Australian Online Poker Information

Archive for February, 2012

According to a recent study of gambling trends conducted by the Roy Morgan Gambling Monitor, the total slot machine spend in Australia fell from $19Billion in 2009 to $17 Billion in 2011.  The total spend on pokies has fallen to $10.4billion.

While some people welcome this news, seeing pokies as part of a problem gambling epidemic; for those who are in the industry, it’s not good news.

Around 100,000 Australians are classed as having an addiction to higher stakes poker machines, and some are losing $1,200 an hour to the machines, however there are several initiatives in the works to help those problem gamblers.

One explanation for the decline was put forward by researcher Jane Ianniello, who said “..playing the pokies is becoming less popular, and with a decline in the incidence of alcohol consumption there are less Australians patronising venues like licensed clubs. The growth of online gambling, especially sports betting, has not been big enough to counter this large decline in poker machine expenditure.”

If this is true, perhaps there will be an en-mass move from the machine manufacturers to put together their own online poker websites for the Australian market.

The 888Poker Super Stack will be coming to two new stops this year.  The new venues are in Madrid and Dublin, and bring the total number of events in the series to 22.

The Super Stack series will be making stops in the UK, Australia, and Canada, in addition to the two new stops in Madrid and Dublin.  The new venues (City West Hotel in Dublin, and the Gran Casino in Madrid) will play host to at least two tournaments each this year, with the buy-ins being set at EUR165.

The tournament will follow a standard format, with players starting with a 20K chip stack, and blinds set at 30 minutes.

Players can qualify for the Super Stack via feeder tournaments and qualifiers, which will take place weekly on 888 Poker.

If you’re lucky enough to own an Android powered smartphone (Android 2.1 or above), then you should check out Poker Agenda – a new tool that lets you plan your poker tournament play on the move. Poker Agenda is a free to download application which lists tournaments from several major online poker websites, and lets you select which ones you’d like to take part in, add them to your calendar, and schedule reminders so that you don’t miss them.

The tool looks promising for anyone who regularly plays on several sites – or even likes to use multiple sites to try to earn satellite seats at major tournaments.  We all know that keeping track of freerolls can be quite a hassle!

Currently, there are a few glaring omissions in terms of which sites are and are not covered by the app (888 is missing, for example, as is PartyPoker), but the developers are listening to feedback, and working to add as many popular sites as they can.

If you’re a poker fan, this app is definitely worth checking out.

The owner of a casino in Carson City, Nevada, has been fined for the use of unauthorized chips in poker tournaments.  The casino in question, Cactus Jack’s, faces fines of approximately $15,000 for the violations.  The settlement was made between the casino’s attorneys and the Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday.

According to state regulations, chips used in gaming transactions must be approved by the Gaming Control Board chairman. The chips must follow regulations relating to their size and shape, and all chips must have the words “no cash value” imprinted on both sides.  Any chips that do not meet these requirements must not be used.

According to reports by The Nevada Appeal, the owner of Cactus Jack’s, Tate, has agreed to accept more oversight from state regulators going forward, as part of the settlement.  Tate owns several other casinos, and also runs a slot company.

If you’re a strong poker player, and would like to expand your potential earnings, then playing multi-table poker is a good way to start.  Expert online poker players often play five or more tables at once, but when you are first getting started, even playing just two or three tables can increase your chances of scooping big pots.

Multi-tabling has several advantage but it also has setbacks.  Multi-table poker gives you the opportunity to see more pre-flop scenarios, and thereby puts you in a better position to see strong hands and big pots.Since your attention is divided between several tables, you’re less likely to send tells – and you’re also less likely to see tells from other players.  This focuses your attention on the most important thing in the game – the cards.

Lower Limits

One potential downside, however, is that unless your bankroll can support the vastly increased number of hands you’re playing, you’re going to have to move down to some lower limits.

This means that you will be playing against a new group of players – and, if you’re down to micro-stakes, they may not play with the same level of risk aversion as you’re accustomed to.

If you’re moving down from $5 games to $2 games, then you should still be able to dominate using the same strategies, but in the $1 or lower rooms, players are often more erratic.

If you are considering multi-tabling, then start slowly, and don’t over commit yourself.  Done right, it can be a great way to maximise your earnings.

Jim Murren, International Chief Executive Officer of MGM Resorts, has spoken up to say that he expects legalization of online poker to take place at a federal level sometime this year. His remarks echo the hopes of many casino executives who all hope to grab a slice of what is currently a thriving global market.

