Choosing the right online poker room for yourself can be a daunting task if you are a beginning player who is unsure of what site suits you best. Together, we will solve this problem and at the conclusion of this article you should be able to choose your poker room with confidence.

The first thing to look at when choosing a poker room is the overall look and feel of the software. You are going to be looking at this software while playing so it should be pleasing to the eye and shouldn’t be too difficult to navigate around and locate a game. This is of utmost importance because no one wants to look at an ugly interface that is unorganized and hurts your eyes to look at.

Secondly, you need to take into account the games that are offered and how varied their games are. If you are a tournament player you want a poker site with a variety of tournaments and a lot of options to work with. If you are a cash game player or sit and go player than just about any site will work for you but some sites have more varieties of sit-n-go’s based on buy-ins and pay-outs so that needs to be addressed also.

On the note of buy-ins, you should look at the payout structure and how it relates to the buy-in they require for you to play the game. Tournament players should look into guaranteed tournaments that have a set prize pool regardless of how many players enter, this has a great buy-in to payout ratio and this is hard to find on many poker sites.

Next you should watch the players and see what the general playing styles are in a variety of games on a poker site. Many poker sites are very loose and full of fish that are very easy to profit against if you have a solid game. You want to find players that most likely are the opposite of your playing style so you can benefit and profit from their drawbacks and mistakes.

Now you should look into how easy it is to deposit and withdraw funds. Many of the big poker rooms have made it very easy to perform both tasks but some have more options than others. This should be looked into and not taken lightly because if you cash big you want to be able to cash out without too much trouble.

Lastly and optional, you may want to take a look at the shuffling algorithm and dealing patterns of the site. It is hard to find documentation on how it works but that can often be found on the poker room’s webpage. Many players are critical of online poker and have trust issues with poker rooms so I usually like to actually watch the tables or play the tables and see what I believe is too frequent. For example, three suited cards on the board 6 out of 10 hands or other frequent occurrences that aren’t common live.

For poker reviews of the largest and best poker rooms to facilitate your search for the right room please visit the sites section of http://www.mega-poker.net for exclusive reviews that breakdown and critique all of the criteria explained in this article.

Just four weeks until The Players. We’ve got to get through the Zurich Classic this week first. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to be in New Orleans, now more than ever. It’s the golf that’s the problem. David Toms is the highest ranked player in the field (19th in the world ranking). Next is Chris DiMarco (35), then Steve Stricker (46), Lucas Glover (51) … you get the point. In case you don’t, though, Chris Couch is the defending champ.

Couch and Boo Weekley share something in common: they both chew tobacco. Weekley, who won last week with consecutive chip-in pars on the 17th and 18th at Harbourtown, was asked by the Golf Channel about playing in Maui next year. He said he’ll be there and joked, “Y’ain’t gonna see redneck surfin’, I’m sorry.”

Breath of fresh air, this Mr. Weekley, in the otherwise staid world of golf. Half the young guys on Tour seem to think they can wear personality in the form of yellow pants or pink shirts.

Weekley’s playing again this week, which gets me thinking about his chances. Remember early in the year when I was curious as to how players manage in a tournament following their first-ever win? And I found out, to my surprise, that (based on 2006 anyway) first-timers did pretty well for themselves the following week, one of them even finishing T2. Well, if you look at all winners from this year alone, and how they did the following week if they played (most did), you see even more striking results: T34, T48, T31, T19, 2, T9, T38, T28, T11, T27. Not a missed cut among them. Some respectable and high finishes in there. I smell me a head-to-head candidate …

But first, last week: Trevor Immelman withdrew late Wednesday. I had him in the outright and also in the head-to-head. That meant my chances for the week rested on Vaughn Taylor and Jim Furyk in the outright. Furyk missed his first cut in forever and Taylor looked good but couldn’t stay out of trouble late in the game Monday. He ended up T4. So, I lost half a unit on the week, bringing the season tally to -4.3 units for the year.

At this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, take Daniel Chopra (40-1), 1/6 unit: He has to win some time. I just can’t see him being a DiMarco type of player—lots of cuts made, T25-ish finishes, lots of yearly money but little or no wins to show for it. I don’t see him that way because he’s much more talented than DiMarco and seems to be better in the temper department. Maybe his DQ last week for an illegal drop will have an inverse Mark Wilson effect and propel Chopra to his first victory.

