Love and Poker: for What They’re Worth…

Author: M.J. Morgan

As a game played all around the world, poker and people are viewed differently from continent to continent.

Western anecdotes of love and poker are innocent high school drama stories compared to odd tragedies that are still taking in other parts of the world.

Contrary to the Western superstition that being lucky in poker means being unlucky in love and vice versa, love and relationships are occurrences we have no control of, so, lucky or unlucky in love, we always have at least something of the sort going on or keeping us searching or waiting for it during our whole lives.

Poker, on the other hand, seduces only some, and they have to love it passionately and devote most of their lives to it, which is tricky when combining it with human relationships.

Even though Western women have opened up about poker to the point of becoming excellent full-time players who compete in world championships head to head with male poker legends, there is a great number of women who are not only oblivious to poker but actually see it as a curse, fearing their family will hit bankruptcy and their husbands go gambling mad because of it. There are also men who have no desire to be bothered with their wives’ poker lives, and others who have tried to learn it for years to no avail, but have drawn the line between their wives’ playing and family life.

Unlike some perspectives that claim that poker is just like anything else in our lives and it is not to blame for divorce or separation, most married poker players agree that it’s not as simple as that.

For couples in which only one of them is a poker fan, there are always concerns about bankroll risk and fluctuations, misconceptions about winnings, bad beats and bankroll replenishments, demands and resentment over time spent playing or thinking about it versus time spent with spouses and family, mood swings during losing streaks, lying about expenses, losses and winnings, and of course, the possibility of poker becoming an addiction that would threaten the relationship and the player’s sanity.

According to poker player and blogger Tanya Peck, better known as MissT74 online, poker is much more than a hobby, saying that “while non-poker players can’t understand how someone is willing to throw away a relationship for the game of poker, poker players can’t understand how someone isn’t willing to understand the deep desire and passion that poker seems to bring out of us.” And although she wouldn’t throw away her marriage for the game, she would actually consider separation from anybody who would limit or disrespect her passion for anything in her life. She believes the key to making poker and love work is to negotiate it openly with your partner to determine needs, boundaries and compromises that need to be determined before any misunderstandings or resentments arise, so that both parties feel their needs are being met.

Other players such as Craig Cunningham, believe in a recipe for poker-love success:

• Express what poker means to you and let your spouse also express his/her feelings about it; Determine poker limits;






• Properly manage bankrolls;






• Erase online hand histories






• Bringing your wife flowers on a regular basis;






• Making your spouse first priority by engaging in their life;






• Watch less TV poker;






• Arrange weekends to have the kids away from home so your spouse can do his/her thing, or sending them to their favorite place like fancy spas, or bowling allies;






• Tackle bigger relationship problems that may be diagnosed by poker;






• Pay attention to your spouse when needed.

Both players are right about the need to compromise, but in relationships where poker is one more issue to put up with, negotiating may not be that easy, but that also means that communication is not working overall and needs to be prioritized. In the case of couples who cannot handle the pressure or balance both love and poker, leaving the game or the relationship is usually the chosen path.

For couples in which both people play and love poker, this balance is much easier to achieve, and some are able to develop such team work that they reach a very comforting and unexpected level of happiness and fulfillment.

Poker-loving couples like Karina & Chip Jett, Michael “The Grinder” & Lily Mizrachi, Jennifer Harman & Marco Traniello, Marsha Waggoner & Kenna James, Phil Laak & Jennifer Tilly and Bob & Maureen Feduniak have enjoyed a life of considerably less hardship and unbelievable solidarity, to the point of having an almost argument-free relationship.

How do they do it? Well, in most cases, one of them was initiated in poker by their more experienced partners, which enabled them to lean and trust each other in ways regular couples don’t usually experience. When couples teach each other about poker, that tends to eliminate unnecessary miscommunication between them, since they get to know each other deeper by opening up to being taught, corrected and backed up, and this builds a bond hard to break or replace. Besides, being crazy about each other also helps to establish a solid relationship. Do they rely on a recipe for success? Not really, they only recommend going with the flow and cherishing each other, and the rest will fall into place.

Now, on a cheesier note, let’s not forget the occasional Hollywood fairy tale, which nowadays translates in reality tale in TV. As I am sure you have all heard, Pamela Anderson’s latest cupid attack occurred during a poker game, where she lost $250,000 to her then platonic friend Rick Solomon: he offered to drop the bet if she kissed him and we all know the rest. Even though they are now divorced, poker acted as cupid, to a point of making them believe they were made for one-another. It makes you wonder about the aphrodisiac power of poker.

