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Jonathan Little’s Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker Vol. 3: The Complete Workout is the last book in his three-part series on mastering tournament poker. I thoroughly enjoyed reading through all three books and recommend the series to anyone who is looking to improve their skills in tournament poker.
Jonathan Little is a highly successful tournament poker player who has won over $4 million playing tournament poker over the last few years. In Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, Little communicates the thoughts, tactics, strategies and overall mindset that has helped him make these millions of dollars.
The first book in the series focuses on the fundamentals of tournament poker and how to adjust to varying stack sizes (one of the tougher aspects of multi-table tournament poker). The first book moves at a very quick but thorough pace and I picked up a multitude of new ideas and strengthened my understanding of certain elements of tournament poker.
His second book in the series covers a wide range of topics related to mastering tournament poker. The first two sections of the book focus on the different stages of a tournament and how to approach each of them. The rest of the book covers topics such as correct poker etiquette, how to identify tells, the correct physical and mental approach needed to beat poker tournaments and a number of other very useful topics which are rarely discussed in poker books.
Volume 3 isn’t your typical poker book. The book is comprised of 150 hands from three live tournaments in which Little played. The tournaments are the $25,500 World Poker Tour Main Event, a $1,000 WSOP event, and a $2,500 WSOP event. Each hand has a few questions related to it and readers need to use the fundamentals and strategy learned in the first two books to answer questions. The book has been structured like a game where each question has four possible answers with 10 points being rewarded for the best answer, a.k.a., the most optimal play.
I had a lot of fun going through the different hands and I learned a lot from the entire process. The third volume really helped me in understanding the mindset and process of analyzing the limited information available in a given hand.
Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker Vol. 3 is a book that closes off the series very well, but provides little value to the amateur on its own. Without reading through the first two books, 95% of poker players will find themselves lost and will tire quickly as they struggle through the first few hands covered in the book. If you plan to buy this book for yourself or a friend then spend a bit more and buy the entire series.
If you enjoy tournament poker and would like to take your game to the next level, I highly recommend that you buy Little’s Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker series. The investment will pay for itself a thousand fold.
If you have also read Little’s books or plan to, please leave us your thoughts in the comments section below. We always love to hear from our readers!
This is a guest post by Justin Butlion, an entrepreneur, poker player and web developer. He blogs at The Great Grind and can be found playing on PokerStars under the nickname hawkeye77787.
I first started playing poker in 2003, shortly after my first trip to Las Vegas. The game seemed pretty boring. I remember my friend Greg was watching people play at the old Sahara casino and I thought, “wow, this is lame”.
Within a month or so, Greg and I began playing games at my house for fun. That’s when I started becoming interested in playing in a casino. And once I did, I was over the home games and began playing exclusively in casinos and online. Why? I’ve assembled a list of 8 great reasons:
When I play poker, I am heartless. I’m after your money. Therefore, I prefer not playing against friends. I’d rather compete against my friends for beers, not money. But that’s just me.
Living in Vegas, it really seems silly to play home games, although I know people that do. I live down the street from some of the best poker rooms in the world. Those poker rooms give me free stuff for playing there. I like free stuff. Unless your home game offers free buffets or booze, I’m probably not coming to play.
I’m not sure why, but I don’t trust some home games. Playing in a casino isn’t a risk because there are eyes in the sky. Cameras are all over. It’s nearly impossible to cheat. My friends and I had a home game tournament we affectionately referred to as the SSPP (Spacenuts Superstars Poker Party) and I never trusted my brother-in-law (now my former bro-in-law because my sis kicked him to the curb) Andy. Pretty sure he was cheating. And he ate all my food.
Have you ever been to a home game that had comfortable chairs? Didn’t think so. Most home game hosts will throw together any combination of chairs they can find. It’s not like that in a decent casino poker room.
I’m sure some home game hosts will put a ball game on TV. But most casino poker rooms have 4–5 TVs with games on. I like watching sports while I play poker. Most poker players are incredibly annoying, so sports is a great way to drown out their dumb comments.
Of course, this depends on where you play. Being that I play at the top poker rooms in Vegas, I get to play with some celebs and I think that’s pretty cool. Jose Canseco frequently plays at Aria, for example. But I’m guessing if you live in, say, Durant, Oklahoma (yes, I’ve played there before!), this one doesn’t apply to you.
I’m not sure if I’ve ever played at a table where there weren’t at least 2–3 people I thought were just plain weird, dumb, or both. I sort of enjoy the mix of people in poker rooms at casinos, especially here in Vegas.
I don’t know any home games that have a bad beat jackpot. Granted, I’ve never been at a table where a bad beat jackpot hit, but I still like the idea of being able to win big bucks on a bad beat.
So get out of the house and go play poker at your local casino. Comps, ball games, and bad beat jackpots. You can’t beat it!
Not every online poker site is created equal. There are good poker sites and there are poker sites that make me sick to my stomach. Finding the perfect poker site to play on is a tricky task. When I first started playing poker online, I went to Google searching for advice on which sites are the best. I checked out a handful of “review sites”. They all seemed to recommend different poker sites. So I really didn’t know what site to use.
What I did was try out a few sites over the next few years. I learned which sites are good and which sites are bad. I’m not going to share with you a specific list of the top poker sites. Instead, I will give you 5 qualities I’ve learned every poker player should look for in an online poker site:
Be sure to take every review of online poker sites with a grain of salt. Many reviews are actually written by website owners, who earn commissions when their readers sign-up for those sites. So, obviously they’re going to write positive reviews. As an Internet marketer myself, I know all about writing reviews in order to make a sale. So while reviews may sometimes be helpful in making your decision, they should definitely not be the only factor you weigh when choosing which poker site to play on. Read through the different poker forums online and see what actual players are saying. If the consensus is that a site is untrustworthy, stay away from it.
