The biggest search for a singing superstar is back… and it’s just got a whole lot BIGGER!

The nation’s favourite talent show has at long last returned, but this year it’s not just The X Factorjudges the contestants will have to impress if they want to follow in the footsteps of Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke and JLS, because now the auditions are taking place in front of live audiences in packed arenas across the country.

The first act to try out the new nerve-wracking format were Lithuanian sisters, the Dreamgirls, who had moved from their homeland in east Europe just so they could audition for The X Factor.

A brave plan some might say, but one that crucially involved a glaring oversight: the Dreamgirls can’t actually sing. After murdering the Robbie Williams hit Angels, the part-time models were sent packing after Simon compared their singing to cats being squashed!

Not the best of starts, but the judges’ moods were lifted considerably when 19-year-old Stacey Solomon delivered a heartfelt rendition of What A Wonderful World.

“I didn’t expect you to be that good!” Cheryl told the Essex girl, and when these sentiments were echoed by the other three judges Stacey realised she was through to bootcamp.

Next up was the familiar figure of Emma Chawner, the teenager who had been rejected from the show on two previous occasions in 2007 and 2008… however this time the resilient young lass had a secret weapon that she hoped would make her progress to the next round a case of third time lucky – her big sister, Sam.

But when it transpired neither of them could sing, Emma found herself trudging back offstage with four resounding NOs ringing in her ears… she was however determined to come back next year and do it all again!

We were then treated to the honeyed tones of Joseph McElderry, who impressed the judges hugely with his fantastic take on Luther Vandross’ Dance With My Father.

“You’ve just made the competition very, very exciting!” Louis beamed after his excellent audition.

Cheryl agreed, telling the young man from South Shields: “I’m really proud you’re representing our city.”

Simon finished off the praise stating: “We may just have found ourselves a popstar.”

Who do you think will take the top spot this year? Who will win the coverted prize, and be crowned Winner of X factor 2009?

The betting to Win Only looks like this:

The panel of power has been reassembled and the fabulous four are ready and waiting to make and break the dreams of those brave enough to take them on… and this year they’ve enlisted some help from the great British public!

That’s right. Not only do this series’ hopefuls have to face Simon, Louis, Dannii and Cheryl but also the stage, the spotlight and thousands of screaming people, ready and waiting to voice their opinions.

Who will be the winning Manager? Who can help produce the one with the X Factor!:

Baccarat is the easiest game in the casino to play

Online Casino baccarat is one of the fairest games in terms of the players edge. Baccarat is played using a fixed set of rules for the player and the dealer, and these rules will determine the odds of winning for both the player and for the casino. The casino bettor has only 3 choices when making his bet, as the game is played, the casino player has other decisions to make. You can pick, dealer, player or tie.

Below we show you the average odds of winning at online baccarat:

Odds of player winning – 44.62%
Odds of dealer winning – 45.85%
Odds of a tie – 9.53%

Based on these calculation its to your advantage to bet on the house winning on every hand.
To even out the odds, the casino (house) charges a commission of 5% on winning player bets placed on the house.

Online Casino Baccarat is the simplest online casino game to play. It originated from Chemin De Fer, one of Europe’s oldest and most popular casino card games.

More about Online Baccarat

Baccarat online casino games use many decks of cards which will be dealt from a casino shoe. Casino players can bet on the Banker, the Player and the tie. Baccarat starts with 4 cards dealt from the casino shoe, making two hands, called the players cards and the other called the bankers card. The 1st cards are dealt from the casino deck. The 1st and 3rd casino cards form the players cards and the 2nd and 4th cards form the bankers hand.

Online Casino Baccarat Rules

The point count of a baccarat hand is the complete of value cards in the current hand. Aces result as one, and face cards count as 10. The point count may never be greater than nine, because only the final digit in the complete value of the cards can contribute.

The casino cards are dealt to proper regulations. There are few choices when drawing the third card for part of the players cards or the bankers cards. Say the point count of a hand is 8 or 9, a natural, no more cards will be given. If the bankers cards are not a natural, the players cards will always hit for a third card on a point count of 5 and less, and stand on point counts of 6 and greater. The casino bank may be asked to hit a third card based on the regulations.

The casino hand nearest to 9 wins and will be paid even winnings. Winning banker card wagers will be taxed a 5% commission. When both the bettors and the casino bankers hands result in the same totals, it’s ruled a tie and neither the banker’s bets or the player’s bets win or lose. Tie wagers(bets) are paid 8 to 1.

Players Hand Rules

If the dealers cards are a natural (8 or 9), the players cards, will hit for a third card if the count of the players card is 5 or less, and will not draw a card if the point count is 6 or greater.

Banker Hand Rules

Many films involve a game of poker in one context or another, but the number of films that deserve to be called poker films are not so many. There are a few really good ones, though. Below are the top three poker films. All were done before the first poker sites opened their business on the internet. But one of them is modern, while the other two show a more traditional picture of poker.

Cincinnati Kid (1965)
A young poker gun called Cincinnati Kid (played by Steve McQueen) comes down to New Orleans to take on the undefeated champion and card-sharp Lancey Howard. The battle of the giants is played out as a game of five card stud with very high stakes. On doubtful grounds the Kid trusts that he can defeat “The Man” straight up in an honest game without cheating. It’s just that other people at the table are actually cheating, and the Kid is losing to the Man.