Take Sean O’Hair (20-1), 1/6 unit: After a rough start to the year in which he missed a lot of cuts, O’Hair has gone T14, T14 and 7 (last week) in his last three. He didn’t play the Zurich Classic last year, but finished T14 in 2005. Still young, still lot of potential, I just wonder about drive.

Take Brent Snedeker (80-1), 1/6 unit: Snedeker’s making a living. He hasn’t slagged off since that 3 at the Buick Invitational, finishing out of T50 just once since. He’s coming off a T16 last week. As we saw at the Buick, it’s his poise more than anything else—he doesn’t think too much out there.

In the head-to-head, take Weekley to finish higher than Stephen Leaney (10-11), 1 unit: It’s true Leaney’s been playing really well lately (T8, T19 and 3 in his last three tournaments), but so has Mr. Weekley. Plus, the average finish of all winners on Tour when they play the following week this year is 24.7, and as I noted above not a one has missed the cut. If Weekley ends up in the top-25 this week, I like my chances in the head-to-head.

(All picks from willhill.com)

Jeremy Church is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League.
Read all of his articles at http://www.procappers.com/Jeremy_Church.htm

Conventional wisdom contends that sports and entertainment wagers can’t be equated because, like apples and oranges, they’re two different things.

Somewhat strangely, though, considering the demographic groups to which many entertainment/political propositions are crafted to appeal, sports gamblers are their biggest bettors (although more than a few little old ladies from Pasadena eagerly await the Academy Awards every year).

If you don’t believe it, watch the frenzy on Internet gaming posting forums if Pinny takes down “American Idol” odds for even a few hours.

Teeney-boppers may comprise the target audience, but they’re not the ones dialing island sportsbooks.

“It’s difficult to compare entertainment props to our sports props,” a Bodog.com book manager said.

“Sports props are usually the interest of stats-crazy sports fanatics, whereas entertainment props are more directed toward water cooler bragging rights.

“People take personal pride in predicting Greg Oden’s points totals, but they’ll tell everyone they know if they correctly predicted the winner of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ or if they have placed a few dollars on who will father Britney’s next child (Bodog’s options include Bill Clinton, George Bush and, at 12/1, Hugh Hefner).”

Nevada gamers only allow betting on pure college and pro athletic competitions, along with car, buggy and four-legged creature racing, all things that don’t involve balloting.

No Oscars, no Emmys, no Grammys, no nothing — except boxing.

Go figure.

(Hmmm … could that sound of music be Sin City coffers jingling in anticipation of next month’s De La Hoya-Mayweather megamatch?

Word on the street is it will be Vegas’ biggest ring payday ever — bigger than than Frazier-Ali, Leonard-Hearns and the infamous Tyson-Holyfield biting bout a decade ago.)

Betting on politics — a “sport” in many minds, especially as it concerns American elections — is very popular, except in the USA, where wagering on voting is verboten.

The grapevine whispered that several high-profile US gamblers nevertheless supported themselves by strategically betting GW futures online in 2004.

This year, some Caribbean bet shops already have narrowed their 2008 US Presidential wagering fields to a trio of candidates (Olympic/The Greek) in each major party.

Others list lengthy candidate rosters (Gamblers Palace) or further have cut bait by reducing the proposition to whether Democrats or Republicans (CRIS) will prevail.

Hillary — but watch out for Barack! — and Rudy are current favorites.

The former New York City mayor appears to be the public choice in a showdown with the ex-First Lady, though polls indicate many people figure ticket headliners won’t be determined for another 10 or so months and that HRC might have a better shot at winning the nomination than a general election.

Be wary for now, however.

Some books try to hook the suckers with fishy lures, such as listing foreign-born California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger among GOP hopefuls or former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who already has withdrawn, among donkey prospects.

Actually, anything goes offshore: hurricanes, global warming, celebrity babies’ daddies, international-impact elections (British, French, Canadian, Australian), even America’s annual high school spelling bee.

The latest Don Imus potty-mouth incident that shook Earth has begat wide-ranging speculation about the shock jock’s future in a BetUS.com prop, which asks what’s in his currently snowy crystal ball.

Writing a tell-all bio is plus $2.00, while Imus landing a gig on “Today” is plus $150.00.