“It’s not easy, not because it’s a complicated issue,” Murren told analysts during a recent conference call, before going on to add, “It’s becoming a clearer issue. It’s because Washington is becoming more complicated.

Murren was also quick to state that: “We’ll be one of the first horses out of the gate when it’s approved.”

Many organizations – both bricks and mortar casinos and foreign gaming websites, are currently working towards an online poker solution ready to target the USA once poker becomes legalized over there.

Gameshock TV is making a comeback in Europe.  The show is back for a second series, and will premier this week in the UK at 00:30am on Info TV (Sky 231), the show is also available in 30 countries across Europe via the Poker Channel.

The show will not just be looking at poker, though – there are lots of other games to enjoy out there too, and Gameshock TV will look at them all, including the launch of Sony’s new handheld, the PlayStation Vita, along with the new RPG from Kurt Schilling’s dream team: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning; the show will also welcome the return of fighters with UFC Undisputed 3 (a game that even poker fans should be familiar with – remember Bruce Buffer announcing a walk-in at the WSOP a couple of years ago), and more.

As ever, Steve Hill and Chris Hewitt will be in attendance.  If you missed season one, be sure to tune in to the Poker Channel to see what it’s about.

UK Schedule (GMT)
20^th 12.30am
23^rd 11pm
29^th 1am
2^nd March 11.30pm

EU Schedule (CET)
20^th 23.30
22^nd 17.00, 01.00
26^th 19.00

One common mistake that intermediate level poker players make is to move up the ranks too quickly.  A common progression path is to start out in the freerolls / play money rooms, and then move up to microstakes tables, staying there only for a short time before making the leap to higher stakes rooms.

Sadly, the stay in the “big boys’” rooms doesn’t usually last long.  Even if the player has the skills to support their time there, they go in far too early, and lack the bankroll to survive.

If you’re winning in the microstakes rooms, even if you’re suffering from the occasional bad beat due to the unpredictability of lesser-skilled players, stay there and build up a bankroll that’s a couple of hundred times the size of the blinds in the next room up.  Resist the urge to move on to the bigger rooms until you have that bankroll. If you’re playing no-limit poker, you’ll need a bigger bankroll than you would for limit rooms.

The reason for this is simple – a couple of bad beats in a low stakes room won’t do you any harm.  You can just keep playing and earn back what you lost.  If you only have enough to support a few dozen hands at the higher stakes table, then you’ll be bullied out of the action in no time if you show weakness.

Don’t rush to move up just because you want the chance at bigger wins – doing so puts you at the wrong end of the risk/reward equation.  Don’t move up because you want the prestige of the bigger tables, either.    If you’re playing poker for the profits, treat it like a business, and make the moves that show good business sense.

Wikipedia is a useful tool for people who want to learn about almost any element of popular culture, science, or politics, but it isn’t so great if you’re a poker fan.  That’s why PKR has launched The Poker Wiki – a free online encyclopedia that offers information about poker stars, casinos, and poker websites.

ThePokerWiki.com is a free to use, and user-editable project.  The wiki has been populated with a decent amount of information so far, but users are welcome to edit articles, add new ones, and expand on the existing base of information.

How the project will turn out in the long term remains to be seen – there’s always the risk of user-editable projects getting spammed or twisted by a handful of users, but hopefully, as with Wikipedia, the best contributions will rise to the top, and the wiki will become a good place for online poker fans to  check old results, learn new poker skills, and compare stats.

If you watch beginners playing poker, some of the moves can be pretty off-the wall.  In beginner’s poker, bluffing is commonplace.  Even when the board reads pretty clearly, they’ll try to use psychology to push the other players to respond in a different way.

That can work with beginners, sometimes, but only if you’re pretty overt in the “tells” you give away.  If you’re not obvious, they may miss the subtle signs and do something completely illogical.  If you’re too obvious, then they’ll know they’re being played.

Versus more experienced players, bluffing won’t get you far.  TV shows may focus on the masterful psychology and the fancy plays, but what they don’t tell you is that there are dozens of boring hands played in between.  A good percentage of hands played by a professional poker player are folded immediately.  If they showed those hands on TV, then poker wouldn’t survive as a spectator sport for long!

If you want to play poker at a higher level, then you’ll need to hone your strategy and probability skills.  Bluffing is a useful part of the poker skillset, but it’s just one part.  Don’t rely on it to the expense of the rest of the game.