RoyalCardRoom is a European poker players dream, it is full of European poker player’s consisting mainly of Swedish and Norwegian players. It’s a very well know poker site in Scandinavia as its one of few poker rooms based in the EU. It targets European players using the € Euro sign; this it is a lot easier for them to monitor their finances with regards to exchange rates and cash outs. Americans and anyone in the world can play here as well, but it’s nice to have a site aimed at European’s.

RoyalCardRoom also is fantastic for Scandinavian’s as they don’t have to pay any tax on their winnings as RoyalCardRoom is within the EU. I didn’t know this but according to Swedish law you have to pay 30% tax on any winnings over 100 Krowns that has been won in another country. Thus, if a Swedish player wins something from a English company for example the winning’s should be taxed in England but not in Sweden. Since England has no tax on poker winnings there’ll be no tax at all, this is just an example but as RoyalCardRoom is based in the EU the same applies. This is very good for many Scandinavian poker player’s as they don’t have to pay any tax on their wins at this site. It makes a lot of sense to play here if you don’t want to pay taxes.

RoyalCardRoom also offers cash back to it’s player’s. When they play a raked hand they are awarded VIP points. At the end of the month they are calculated and cash is credited back to your account, the more VIP points that you earn the more money you get back. A player reward like this is a great idea, that is why so many people play at RoyalCardRoom.

Ladbrokes Poker is the busiest poker site in Europe, American players are not allowed to play here and the player base is largely made up of British and Scandinavian players. Itis regarded as the best site for novices to play at, as there are hundreds of American pros about making it hard to win money. Ladbrokes Poker has a fantastic community, including player profiles, message forums and player leader boards. Ladbrokes Poker has loads of action and a wide selection of games, also has smooth graphics making it easy to play.

Security

Ladbrokes Poker is committed to providing customers with a secure environment in which to play poker and place bets. The mother company behind Ladbrokes is PricewaterhouseCooper; this is a multi national company and was put in place to monitor the fairness of their games. Ladbrokes Poker has been designed so that players who register their bank details are held on a totally secure system. They use the same firewall as the military and government, this will make sure your details are safe and that you can have absolute confidence in playing with them.

Games

Ladbrokes Poker has some of the best games around and also the widest range of stakes on the internet. They have everything from classic Texas Hold-Em to Omaha and 7-Card Stud; they even have 1 on 1 table’s which the majority of sites do not have. Stakes start from 10c/20c to 300/600 and 50/100 No Limit, so there is something for everyone. Ladbrokes Poker offers a lot of multi table tournaments, in which you can win seats at live events such as the Poker Million, and their very own poker cruise.

Graphics

Ladbrokes Poker doesn’t have the best software on the web but it is clear and easy to use. The software is a stand alone version of The Prima Poker Network by micorgaming, it’s very fast and smooth and is aimed at the serious poker player. There is no flashy icons or pictures what you see is what you get.

Competition

Ladbrokes Poker has all different types of players playing on their site, from first time players to celebrities. Thats right Ladbrokes has the most amount of celebrity poker players online. To name but a few Ronnie O’sullivan snooker world champion, Phil Taylor darts world champion and Leilani Dowding former page three model.

As there are no Amercians on the site the competition is easier at the lower levels, but there are still some very good players on here. There are many swedish player’s who are very aggresive and can make you go broke very quickly. With the multi table tournaments, they have big prize pool’s but not as many players making it easier to win.

Support

Ladbrokes Poker has a very good customer support team; they are on hand 24 hours a day to answer any problems you may have. You can call them on a free phone number or by email and also the Poker Manager patrols the forum on Ladbrokes regularly to see if anyone has posted and queries. Ladbrokes has one of the best banking systems online; there are no restrictions in taking out your money. Ladbrokes pay your winnings to your bank account immediately.

Promotions

Ladbrokes Poker has lots of promotions to help its players:

Player profiles: if you submit your profile you get $25 absolutely free, you can also use this to learn about where your opponents are from and how long they have been playing etc.