Other choices include becoming an Obama campaign coordinator, joining Howard Stern at Sirius, getting divorced and joining the staff of the Rutgers University women’s basketball team.

Reality TV alone has spawned a galaxy of wagering propositions, beginning in the mid-1990s with “Survivor” and continuing into today with productions such as “The Apprentice,” “Big Brother” and “The Bachelor.”

Remember the brouhaha that ensued at Bodog.com when someone at CBS allegedly blabbed after taping about who won an early “Survivor?”

The “eye” made sure that didn’t happen again.

If you’re a “Sopranos” fan, check out Bodog.com’s “prop culture.”

“The Family” boasts more collective props than the New York Yankees.

Bodog.com captured worldwide intrigue with a prop that asked if Heather Mills, the estranged wife of former Beatle Paul McCartney, would lose her prosthetic leg during taping of “Dancing with the Stars.”

She still was alive, leg attached, entering this week’s elimination.

Another wanted to know if an “American Idol” contestant would throw up on stage.

Just about every offshore bet shop has numbers on who will win this season’s series, described as a singing competition, and all favor Melinda Doolittle.

Likewise, they indicate Phil Stacey will be the next contestant to go, though prices on both props vary, illustrating once more the value of shopping around.

Ditto re: Sanjaya Malakar, the mop-haired teen from India who has startled observers with his staying power.

Now 5/2 at Bodog.com and plus $2.85 at CRIS, oddsmakers obviously have begun paying serious attention to the one-time bow-wow.

“‘The American Idol’ props have been extremely popular even amongst the most experienced gamblers,” the Bodog.com sportsbook source said.

“‘Idol’s’ popularity has reached into the stratosphere when you consider the fact you have the quitessential anti-Idol, Howard Stern, talking up the show and encouraging his listeners to vote.

“Of course Stern being Stern, he wants his listeners to vote for the worst ‘Idol’ contestant, which has helped keep both the performance and results show consistently at the top of the ratings pile.

“The nature of ‘American Idol’ and ‘Dancing with the Stars’ allows bettors a chance at a do over; if their initial pick is eliminated they can still pick one of the remaining hopefuls to win it all.”

Brian Gabrielle is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League.
Read all of his articles at http://www.procappers.com/Brian_Gabrielle.htm

Final Day NBA Action

The final regular season games take place this week and with most of the playoff positions in place, a lot of these games are meaningless. Meaningless to some has a lot meaning to others and the bettors fall into that ‘other’ category. You will notice that lines are available for only a handful of the games when they first come out and the remainder are not available until the next afternoon. This is to make sure a bad number is not put out. You also see teams in must-win spots having their lines increased by significant amounts.

One area to look at is the final day of the regular season where this year there are 14 games on the slate. One would think that this being the final game for most teams, it would mean a playground style but that has hardly been the case. Since 2002-03, the average score posted in the final game has been 188.8 ppg with 2004-05 showing the highest average of 192.9 ppg. 2003-04 was the only season where the average score in the final day was higher than the season scoring average. 2002-03 was 7.7 ppg less, 2004-05 was 1.3 ppg less and 2005-06 was 6.1 ppg less.

What does this tell us? It says that the majority of the games play under the total including last season where the games went 9-4-1 under. Some key things to look at are which teams heading into the playoffs are resting players, injuries to starters and the significance of the game if any at all. Taking these into consideration can definitely bring out some bad numbers given out by the linesmakers.

Bad Beats Far Too Common in the NBA

The last few weeks has seen a great number of blown 4th quarter covers and the reason I’ve been so aware is that I’ve been on the wrong side of the majority of those. At the same time, there are the ones who happened to be on the right side of these games and congratulations if that is the case. The dreaded list:

**On March 27th, Minnesota had a comfortable 25-point lead in the third quarter and led by 15 points entering the final quarter. The Timberwolves were outscored 35-12 in the final period to not only lose the 6.5-point cover, but also the game outright.

**On April 4th, the Knicks trailed the entire game before looking like they were going to pull away in the fourth quarter as they built a nine-point lead. It was just a tease however as the Sixers went on an 11-2 run and eventually pulled it out.

**On April 6th, the Jazz were defeating the Kings by eight points at the end of the third quarter as 3.5-point favorite only to see it disappear as Sacramento used a 32-21 4th quarter to pull off the upset. Utah actually led by as many as 17 points.