The Kid finds out about the cheating and manages to have the dealer replaced. With a clean deal, the game turns and the Kid starts winning back his money. But in the final hand he loses a huge pot with a full house against the Man’s royal flush. The film contains a lot of pretty darn realistic poker footage. Of course it’s the old school kind of poker played with cash on the table and players bringing more money to the table in the middle of a hand.

Rounders (1998)
In the cult film of the poker boom in the early twentieth century, five card stud has been replaced by no-limit holdem, the Cadillac of Poker.

Again we meet a young and brilliant card player (Mike McDermott, played by Matt Damon). In the beginning of the film he loses everything to a man with “connections all the way to the top of the Russian mob” (played by John Malkovich). After losing his tuition money, Mike McDermott is forced to sustain his laws studies by delivering groceries in the graveyard shift. Then his best pal, (Worm played by Edward Norton) comes out of prison and a crazy hunt for fast cash begins, the old friends using all the tricks in the poker book as well as some not so honest tricks from the book of card magic. Much against his will, Mike returns to the game he loves, and while his pal makes one final mistake and is forced to leave town and the film, Mike uses all his poker talent to pay back his friend’s debts and save his own life. Then he packs a bag and goes to Vegas for the big bucks, in the realization that the card table is where he’s supposed to be.

The Sting (1973)
As a poker aficionado you’ll be alarmed of learning that in this film too, the story revolves around the prospect of making money in poker by cheating. Maybe straight up, honest poker games are not exciting enough for the film industry. In any case, in this film we follow two petty gangsters as they try to set up an elaborated scam against a big gangster, Doyle Lonnegan, without him even noticing the scam. After losing a lot of money in a high stakes poker game where the cheating mobster is being outwitted by a better cheater, he jumps on the opportunity to con his foe, Lonnegan is lured into an even bigger scam set up against him. In the end he loses an enormous amount of money in a scene where everybody from betting clerks to FBI agents are part of the scam. It’s often been said that watching poker is as fun as watching paint dry. There’s probably some truth to this if you’re not a true poker fanatic, and film makers dealing must handle this problem. These three film classics manage to balance realistic poker scenes and exciting stories

888day is here again! Chinese legend says number 8 is the luckiest number of them all, so imagine just how lucky you could be if you play at 888.com on the 8 of August.

Following the success of last year’s 888day on August 8, we’ll be making it bigger and better this year by offering ALL 888.com members the chance to win a year’s salary – $38,000, £24,000 or €27,000!

And in times like these, a GUARANTEED CASH prize to cash out right away and paid at the end of every month for 12 months, just like a real salary, is literally money in the bank.

Join today….

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It couldn’t be easier to enter – you simply keep doing what you’re doing now by playing at Casino-on-Net.

• For every $88, £55 or €60 you bet in Casino-on-Net from August 1 (00:00 GMT) – August 8 (23:59 GMT), you will get 1 prize draw ticket.
• On August 11 we’ll host the big prize draw where one lucky winner from ALL 888.com brands will walk away with a year’s salary – that’s $38,000, £24,000 or €27,000 completely FREE!

The more you play, the more tickets you’ll have in the draw so don’t miss out… you’ve earned it, you deserve it – so give yourself that pay rise NOW!

Of course, that’s not all… Casino-on-Net is celebrating 888day with lots MORE great cash and prizes up for grabs. Check out the tabs below for details!

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Following the success of last year’s 888day on August 8, we’ve made it bigger and better this year by offering ALL 888ladies roomies the chance to win a year’s salary – £24,000!

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Before you start betting like a madman when you get two eights in the pocket, you need to carefully consider all factors involved in solid pre-flop strategy.

The factors to consider are the number of players, how aggressive/passive the players at the table are, your bankroll, your position, and how much risk you are willing to entail.

Number of players: With 10 people in the game, it’s much more likely that someone else has a strong hand in the pocket than in a short-handed game. Also, you’ll need to be more cautious in larger games, as the chances of someone’s pre-flop hand fitting the flop will be much better. More competition means stiffer competition.

How aggressive the players are: Assuming you’ve been playing with a few people for several hands, and you noticed some jackass is raising every hand pre-flop, you’ll want to play tighter. Let the guy win the blinds (big deal) and nail him to the wall when you have a solid hand in the pocket pre-flop.

Your bankroll: If you have $2 left, you’ll want to play extremely carefully and select one hand to bet on, hoping to get as many players involved as possible for a larger pot. You’ll want to be all-in before the flop is dealt. On the flip-side, if you have $1000 at a $1/$2 table, you can take the high-risk, high-payout bets.

Your position: People in late position have the ability to influence the size of the pot much more than those in early position. This is especially true pre-flop. (see our page on position for more info)

Your tolerance for risk: Depending on your playing style, you may want to play more or less aggressively pre-flop. Players who shoot for larger pots, but don’t mind a greater chance for losing a few hands will want to raise pre-flop, especially if they are in late position. Some players prefer to be as selective as possible pre-flop, grinding out a winning hand here or there. It really depends on your own style of play, and how you perceive the players around you.

You might also want to consider what cards you have in your hand. Naturally, AA is the best to start with. It helps if your hand is suited or if the cards are sequential in rank like a Seven and an Eight (“connected”). It’s important to understand how your two cards hold up against other combinations of cards though.

So do you think you can stand up to the pros? Why not have a go yourself…