Sit N Go Texas Hold’em poker tournaments are my favorite. If you haven’t tried them, you’re really missing out. The slang for these types of tournaments is “SNG.” In an nutshell, Sit N Go poker tournaments are called such, because it’s “mini tournament,” unlike a major one that might last days.

The World Series of Poker is an example of a large, long tournament. With SNG tournaments you’re not running a marathon. You may play for a few minutes to an hour. It’s not a drain on the brain either.

I like it because it’s like playing a tournament. As mentioned, almost all SNG poker games will be done in under one hour. And the take-home pay is really nice too. Your typical SNG poker game consists of just one poker table, full of players-unlike a major tournament that may have thousands of players.

The process of playing is very simple. Players buy in (more on this in a minute), sit down and start playing. Once the SNG game starts, no new players can jump in and there are no re-buys or anything like that. Most of the buy-in money is put in the pot. The poker room will take a very small cut for running the game-it’s pretty minor.

Pay amount and spots depend on the poker room, but usually it’s the top three players that get paid-top player gets most of it. Usually, the third place player takes home enough to cover the SNG fee plus a couple bucks.

Another thing that’s great about SNGs besides the low time commitment, is the fee to play. SNG games are all over the map. No matter what your poker budget is, you’re going to find plenty of SNGs to enjoy. Smaller players can play for just $6 ($5 fee + $1 to the poker room). Sure, you’re not going to win hundreds in one SNG, but you can improve your skills, have fun and profit.

Remember, each SNG is played full, so that’s 10 players per SNG. If you’re playing a $5+$1 SNG, there will be $50 in prize money. One common cash payout is: $25 for 1st place, $15 for 2nd place and $10 for 3rd place. So, just come in third place and you’re doubling your money-almost.

If you’re finding typical games a little boring, give SNG poker games a try. They are a great way to learn how to play tournament poker, which has its own strategy. Start small and work your way up. You may find that tournament poker is the only poker for you.

For years Poker has been a booming game. Some have called it an enjoyable hobby, others a cutthroat sport. If not for online poker, the game would have never launched into iconic status. Let’s face it. Online poker is the one and only reason why the game grew at all.

It started some time ago with then thousands of people logging in to try their hand at this game. It soon became an addiction. Since then, many have ventured out into real world poker rooms and tournaments. Many online poker players today are “practicing” for the big-time. And many poker pros play online.

That said, there are two big differences between online poker and your brick and mortar poker room-and no, it’s not just the cigar smoke and sometimes annoying wait to get into a game. The two main differences are time and tells-the two T’s. Today, I’ll break them down for you.

Time

Online poker is a lightning fast game compared to real world poker. When you watch poker on TV, they actually do a major editing job to make it look more up to speed.

When you play online poker, you’re acting within 20-30 seconds. You either act before your timer goes down or you’re done. There isn’t much think time.

Now, play in the real world and it’s a drastic change. The game moves at a snail’s pace. For some this is good. You can sit there and think about what to do.

However, the slower game means less hands per hour, which in turn can mean lower profit per hour. If you’re a mechanical online poker player that just cranks out the profit per hand, real world play might not be good for you.

Tells

Countless articles and books have been written that deal with tells at the poker table. In fact, talk to any poker pro and he or she will talk about playing the player not the cards.

Good or bad, you can’t do this with online poker. Tells virtually don’t exist. Sure, you can pick up some playing habits if you play with someone long enough, but it’s difficult. There’s no way to study your opponent.

For some, this is a good thing. Your opponents can’t see you doing cartwheels, because you’ve just scored a full house on the river or picked up trips on the flop. But, true pros do their best work when they are sitting across from other players in the real world.

It’s my opinion that bluffing in online play is darn near stupid. The only way to bluff is to bet more or less and pray that your opponent(s) care. It just doesn’t have the same weight as the real world.

As a great poker lover, I decided that the time had arrived to check out the matter of video poker games. I needed to find out all about the commotion concerning these games. Believe me, I was glad I looked into it - as now, nothing can keep me away from video poker entertainment! If you have not yet tried it out, I can well recommend it.

Poker and Slot Machine Combination

It soon became apparent to me that the game of video poker contains elements of the exciting poker game and also some features that are usually connected more with a slot machine. That more or less describes video poker - it is a mixture of five draw poker and a slot. Sounds interesting? Well, you should give it a try too.

Video poker is a simple game to play and it is also easy to adjust to playing the game online. At video poker, it should be noted that you play against the machine rather than against different players. This is an important element that many find rather attractive. Play video poker and you can enjoy creating poker hands without the pressure of time or other poker players. In addition, you do not need to concern yourself with bluffing, as your reactions are really of no interest to the machine.

