Raise your game – PKR have given a brand new look to the web’s best poker resource and dramatically improved navigation. It’s now even easier to access free exclusive articles from Phil Galfond’s ‘Bluefire’ poker school, PKR Pros and the team at Dennis publishing who bring you Inside Poker and Poker Player.

Disconnection protection - PKR now have disconnection protection for PKR Ring game tables. Check out the house rules for full details…

Improved forum – PKR have made a massive 52 improvements to the PKR forum including improving the functionality, implementing a brand new rating system for posters, introducing new voting polls and much, much more…

Half price Thursdays
Grab yourself a PKR bargain every Thursday in February as we slash a massive 50% off buy-ins to our most popular tournaments. You can now play the $10K GTD Open for $9, the $5K GTD Grand Prix for $50 and the $4K GTD for just $6.

So they create atmospheres that take you out of your usual frame of mind, they put you in luxurious rooms where the games all seem so glamorous and distract you from the time by having no windows and keep you distracted by offering free alcoholic beverages so that gambling seems like a great idea. The biggest cash crop of casinos is the slot machines, players get so caught up in pulling the lever and hopefully cashing in that they can’t drag themselves away. It’s this dogged determination that pushes marathon runners that last fifty yards. In other situations it’s humanity’s saving grace, in this case it can lead to damnation as in the heat of the moment a player may spend much more than he or she intended to. Or borrow money and get in over their head because the atmosphere of the casino clouds their better judgment.

This is why you must always gamble smart. Always go in with a plan of how much you’re willing to spend, how much you’re willing to lose, even how much you want to win, how long you intend to spend gambling and most importantly you have to stick to your plan. Gambling online can go a long way to keeping you safe, after all you’re in charge of your surroundings, you can have lights and windows and clocks to remind you of the time and of course you’re not going to drink nearly as much at home by yourself than you would in a casino. Gambling can be a fun and exciting way to spend Saturday afternoons but you don’t want it to become a problem in your life.

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.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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

Click here to view the embedded video.

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…

The continued success of the WSOP shows no sign of abating, even amidst the global economic woes which have impacted consumer spending, with this year’s main event the third largest turnout in the forty-year history of the tournament.

This year’s field for the $10,000 World Championship No Limit Hold’em main event fell just short of last year’s total with 6,494 entrants, not including some 500 players who were refused entry on the fourth and final Day 1 of the event, after the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas reached its maximum capacity.

The main event began on July 3rd and after 13 days of continuous poker action, the November Nine was finally set at 11pm last night in Las Vegas, with U.S poker players dominating the leaderboard.

The November Nine players in order of chips are: Darvin Moon (U.S), the chip leader, Eric Buchman (U.S), Steven Begleiter (U.S), Jeff Shulman (U.S), Joe Cada (U.S), Kevin Schaffel (U.S), Phil Ivey (U.S), Antoine Saout (France), and James Akenhead (UK), who qualified for the event online at PokerStars.com.

Phil Ivey will be one of the hot favourites having already won two WSOP bracelets at this year’s tournament adding to his five previous bracelets.

The players will return to the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas on November 7th to take part in the final table, following the success of the format last year which helped generated further interest in the players and their techniques, as well as providing for live coverage of the final table on television.

Creating a total prize pool of US$61,043,600, the November Nine will all walk away millionaires, with the minimum prize of $1.26 million to the first to be eliminated, and the winner taking home a top prize of $8.55 million.

This year’s WSOP has already achieved a significant major milestone crossing the $1 billion mark in prize money awarded since the annual event began in 1970. Official 2009 tournament figures are yet to be released, however organisers expect the total WSOP prize pool to exceed $155 million for the fourth successive year, compared to a total of $354 million awarded during the tournament’s first 36 years.

“It’s nice to reach this milestone during the 40th annual WSOP,” said World Series of Poker President and Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack.  “What’s most remarkable is that nearly two-thirds of this amount has been awarded in just the last four years.  Poker is alive and well and here to stay.”

Want to catch up with the events? View the videos exclusively here.

Premium freerolls

PKR reward their real money players with special Premium freeroll satellites to all of their biggest events, plus regular Premium Points freerolls where you can play for cash.

You get into Premium freerolls with PKR Points, which you earn every time you play for real money on PKR. It’s easy – the more you play, the more chances you have to win!

Points tournaments

Use your PKR Points to play for real money or a massive PKR Points payday. PKR tourneys give you the chance to turn small point buy-ins into big time rewards.

Find out when the next one starts…

PKR Points in tournaments

You get 100 PKR Points for every $1 you spend in entry fees. The entry fee for a tournament is the additional charge made by PKR for hosting the event. In most cases this fee is equivalent to ten per cent of the buy-in.

PKR Points on real money tables

PKR Points are awarded on raked hands played on real money tables. They are calculated against the amount that you’ve put into the pot divided between the other players at the table. That means the bigger the pot, the more PKR Points everyone gets. Your points are also based on the amount that you put into the pot – so the more you contribute yourself, the more PKR Points you’ll earn in the hand.

