and hope that it holds up.

Ladbrokes are established British bookmaker who have been around for more than a century. Their recent venture on to the online world of gambling has led to the birth of Ladbrokes Poker. The website is not only a place where poker enthusiasts can have fun but also casino lovers can enjoy their favorite games too. Their name alone is enough to spell reliability and efficiency of services. Games played are juicy therefore giving rise to a lot of money doing the rounds. Experienced players can make some very good profits here. Ladbrokes is unique from all other poker sites as it offer a lot of features which other poker sites don’t offer. Unlike most of other poker sites which use playtech platform, ladbrokes poker use Microgaming which offers some unique features.

Signup Bonus

All new players who sigh up for an account are entitled to a 100% bonus of up to $500 when they make a first time bonus. To receive this bonus, you need to wager 30 times the deposit amount by playing raked hands and tournaments and you have 30 days in which you can wager for it.

Ladbrokes Poker Bonus Code: N/A

Software

There has been a definite change in the flow of traffic after Ladbrokes Poker switched over from its own software to that of the Microgaming network. The graphics are much better and have brought a great change to the previously dull tables. There are three table size options available, which is unique because the usual options available are generally only two. Apart from this the new software has brought in quite a few improvements.

You can get all valuable information such as your hand history, flop percentages, number of players, average pot size, amounts in the chip stacks and other useful information from the My Lobby tool bar. Also the games are listed stating the fixed limit, no limit and pot limit versions. A calendar is available, where players can mark important events for which they may be notified. The games move at a smooth pace and players do not have to wait around for games to begin.

Cash Games

The games offered by Ladbrokes Poker include Texas Holdem Poker in Limit, Pot Limit and No Limit variations, Omaha, Omaha High/Low, 5-Card Stud and 5-Card Draw along with 7-Card Stud. Most of the action is seen at the Fixed Limit Holdem tables but as the traffic mainly comprises of Europeans, Omaha is also quite frequented.

Tournaments

Ladbrokes has a lot to offer in terms of tournaments and these include single table, multi-table tournaments, various free rolls, guaranteed tournaments and of course the satellites that allow you buy-ins to world poker tournaments. An exclusive tournament that takes place at Ladbrokes is the “Both Ends Tournament”, which rewards the winner as well as the loser 50% each from the prize money. There are several other tournaments that are introduced time and again, making your game play worthwhile.

Promotions

All players who play real money games earn Player Points for each game that they play. These points can either be exchanged for cash deposits to your account or used for buy-ins to tournaments. Also Ladbrokes offers the Leaderboard Tournament where the top 3,000 players get a cash reward which is distributed from a total amount of $1,000,000 every month. The money is distributed according to the ranking of the players after their earned points take them to their respective positions. The prize money can start at $20,000 for the topmost player and can come down to $50 to the last player on the leaderboard.

Payment and Withdrawal Options

The various deposit options include MasterCard, VISA, PayPal, Solo, Delta, Switch, Cheque and Bank Transfers. Withdrawal options include MasterCard, VISA, PayPal, Cheque and Wire Transfer.

Support

You can look up answers to your questions from the FAQ section, besides which you can contact the always-helpful staff via the toll free telephones or through the email service, which is as quick as the other services. The staff is available 24-hours a day to lend you their support. Also available is a chat facility that not only allows you to contact the support team but also interact with your fellow players.

When you are on full table with a lot of big stacks around you, you must avoid pushing with a small pocket pair. First off, there is a very good chance that someone else will have your 66 covered with a higher pocket pair in later position. The other thing you are probably going to be looking at is multiple callers. The more people call, the more odds the next person is getting to throw in their chips. Everyone likes to be in on a big pot, so you are just asking for trouble here.

The only time you should really consider shoving with a baby pocket pair is when you are in the cutoff or button position. You only have to get through 2 or three players at that point and it is worth the risk. If you have to try and beat anymore than that, you are giving yourself a very slim chance of survival.

The other reason that you do not want to push with this type of hand is because the possibilities of losing is endless. You are going in with baby cards and you are in danger as just about anyone calling you is not only going to have two live cards, but you are also in risk when the board pairs as you can get counterfeited. If we had a buck every time a small stack got booted out of a tournament because of this we would be rich.