**In the same night, Memphis was catching six points against Golden St. and it looked as though the cover was in the bag. The Grizzlies had a two-point lead at the end of three and extended it to five with 10 minutes left but were outscored 26-9 the rest of the way to lose by 12.

**The next night, the Clippers were well on their way as they had a 15-point lead over Denver and an eight-point lead after three quarters but went over five minutes without scoring and were outscored 30-19 in the 4th and lost by three.

**On April 11th, the Rockets were out for revenge at Portland and they were getting it as they built a 25-point lead and led by 19 points heading into the final quarter. Portland then went off and nearly won the game thanks to a 36-21 edge in the final 12 minutes.

**Last but certainly not least took place on Sunday as Golden St. was laying a big number against Minnesota. The Warriors were up by 40 at the end of the 3rd quarter as 16-point favorites only to see the Timberwolves outscore them 42-15 in the 4th quarter to make it 13 and get the cover.

Western Conference vs. Eastern Conference

Dallas and Phoenix are clearly the two top teams in the league and both reside in the Western Conference but after that, are the conferences really that dissimilar? The answer is a resounding yes. Of the playoff teams (using Golden St. in this example), the Western Conference went a combined 161-79 against their counterpart while the Eastern Conference went just 118-122 against the west. Detroit, Cleveland and Miami were the only teams to post a winning record while on the other side, only Los Angeles and Golden St. had losing records.

The Western Conference has had a decisive edge the last few seasons since the Bulls reign ended and the conference won the first five champions following that. Two of the last three have been won by the Eastern Conference, Detroit over Los Angeles in a huge upset in 2003-04 and Miami over Dallas in another upset last season. The law of averages says the Western Conference takes it this year and it’s hard to argue that with the power on top. The first four seeds in the Western Conference have a combined 96-24 record against the Eastern Conference.

Matt Fargo is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League.
Read all of his articles at http://www.procappers.com/Matt_Fargo.htm

Let’s cut right to the chase. You can forget about playing the Rockies on the road. In 2006, the Colorado Rockies were 32-49 on the road. In fact, over the past eight seasons, the Rockies are just 239-409 away from Coors Field. Because the Rockies are so poor away from Coors Field, public perception is that the Rockies are a bad team period. However, Colorado has been solid at home and often times the Rockies show great value as a home underdog. At 44-37 at Coors in 2006, the Rockies held the second-best home record in the National League West. As the Rockies’ young, talented offense continues to gain experience, we’ll expect them improve at Coors Field again in 2007.

The Colorado Rockies improved nine wins from the 2005 to 2006 seasons knotting them with San Francisco and Arizona with 76 wins a piece. The Rockies still have to have to make some strides to avoid having their seventh losing season in a row. A turnaround is taking far longer than Rockies fans would like. Colorado’s build-from-within approach may be noble in today’s big money game, but it is not the best recipe for success in the short term. How many more losing seasons can the Rockies possible take before GM Dan O’Dowd and Manger Clint Hurdle are out of jobs. The new contracts these guys signed prior to this season were more than a bit of a surprise to me. I feel that buying some talent could be the Rocks only way out.

With Jason Jennings off to Houston, the Rockies’ pitching staff is even more thin. Aaron Cook and Jeff Francis will become even more vital parts of this Colorado rotation. Francis has won 27 games in his first two major league seasons and I think he evolves into Colorado’s ace. Cook is listed as the Rockies number one man, but his 9-15 record last season doesn’t have be convinced. Rodrigo Lopez is a guy with 15-win potential. He has recorded 14 wins or more in three seasons since 2002 in the tough American League East. The National League West could help Lopez to a break out season.

At the plate, Garret Atkins and Matt Holliday will put up lofty power numbers. Todd Helton isn’t the old Todd Helton, but he is still a solid stick and will hit behind them in the fifth spot giving Colorado a very respectable middle of the order. Willy Taveras comes over from Houston and brings his .329 career on-base percentage with him. The rest of the order will have to make a name for itself. Kaz Matsui is a guy who could emerge as another contributing force on the offense. He hit safely in 20 of his 24 starts for the Rockies last season.

The Rockies are still young and missing some pieces, but I think they improve again in 2007. Look for the Rockies at home to be a nice play this season.

Dave Price is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League.
Read all of his articles at http://www.procappers.com/Dave_Price.htm

So much for qualifying.