Monthly Tournament Leader board: Finish in the top 50 in the Monthly Tournament Leader board to share in $15,000. Prizes are paid out to the lucky top 50 finishers.

January $500,000 Cash Bonanza : If you play 500 raked hands you will be automatically entered into the Raked Hand’s Free roll and you could win a share of $100,000. The tournaments are held each Saturday night.

WSOP: Ladbrokes runs satellites to this event, you can buy in for as little as $3 and win your way to a main event seat worth $10,000

Ladbrokes Poker Cruise: This is a dream trip for anyone who loves to travel and play poker. This year the cruise will be in the Islands of the Caribbean stopping off at places such as Miami and St.Johns. There will be a whole host of poker played on the ship and there are many ways to get there. If you want to play in the $5,500 Main Event you can either buy-in directly or take part in the weekly $550 satellite. There are smaller buy in’s to make this satellite please use the banner below for details.

A tell is something that a player does that gives away the strength of their hand. In a live game a player may shuffle his chips nervously, whistle, look away, stare at you, cough and so forth but all of these actions say something about the strength of their hand. When it comes to online play you can’t see any of these actions but there are gestures and acts online that can help you in reading your opponent.

Hand History’s, this is not so much a tell but in online poker you can request every hand you played. From this you can see the action that took place from the last hand, because any hand in online poker that has been called at the end, the winning hand will be shown but a lot of times the losing hand wont. This is a very powerful tool to use as you can see how a person best with particular hands, if he chases flush draws etc. From this you can make notes on players on how they play so you can judge what type of player they are.

Raise any button, if a player makes a bet on the end and another player raises instantaneously its obvious that he has pressed the raise any button, this shows that the player has a very strong hand.

Instant Call, when a player calls straight away after you bet it usually means that they have a marginal hand like a draw or middle pair.

Delayed Check, players who take their time to check usually has missed their draw or has a very weak hand and is trying to represent strength by taking their time. This is also done to try and see the next card for free.

Delayed Bet, when a player takes a while to bet this usually means that he has a strong hand, they are trying to put across that they are weak to trap you so you call or raise.

Check/Fold button, when it is folded to a player and he instantaneously checks this usually means he has pressed the check/fold button. Usually a bet here can win the pot if they are in late position.

As you can see from above most of the tells are related to the speed in which your opponent acts, it is something that you must become aware of to help you read people better. You will win more often after mastering these online poker tells.

I primarily play sit and go tournaments (SNG’S) and I use this calculation to find out how well I am doing and I if it’s profitable for me to play these. For example if you play $20 +2 SNG’s at PartyPoker:

1st) $100
2nd) $60
3rd) $40

Say you play 10 sngs that is a total investment of $220 dollars, say you win two, come second three times, come third once and you didn’t make the money in four.

ROI is worked out like this:

RETURN/BUYIN = ROI

(100×2 + 60×3 + 40×1)/220 = 1.90909090*

So from this example we can see that for every dollar I invested I made $1.9 back, as a percentage this works out that my ROI is 90.9%

This is extremely high due to the small sample of sngs that I have used, in the long run you want to shoot for a 25% ROI. Also you want to play 400/500 sngs before you can see the results balance out.

Firstly you must treat poker like a business and keep records of all your games, you shouldn’t play poker for the perks (travelling, no boss, getting up when you want) this can lead to disaster. Treat it like a business not a vacation. Also make sure you have adequate skills and bankroll to give yourself a fighting chance of being successful, after all you shouldn’t play with money you can’t afford to lose.

Another main thing with poker is you have to decide what role poker will take in your life, many people think they can quit their job and become a Millionaire by playing poker, all though this is true only a small percentage do. I strongly believe that poker should be played for fun.

To start with you should keep your poker bankroll and your personal economy separate. If you lose your whole bankroll at poker you will want to try and win it back straight away, this is bad as your mindset is negative and under stress. Poker games are going 24 hours a day whether it is on the internet or in a casino, why not come back when you are at your sharpest and relaxed.

The difference between a winning and losing player in my opinion is knowing when to stop when you are losing. When starting a session online or at a casino set yourself a limit, if you lose X amount you stop, if you win X amount you stop, this will bring discipline to your game.