Another hand that is deadly to go in with is A-rag. Again, you are in fear of the big stacks here and anyone with chips and an A is going to make this call. You are also going to get called with just about any pocket pair as well. If you go into the flop with only one live card, the rail is more than likely your next destination. No, you are much better off shoving with a hand like QJ than you are A2. You probably have two live cards there and are also opening yourself up to a straight draw.

The one thing that you have to remember when you are short stacked and shoving for your life is that even if you are behind going in, you want to have live drawing cards that can get you back ahead in the hand. A rag and small pocket pairs are just not worth the trouble. Take a second to think about what you can hit before you shove those chips in there.

One of the biggest mistakes a lot of beginner players make is flat calling an early raise with AJ. The only time you really should do this in this spot is if you are suited. If you don’t hit your flush or are on a flush draw, you are in pretty bad shape even if the A hits. Now you are in a position where you may raise or call the hand down and still end up with a loser.

You are really going to have to know your table mates and be very careful if you are in after a raise. You have to look at the position because it dictates what kind of hands people are going to raise with. You have to know the player to decide if they are capable of playing any two cards or they are playing ABC poker. If they are a steady player and fire at the flop and turn, you are looking at a loser.

You are in an even worse scenario when the high card on the board is a J. You are pretty much obligated to play out the hand and once again, you could be starting down the barrel of a shotgun. Again, you are facing an early raise and other than the AK that may have made the raise, but you very well may be looking at AA, KK or QQ.

When you are in this spot and either raise or bet after a check, the move from the other player is going to be come back over the top of you. Now you are faced with a decision for your chips and you have to decide if you are going to put your faith in nothing more than JJ.

One thing a lot of players fail to register at this very moment is that they were coming in against a raise and then you were check raised. Before making a knee jerk bet, consider what just happened. You made a bet that basically told the other player that you had hit our jack. They have to figure you for AJ or KJs in your hand from the position that you made the original call from. They know what you have, it is a matter of you realizing what they have.

If they make a strong move over top of you, you can be all but assured that their original raise was with an over pair and they are playing against your emotions that you will automatically push back on their bet. It is the perfect trap and the only way that you can avoid it is by NOT playing AJ in the first place.

To get started, let’s assume that you are starting out with $100 in your account. If I asked a group of beginning players what level they would all play with this amount of money, most of them would probably say the $.50/$1.00 No Limit or the $1/$2 Limit tables. This is where the problem lies. Realistically, you should never be buying into a table with more than 5% of your total bankroll and to be playing at those levels, you are committing at least 50% of your bankroll to one table.

It may be a little painful to hear, but you really should be playing at the $.05/$.10 level with this kind of a bankroll. At this level, you are not only protecting your bankroll from being lost in one bad session, you are also able to multi-table and give yourself a realistic shot of making a profit in online poker.

With so many tables going and so many different players, the chances of you being able to pick one table out of all the ones that are available and win at it are slim to none. However, if you are playing on at least 4 tables at the same time, you can counter the variance and actually make a profit. If you don’t believe it, give it a try at the very lowest levels until you can get used to playing on multiple tables at the same time. Start with two tables, then keep adding one until you can do anywhere from 4-6 tables at the same time.

In addition to offsetting the variance, you are also more likely to play steady poker instead of trying to get cute. You learn to play the numbers and stop trying to make the moves that you see on television that just never seem to work for you. You may not make a huge profit at each session, but you will at least be making a profit instead of flushing your roll down the drain by playing at a limit you should not be at and putting it all on the line on one table.

Give it a try and see if it works. You are going to be pleasantly surprised at the results and can gradually work your way up in limits as both your bankroll and ability to play multiple tables improves. Remember, ABC poker goes a long way when you have 6 tables rocking at the same time.

Basic DetailsCountry of Origin:United KingdomLicense:UKYear of Foundation:2005Software:PlaytechSize:Audited By:PWCLanguage:English, SpanishAccepts USA Players:NoBonus:$600

Loyalty		CASH VIP Programme. Monthly cash bonuses
Available Curencies		Euro, GBP
Available Games	:	Texas Holdem in Limit, No Limit and Pot Limit Variations, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo,7 Card Stud, 5 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud Hi-Lo
Deposit Methods	:	Debit Card, Credit card, NETeller, Paypal, Moneybookers, Cheque, Billpay (Ireland Only), Bank transfer
Withdrawal Methods	:	Debit Card, Credit Card, Paypal, Cheque
E-mail Support	:	poker@paddypower.com
Telephone Support	:	Ireland: 1800 924 406, UK: 0800 028 2497, Intl: +353 1 488 1750

Paddy Power Poker

Paddy Power Poker was the brainchild of three Irish top class bookmakers, who joined hands in 1988, to establish the best poker-playing site in Ireland. Its popularity has grown over the years, and now extends to the UK as well, with real money players at the cash tables exceeding 10,000, while around 55,000 are involved in playing tournaments at peak hours. The company has got itself the name “The Punter Friendly Bookmaker”.