Inclement weather and some mixed messages from NASCAR led to delay after delay in Friday’s qualifying session at Texas Motor Speedway, until finally the track ran out of light, and qualifying was officially considered defunct. As a result, we get little idea of who’s got a fast li’l rocket ship for Sunday afternoon’s race; the cars will roll off in the order of the points standings.

But we do have a not-so-secret weapon picking this race: the venue. Texas is an awful lot like Atlanta, where the Smokeless Set ran just a few weeks ago. Jimmie Johnson won that race (as he always seems to do), and Tony Stewart was coming hard and fast at event’s end. Juan Pablo Montoya posted a Nextel-Cup-career-best fifth-place finish in that event, and the points leader, Jeff Gordon, (who’ll begin this race from the pole) finished “just” 12th, his worst finish so far in a very good year. Will these drivers be the story once again on Sunday? Read on.

Two weeks ago: A very nice week at Martinsville, where our pick of Johnson to win at +750 odds, combined with our head-to-head selection of J.J. over Kyle Busch, led to profit galore. On 1.5 units wagered, we netted 1.92 units, a return of 128%; for the season, on nine units wagered, we’ve netted a positive 3.37 units, for a return of 37.4%. (And note that if you’d eschewed the conservative unit strategy I advise below, and simply placed one unit on every wager I’ve recommended, you’d be up a net 20.67 units on 24 units wagered, for an 86.1% return. It’s riskier on a week-to-week basis, though.) Let’s keep it going.

Take Tony Stewart (+350), 1/6th unit. As I mentioned above, Stewart was coming hard at Atlanta last month, and if the event had been just a few laps longer, he’d have passed for the lead and the win. Smoke won his first career Texas event last fall during his ill-conceived and too-late 2006 push, and he’s come at least sixth his last three tries down here. This is, without question, a safe and wimpy bet, but with no qualifying to go by and Stewart practicing fourth-, first- and fourth-fastest in the three rain-spackled practice sessions over the past few days, I really think the Home Depot crew wins this rematch with his No. 48 nemesis.

Take Jimmie Johnson (+350), 1/6th unit. And why not cover all the bases? Johnson has already taken three of the first six Nextel Cup events this season, and he was fifth-quick in Happy Hour Saturday. Not taking J.J. on these 1.5-mile, high-banked, cookie-cutter tracks is just silly; over the past two-plus seasons, his finishing average at Atlanta, Charlotte and Texas (three nearly identically configured venues) is right around sixth place, and in the last five-plus seasons, it’s right around eighth. That’s just way better than anyone else in the sport, and it bespeaks Johnson’s smoothness and ability to adjust his racecar. He’ll give it a go to take his first-ever Texas win Sunday.

Take Carl Edwards (+1500), 1/6th unit. There are other attractive bets on a board that’s been thrown for a loop because of the foul weather (as of late Saturday, some online books still hasn’t posted their post-Happy-Hour race odds), but assuming Edwards stays up in the mid-teens, he’s my favorite value bet. King Carl came seventh in Atlanta, and has one Texas win and two Atlanta victories to his credit. Leading up to Saturday afternoon’s race, Edwards had also won two consecutive Busch races, so you know he’s in a good frame of mind. This is the kind of track where Carl excels; he has the second-best finishing average at this track type (to Johnson) over the last two and five seasons. Edwards’s Roush Fenway teammates Matt Kenseth (+800) and Greg Biffle (+1800) are also interesting threats; in fact, Kenseth came third in Atlanta. Still, I think Edwards gives you the best shot at a really interesting payday after my two favorites.

Brian Gabrielle is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League.
Read all of his articles at http://www.procappers.com/Brian_Gabrielle.htm

The Brewers are one of those teams one would call the exception to the rule. Despite a very modest payroll, Milwaukee showed in 2006 that they will be able to compete for the National League Central title. The Brewers ranked near the bottom of the NL in pitching, hitting, and defense last season due to some costly injuries yet they were able to finish a close fourth in the deep Central division. With the prospects of a solid starting rotation, and growing offensive threats in Bill Hall, Prince Fielder, and Ricky Weeks, this is a team which can give the Cubs and Cards a run for their money.

