Many people have difficulty downloading poker site software because of their operating system. If you use a Windows OS you might not have trouble often but Mac users certainly do. The same is true for a couple other operating systems. You can find poker rooms that are compatible with your computer at www.pokerdownload.co.uk. Their step-by-step guides on registration and entering bonus codes can save you a lot of time and trouble.  PokerDownload.co.uk even talks you through the account verification process.

I often read complaints about poker rooms at online poker communities regarding deposit bonuses. Some rooms require new players to enter a code during registration while others request bonus codes when your deposit. It can be very confusing, especially when you are asked to enter some kind of referral code during signup and another code during deposit. No one wants to miss out on receiving a special deposit bonus or one of the other perks new players can claim. Sadly this happens all too often because of the confusing account creation process employed by some poker sites. www.Pokerdownload.co.uk was created as a solution to this problem.

Pokerdownload.co.uk’s main mission is to streamline the download, registration and deposit process. The average Internet poker room has a web site with numerous “Download Now” or “Play Now” buttons but most offer little to no information about doing it. At www.PokerDownload.co.uk you can learn more about the whole process which can help prevent you from making a mistake, possibly even a costly one.

www.pokerdownload.co.uk is also well known for their exclusive poker bonus codes. Large, popular web sites like PokerDownload.co.uk are allowed to give new players better than average bonuses for downloading the software through their web site and/or entering their bonus codes. Deposit bonuses are only part of the welcome package www.pokerdownload.co.uk offers at most rooms. Other incentives include tickets to real money tournaments and even the occasional free money offers.

They only work with the best online poker sites so you need not worry about downloading software that isn’t safe. The US poker market has been devastated lately so the list of U.S. friendly poker sites at PokerDownload.co.uk will save Americans the trouble of reading outdated reviews of poker sites that no longer accept them.

Bet365 Bonus Review

In 2012 you can claim up to $1,000 in free money at bet365 poker. That is roughly twice the size of the average poker site. They will match your first deposit at 200%, which is also twice as good as the industry average. This bonus is available to new players that enter the Bet365 bonus code PBONUS. The size of this bonus is not the only reason it is superior to most others. The clearance req’s are relatively easy and they have kept the restrictions very light. Poker bonuses usually come with a lot of fine print, enough to make a cell phone contract look simple. Bet365 Poker has taken a different route by offering an easy to understand and clear bonus.

Bet365 Poker Software Review

The software at Bet365 is one area that I think they could improve. It just is not what I would expect from one of the top poker rooms online. Many players love it so I guess my opinion is shared by many. The software at Bet365 does have some qualities that I like. This platform is fast and looks good. It even supports 5 Card Stud, a relatively rare game online. It may not have all of the bells and whistles available at other poker sites but there are some cool special features.

Bet365 Poker Traffic Review

Bet365 Poker shares players with other rooms on the iPoker Network. I do not have access to the statistics but I’m very confident that Bet365 is the most popular room out of the skins on the network, and there are a lot of them. On an average day Bet365 peaks at 30,000-40,000 players. This places Bet365 (and the other skins) in second place in regards to poker room traffic in 2012. Like all poker rooms most of the traffic is at the Texas Hold’em tables. Bet365 Poker also has a healthy community of Omaha poker players. The tournament and sitngo traffic at Bet365 is also above average. Bet365 runs a wide range of sitngo and tournament related promotions. Overlays, freerolls and tournament contests have turned Bet365 into one of the best poker rooms for tournament players online in 2012. Only Pokerstars boasts more events and monthly prize money.

The simple act of playing online poker for cash gives potential customers a chance to experience the real thing and that is better than any sales pitch. In this blog post I will look at two of the top no deposit bonuses available these days. One is at Poker 770 and the other is at Mansion Poker.

No Deposit Bonus At Poker 770

The poker 770 no deposit bonus is neither small nor large. Most free money offers range from $5-$10 so the $7.70 no deposit bonus is right in the middle. This bonus offer does require new players to use a special bonus code (BonPok). In an effort to protect themselves from bonus abusers who simply create multiple accounts and try to claim the same free money over and over again Poker 770 requires new players to send them an email (to: promotions@poker770.co.uk) so they can validate the account before transferring the free money. You will need to include your new Poker 770 username and the bonus code listed above in the email. This gives them time to make sure you have never held an account at Poker770 and that you qualify for the free money.

Poker 770 is a popular poker site, casino and bookmaker in Europe and Asia. US players are not able to play at this room for real money. They are even offering free money at their casino. You can claim $10 in free casino money which brings the total amount of free cash to $17.70. You will also qualify to play in poker tournaments that have cash prize pools but they do not cost anything to enter. There is $50k worth of these freeroll tournaments every month at Poker 770.