The maximum number of PKR Points that can be earned in any hand is capped at 300, in the same way as maximum rake.

Start Earning today!

For a start, Texas Holdem is pretty much the simplest version of poker. (What that says about Texas is open to debate, but don’t be fooled – Texans are usually damn’ fine players.) Like all the best games it can be learned in an hour – and although there ain’t no substitute for experience and natural talent, it certainly helps the beginner if you don’t need a rulebook open all the time.

Texas Holdem (No-Limit) also has more players, more tournaments and (crucially) more money involved than all the other forms of poker put together. But is it the most popular because it’s the most lucrative – or the most lucrative because it’s the most popular? After much research we can tell you the answer is, “Who cares? It’s where the big money is. Now deal ‘em, cowboy…”

As for Pot-Limit, it’s basically Texas Holdem Lite. With no shoving your entire stack of chips in (unless it’s very small), there’s not as much bluffing, bullying and general mayhem as in No-Limit. No-Limit separates the men from the boys – although the girls are just as likely to beat them both, of course.

So there you have it. No-Limit Texas Holdem should be the first game you learn, practise and hopefully conquer. Once you’re comfortable at the tables, check out the subtle nuances of Omaha, or seven-card Stud, or Razz. Even try some Pot-Limit poker if you’re feeling particularly gentle one evening.

In the wild west of NL Texas Holdem though, the sky is your limit – all you have to do is learn to fly. It takes time, but the rewards can be life-changing. Be patient and remember Bill Hicks’ famous advice to hippies everywhere, “If you think you can fly, don’t be an idiot and jump off a skyscraper. Try taking off from the ground first…”

If you love to play poker then the odds are that you are aware of online poker.  However, you may not be aware of what an incredible experience playing online poker can be.  When you play poker online at HelpMeBet, the world’s online poker room, you not only have the opportunity to have fun and win big but also the opportunity to meet new friends from around the globe!

Meet New Friends in the World’s Online Poker Room

When you play poker online you have play against other real players from all over the world.  The world’s online poker room is filled with poker enthusiasts from virtually every country you can think of.  It really is amazing that you can sit around a virtual poker table in the world’s online poker room and play poker against someone from Chile, someone from Japan, someone from Great Britain, someone from South Africa and someone from Egypt all at the same time!  The Internet is the one place that you can come together with worldwide poker players 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to play poker!

Winning Big in the World’s Online Poker Room

Another great thing about playing poker online is that you can play for real money so you have the opportunity to win big!  When you play poker in the world’s online poker room you can choose from a variety of games and table limits so that you can practice, perfect your poker skills and strategy and learn how to make big bucks playing poker.  Start out playing at low-limit poker tables with maximum bets below $5 and as you win more and more you can increase your limits until you are winning every time at high-limit and no limit tables!

How to Start Playing in the World’s Online Poker Room

If you have looked into playing online poker then you have surely noticed the huge selection of online poker sites.  When you are choosing a site it is important to find one that offers all of your favorite poker games, has user friendly software and fantastic bonuses and promotions.  HelpMeBet offers all of the most popular online poker games including Texas Holdem, Omaha, Five Card Stud, Seven Card stud and more in addition to fantastic welcome and loyalty bonuses.  In order to start playing all you have to do is download HelpMeBet software, make a deposit if you want to play for real money and you can start playing online poker today!

Playing Hold’em Omaha poker offers many benefits. Did you know that when you play poker regularly, you increase your mental agility? Decision-making becomes easier and you become more skilled at weighing up the odds to help you determine the right course of action. Of course these skills are necessary for Hold’em Omaha poker but they can be applied to many other areas of life as well.

Aside from your winnings, some other benefits to playing Hold’em Omaha poker come in the form of bonuses and match deposits. If you’re a new player you’ll automatically receive free money from your casino to put toward your first games of Hold’em Omaha poker. You’ll also be eligible for other casino bonuses which will give you extra value for your money.

These bonuses are designed to give you more Hold’em Omaha action for your money and to increase your chances of winning.Hold’em Omaha poker is perhaps not as well known as Texas Hold’em but it is still making its mark online. Each day tens of thousands of people all over theworld are logging in to play Hold’em Omaha at internet poker sites. What’s more, many of them are winning cash for their efforts and using their poker skills to follow in the footsteps of the professionals. So why should you miss out?

The easiest way to be in to win hard poker cash is to sign up as a member at HelpMeBet’s internet poker site and to start playing Hold’em Omaha poker. In just a few minutes, you’ll be able to familiarize yourself with the rules and the sequence of play. You’ll also be able to learn about basic Hold’em Omaha poker strategy and how it’s used by advanced players to win the pot. Ánd why not benefit from the bonuses and special offers you’ll instantly receive from HelpMeBet when you become a member? Don’t watch other poker players win! Start playing and winning Hold’em Omaha poker yourself.