The Paddy Power Poker has an attractive website, complete with its emerald green tables and a brilliant software that can be maneuvered with ease. The software is updated on a regular basis to guarantee safety and uniformity. The software provides facilities of easy table sorting, live chat with a floor manager, pop-up reminders to tell you when a tourney sign-up is taking place, chat with fellow participants, personalization of avatars etc.

Their list of games include Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud Hi-Lo and Badugi which is the latest passion in poker. Among this selection of games is the Omaha, which has been targeted towards the European clientele and has become a much-demanded game. The standard rake limit is 5% and you have the facility to start from anything as low as $0.02/$0.04 ranging up to $150/$300 in the fixed Limit version, while in No Limit it is between $10/$20.

This fabulous gaming website not only has a poker room, but also other non-poker pursuits such as, bingo, casino games, skill games, sports betting, auctions and mobile gaming. Hence poker play is not very strong, as players from these other games stray over to the poker room.

Paddy Power Poker has recently modified its bonus offers, where Generals can acquire a minimum of $500 along with other additional bonuses. This scheme will be beneficial for Captains, Majors and Colonels, who will be entitled to a lower qualifying criteria and a quicker build up of points, apart from the monthly cash bonus.

It is not very tough to get to the General level, which is the topmost rank in the Paddy Power Poker league. And so, whosoever reaches this level is entitled to an unlimited cash bonus. Besides getting a handsome $500 monthly cash bonus, every single General will receive a $100 bonus in lieu of every supplementary 12,000 PADDY POINTS produced in surplus of the general monthly qualifying criterion of 60,000 PADDY POINTS, with an earning limit reaching no bounds.

Paddy Power Poker also offers you a referral program where you can refer your friends and earn a bonus of $50 each, for five friends that you introduce to the site. Besides earning cash, you can get an entry to a free roll tournament and win hordes of electronic items and fat gear.

In summary, The Paddy Power Poker site is a unique gaming site, which opens a world of wonderful gaming experience to millions of poker enthusiasts all over the globe, right in to the comforts of their home.

One situation where you may want to start to discuss a chop with the table is when you know you are overmatched. Let’s face it, some people just don’t have what it takes when it gets down to this amount of  poker players to make the moves that are necessary to take down the tournament. When you look around the table, even if you have the chip lead, and see that each of these players have been outplaying you all night long it is time to start talking.

As the chip leader, you are actually in the strongest position to discuss a chop. For those that are short stacked, the added income will usually be welcome and you are locking up a second place finish for the most part. In most cases, you will want to recommend a weighted chop that will allow you to get more money from the prize pool since you have the most chips. Make it reasonable and you will often find that the rest of the table will be receptive regardless of how good they are.

Another situation to consider chopping is when the blinds have started to dominate the stacks. You never want to be in a position where you are forced to be all in or close to it when the blinds start coming around. If the stacks are even, everyone else is probably thinking the same thing. Take the prize pool and divide it up evenly by the remaining player and let everyone walk with second place money. The swing is too great from first to third to take the chance that you will look down at 72 when the blinds hit your stack.

Some people will consider the thought of even thinking about chopping to be a sign of weakness. However, they have probably never walked away from a tournament after having a chip lead with a bad beat that sent them out in third place. If you have that happen once, your opinion of a chop changes.

Something else to consider if the table seems a little reluctant, but the chip counts are fairly even is to divide up the chips and leave a little extra for the winner. For instance, there are four people left and the prize pool has $11,000 in it. Everyone is even, but people still want that big payday. You can suggest to chop the pot to a four way split of $2,500 with an additional $1,000 going to the overall winner. Everyone agrees, play will loosen up because that fear of getting knocked out with the bottom pay is now gone. The winner still walks away with more money than everyone else and everyone is a winner. Sometimes chopping is not such a bad idea.