Oh, sure, for about $70 you can spoof your IP address and open a Swiss bank account. Then you can play on any online poker site. But if you live in the United States, it’s best to just play on sites that allow American players. If you’re located in Nevada or Delaware, you’re good to go and there are plenty of legal sites to play on in New Jersey as well. Believe me, as an American poker player, I know there are some quality poker sites for us. Spoofing your IP and getting a foreign bank account just so you can play on PokerStars or somewhere else seems kind of silly – and has the potential to get you into trouble – if you ask me.
They say too much of a good thing is bad. I disagree. I like multi-tabling and I want to play on poker sites that have a plethora of games that I play. I don’t want to wait to hop in a game. I’m impatient. If I have to wait to play 2-3 games at a time, I start getting antsy. My hand starts twitching. Too much is never enough for me.
For U.S. players, making a deposit with your bank card might not work. Since the U.S. government is incredibly lame and forces banks to block online gambling transactions, you will likely have to try something else. But don’t worry – there are plenty of other easy deposit methods to use. So, find the poker sites that make it easy for you – regardless of where you live – to deposit. Ditto for withdrawals.
Not a day goes by where I’m not craving a large helping of fish. Every online poker site is flooded with fish and donkeys that are begging you to take their money. But some sites tend to have more mediocre poker players than others. Those sites are usually the larger sites. The big poker sites have more top quality players, but they also have more donkeys.
Beyond the 5 main qualities I listed above, there are certainly some other things worth looking for when trying to choose an online poker site. Got suggestions? Go ahead and comment below or on the Cardplayer Lifestyle Facebook page.
We, the human race, take risks almost every day of our lives. We fly over oceans, we drive cars, we put our money in banks, etc. All these operations carry associated risks. The fact that these risks exist does not mean we stop engaging in those activities. Sometimes, when the risk involved in an activity is too great, we decide it is not worth it and we give up on the activity altogether. For example, many people have given up smoking because of the risks involved with that activity. Another example is drug usage. Governments forbid the usage of certain drugs because of the risks involved in using them. In other words, we are usually left to calculate the risks for ourselves and then make day-to-day decisions based on our individual levels of risk tolerance. In some cases of extreme risk, it is more likely for governments to get involved and decide for their citizens what should be the appropriate action.
You may be asking yourself by now, what on Earth does all of this have to do with online poker? The answer to that question is very simple. If you’ve read my previous article here on the Cardplayer Lifestyle poker blog about online poker cyber security, you would have understood that there are clearly some risks involved with playing online poker. The question is, are these risks manageable or should enthusiasts give up playing online poker altogether?
Regarding the specific cyber security risks of playing online poker that I already laid out in my previous article, it’s important to note that most of those risks originate from us (the players) not really knowing whether the game is fair or not. History shows that several different online poker sites have been compromised such that games were rigged within the system. In addition to that, there are the external risks, such as someone breaking into our computer and viewing our cards as we play.
During a recent lengthy Twitter exchange, it came to my attention that there is a concern for illegal activity that uses online poker as an infrastructure for money laundering. It is true that these risks are very serious, but the question remains: are these risks manageable or are they so serious that it means we can no longer play online poker anymore?
Online poker operators either develop their poker client server code in-house or purchase it from third-party software developers. From the player’s point of view, the software itself poses the greatest security risk because this is the kind of risk he/she has no control over. This risk is 100% in the hands of the online poker provider. As mentioned in the first article, there are two main risks involved with the online poker provider:
While these risks are indeed very serious, after much thought I have come to the conclusion that they are manageable.
The main problem with online poker provider risks is lack of standards and regulations. With banks, by contrast, the potential risk is much higher than the risks involved in online poker. However, we all feel safe and secure when we put our money in the bank. The reasons for this are very simple, as banks are constantly monitored by government regulators and bank managers can’t do whatever they want with our money. Governments have set up standards and regulations in order to minimize the risk that a bank will decide to close down, take all money deposited there, and disappear. This risk exists but the chance it will happen is very slim thanks to governments ensuring and enforcing what should be done in order to minimize these risks. Moreover, at least in the case of the United States, the safety net of the FDIC was set up to provide de facto insurance for all accounts (up to $250,000 per account).
Banks are not the only example where regulators face security risks and manage them effectively. Insurance companies are excellent examples, too, as are live casinos.
I would suggest the following in order to effectively deal with the online poker provider risks:
While these four suggestions are not the only things that should be done in order to manage the risks involved with online poker software provider, these suggestions should indicate the correct direction the industry should be headed in.
Notice throughout that I have used the word “manage” and not “eliminate” because we can never eliminate the risks. When we are dealing with risks at any level, the question should not be “How do we eliminate the risk?”, but rather “How can we lower the chance an incident will happen?”. We should further ask ourselves “Can we live with the results the day after this incident happens?”.
As noted in my previous article, we users also face risks involving our computer systems. Installing an antivirus is not the right countermeasure against the security risks involved with online poker because antiviruses only help to defend against known attacks. It is very easy for an experienced computer hacker to design an attack that will fly under the radar of an antivirus. Strictly speaking then, the amount of defenses you need to protect your system from being hacked is directly proportional to the amount of money someone could gain from hacking your computer.