No Deposit Bonus At Mansion Poker

Mansion Poker’s no deposit bonus offer is significantly larger than the Poker 770 bonus. New players can claim three mansion poker no deposit bonuses. This is definitely one of the most attractive free poker money offers I have seen in years. Here is how it works:

• Sign-up and claim a free $20 bankroll.
• If you earn 6,000 frequent player points they will release another $60.
• If you can earn 11,000 points Mansion Poker will reward you with $80 more.

So the trick to claiming all three free bankrolls, without ever depositing, is to play a lot and generate as many points as possible.

Review Of The 888 Poker Room

Aside from excellent bonuses and promotions there is one aspect of 888 Poker that I really like. The webcam poker tables are really fun for two reasons. The first is that it converts poker back into a social game. Online has turned very sociable card players into taciturn players who either don’t use the chat box at all or only do so to insult other players. The webcam tables at 888 Poker have brought back a little friendliness to online poker. There is a community-like atmosphere at the webcam tables and people talk a lot more, without insults, when they use a microphone too. You can read more about this feature in this 888 Poker review from the portal mentioned above.

That is not all that is going on at 888 Poker. They hold the title for the world’s most comprehensive rewards program. With eight monthly and two yearly Status levels this program is nearly twice the size of the extremely popular VIP program at Pokerstars. 888 Poker’s rewards program doesn’t offer quite as much free money but they do offer cashback, also known as rakeback. 888 also does a better job of accurately rewarding poker players because there are so many levels.

888 Poker is also the top poker site for freeroll players. I’ve reviewed their freeroll offerings and was shocked to see how many they offer. If you make a deposit you get seven tickets to $500 daily freerolls, another ticket to a $1k weekly freeroll and the chance to play in a $100,000 freeroll. That is just part of what’s included in the signup bonus package. Their 100% match, up to $400 bonus is smaller than some but the clearance requirements are pretty light.

Freerolls are another part of the rewards program at 888 Poker. According to 888pokerreview.org there are $64,000 in rewards freerolls each month at 888Poker.com

888 offers multiple gaming services like sports betting, bingo and one of the most advanced online casinos. Being able to do everything with a single account at a single site has numerous benefits. People do not liking giving out their personal information online so being able to just deal with 888 for all of you gambling is the perfect solution. 888 Holdings, 888 Poker’s parent company is publicly traded and has won numerous awards for fairness and transparency. I doubt there is a safer place to play poker than 888 Poker online in 2012.

Within the last month newcomer Kingdom of Poker has been steadily building their online card rooms to attract more non U.S. players looking for a taste of Asia.  The common card games like Texas Hold’em and Omaha will be offered, but what sets Kingdom of Poker apart from their competitors is games like Mahjong and Chinese Poker.  Kingdomofpoker.com is looking to mimic the look and action of Macau. There is also a new poker portal called KingdomOfPoker.org. There are Kingdom of Poker reviews of Pokerstars and 888 Poker. You will also find Kingdom of Poker bonuses offers at these two rooms.

Players can go head to head with the Kingdomofpoker.com pros Joe Tehan, Simon Charette, Apestyles and Andrew Chen. On January 15 the Hand History was added so players can keep track of their hands, or to get an in-depth play by play review.  Also player notes were added so you can record the habits and playing styles of your competitors.

I will make further posts about both of these new Kingdom of Poker web sites in the near future. So many new poker rooms pop up only to disappear so who knows what will happen. They seem to have the bankroll needed to build a poker room and compete but they obviously lack experience in this industry. The Kingdomofpoker.com web site is riddled with bugs, the software won’t download if you are using the Firefox browser (or at least some versions) and the actual poker software is clunky, slow and seems to be at least 5 years behind the times.

I suppose being a eyesore isn’t the worth thing in the world (i.e. Party Poker) but for a new room to compete with poker sites like Pokerstars the KingdomofPoker is goling to have to do a lot better.

Starting in January Kingdom of Poker has begun accepting deposits via MasterCard and Visa for their new live cardrooms.  There will also be a special commission offer for PAL affiliates regarding their players.  For the first 6 months after signing up there will be a 50% net rev share.  With the promotional code “CASH10″ there will be an automatic $10 cash bonus.  A 100% deposit bonus up to $1000 with a real money deposit will be offered as well combined with the code “FREE1000″.

Titan Poker

Titan Poker Bonus Code

Bonus codes will need to be entered on the first signup page at Titan Poker. Enter the Titan Poker bonus code 2000DOL and you will receive this 200% match up to $2,000 when/if you ever decide to deposit. You do not have to deposit within a certain time range. If you signed up at Titan Poker in March and made your first deposit in December you would receive this bonus, provided you entered this bonus code during registration. So this is an enter-and-forget bonus code, which is the best kind in my opinion.