Use Your Poker Skills at Video Poker

In the popular game of video poker, you will be dealt five cards from which you need to create the best possible poker hand. You may use your poker skills at this game, as you decide which cards you would like to keep and which you would like to exchange. A schedule is shown on the screen that details credits offered for each type of winning hand. Do check out the various payout schedules for video poker as they tend to differ from game to game.

Free Video Poker Games

Look out for the free video poker games available at the best online casinos. First of all, these video poker games are good entertainment in their own right. Apart from this, free games may be used as a tool to gain an understanding of the game or to practice skills before playing for real money.

I love being able to use my poker skills at this fun game - all in the privacy of my own home. I can play as I wish, day or night without stepping out of my front door. There is no pressure from other players, as video poker means just me and my machine. I have to say that I like the combination of the slot machine and the poker hands at video poker. At the beginning I found it to be a bit unusual, but after no time at all I had adjusted. This does not mean that I have given up on playing my regular poker entertainment, but I do quite often enter the best online casino, just to enjoy video poker games.

When you start playing Caribbean Hold’em, or any other poker game, you will hear some weird and wonderful phrases that may make you feel like you just stepped into an alternate universe. We already learnt some of the terms used in Caribbean Hold’em in part one, but now I want to expand on that knowledge giving you a more comprehensive understanding of some of the terms you’ll hear specifically relating to betting.

All In: When you put in all of the chips you have you are going All In.
Bankroll: The amount of money that a player has to play with.
Bet the Pot: To make a bet being that is equal to the value of the pot.
Buy The Pot: If someone makes such a large bet that all the other players fold, this is called Buying the Pot. In this event, the winner does not have to show his cards.
Call: Equaling the previous bet.
Check: If no one has bet yet you can call Check, this keeps you in the game without a bet.
Check Raise: If in one round of betting you checked and someone after you raised, and then you raise it again this is called a Check Raise.
Early Position: The first person who acts in a betting round has the Early Position.
Family Pot: When all players call before the flop.
Fast Play: Means that someone is playing assertively.
Full Boat: Nickname for a full house.
Heads Up: When there are just two players left playing.
Hole Cards: The two cards in your hand.
Kicker: When two players have the same hands the winner is determined by who has the next highest card, this is the kicker.
Limp In: Calling before the flop.
Limit Game: When the table has limited the amount of bets and raises allowed.
Low Limit Game: When the table’s bets are restricted to low amounts.
Muck: Another word for folding.
No Limit Game: A game where you can bet however many of your chips you want.
Over the Top: see Re-raise.
Pot Limit: When the bets are limited to the amount there is in the pot.
Re-buy: Some tables will allow you to re-purchase chips after you’ve been knocked out of a tournament or game.
Re-raise: When a raised bet comes to you, and you raise it further.
Short Stacked: refers to a player with less money that the others.
Side Pot: when one player has run out of money, two players with money may start a side pot enabling them to keep betting.
Splash the Pot: When the chips are placed into the middle rather than kept in front of the player.
Split Pot: When players have the same hands the pot is split between them.
Straddle: An optional third blind, to the left of the big blind, which is twice the size of the big blind.

You will soon pick up all the lingo and realize that it’s not as weird or scary as you thought - I Promise. Good Luck and Enjoy!

There are many out there among you, myself included, that at times simply want to sit down at the computer and play a thoughtless game that has a little kick to it to make my day a little more exciting. These are great days for simple slot machines. If you really want to get fancy you can go from a three reel machine into the five reel machines, or more, and maybe make things a little more exciting.

But for many there is only one answer to a slot machine fix and that is Video Poker. Now you may be wondering what Video Poker has to do with slot machines, but the truth is that the two are very similar. They both have the same type of gaming interface and both are fairly easy to play. But the Video Poker aficionado can certainly tell you that the two are very far from the same.

Video Poker is for the Poker enthusiast that doesn’t really want to get involved in a full blown Poker game but also wants elements of the excitement that goes along with a great Poker game. Let me clarify. In a full on Poker game, be it at a live dealer online casino where there is a real person there dealing the cards, along with real players, or at a computer generated online Poker game there is the expectation that you will have to interact with someone at some point of the game. Most of the time that is a good thing, unless you are just anti-social (which isn’t bad either).

Video Poker takes away all of these elements, yet provides the player with the exact same game. In fact, in many ways it is much better than a traditional Poker game because it can be played much faster. There is absolutely no wait time while the new hand is dealt. A player has to really be on their toes if they are trying to play quickly because it can be overwhelming if someone isn’t paying attention.

For example, the online Poker world is one of convenience in and of itself. You never have to wait in line to play, or wait for a dealer to sit down to begin playing. Or even worse, wait for some inexperienced player to figure out what they are doing. Even in a live dealer online casino a player is at the whim of the online dealer and all of the real players that join. Video Poker is at the whim of the player playing the game anytime, anywhere, and any place.

There are those that will always love their slot machines, but if the urge strikes Video Poker, even just a little, is a great distraction-and you might never go back.