If you make a living playing online poker, I would recommend the following:
The above list is not a complete manual of how to achieve online poker security, but it should adequately demonstrate how to minimize client security risks.
While the above preventive measures should ideally be undertaken by recreational online poker players as well, often this might be too expensive of an investment. Thus, as outlined at the outset of this article, they will have to do their own risk assessment and decide if they are willing to assume the risks of playing from a non-100% secured computer. As a guiding rule, the amount of protection you need to take is directly correlated to the amount of money you put at risk when you play poker online. Even taking all of the above countermeasures will not hermetically seal off your computer from potential cyber security attacks, but anyone who does so is capable of playing online poker safely.
Collusion is a type of risk that should be handled at the online poker provider level. Money laundering is an illegal activity that takes place via many potential outlets (e.g., banks, regular business, live casinos etc.).
The notion of online poker collusion is based on the fact that a player could in principle open multiple accounts and manage them from a single point of control, viewing each “player’s” cards and deciding what action each one will take. Importantly, if the same user names are colluding all the time, this could be detected by a simple anomaly system.
The collusion itself also depends on where each controlled player sits around the same online poker table. Of course, one cannot predetermine where specifically they will be seated at a table in tournaments. In cash games, it is possible to decide where you will sit, so colluders would utilize this in principle.
Interestingly, there are two methods via which the potential for collusion could be greatly impaired:
Forcing online poker operators to check the identity of each newly registered player is very easy and should be part of the regulation, just as one can’t open a bank account without showing a valid ID. Just as nowadays it is possible to pay our taxes online, certainly a secure online ID validation process could be instated. While this may delay the registration process by 1–2 days, it would solve a large part of the collusion issue.
While even these measures would not eliminate collusion and money laundering entirely, they would sure make it unprofitable in the long term. Security experts do not deal with absolute values; rather we deal with risk management and probability. I think that by identifying users upon registration and not only upon cashing out, it would make collusion next-to-impossible, for all intents and purposes.
Money laundering, with or without collusion, is certainly possible in many other ways than via online poker. Regulating governments should monitor online poker and make every effort to stop potential collusion and money laundering, but this cannot be an argument in favor of online poker itself being prohibited.
I have examined the work of Mr. James Thackston and I must admit I was impressed with it. Even though I have not seen the demo, I am sure that the money laundering via collusion scheme he proposes is valid for certain types of games and sites.
From Mr. Thackston’s site
There are, however, some major issues with his work:
Putting aside the aforementioned four points, and assuming Mr. Thackston’s system is 100% valid and flawless, I would thus like to pose an interesting question:
Since Mr. Thackston’s collusion system would only be applicable to cash games, where the seating can be determined by the players themselves, wouldn’t Mr. Thackston agree that MTT and Zoom/Rush-like cash games are immune to such an attack? Perhaps we could all agree that scheduled MTTs are safe and move forward from there?
Cyber security experts can only make recommendations with regard to how to take and manage risks in ways that are acceptable to all sides.
Just as banks and insurance companies are being monitored and regulated by governments in order to provide security and integrity about how they handle our money, online poker sites should be regulated in the same way and to the same extent.
Such regulation would not eliminate all potential malicious online poker cyber attacks, but it would certainly make such attacks unprofitable in the long run for the criminals.
In the 21st century we manage our money online. We can develop new currencies (e.g., Bitcoin) online, buy insurance online, and provide our medical details online. Online poker play should not have any security issues. Thus, opponents of online poker should find better reasons to argue their case.
View Eddie Harari’s profile on Linkedin
In celebration of the most popular saints day of the year, St. Patrick’s Day, it’s only fitting that we take a look at some of the brighter moments and players in recent Irish poker history.
Indeed, for a country with a small population of just over 4.5 million people, there’s been a fair few of them! So sit back and grab yourself a pint of Guinness as we take a quick stroll down memory lane. There is of course no way I can mention every Irish poker player’s achievements, but the 5 big winners I will list from the Emerald Isle have inarguably won enough pots o’ gold that their poker successes can’t just be due to some lucky four-leaf clovers. Without further ado:
For those of you that are old enough, cast your mind back to 1983. That year saw Donnacha ‘The Don’ O’Dea make the final table at the WSOP Main Event, where he finished runner up to Tom McEvoy. He achieved major redemption, however, defeating poker legend Johnny Chan for a pot limit Omaha bracelet 15 years later. Plus, O’Dea was the first member inducted into the European Poker Hall of Fame.
Following in proud papa’s footsteps, Donnacha’s son, Eoghan O’Dea, also made the WSOP Main Event final table in 2011, completing a father-son double that had never been achieved before. Eoghan ended up finishing in 6th place and returned to a hero’s welcome in Dublin $1.7 million better off.
While Donnacha’s career tournament poker earnings to date are just over $1.2 million, Eoghan has over $2.7 million in tourney earnings and currently sits 3rd on Ireland’s all-time money earners list, ahead of the elder O’Dea, who sits in 8th place, respectively.
Padraig Parkinson is a stalwart of the European poker circuit and has over $1.7 million in live tournament earnings. That figure would have been so much higher if the cards had fallen his way in even one of his trips to the WSOP in Las Vegas. His best ever finish in the Main Event came in 1999, when he cashed in 3rd place and earned $489,125. Padraig has made a name for himself by playing in plenty of European events and has a number of 6-figure cashes to his credit.
Of course no Irish poker article would be even half complete without the mention of Andy Black, originally from Belfast and now living in Dublin. It’s he who sits atop of the Irish poker players earners list. The former Full Tilt Poker pro is one of the hardest working players you’ll find, with his biggest win coming at the WSOP Main Event in 2005, where he finished in 5th place. He’s dominated the Irish poker scene for years and let’s not forget that he also took 5 years out living a monastic Buddhist lifestyle in England, hence his nickname ‘The Monk’.