Titan Poker will also issue you four tournament tokens immediately following your first deposit. Each token is good for one entry to the $2,500 New Depositor tournament. Since this tournament is not open to the public the playing fields are quite small. So the bonus code featured above provides up to $2,000 in bonus money and $10,000 in freeroll prize pool, not bad at all.

Titan Poker Bonus Clearance Requirements – The Easiest?

The fastest redemption rate in the industry!
Titan Poker – 2012

I’ve played at most online poker sites so I have a good feel for which rooms have easy to clear bonuses and which do not.  Titan Poker releases this deposit bonus in $5 installment so that is a good sign. Each $5 increment requires 250 Points. To simplify matters I will look at how fast this bonus clears at the high stakes tables and compare it with bonuses at other poker rooms.

• Titan Poker – Max points per hand: 24 – Lowest possible number of hands to release a $5 bonus installment: ~10.5 hands
• Pokerstars – Max VPPs per hand: 7.5 – Lowest possible number of hands to release a $5 bonus installment: ~9.5 hands
• Party Poker – Max Party Points per hand: 2.5 – Lowest possible number of hands to release a $5 bonus installment: ~12 hands

So the Pokerstars bonus clears slightly faster but I should point out that you can only 7.5 VPPs per hand at Pokerstars by playing at a specific stakes range with a specific number of players (4). Any more or any less and Titan Poker would be slightly better. After going through the numbers I believe that Titan Poker’s claim to the fastest redemption rate is mostly true if you look at the big picture. The average online poker player will have to play fewer hands to receive a bonus installment at Titan Poker than they would at either Pokerstars or Party Poker. Even at the micro and small stakes tables it will not take you long to clear the whole bonus at Titan Poker.

• You could end up at a moderately rogue casino. Very few online casinos are going to blatantly rip you off but there are many ways that a casino can subtly treat you unfairly. I will go in to more detail on this below.
• You could end up at a casino that either cannot or will not pay you large payouts (i.e. jackpots). Most will pay you but they set it up so that it would take 5+ years to pay you out if you win a medium to large jackpot.
• You could end up at an extremely rogue casino. This type of casino will purposely rig their software and random number generator to ensure that the games are virtually fixed against you.

A moderately rogue casino will add a bunch of unethical “fine print” to their TOS. They will virtually comb through your activity to find any reason not to pay you. I’m not talking about players that deposit $50 and win $500.  I’m talking about a player that deposits $50 and wins $5,000 via a jackpot or just a lucky run at the Blackjack tables. The usual trick used by rogue casinos involves their bonus policy. If you play for a while, win big and try to cash out they may try to take away your winnings if you didn’t clear your entire bonus. Read the bonus policy very carefully before making a deposit. Some bonuses can basically shackle you to the casino for months on end. I suggest opting out of a bonus unless the requirements are both fair and easy to understand.

The next type of casino uses a different sort of trick and it is important to note that this trick is used by a wide range of online casinos. If you hit a sizable jackpot you may have to wait a long time to see it paid in full. The casino will have a limit to how much you can cash out per month so if you hit a $75,000 jackpot you won’t receive a $75k wire or check right away. The limits vary from place to place but if there is a $1,000/week limit you could end up waiting over a year to get paid in full. The average life expectancy of a casino is only a few years so do your research before you make a deposit.

The truly rogue casinos tend to get caught quickly but they also pop up quickly. They will tamper with the random number generator and the casino platform to lower the odds of winning.

Here are a few tips for avoiding the types of casinos listed above:

• Look for certified casinos that have their software tested by an independent third party. You can usually find this information on the bottom of a casino’s web site. The best casinos will have links to their certificates that show the payout percentages for each type of game.
• Stick to the mainstream casinos (Cherry Red, Win Palace).
• Avoid letting a large bonus dictate where you play. A small bonus at a trustworthy casino is a hundred times better than a big bonus at a new casino.
• Research, research and of course research.

Realmoneypoker.org has some interesting thoughts on what US poker players can expect in 2012. You will learn who our allies and enemies are in Congress. I think every American poker player should take a much more active role in pushing for legalization and regulation. This issue is not just about gambling. It is about our Constitutional rights.

Realmoneypoker.org makes a good argument about President Obama. I did not know this before but the president enjoys playing poker too. This could be very important when a pro-poker Bill finds its way to the president’s desk.

