PokerStars Bonus
Only use official marketing codes in order to get the best possible bonus. Many people confuse marketing codes and bonus codes. A marketing code has to be entered when you register a new account (see screenshot below). The purpose of this code is to ensure that you will benefit from all future promotions like exclusive tourneys and reload bonuses but also to get free gifts like books or poker chips for your home game.
To get all the benefits use one of the best marketing codes available:
pkrinsider
Type in this code as shown below when you sign up for a new PokerStars account.
- (click to enlarge)
PokerStars Bonus Code
The bonus code has to be entered when you make your deposit. It determines how much extra money you will get on your deposit. Type in the code:
STARS600
when you make your first deposit. This code will give you a bonus of 100% up to $600.
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Poker Strategy: Sit & Go Tournaments
In today’s strategy article we will show you how you can become a winning player at the medium buy-in ($5 - $ 20) 9 player SnG tournaments at PokerStars. Many people like to play these tourneys since they offer a good return on investment (ROI) and are easy to beat if you know the correct strategy.
Definition of a winning player: We consider a winning player as somebody who has at least a ROI of 20% at the above mentioned limits with a minimum of 1000 played games. Now let’s make you one of these players ...
The good thing about every poker tournament is that there is always dead money in the pot. This is also true for SnG tourneys. Dead money is the money in the prize pool that was contributed by players that have no chance to make it into the money. So this basically a big bonus for you. In an average game there are always 4 or 5 players at the table that belong to the “dead money group”. So in a 9-man SnG you are actually only playing against 4 or 5 real opponents. Let’s have a look at the different stages of the tournament.
1st Level: the blinds are small compared to your stack. This is the phase in which the first one or two players will leave the table. Your turn is to watch the other players: Are they playing tight? Who is loose? Who is a maniac? There are basically only two hands you will play preflop Aces and Kings. If you have Kings and there is an Ace on the flop just fold to any bet. Simply put: Don’t get involved in big pots unless you have the nuts. It is not worth loosing chips in the early stages.
2nd Level: still 6 to 7 players left. Now that is the time where some of the tight players start to get nervous. The blinds are getting bigger and even the good players feel the urge that they have to start playing now. Well just relax and watch the others play. You will only engage with big hands like AA, AK, AQ, KK, QQ and JJ. You might feel uncomfortable playing so little but you will see that the increasing blinds will force the other players to start playing looser and even going all-in with medium hands.
3rdLevel: this is the phase shortly before the bubble respectively the bubble phase itself. There are basically two alternatives how to play this stage of the tournament. The first strategy you could play is the so called “fold-into-the-money” strategy. And you do exactly as the name of this strategy suggests: you fold nearly every hand and just wait until you are in the money. Of course you will not fold big hands like Aces, Kings or Queens. Just push all-in with these hands.
The second strategy you can apply in that stage is quite the opposite of the first method. In the bubble phase most players try to avoid busting so close to the money and are afraid to play any hand. You will capitalize on that behavior by raising nearly every hand. Even if you get called having nothing but crap it doesn’t matter. By the time the other players realize what you are up to you will have collected so many blinds that you will be the big stack or very close to being the big stack.
Final Stage: the heads up. Congratulations you made it into the money. Wasn’t that hard, was it? We will not go into detailed heads up play since that would be too much for this article. Basically play very aggressive, raise every hand. Pressure your opponent all the time don’t let him take a breath.
When you apply this strategy you will realize that you are actually playing very few hands. It might even bore you to play that way. That is why most players who make good money playing SnGs play multiple tables at a time. Just try it and you will see that it is not that difficult furthermore you will not get bored that easily and you collect a lot of Frequent Player Points for the PokerStars VIP Club as a bonus. Apropos bonus, if you don’t have a PokerStars account yet, sign up for a new account right now and benefit from one of the biggest welcome bonuses available in online poker. When you register your account you will be asked for a marketing code. Enter the code pkrinsider. This will make sure that you get the best possible bonus which includes reload bonuses and exclusive tournament tokens as well as free gifts like poker books and much more. When you make your first deposit use the code STARS600 in order to get a bonus of 100% up to $600.
The new VIP Club
The newest VIP program in online poker just got better! Major improvements have been made in order to make the best VIP Club for all players at PokerStars. The hot VIP Stellar Rewards program delivers participants hard cash as they achieve designated VPP levels throughout the year. PokerStars also made it simpler to get SilverStar status and maintain Supernova status. The new quarterly $1,000,000 VIP freerolls will reward hundreds of participants.