Lastly, there’s the great Marty Smyth who in 2008 won the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha event at the WSOP earning a bracelet and a cool $859,532. Again, a little like Padraig, he’s made his name on the European circuit, doing well in the Irish Open and also winning the Party Poker World Open in 2008. Sitting 2nd on the Irish money list and with an all-time world ranking of 73, he’s a fantastic player and flies the flag proudly.
That’s just a little look at a few of the great Irish poker players doing the rounds and taking on all comers these days, and there’s sure to be more success to follow for these players and of course others as well.
So who’s your favorite Irish player and why? There’s surely a bundle I’ve missed, so before you go and party with the best of them this St Patrick’s Day, take a second and share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Happy St. Paddy’s Day everybody!
After 50 years of playing poker, I have gained some insights along the way that might help anyone considering becoming a professional poker player. Like any endeavor in life, there are great rewards as well as pitfalls, and it is necessary to be fully aware of them before making such a life-changing decision.
Robert Turner
Unless you inherited a great deal of money or sold a tech company and have a bankroll of millions of dollars, you are going to need a plan. You need enough courage and discipline to elevate your game in steps. This means if you win $200 at the $3/$6 game one day, jump over to the $6/$12 or $200 No Limit, and if you can win $500 at that table, go to the next level and so on.
You must move up in limits and games. You can’t just grind it out. You must parlay the money. The days you are winning are the times to push it up. In my case, I was fortunate that tournaments were introduced in the early 70s, and I was able to parlay tournament wins into buy-ins into bigger tournaments, and I did well enough that I was able to retire at 36.
In the 80s, when Hold’em was legalized in California, I decided to come out of retirement and move out west. I started playing $20/$40 and wondered how anyone could survive playing at that level.
I calculated that you had to win over $60,000 a year, plus another $30,000 to $60,000 in collections to cover your expenses and to be able to deposit even a single dollar into a savings account. And that budget did not account for losses! It is said that poker wins and losses are year-to-year, but your personal expenses are day-to-day, and that’s why it is imperative that you push your game up and manage your bankroll.
To become a pro, you must have an understanding of your potential profits and losses and ask yourself what you can win in this game. A good friend of mine named Ray Hall, who was my road partner at the time, taught me about the importance of understanding and analyzing a game. We once traveled to Texas to play in a No Limit game. At the time, he was playing in games with buy-ins starting around $2,000 with no cap, which was huge for the 70s. I was only playing $20/$40. This place provided both games.
The first night Ray beat the game for $15,000. I won around $500 and thought it was a good night. I said to Ray, “That was a good night for you, right?” I was shocked by his answer when he said, “It was a good night, but I think we should check out of the motel and go back to Alabama.” We had planned to stay a few weeks.
I asked him why and he said, “Robert, they are raking the game $5 a hand. No poker player alive can beat that rake.” I never paid that much attention to the rake before. I just thought it was the cost of doing business. You have to pay attention to what is on the table, what’s coming off the table and what your chances are of beating that game. If you don’t do that, you’re drawing dead.
Another element of your game you must master is choosing your opponents wisely. The players that have always caused me the most difficulty were the ones who were looking to exploit every single edge and when there was no edge, they would quit the game and look for the next easy spot.
These players are the survivors in the poker world that have stood the test of time. Whether you like their style or not, they are the true pros. To survive like them, you must look for the edge every day of your pro poker career if you want to stay in the game, and that starts by avoiding playing with them at all costs and selecting games you can beat.
A story that illustrates this concept comes from my days playing gin rummy. I once played a guy named Eddie, who supposedly was Stu Ungar’s mentor in gin rummy. Now I was playing the master and I knew I was outclassed. However, I got lucky in this match and beat him, which was a devastating blow to him.
Later in a bar that night at the Tropicana in Las Vegas, he challenged me to go to his room and play some more gin rummy. I knew this would not be a good situation for various reasons. I looked at Eddie and said, “Why don’t we find someone we can beat?” He understood exactly what that meant.
Why would you ever play a match where it was dead even or your opponent played better? I can’t stress enough the importance of choosing your game wisely and matching up with your opponents carefully to maintain an edge.
This is the reason pros love mixed games so much. They are always looking for weaker opponents who haven’t mastered some of the games to create an edge for themselves. Without the ability to do this, there is no reason to sit at the table. This is the cardinal rule of poker. You must master at least four different games to play at a world-class level.
The following story is an extreme example of how critical it is for professional poker players to find players they can beat. It will also help you understand the psychology of gamblers. It involves my long-time friend Ray Hall again (or Mighty Ray Hall, as he liked to call himself). He is also one of the funniest guys I have ever been around in gambling.
I was invited to a game in Georgia where I was told they were playing 14-handed hold’em. They were literally using a rake to push the chips across the table because the pots were so big. The host said the only bad thing was that they were raking $15 a hand, but it is the wildest game you will ever see. I called up Ray and he said, “I can’t beat a short-handed game, much less a 14-handed game.”
When I told him the details, he quickly changed his tune and said, “When can you leave? Let’s go now.” I asked, “Ray, what about the rake?” I will never forget his response. He said, “If those fools are allowing that rake, I want to meet them because I am sure I can beat them!”