With Ben Sheets the Brewers have themselves a 20-win caliber pitcher, and with Chris Capuano they have one of the best young lefties in the game. Last season, he only tallied one victory in the second half which really cost this team to move up in the standings. Jeff Suppan comes over from the Cards landing the biggest contract in Brewers team history. He’s not worth all those chips, but he will fill one more void in this staff. Dave Bush led the Brew Crew in wins last season, but it was only 12. Vargas also tallied 12 wins for the Diamondbacks last season which was his career high. All five starters in Milwaukee’s rotation have 15-win potential. That’s the upside. This is the reality. Sheets has never won more than 12 games. As I already mentioned, Capuano fell off in the second half of last season. Suppan has a record of just five games over .500 for his career. In my opinion, the upside outweighs the pessimism here and the Brewers have the makings of a great rotation.

Offensively, Rickie Weeks leads off for the Brewers. He hit over .300 within the Central Division last year and I expect this guy to steal over 30 bases out of that lead off spot. J.J. Hardy is a very weak hitter in the two hole. Bill Hall was a big surprise in 2006 while, Koskie and Jenkins had disappointing seasons. The guy I look to for a breakout season is Prince Fielder. He set a Brewer rookie record by slugging 28 homeruns last season. He is very young and will get better and better each year.

One of the Brewers biggest concerns has to be their defense. Hall makes the move from short to center field ala Robin Yount, but I don’t foresee the same success. Get ready for Hall’s power numbers to suffer at the plate with the extra pressure there is on outfielders to swing the biggest bats.

Last season was Milwaukee’s big chance to take the division when just 84 wins would have won it, but injuries prevented them from doing so. It’s going to take a few more wins than that to get it done in 2007 and I don’t think Milwaukee has it in them. My best guess is that Milwaukee will be a solid team to back in 2007 from a bettor’s perspective though. The perception is that they are still a bad team. The starting pitching staff is going to surprise you and we’ll take advantage backing these boys, especially at home where they won their most games in 2006 since 1992.

Jimmy Boyd is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League.
Read all of his articles at http://www.procappers.com/Jimmy_Boyd.htm

I don’t know how I feel about the sudden self-righteousness invading sports.

I mean, I was on the Suspend-Pacman-Jones wagon long before it was cool. Kid’s a phenomenal talent, and probably deserved to go to the Pro Bowl last year, but he brings the thug life to a whole new level. Same with Chris Henry. And Don Imus has been a curmudgeonly putz for years; it just took five seconds of empty-headed Neanderthal behavior for the world to catch on.

But the unmitigated schadenfreude with which the world has gleefully attacked these stories is positively Anna-Nicole-esque. Have we completely lost our ability to tell a Big Story from a run-of-the-mill, this-guy’s-an-a-hole affair? The simple answer is: yes.

So please: some simple requests. No more Don Imus leading the evening news, just as there should be no more Anna Nicole’s babydaddy getting cheered by Bahamian hangers-on getting televised. No more press conferences in which the Rutgers University women’s hoops team is asked to play media critic. No more self-congratulatory press conferences where Roger Goodell and Gene Upshaw are seen singing “Kumbaya.” American culture (and make no mistake, this is all American, through-and-through) needs to take a look at the glee with which it reports stories like this, with overly stern expressions and trembling voices. Pacman Jones and Chris Henry are very sad stories, and I want to hear about them, briefly. I just don’t want to know what Mike Golic, Sean Salisbury, Deion Sanders, Bryant Gumbel, Martha Stewart or Triumph the Insult Comic Dog thinks about the implications for the larger trends in society.

Well, actually, wait. I take that back. Triumph, you’re pretty funny. Feel free to speak up.

If Tiger Woods had won the Masters, would that have been a bloodbath for the books? And did anyone out there have Zach Johnson?

BoDog Bookmakers, BoDog.com: The books do a good job of line management, so even if Tiger had won, it wouldn’t have been too bad. That being said, if Tiger had won, we wouldn’t have had nearly as much success we did with a relative unknown like Zach Johnson winning. There actually were a few people who were banking on Zach Johnson. Their foresight or blind luck, whichever you’d prefer calling it, resulted in some huge payouts.

Kevin Durant is headed pro. Do you think he’s a true franchise-changing player in the NBA?