Watch the video to learn more.
Play against the pros
Have you ever dreamt of playing against your favourite poker pro like Daniel Negreanu? Well at PokerStars you can play against the best poker pros in the world. You think you don't have the bankroll? No problem the pros play a lot on the small stakes tables just to make sure that you can test your skill against them.
Meet the following pros at the tables: Chris Moneymaker, Joe Hachem, Vanessa Rousso, Greg Raymer and many more.
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Source: CardPlayer Poker News
September 2nd – Daily Deal
On today’s Daily Deal, the coalition of California casinos clarifies its stance on internet gambling legislation, 888 reports its financial results for the first half of two-thousand ten, the World Series of Poker Main Event continues airing on ESPN and we find out who the final nominees are for this year’s Hall of Fame. It’s all ahead… faster than you can say, “I can dodge bullets, baby.”
Hello, I’m Sean Gibson and welcome to the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily.
Recently, the Commerce Casino, Bicycle Casino, Hawaiian Gardens, Hollywood Park, and the California Gaming Association joined in opposition Congressman Barney Frank’s HR 2267, which would create a full licensing and regulatory framework for the internet gambling industry in the United States.
The four casinos have found themselves in a war of words against the Poker Players Alliance, which has launched an online petition at PlayersBeforeProfits.com to reverse their stance against the groundbreaking legislation. Poker News Daily sat down with card room coalition spokesperson Waltona Manion to explore the coalition’s resistance.
Manion argued,
“We’re looking for Federal enforcement of the same strict licensing and regulation for online poker as U.S. land-based casinos abide by. This means that they have to license all of their employees and the physical operations should be in the U.S. In addition, the hardware and software should be tested and certified.”
She added, “Frank’s bill provides fewer industry regulations and player protections. It imposes lower taxes for foreign online companies than what U.S. casinos pay. It would enable illegal offshore companies to export significant money from our economy.”
We’ll keep you posted as this story develops.
888 Holdings, the gaming operator that owns 888 Poker, announced Tuesday that it will be cutting costs in order to address a loss in profits for the first half of 2010. The company has also decided to scrap its dividend in order to pay for acquisitions after the weak economy and World Cup caused a decline in poker revenue.
888’s first half financial results showed revenues were up 10.5% to one-hundred thirty million dollars, but pre-tax profit dropped by 56% to four point three million dollars. Poker revenue dropped 25% to nineteen point six million.
The WSOP Main Event continued airing on ESPN on Tuesday night with Day Two-B. Two one-hour episodes were devoted to the second Day Two and the feature table included Dan Harrington and Jeff Shulman, who were seated next to each other. Prahlad Friedman and Allied Network Solutions CEO Ted Bort tangled in a hand in which Bort called the clock after pushing all in. Friedman waited until the count reached one and quietly said, “I call,” but floor officials ruled that the clock had expired. Bort turned over top two pair and Friedman mucked.
A maelstrom of yelling ensued. ESPN aired a replay clearly showing that Friedman had called at the one-second mark and the dealer promptly said, “He called.” Nevertheless, another floor supervisor was summoned who also said the hand was dead. Don’t forget that Friedman was also involved in “Ante-gate” with Jeffrey Lisandro.
Finally, the nominees as voted by the fans are in for the Poker Hall of Fame. This year’s class is a who’s who of the poker world, all of whom have distinguished careers warranting their nominations. This year’s class of nominees, who will be voted on by the 16 living Hall of Fame members and a 17-person media panel. Only these 33 individuals cast votes for induction. The nominees are:
1. CHRIS FERGUSON
2. BARRY GREENSTEIN
3. JENNIFER HARMAN-TRANIELLO
4. DAN HARRINGTON
5. PHIL IVEY
6. LINDA JOHNSON
7. TOM McEVOY
8. DANIEL NEGREANU
9. SCOTTY NGUYEN
10. ERIK SEIDEL
Well, that does it for today’s edition of The Daily Deal, and we’ll be back with you on Tuesday of next week. Be sure to visit Poker News Daily every day for the latest poker headlines, and be sure to check us out at twitter dot com slash poker news daily. I’m Sean Gibson, thanks for tuning in, and we’ll see you next time. Now go crush those fish at the tables!