When we arrived, I saw the biggest table I had ever seen, with a paper grocery bag underneath it being used as the drop box. Ray was right – that was the liveliest group of people I had ever played poker with. They didn’t care about the rake; they just wanted to gamble. He had a better understanding of the mentality of gamblers than I had at the time.
This next subject is rarely spoken about, but it is the Achilles’ heel of many pros (in my opinion), and that is ego. A friend of mine who had cashed in several tournaments for over $2 million in one year’s time asked me for some career advice. I told him to take $60,000 and hire a PR firm to help with his image so as to create a legacy that might help him with sponsorships and teaching in the future when things went south.
He agreed, but I knew it was a long shot that he would heed the advice. He has now fallen on hard times, and all I can wonder is why didn’t he invest in himself when he had the chance? His ego made him believe he was going to win forever.
What have I learned after all these years of playing poker? To play professionally, you need to protect your bankroll, choose your games and opponents wisely, take advantage of every edge you can find, and, most importantly, have balance in your life.
Poker has given me a blessed life, but it has not been without regrets. If you allow it to, poker will take a toll on your personal life. Poker Hall of Fame member Fred “Sarge” Ferris, after he found out he was dying, told Doyle Brunson to “stop and smell the roses.”
The game may reward you with material things for your family and bless you with memories you may not have otherwise had. That said, reflecting back on my years of playing, I have to say I wish I had spent more precious time with my family and a little less time playing. Remember, the game is not going anywhere. Keep your friends and family close because you can’t make it without their support.
I hope you take all of this advice to heart. These are things I wish someone had told me. If you see me at the table, or Ray Hall (who, at nearly 80 years old, still plays poker in Tunica, Mississippi), feel free to share your stories about your life on the felt.
Poker has become a great passion for me over the 50 plus years I have been playing. Although it has been a turbulent sea of change, I’m a lifelong player. Always will be. But the fact is finding a good game isn’t what it used to be. When I was a younger man, it felt good, going from casino to casino, one club to another or one basement to another just to get in on a game. That lifestyle even sounds kind of glamorous to some now. But I wasn’t a professional gambler. That meant no matter how far I drove or how much I won, the next day I was getting up and going to work. It didn’t feel so bad back then. Like I said, I was younger.
By time I reached my forties, it didn’t wear me out mentally as it took its toll physically, mostly with time being too limited of a commodity to spread around. I was still loving the game. I’ll always love the game. Only now I had a wife, two daughters, a mortgage and other adult type responsibilities. Working my way to upper-level management put me in a position where I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t fatigued, well devastatingly tired, from being up all night psyching out opponents then driving home. It takes a lot out of you. Still, I was loving the game! I’ll always love the game. I wasn’t giving up until it got tired of me.
One afternoon in March I was home with the kids. My oldest daughter inadvertently introduced me to the prospect of playing poker at an online casino with real money that day. We had computers at the office but my responsibilities didn’t require I use one, so I left what I did not understand to it’s own. I was still reviewing manual blueprints and using old fashioned, low-tech resources to get my work done. Today I couldn’t imagine letting an hour pass without checking my mobile phone . Looking back it could have been an abacus and some chalk compared to what we can accomplish online. I can’t say whether that’s good or bad. It’s just the way things have turned over the years.
At this time I was spending less time looking for a game of poker and more time worrying about our financial situation and the family in general. Gas was expensive and my wife was a little anxious about me going out almost every night and being away for the bulk of the weekend. So my little one ends up showing me email and explaining why I needed it. She showed me how she used the computer to get homework assignments done without having to lug 200 lbs. to the library.
In time, I also learned how to browse the Internet, use a search engine, and play games like Solitaire, Spider Solitaire and Hearts on the computer. There was also this Napster thing if I was interested in listening to music…
One day I was sitting there playing Solitaire over and over and over, getting extremely frustrated at the fact that while I may have been losing more than I won, I still wasn’t feeling challenged. For reasons beyond that, and perhaps a miraculous intervention I can’t remember today, it eventually culminated with me to going into Explorer, or maybe was it Netscape, who knows. What I did next was the game changer. I typed two words: ‘play poker.’
The first time my wife saw me sitting there playing a hand, I don’t know if she was relieved or concerned. Probably a little of both. There was a time I may have been a little too easygoing about how my love for poker affected us, but those days were long gone. My family was the most important thing in the world and I was beyond letting the cards jeopardize that. My wife was also sweet enough to know that stopping cold turkey wasn’t in my blood. That would have been as risky as letting me run wild with the bank account, sadly.
Online gambling then wasn’t what it is now. Developers like Microgaming have created virtual casinos with a smorgasbord of player options. Baccarat, slots, blackjack, roulette and, of course, poker, are all available in formats that are as realistic as the experience gets. Online gambling is big business and the sites are competing as much as the ones in Las Vegas have been long before computers were around. They’re flashing big lights and offering incentives and welcome bonuses to get you into their lobby so they can claim you as a ‘member’. As a guy who has been to some of the biggest casinos in the world, let me tell you I’m impressed by what the Net has to offer.
When I first hit the keyboard though, there were only a few players out there. I believe that InterCasino may have been the first to accept actual cash to wager from the very start. Starnet was licensing Internet gaming systems in exchange for a share of licensee revenue. I bet that’s a lot of income. Microgaming soon after released the first progressive jackpot slot. Me? After a few conversations with the wife, I was getting my fix at places like Planet Poker, PokerStars and Party Poker.
I didn’t think I’d welcome the solitary aspect of playing from home if you would have asked me before. Instead, I appreciated it much more. The truth is, outside of friendly games, there isn’t a lot of camaraderie at the table. If anything, there’s usually enough tension to cut with a knife, especially at tournaments when a lot of money is at stake. I haven’t met many high stakes players that had a lot of love for a good conversation with other players while in the middle of a hand.