Unfortunately not all of our elected officials feel the need to uphold the Constitution. According to Realmoneypoker.org some of the republicans fighting for the nomination oppose online poker. Here is a breakdown on their viewpoints:

• Newt Gingrich – Newt Gingrich has been working in the lobbying industry for many years. He was the House speaker until he was forced to resign due to 84 ethics violations. The House voted (395-28) on sanctions and a $300,000 fine. How does this relate to legal online poker? Realmoneypoker.org has done some research on Newt’s donors and they found that Sheldon Adelson donated $5,000,000 to super PAC that supports Newt. Sheldon is billionaire casino magnate who strongly opposes the legalization of online poker because online poker sites would be competing with his brick and mortar casinos across the US. Newt’s vote has already been bought so we can expect a veto if Newt is elected and a pro-poker Bill gets put on his desk.
• Rick Santorum – Realmoneypoker.org also reports that Rick would probably veto any online poker regulation legislation based on his conservative voting history.
• Mitt Romney – Mitt is the republican front runner thus far so it is likely that we will see an Obama Vs Romney showdown November. Mitt is a Mormon and Mormons believe that a man named Joseph Smith was directed by an angel in 1823 to a buried book, the Book of Mormon. With Mitt’s religious background it is likely that he would never allow poker to be legalized since it is a sin.
• Ron Paul – Ron is the only major republican candidate who would support online poker legalization. Ron strongly supports constitutional rights and according to Realmoneypoker.org is a co-sponsored the Barton Bill, a pro online poker bill.

• Finding a US friendly room with decent traffic, software and promotions.
• Depositing funds.
• Cashing out funds in a timely manner.

The first problem isn’t too hard to solve since there are still some big names left in the US market. Funding your poker account will be your next problem but cashing out tends to be the toughest problem out of the three. Online poker rooms have a history of doing whatever it takes to provide convenient deposit options for U.S. citizens. Very few put the same amount of effort into finding fast and easy cashout options. This is very evident at the Merge poker network. They have no trouble taking your money but when it comes time for them to give it back they will make you wait weeks, or even months.

I’m getting ahead of myself. Depositing money into your account can still be tough or even impossible at certain rooms. It all comes down to how much effort you are willing to put in it. Here are a few deposit methods available to Americans at some poker sites. I have also listed the pros and cons for each option.

• e-Wallets – Many e-wallets take a few days to setup so this puts many players off. We want to play poker right now, not a few days from now. Once you get it setup and verified it is much quicker.
• Moneygram / Western Union – These options used to be reserved for large ($500-$1,000) deposits but many rooms have lowered the limits recently due to a lack or other options. These options are not instant either but they are generally faster and easier than e-wallets. Americans can send the money online but there is a hefty fee. The fees make this option unviable for small deposits.
• Credit cards – U.S. friendly poker sites have mostly pulled Mastercard from their cashiers so Visa is typically the only credit or debit card you can use. Not all Visa cards will work however. One trick some players are using is to buy pre-paid Visa cards. Once you fund a particular brand that works this should make depositing very easy and obviously this method is instant and there are not any fees that you must pay.

Cashing out your winnings is even tougher than depositing at most poker sites. Many simply offer paper checks which can take a long time. I really miss the 24-48 bank wires and e-checks at Pokerstars. There is only one poker site that I know of who has done a good job in the cashout department. BetOnline, a U.S. friendly poker room, sports book and casino, has three speed levels for paper checks. There are fees for the faster services but most people don’t mind paying them since they receive their cashout quickly.

Some of these tips will also help you win at the cash game poker tables. A winning poker strategy is impossible to condense into a single article so I will try to focus on the basic principles.

Win Poker Tournaments By Folding

You might be wondering how folding is going to help you win at poker. The truth is that a good player will fold 50-70% of the hands dealt to them in a poker tournament, barring heads-up MTT’s. Hand selection is the most important part of a winning strategy. You can play a few mediocre hands to keep your opponents guessing in regards to your hand range but other than that you want to stick to extremely strong hands. You are not going to win any poker tournaments if your flop percentage is 60-70%. The exact number of hands you should play is not possible to determine since luck does play a part.

Win Poker Tournaments By Being Observant

Many people neglect this aspect of a winning poker strategy. Taking notes or simply observing and remembering how your opponents at the table play can help you win more hands. You should build a mental picture of each of the players at your table. You want to know the following about each player:

• Starting hand range – This should be too hard to figure out. If you pay attention you will see which hands they call the flop with. If a player has had AK, QQ and AJ during their last three showdowns that will tell you that they are playing tight poker. Granted, this could change at any time but it at least gives you a basic idea of what hands you should expect your opponents to have when you face a tough decision.
• Playing style – Some players will tend to always place a continuation bet after the flop. Others tend to shy away by checking if their hand did not improve. Other players enjoy showing their bluffs. Monitoring this kind of activity can seriously help you win poker tournaments and at ring tables.

These tips will help you win more and win more often at the poker rooms. These strategies might seem simple but I’ve found that simple works best when it comes to poker. You don’t need to be a mathematician to win poker games on a regular basis. You simply need to use common sense and take advantage of every possible edge you can find. Once you start winning poker tournaments the hard part will be deciding what to spend the money on.