The Primacy Effect in Poker by John Wray (JimmyLegs)
Let’s pretend you’re a brand new poker player. Maybe you’re in Las Vegas for a buddy’s bachelor party, you’ve seen some poker on TV, and although you’re saving a little for the strip clubs, you’ve still got an extra $500 for “discretionary expenses” in your pocket. So, you sit down at the smallest game spread at the Venetian, fumble a big blind onto the felt, and play your very first hand of big-kid poker.
In this scenario, what would you say might be the very worst thing that could possibly happen to you? You get stacked? You get cheated? You get into a drunken brawl with a guy nicknamed “Fancy Fists”?
What if I told you the very worst thing that could possibly happen to you that night is that you win? And win big?
It seems counterintuitive, but there’s a very good reason why it might be dangerous for a budding poker player to have a wildly successful first session: the Primacy Effect. The Primacy Effect is a cognitive bias – a psychological tendency for us to draw incorrect conclusions based on the ways our brains are wired rather than on the objective evidence.
This particular bias is the tendency for the first items presented in a series to be remembered better or more easily, and for them to be more influential than those presented later in a series. For instance, if someone rattles off a long distance phone number, you’re most likely to remember the first few digits. Job applicants seen early in the hiring process are often given higher marks than those in the middle, and all applicants are best remembered by their “first impressions.”
Opening scenes are critical to the success or failure of a movie or book. And you probably have strong memories of and a special fondness for your first girlfriend or boyfriend. Thanks to the Primacy Effect, anything that comes first in a series serves as a powerful anchor in our memories, indelibly etched and coloring our perceptions of everything that comes after.
There’s even evidence now that the Primacy Effect has considerable power over the results on “American Idol”-style shows that rely on votes from the at-home audience. Over and over again, the contestants who appear first (and last, thanks to a different bias, the Recency Effect) get more votes than those appearing in the middle of the program.
Fans of these shows have occasionally voiced concern over potential voter fraud or judging biases, but if research on the Primacy Effect is correct, then results could actually be rigged in an even more diabolical way. All the producers would have to do to make sure their favorites are well-received by the voting audience is put them first or last in the evening’s lineup.
And isn’t a poker career just a long series of individual sessions? If we have this tendency to be overly influenced by the first item in a series, isn’t it possible that our entire perception of the game of poker could be distorted by what happens in the first few sessions?
The first time you played poker, you sucked. We all did. But thanks to the element of chance built into the game, there’s a very real possibility that you won in spite of your suckitude. And if you won big, the Primacy Effect will make sure that you remember that session and let it influence your perception of the game for a long time to come.
You’re likely to believe that the game is easier than it really is, and that it requires less work than it really does, and that you’re naturally more talented than you really are. The Primacy Effect will cause you to weigh the results of that first session more heavily than subsequent sessions, so even if you go on a long losing streak, you’ll constantly be comparing your results with that first success.
“How can I lose ten sessions in a row if I destroyed the game the first time I played? I’m a great player with natural talent. I must just be getting unlucky!” And you may find it more difficult to accept the brutal realities of poker: the game is hard and to master it, you must put in a lot of time and effort. What a glorious world it would be for the professional player if everyone won big the first time they played! The experience would likely stunt the growth of their abilities and yet get them hooked on the game itself – a recipe for long-term donations.
What about the players who lose their shirts the first time they play? They’re probably more likely to believe the game is more difficult than it really is – perhaps even unbeatable. For many people, a big initial losing session is enough to make them quit forever. But ironically, these players might be better situated for long-term success since they’ll likely have a better grasp of the amount of work necessary to master the game’s strategies.
There’s another way that the Primacy Effect skews our thinking on a daily basis. After all, isn’t each individual session a series of hands? So, by the same token, the results of your first big pot might influence your perception of the entire evening. Personally, I have an irrational tendency to get into a very negative and self-destructive mindset if I lose a big pot early in a session.
And how often have you heard players say, “I can tell it’s going to be a great night” after raking a massive pot soon after sitting down? Even though each hand is an independent, random event, psychologically speaking, we’re susceptible to letting our first impressions affect us long after the first hand has hit the muck.
Whether you won or lost in your rookie season, be aware that your perception of the game has likely been distorted by your initial experiences on the felt.
John “JimmyLegs” Wray is an instructor at CardRunners, one of the world’s leading poker training sites. Receive CardRunners for free through Truly Free Poker Training. Earn 5,500 points in a month playing on Full Tilt Poker and you’ll receive a free month of CardRunners. Earn a free week for only 1,375 points. No points are deducted and there is no impact on rake. Sign up now.
Source: Poker News Daily
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