My game is Texas Hold’em and I could find a game at my convenience. As the tech advanced and my gaming options opened up, it really grew on me. No getting in the car and burning gas, no waiting for a spot to open at the table, no concerns about safety when you’re walking around with large amounts of cash (sometimes in the seediest neighborhood), no getting dressed, no dark shades to hide my eyes, no smoke or sticky things that the previous visitors have left behind. I suppose the hippies could say, “Save a tree, gamble online.”
I can focus as little as I want without giving away my position. I can ‘multi-table,’ playing more than one hand at a time. (Unheard of in poker before the Internet). Even without having opponents in front of me, I could still see their tells. I can take poker notes, naked mind you. I can track passive players through screen names and searches. I don’t even have to hide my reveals!
I still have a lot of friends in the world of poker. Not like the old days where I’d walk into a casino in another country and shake a familiar hand and get a free drink. Today, I get out enough to play a few hands, or engage in a tournament, closer to home, but that’s it. The rest is all online. Once or twice a year I hit one of the big Vegas casinos and get the old-time rush. Memories…
After the hammer fell on Black Friday, the United States online poker apocalypse, the industry froze up. Only recently has online poker and casino gaming become legalized again in New Jersey, Nevada (online poker only), and Delaware. Thankfully I live in Delaware (I know the market is small, but hey – at least it’s legal!), but next time I visit Vegas I intend to give the new WSOP.com a shot.
Yet I can’t get enough of sitting down in my home office whenever I want to play a few hands or maybe try a few slot pulls. And I love the fact that I can stop when any of my grandkids show up for a surprise visit or when the world, meaning my wife and family need me.
Generally speaking, poker is one of the more advanced gambling games. Players have the ability to make whatever kind of bets they like as well as pulling rouses on their opponents in the form of bluffs. Slot machines are right at the other end of the spectrum – these are games that operate on dumb luck, which you need no skill whatsoever to play. However, both these games are more linked in casino history than you might realise.
Believe it or not, the very first slot machines were in fact poker machines. Just as poker history is quite murky, with many countries claiming they first came up with the game that’s now popular the whole world over, the origin of slot machines is similarly murky. One thing is for sure, however, which is that according to gambling historian David G Schwartz, poker machines were a big deal in the 1880s. These games consisted of five drums onto which the whole deck of cards were spread minus the 10 of hearts and the jack of spades – to cut down on the number of jackpot paying royal flushes available from the games. Players would spin the reels and if they came up with a pair of jacks or better, then they’d win a prize that would have to be delivered via hand-pay to the player, such as a cigar or a round of drinks. Interestingly enough some historians even claim that the word “jackpot” is derived from these games as a portmanteau of the words “jacks” and “pot”.
It was San Francisco gaming engineer, Charles Fey, who took these games and came up with the idea of creating a completely mechanised machine. Obviously the technology to create a fully functioning poker game did not exist at the time, so the best he could come up with was a three-reel game with 10 symbols on each reel known as the Liberty Bell. However, the origins of the slot game have not been forgotten. You will notice the majority of today’s online casino machines have five reels to represent the five cards in a poker hand and a large number of these use the high cards from the poker deck as symbols on the reels.
Poker and Slots in the Modern EraThis wasn’t the last time poker would flirt with slot machines either. In the 1980s, whilst games like Frogger, Pac-Man and Space Invaders were capturing the imagination of the public, many of the most innovative minds in casino gaming claimed that the gambling audiences simply wouldn’t trust a computer-based game with their money. One man proved them wrong – Si Redd, president of SIRCOMA (Si Redd’s Coin-Operated Machines), whose company developed the first ever computer-based gambling game, video poker. Within months of the first machines appearing on the Las Vegas Strip, they soon came to dominate, showing that Vegas was indeed a city unafraid to try their luck against a microprocessor.
These video poker games paved the way for the huge slew of computer-based slot machines, which were helped along by the introduction of the virtual reel. Although you can still play many different video poker variants at both online and land-based casinos, these are nowhere near as popular as the wide range of slots that are now available. Many of the double or nothing card games that feature on lots of online slot machines owe their heritage to the video poker games that were the first to offer players a 50/50 chance to double their winnings for correctly guessing the colour of the next card off a virtual pack. Without video poker, modern slot machines as we know them simply wouldn’t exist. Even though experts such as Michael Shackleford (Ed. Note: The famed “Wizard of Odds”) are constantly telling us that you can get better odds and returns from video poker, it still seems that slots are the undisputed rulers of both land-based and online casinos.
Ultimately, poker is all about making the best combination possible out of five cards; similarly, slot machines are all about making the right combinations too. It’s strange to think that even though these games are so different, one has practically given birth to the other. You can now even play slot machines at some online casinos that are completely themed around poker and scoring in poker hands, making the circle complete.
Whether you are a professional poker player or a recreational one, when playing poker for real money you always want to be sure that the game is safe and that there is no cheating going on at or away from the table. In live poker, the game’s integrity is protected by the host of the game (casino/poker room) via hi-tech surveillance measures they’ve put in place, the poker room staff (floorpersons, dealers, etc.), and by the players at the table constantly checking that everything looks and feels right.
I would say that live poker is relatively easy to protect, since the risks involved in rigging the game are very high and the preparations for such a task would probably cost a decent amount of money and not be viable for a long period of time. Indeed, as mentioned, casinos implement sophisticated hardware and software to detect fraud and keep cheaters away from their premises.