Talking about poker versatility, there is now something you can buy to poker-up your relationship: Poker for Lovers, the Romantic Poker Game for Couples. According to MSN shopping, the game is strictly made for 2 people, and it includes a card deck, 30 blue chips, and 30 pink poker chips. According to the only review posted, the game gets players to interact in fun, intimate ways, but it was only granted half a star for the review ranking.

Adding to the cheesy notes, now single poker players don’t have to worry about having to convince their partners to accept their poker side or about introducing them to the game; they can mingle with their own kind and even find their match at Poker-Online-Dating.com. You only have to sign up with username and password, and you can post your profile and pictures for potential matches to browse you up! The site also offers a fun love calculator (which measures your compatibility with the members you like), dating tips, free poker games, poker odds, testimonies, and also a cupid service –a personalized compatibility matching aid provided by the site’s cupid agent.

Thus, whether you think love and poker can be a perfect match just by following a recipe or buying a kit or think love is an incurable disease, getting along with your partners and feeling good about your life should be priorities 1 & 2.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/card-games-articles/love-and-poker-for-what-theyre-worth-part-1-451132.html

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This article was published courtesy of RakeBreak.com.

Rake Break (www.rakebreak.com) is a newly re-launched rakeback and bonus code hub for online poker players. Players who meet monthly quotas in VIP points also receive invitations to freeroll tournaments and complimentary memberships to other sites like StoxPoker.

The Benefits of Playing Poker Online

Author: Daniel Millions

Online poker is the computer version of the poker and it is played over the Internet. Poker is a popular game that is played in all parts of the world and the popularity of the poker has resulted in the development of its computer version. Online poker further increased the popularity of the poker as it is very easy to play poker online and anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can enjoy the game of poker while he is on the move.



Online poker gained popularity in a very short span of time and as a result, there are a number of sites available on Internet that offers poker games. The best part of the poker sites is that people from different countries can play together and so, you are most likely to find thousands of people playing poker at the same time. A number of poker rooms are now available on Internet and they have made the game more exciting by offering real prizes. So apart from the entertainment, you can also win some fabulous prizes by playing poker from the comforts of your home.



It is very convenient to play poker online as an individual can enjoy the game of poker while enjoying the comforts of his home. He is not required to move out in order to play the game. This is very convenient when compared to the situation in which an individual needs to go to the card room for playing poker. Anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can play poker online. You don't even need to dress properly in order to play poker online whereas an individual playing poker at a card room needs to dress up properly. So, playing poker online is very convenient.



For a beginner, it is very easy to learn the basics of poker by playing it online. Most of the online poker sites offer free games through which an individual can learn the basics of the game. The free games are perfect for an individual who is still learning poker and who wants to understand the game more clearly. Also, a person can practice poker whenever he wants as sites are open throughout the day. The poker sites also offer well-researched articles, guides, tips so as to help the players to improve their game.



It is more exciting and entertaining to play poker online as while playing the game online, you get to play and chat with players from different parts of the world and you are most likely to find new players each time you play poker. So, online poker is more fun-packed when compared to poker played at the card rooms located near your house.



The online poker industry is highly competitive and this is the reason why most of the poker sites offer great bonuses and exciting promotions. They offer these bonuses so as to encourage people to use their site and this gives an advantage to an end-user. An individual can make good amount of money by playing poker online.



Almost each site offers deposit bonuses in which a person is given some bonus for making a deposit. Also, some poker sites giveaway prizes for playing poker and this again allows an individual to win some great prizes. So, playing poker online is a great way to win some great prizes while enjoying the comforts of your home.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/sports-and-fitness-articles/the-benefits-of-playing-poker-online-500148.html

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If you are going to play poker online you need to read these Online Poker Reviews which tell you about the Best Online Poker websites.

Back to the Future: Online Poker

Back to the Future: Online Poker I

Author: Nick Taylor

So how did poker go from back alley to your laptop? Let’s look at the first interesting fact of our two-part series about online poker.

How many times did we wonder how life was going to be after the year 2000? Well, some of us spent quite some time wondering and dreaming about it; it even lead to the creation of cartoon entertainment shows like “The Jetsons,” sci-fi movies and shows that would show a completely different planet than the one we had back then: vehicles flying at light speed, people replacing food with tablets or strange-looking shakes, people being born from womb-like machine eggs, etc.

Who would have thought that sites such as Party Poker were going to be the future of traditional table poker? Nobody ever thought that calling, folding or raising money to a poker game was going to be a click away, that poker players from all around the world were going to be able to meet for a tournament from their own homes, wearing their pajamas, and that they were going to be represented in a screen by their own nickname in an ‘almost real’-looking poker room with chairs, tables, dealers, animation and everything! To think about how many books were written in the 20th century about visual strategy and reading your opponents when now people have eliminated that aspect from poker while playing at a virtual setting makes you wonder: is online poker going to replace poker completely in the future?