When I started playing poker I had no idea how to manage my poker money, I learned the hard way. The main thing I learned was to play within a level where I wouldn’t care if I lost. You have to detach yourself emotionally from the game; play at a level where the money is almost meaningless to lose but at the same time is nice when you win. You have to become numb and realize that results are stupid, it’s all about your play not the end result. If you make the right plays and correct decisions, why does it matter what cards fell? You lost? Big deal. It happens and that’s poker, there is always a percentage that the best hand will lose, and that percentage came through. Today I play to improve and make the best decisions I can, if I do that the money will inevitably come if I do that.

Paradisepoker.com is a veteran in the online gaming world, it was established in 1999 and is one of the first rooms ever to be launched, because of this it is the undisputed and recognized leader in online poker. It has thousands of people playing there from all over the world, from seasoned pros to beginners, it offers something for everybody. It has a wide range of games and has lush smooth graphics.

Security

Paradisepoker.com is one of the most secure sites in the poker world, it has just joined forces with SportingBet plc, a publicly traded company on the London stock exchange (Ticker Symbol: SBT.L), thus making it even more secure. Paradise uses a number of factors to keep their poker site secure, such as the SSLv3/TLSv1 encryption algorithm, random card generators and card shuffling techniques. All of these procedures are reviewed and updated on a regular basis to make sure they are the best in the world.

Games

Paradisepoker.com offers non-stop 24 hour action. At peak times there are up to 7000 players logged in. Games Include Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo, Sit-n-Go Tournaments, Multi Table Tournaments and satellite tournaments to major events, such as WSOP and WPT. At the moment you can win a dream trip to the Australia Millions Tournament for as little as $5, why not give it a try?
Paradise poker offers players all types of cash limits ranging from 2c/4c to 40/80 and NL games up too $500, so it has levels for all players. My favorite games on Paradise are the Multi table tournaments especially the Rebuy’s these are on every night and they attract big fields with HUGE prize pools.

Graphics

When you log into Paradisepoker.com you feel that you have just entered something special. The lobby is very easy to use and the artwork is beautiful. The graphics of the cards, the flop, the bets everything is PARADISE. One feature of paradise that I love is, if you get a big hand like a full house the cards will catch on fire, or electrocute themselves a great change and something new to internet poker.

Competition

Paradisepoker.com has been going for nearly six years so it has had its far share of players play there, of all abilities. It has many experienced players playing here one of them is Todd Arnold (NSXT2 on Paradise) please read his interview below this review. Many players play by the book but there is good money to be made on the lower limit tables and as you progress up the ranks. My advice is to start off slowly; poker is a great game but must be treated with respect when it comes to betting money. If you are looking to improve your game by playing against better opponents, paradise is the place to play.

Support

Paradisepoker.com is a market leader in this, speaking from my own experiences they can be reached by email at all times, generally replying within minutes of receiving your query. Rest assured that we will endeavor to address any issue to your satisfaction.

Promotions

Paradisepoker.com offers many promotions, including the biggest in online poker history. A MILLION DOLLAR FREEROLL. That’s right a MILLION DOLLARS for 1st prize, i am sure anyone in their right mind would like a shot at a million dollars for free? The 1st free roll was won by Lee Bidulph, a chef from Blackpool. Don’t panic there is another million dollar freeroll in December, and qualification is already up and running click on the banner below to make an account and gain an entry into this prestigious event.

Todd Arnold (NSXT2) Interview

I had a chance to interview one of the top online poker players in the world in Todd Arnold; he has won numerous multi table events online and is now the face of paradisepoker.com. Todd has recently launched his own poker website realpokertraining.com where he videos his sessions at the table so that people can view them, to help improve their game.

Hi Todd please tell us how you got involved in

Paradise approached me at the 2005 World series of Poker, to offer me the Team Captain/Ambassador position due to my success at their tables. Their words were “after all, you are Paradise. They also said that they can see how many observers are at each table, average per table is 6/7 people, my table always has 75/100.

Final table in a WPT/WSOP event.