With online poker, however, penetrating a game’s security is a little different. This is mainly because you don’t always need physical access to the game in order to be able to cheat or rig the game. Online poker rooms, due to the amount of money they handle 24/7, are among the biggest targets online for computer criminals and fraudsters.
It is important to understand the risks involved when playing online. The risks can be divided into two categories:
In this article, I will attempt to explain these two risks and what can be done to minimize them.
Online poker rooms are in effect client-server software. The player downloads the client and uses this client to log on to the server. Once a player is logged in, the client and the server exchange messages continuously in order to “let each other know” how the game progresses along with the relevant data about the hand that is being played; this is called the application protocol.
From a game security perspective, in a live game, as long as there are no cameras built into the table (i.e., televised poker), no one but you can see your cards. In online poker, the server must be able to identify all cards dealt in order to notify the client as to which cards it should present to each player. It would thus be correct to say that the server “knows” what your cards are before you even see them. This gives anyone who can control the server the ability to see your cards while you play at the table. Naturally, if this person is seated at the same table as you, it gives him/her an insurmountable advantage over all other players.
Nobody really knows who precisely has access to the servers of any online poker room and whether the people who do are trustworthy or not. However, we do know that there are people who must have access to the servers for the purposes of software and hardware maintenance as well as day to day operations. If one of those people decides to cheat, he is definitely technically able to do so.
With online poker still thriving, especially real money play, we place our trust in the online poker rooms to verify who has access to their servers and what these people are doing with this access. We in effect trust them to police themselves and detect if one of their staff members may use their access in an underhanded way – namely to cheat online poker players while looking at their hole cards during a game.
It is important to emphasize that it’s not only people with permitted access to the online poker room servers who are able to cheat. Skilled computer criminals may in principle be able to gain unauthorized access to servers in order to have the ability to look at players’ hole cards. Thus, in principle, even if internal company security is airtight, a devious computer criminal with malicious intentions may be able to penetrate the software from the outside.
Critically, this does not mean that hacking into an online poker company’s servers is an easy task. Overall security measures depend on each individual company at the end of the day. Naturally, it’s in their best interests to prevent this kind of external server access by constantly monitoring their systems and ensuring nothing fishy is going on.
That said, there’s nothing to prevent computer criminals from continuously attempting to break into the server. Should such a hacker succeed in penetrating an online poker room’s software (unlikely as this may be), it could go undetected for a very long time. Needless to say, the cheater would stand to make a lot of money from it.
In the past, about 5–7 years ago, many online poker sites dealt with player timeouts by declaring the player all-in for the amount currently invested in the hand (with any further action placed in a side pot). At the time, the Internet infrastructure simply wasn’t good enough to keep players well-connected.
Illustration of a denial of service attack
Some computer-savvy players used this online poker site policy to their advantage, as follows: whenever a lot of money was in the pot and they were sure they were ahead in the hand, players would disconnect themselves from the site to be “all in on the cheap” (without having to risk additional money if falling behind in the hand).
Nowadays, however, the Internet infrastructure has improved vastly. Online poker sites have adjusted their disconnect policy as well. If you disconnect today, your time bank will be activated and your hand will be folded when it runs out.
Nonetheless, this opens the door for a Denial of Service attack as a computer criminal could force you out of the hand if he creates a denial of service against your computer (i.e., the online poker site would think that you’ve timed out and will fold your hand, pushing the pot to your opponent). Needless to say, this is not an easy attack to carry out, but if an attacker has done due diligence and knows who you are (i.e., is targeting you specifically) and is thus able to obtain your IP address, this can be done.
The risk of someone with internal access to online poker servers cheating was actually “demonstrated” back in 2007. At the time, someone from the inside at Absolute Poker was able to view the hole cards of other players at the table using an administrative account while simultaneously playing at the table while using his other account. The same thing happened when Russ Hamilton, a consultant to Ultimate Bet, was able to use a “super user” account in order to view other players’ hole cards while playing against them. He was able to do so for 4 years and steal over $15,000,000 before finally getting caught – yet Hamilton was never formally charged with regards to this incident.
Another risk which falls under the responsibility of poker sites is the secured design of the software and the protocol “spoken” between the client and the server. While breaking into the game server may be a very hard task and sometimes practically impossible, a determined, nefarious computer criminal may be able to gain a lot of information by reverse engineering the client application and dissecting the communications between the client and the server.
For instance, in 1999 some hackers discovered that the shuffle algorithm used by Planet Poker had a flaw in it. This article will not go into the details of how the algorithm was compromised, but suffice it to say that laypeople would consider the task to have been “impossible”. Essentially, those hackers were able to predict the upcoming cards by synchronizing their machine clock with the server clock. They then used the flaw in the shuffle algorithm to mathematically calculate the place of each card in the deck. This case has been well documented.
The above incident illustrates one of the most important principals in the cyber security world: there is no such thing as closed software, hidden algorithms, or hidden protocols. Once a hacker decides to try and tamper with software, all he needs is time and a computer to try and find ways to exploit flaws. Every online poker room’s software has its own proprietary protocol and many potential flaws could be found in each. Reverse engineering the software and the protocol is not a hard task for a competent computer criminal. If a hacker were to be able to detect even one flaw, it could probably be exploited for a long period of time without being detected.