BDB, BoDog.com: The 2007 draft will be one of the most talent-laden drafts in recent years. It may not be a repeat of 2003, but it could be very similar to the 1983 draft. Similar to the Jordan-Olajuwon draft in 1983, the choice is between two potential phenoms. Greg Oden is a dominating centre who will anchor a team’s middle for years, whereas Kevin Durant will transcend the game altogether. Oden is the safe pick, but so was Olajuwan. Whoever picks Durant is getting not only a franchise-changer but they are getting a kid who will change the game itself. The difference between 2007 and 1983 is that Durant won’t slip to the #3 pick.

Just for fun, after about two weeks of the new MLB season, who are your AL and NL MVPs?

BDB, BoDog.com: The easy choice for AL MVP is Alex Rodriguez. Scott Boras has all but guaranteed his client will opt out and look for an even bigger contract next year. Alex Rodriguez plus Boras plus a contract year will add up to some ridiculous numbers. In the NL, Florida’s Miguel Cabrera has been knocking on the door of superstardom for a couple of seasons now. The Marlins’ success is directly tied to Miguel Cabrera’s performance.

Here come the NHL playoffs, and some very interesting storylines. The first series ever for Atlanta. Sidney Crosby with a legit chance to do some damage. Nashville as an incredibly scary #4. Who do you think winds up in the Cup finals this year?

BDB, BoDog.com: Looking at all of the match-ups, the one I find most intriguing is the Sens and Penguins, as both teams have enough firepower to give the goalies nightmares. The series features five of the top 18 regular-season point-getters. Sidney Crosby will be in his first of what will be many more playoffs, and he’ll definitely put on a show. I think the young Penguins, along with the Senators’ old nemesis Gary Roberts, will take this series right down to the wire. If the Penguins can squeeze past the first round, Crosby could cement himself as “The Next One” by leading his Penguins to the finals. Nashville is an incredibly scary #4, but does Forsberg’s body have one more playoff run in him? I think Joe Thornton will be the player to watch in this series. Lastly, the odds say that the Cup finals should be Buffalo Sabres vs. Detroit Red Wings, but Calgary, who underperformed all year, could derail those plans early if they manage to step up their road game.

Brian Gabrielle is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League.
Read all of his articles at http://www.procappers.com/Brian_Gabrielle.htm

“What’s that father?” a little boy once asked his father. “Can I play with them?”
The father replied, “No, son, it is not a toy! It is money, my boy!” The boy hurried off to play outside, though, wondering why his father considered those colorful chips as money.

This colored chips represents money in the casinos. For example, a player who wants to play poker has to buy some chips to be used when betting. And because this is the kind of money that is being used during a game in the casino, particularly poker, others eventually call it poker money.

Poker money arrives after a player settles down on a table and is ready to play poker. This poker money, in terms of chips, is being laid out in front of the concerned player. However, before proceeding into playing poker, every player must make a deposit for his poker money.

Online poker games have different ways of managing poker money. Most of the online poker websites require their players to have their poker money accounts through deposits. Generally, these can be done into two categories. One category of depositing poker money is through direct methods wherein players use a credit card or draft in order to deposit money. The other category of depositing poker money is through a 3rd party services like NETeller or prepaid ATM which acts like Internet banks. Here, players can do transactions such as depositing poker money and transferring funds to online poker Web sites.

But there is also a way to get free poker money from the internet poker rooms. Thanks to the competition in online poker most poker rooms will offer You free poker money in forms of bonuses. There are 3 different kinds of these bonuses available. Most of the bonuses are only paid for new players who open an account with the poker room.

The first kind of bonus requires the player to make a deposit into his poker account first. The Poker Room will then pay You between 10% and 150% of Your deposit in free poker money. So if You deposited $100 You can get between $10 and $150 for free, so that You have a balance of $110 to $250 in Your poker account.

The second kind of bonus is much more interesting as it does not require a deposit. The so called “No Deposit Poker Bonus” gives You free poker money with no obligation. Just open an account and You have it funded with money to take to the tables. Offers vary and some poker rooms will pay You as much as $100 just for joining them. These No Deposit Bonuses are used to attract new players and become unavailable in most cases when the poker room has build a customer base with this promotion.

The third kind of Bonus offered is the referral bonus. Online Poker Rooms will reward You with free poker money if You refer a new player to them. You can get up to $150 per new player at some poker sites.