Online poker originated from IRC poker, a form of poker played over the IRC (Internet Relay Chat) in the 90’s. Internet Relay Chat, a form of internet chat or synchronized conferencing, was a program developed by Finnish software developer Jarkko Oikarinen, who, while working for the University of Oulu in 1988, created the first IRC server and client programs, in an effort to replace the MUT (MultiUser Talk) program used then by the Finnish BBS Oulubox. Inspiring on a chat system called Bitnet Relay (chat service running on a special id on several suitable hosts in the Bitnet) which operated on the BITNET, a network that preceded the internet, created in 1981 as a cooperative university network in which e-mail messages and files would travel from one server to another. According to NetHistory, BITNET originally stood for “Because It's There Network,” and with time, it adopted the name “Because It's Time Network,” becoming so popular among universities that it extended to almost 500 organizations and 3,000 nodes. All colleges and educational institutions could join BITNET by meeting the following requirements: “a. lease a data circuit (phone line) from [their] site to an existing BITNET node; b. buy modems for each end of the data circuit, sending one to the connecting point site; c. allow other institutions to connect to [their] site.”

Therefore, Oikarinen used the Bitnet Relay resources available at them moment to create the IRC, which gained its place in the telecommunication world when it was used by military institutions for communicating when media blackouts occurred. After this, IRC became a popular tool for remote and fast communication, and it wasn’t long until it started being used for games, including poker.

IRC poker used a program to deal and manage poker games, and one-line commands had to be typed directly with a standard IRC client, receiving one-line responses from the dealer program, which made games flow faster than face-to-face games. Soon, graphical IRC clients were developed, eliminating the typing feature. IRC poker used imaginary money, which was appealing to beginners who wanted to learn their skills without risking their bankroll. This primitive virtual poker helped personalities like Chris Ferguson build their poker edge until they felt strong enough to play for real.

In the late 1990’s, Mike Caro, already a poker writer, computer programmer and visionary, co-founded Planet Poker, a virtual casino which offered real money poker games for the first time in virtual gaming history. He had the vision that virtual poker games were going to prosper in the gaming community since the mid 80’s; according to Al Moe in his article Legends of Poker: Mike Caro. Moe reports: “His own artificially intelligent poker-playing computer, ORAC (Caro backwards), made it to national TV where it played Bob Stupak in a $500,000 challenge match. Bob put up his own money, and Caro's friend, casino owner Jackie Gaughn, backed the computer. ABC's ‘Ripley's Believe It or Not’ filmed the match, which Stupak eventually won.”

According to Planet Poker, the first years of online poker were not easy. Even though they knew that virtual poker had certain advantages over table poker, such as eliminating real table distractions and the stress of keeping a cool and mysterious poker face, there were immediate challenges to online poker: bluffing or calling bluffs would not exist in virtual poker, since that is an exclusive feature of face-to-face poker, and marketing virtual gaming, which had to do with the fact that the internet and computer use was still establishing as a new communication trend in the world, thus making it difficult for the virtual casino to have as big a clientele as brick and mortar casinos. However, they started brainstorming on virtual poker publicity, and they focused on the advantages over face-to-face poker: “first, they ran some clever quarter page ads in Card Player and elsewhere, extolling the virtues of online poker. Play in your pajamas, play at 2 a.m., play even if you can't make the regular game, the ads said. The pitch was a good one, and the players began to arrive. ‘We were all skeptical at first. But the proof was all around us. Poker was actually being played remotely.’ Before long, hundreds of players at a time were playing online poker in Planet Poker's virtual cardroom, and the Internet poker revolution had begun in earnest.” The issue of trusting a virtual casino was quickly resolved by keeping an impeccable reputation with customers: “Poker hands were examined, cheats were barred from the online poker game, and players were reimbursed for legitimate grievances. Like any cardroom, virtual ones gained their players' trust through fair and honest dealing.”

After Poker Planet’s big virtual step, the rest is history. Creativity boosted competition between emerging virtual casinos, and an array of marketing promotions and incentives can now be found all over the internet, with established sites such as Party Poker maintaining as big a clientele as real casinos do.

Next week’s topic will be “Chapter Two: The best poker school,” which will offer some examples of why online poker has been the best school for poker players.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/online-gambling-articles/back-to-the-future-online-poker-i-357859.html

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This article was published courtesy of PokerSourceOnline.com.

Poker Source Online (www.pokersourceonline.com) is one of the most popular poker communities on the net, offering free poker gifts, free poker money, and freerolls to members since 2004. We are proud to offer 24/7 online support. PSO is available in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Swedish and Russian.