I must admit I was quite surprised to see people debating whether or not they should allow their kids to participate in the adult gambling sessions. What if they become addicts and ruin their lives? I personally do not see any problem with playing casino games with my kids. In fact, I used to spend most of my free time with them, playing various games, from Old Maid, Mahjong and Uno to Rummy and Poker. I still remember my 4 year-old daughter recognizing the number two while she was still in kindergarten. And for the record, she is happily married now and not spending all her wages on gambling.

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Poker is a game that began in earnest on the river boats of Mississippi as the card game of choice of the early American Pioneers. It would have originally been played with a 20 card deck and would have been nearly unrecognisable from the game we know today. What really distinguishes modern Poker is the 52 card deck and common use of Community Cards. Its online accessibility on sites like poker.ladbrokes.com has also boosted its stock amongst a new generation.

Omaha, Stud Poker, Texas Hold ‘em, Straight Poker and Draw Poker are amongst the many modern variations – but it would appear that Texas Hold ‘em is the one which really stands out. Most online poker sites put Texas Hold ‘em as their main feature, although they still market classics like 5 Card Draw.

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Card Counting is not as hard as you might think and if you are a Texas Hold em poker player looking for new challenges, maybe Blackjack can be the thing for you!

There is a mystique surrounding professional blackjack and card counting that basically means that nearly all people believe that if you know a card counting system then you will automatically make money playing blackjack. This is similar in principle and identical to poker players thinking that they have cracked the game simply because they can play poker hands well. Well guess what, most players can play poker hands well once they reach a certain level of play. But to play professional poker involves so many factors that novices are simply not aware of.

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Although you might think long and hard over making your gambling choices, and often doing so is the right thing to do, there are times when it is simply better to go with your gut instinct, particularly when the system is highly complex.

First let us consider betting on a horse. Many of us who enjoy a punt on a horse will spend a considerable amount of time examining form, reading reviews, looking at the predictions of handicappers and tipsters, and generally gaining knowledge of how a particular horse might perform on a particular day in a particular race. Some of us even think that we are very good at it. However, statistics show that often we are no more successful than average punters who just rely on their gut instincts and bet on a horse because they feel it has a good chance of winning.

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It is said about poker, that learning it is easy, but mastering it is difficult, although mastering the games of poker can be fun and challenging. A winning poker player needs strategies and tactics to follow. The combination of various solid strategies of poker is the key to become a winning player and that too a consistently winning one. Therefore, to be able to master this game and win it consistently, a player should learn the strategies of tight play, random play, and aggressive play and learn to take advantage from the mistakes of the opponents. While the basic strategies remain the same, a player may use them differently to evolve newer strategies and therefore, win consistently. Here are some considerations, which a poker player can follow:

1. A new poker player must take the decision whether he intends to play for fun or to win. Playing for fun is easy, since a player may lose some times and win at other times. However, playing for winning is different. It requires one to be in the learning mode and be ready to put in effort. While a player playing for fun may like to win, he would not be as sad as a player who loses a lot of money initially. Therefore, an early decision can make a difference in the strategies to be adopted.

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Poker has had a rich and colourful history. The game as we know it today through the World Series of Poker on TV and online casino games on our computers and smartphones was born and grew up in the Wild West where it passed from community to community, carried by cowboys and wandering gamblers. The Mississippi River with its gambling steam boats also played a significant part in spreading of the game from state to state, as did the Gold Rush.

If your vision of poker’s early days has been fashioned by Western movies and you imagine it being played in bars and saloons by gun toting whisky swigging gamblers; where accusations of cheating were frequent and such accusations frequently resulted in shots being fired; if you imagine maverick players winning large amounts of money and making quick getaways whilst they were still able to do so; then don’t be disillusioned. It really was very much like that.

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