By combining all of these bonuses You can generate a lot of free poker money so that You might be able to play poker without having to risk Your own money. In most cases You have to play a minimum number of raked hands before You are allowed to cash out the bonus, but if You are playing smart You will easily reach this number and be in profit.

Written by Thomas Kraemer
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TellPoker have given me almost free hands to write whatever I like. Brave of TellPoker to let me loose in this manner, since it is impossible to know what I will write. I hardly trust myself in this area… In contrast to most blogs I am not afraid to write stuff that no one else would write.

Except for gossips, rumours and scandals I will also cover advanced poker theory and psychology, like in this first article. In the following I intend to analyze a hand during the WPT Borgata Poker Classics.

The main characters in this hand are:
John “J-Dags” D´Agostino, a very skilled Internet players, who has been close to a couple of WPT victories. Erick Lindgren, needs not introduction. Everyone knows who he is and his skills.

5 persons left in the tournament. Blinds are 25k/50k

Both players are quite deep stacked, but Erick has John covered.

Erick is UTG and limps with 4d, 4c

John raises to 200K with Td, Tc

Erick calls the raise.

The flop is 5c 7h, 4h

Erick hits a set, as usual…

Erick checks

John bets 350k in the pot, which after the bet is 850k

Quickly Erick responds by going all-in with his remaining 2,3 millions

John folds after thinking a looong time.

Lets break down the hand and see what happened. At first the fold seems quite tight. Many bad players has difficulties in folding an overpair on this “quite” innocuous board.

We start by looking at it from John’s perspective:
- That loose guy Erick is limping again, but now I found pocket T, so now I will punish him…. I raise 4 times the Big Blind.

- Ooops, he called. If I know Erick right, he should have a low pocket pair, suited A or maybe he tries to be tricky with AA or KK. He doesn’t look so strong, so AA and KK is not probable. He would never play JJ or QQ like that…

- 5, 7, 4, two hearts on the board. I have overpair, but I really don’t like the situation. Erick checks, but I cannot give him any free cards on this board. Ok, I bet almost pot.

- Erick went all-in? What a pig! Hmm. I have overpair, and if I just don’t think so much, I can find a call. If I fold, I have lost 35% of my stack. I have almost talked myself into a call… No, it isn’t possible.

- What can he have that I beat? There are really only 2 hands that I’m in a good position against, and that is 88 and 99. If he has a higher pocket pair, he beats me. If he has a lower pocket pair he probably has a set. If he has 66 he has an open end straight draw.

- I don’t think he has a straight at this moment, then he wouldn’t go all-in. Can he have a draw hand? There is really no start hand which he could have called my pre-flop raise with a 6. Longshot that he has A6 suited. Flush draw? It is quite usual to check raise all-in with a flush draw, especially if the opponent isn’t pot committed. The problem for me is if he for instance has a KQ in hearts, he doesn’t only have a flush draw, but also two overcards. In that case he leads with a 55% chance of winning the pot.

- So far in the tournament I have shown good hands when I have raised and bet. Erick has seen that. He knows I have a good hand, but still he chooses to go all-in.

- No, I choose to stay in the tournament for a while longer. FOLD.

- I will get even with him later.

Now, let’s see what Erick might have thought:
- Pocket 4s. Now I will hit a set as I usually do. I’ll just call and hope to see the flop cheap.

- That “J-Dags” is raising me. Not only has he imitated my nick, now he tries to run me over. Call!

- Yes, set! He surely has an overpair to that board. Now, I only have to figure out how to take his stack. Usually I bet out with a set. If John then has an overpair, he should raise me, and make himself more or less pot committed.

- When I think back a few hands in the tournament, I recall an interesting hand with the exact same pre-flop action as this one. The Grinder limp-called Johns raise pre-flop, and check-raised all-in after the flop. John figured out that the Grinder had a flush draw and called with all his stack on pocket Kings.

- Now there are two hearts on the board, and I put John on an overpair. I try to do the exact same thing as the Grinder.

- That didn’t go so well… Lucky no one knew what I had. Or, except for those looking at the WPT on TV…

I think both players played the hand well. With the result, we know that if Erick could re-play the hand, he had made a bet on the flop, instead of a check-raise, but if you saw the full episode, you understand how he thought.

Anders Ericsson is the co-founder and creator of the online poker operator http://TellPoker.com

For more information on how to take your Poker business to the next level visit TellPoker.com