From the player point of view, there is not much to be done when it comes to risks that are under the responsibility of the poker site. One thing you could do is track every hand you play by using tracking software. You could then periodically test that the statistical data of all the hands is correctly distributed and that there are no bizarre incidents or any other big statistical errors. You need not be a professor of Statistics to notice that “something seems off” with the numbers in your hand history. However, the bottom line is you need to trust the online poker site, its software, and the operators to do the best they can to prevent collusions, and physical and virtual break-ins. Most importantly you need to trust them not to cheat or enable cheating in any way.
Why would an online poker site cheat players if they make millions anyway?
The answer to that is very simple: greed!
If an online poker site’s administration feels that they can cheat and get away with it, despite the millions they make fairly, they could in principle make even more by cheating. Sadly, this type of temptation is not something everyone in positions of power can resist. As evidenced above, it has happened in the past and it lasted for a long period of time.
This is so despite regulation by reputable organizations like the Kahnawake Gaming Commission –which at the time oversaw Ultimate Bet operations. Nonetheless, cheating still managed to occur “right under their noses”.
Incidents like these that have arisen from time to time can only bring us to the conclusion that, sadly, not enough precautions have been being taken by the online poker sites when it comes to protecting player security. A further example of this was when 2004 WSOP Main Event Champion Greg Raymer’s password was hacked. The attacker was able to guess his password, which according to Raymer was “too easy to guess”.
As a cyber security expert, I can tell you from my 25 years of experience in the field that it is almost impossible to guess a password (however simple it may be) without making multiple attempts to find it. My “easy passwords” dictionary contains around 100,000 common passwords. It seems very strange that someone trying to hack the account of an online poker player would be able to make an unreasonable amount of failed password tries until finding the right one, while going completely under the radar. The culprit only got caught because after cracking the password he logged on as if he was Raymer and played heads-up tournaments against his own private account – where he would play both sides and dump chips from “Greg” to himself. The cyber security point to be made here is that PokerStars could have in principle detected this before it actually happened. In my professional opinion, 5–6 failed password attempts should have raised a flag – especially on a high-profile online poker player account such as that. That incident also teaches us the second rule of cyber security: passwords, as strong as they may be, are only an obstacle not a barrier.
Up until now this article has dealt with server side security. The fact is that we can’t do much about it aside for constant monitoring that nothing unusual is happening. Even then, a good mathematician could in principle come up with an algorithm that would cheat the player and still fly under the radar. The only way to make sure this does not happen is to ensure each online poker site provides a full disclosure at all times about its software, servers, random number algorithm, and methods of security.
Another security aspect of poker that is actually the players’ responsibility is always making sure your personal computers have not been hacked and that the computer you are playing on (if not your own) is secure. If an attacker writes special software designed to run on an online poker player’s computer and send his/her hole cards to the attacker’s computer, you can only imagine the potential bankroll damage that could be inflicted if the two were seated at the same table.
Again, the onus is on the player to make sure the computer he plays poker on is safe. Computer software can do damage in many ways. It can record your password, your hole cards, and your actions at the virtual felt. Malicious software can also hijack your actions while in a hand and take remote control commands from a remote controller. Plus there are many more ways a hacked computer can cost a player a lot of money.
From my experience, I think that the best way to protect yourself from having your computer compromised is not to play poker on the computer you work on for day to day tasks. Thus, to ensure maximum online poker safety, I would advise a separate computer solely for the purpose of playing poker. Don’t install any other software on it and don’t let anyone else who you don’t trust handle your computer in any way or even have access to it.
Moreover, you should configure firewall protection on this computer that will only allow traffic that is needed for the poker software and will drop all other traffic from and to this computer. I would also recommend installing antivirus software. Keep in mind, however, that while antivirus software will give you a general layer of protection, it will not protect you from a focused, targeted attack by new malicious software on your specific computer.
Finally, you should make sure that the data on this computer is encrypted with a strong password.
We have a nice saying in the worldwide hacker community: “In God we trust. Everyone else, we monitor”!
Indeed, the types of cyber security attacks covered in this article may seem not just far-fetched, but almost James Bond-like in nature. Nonetheless, you can rest assured that every competent computer security expert knows that they’re not only possible, but have actually happened in the past. At the end of the day, you simply cannot (and should not) play online poker unless you place your full, blind trust in the site you’re playing on. The fact is that you’ll never know 100% what goes on behind closed doors.
Happy Cyber Monday and be safe at the virtual felt!
Be sure to check out my follow-up article: Fully Secure Online Poker – Is It Possible?
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Check-raised on the river? Before you act, answer these key questions: Could I still have the best hand, and does my opponent have the guts to pull off this risky bluff? The river check-raise is a clear signal a player has you crushed, and it’s time to fold. Every time my river bet is check-raised, I have a sneaking suspicion my opponent’s trying to pull a fast one. Emotions aside, I’ve found folding to the river check-raise is almost always the correct decision. Exceptions come into play when you have a strong read on a player, he’s abusing the river check-raise or the story he’s telling just doesn’t add up.
All night he check, check, check…
The river-check raise is a powerful strategy in poker. It can be used to back your opponents into a corner, and catch them in a bluff. It may be the most aggressive move a player can make, which explains why it’s underused in both online poker, and in live games. Players in the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event went out of their way to check-raise the river, 4-bet, 5-bet shove and put as much pressure as possible on their tablemates. You can count on the November Niners (e.g., like Amir Lehavot) to include the river-check raise in their range at the WSOP Main Event Final Table.
Players usually check-raise the river with two pair or better, so consider your reads and stats before insta-calling with an overpair. Before betting the river, ask yourself if your hand is strong enough to withstand a check-raise. If not, check or bet small enough that you can get away from the hand. Decide what you will do if you’re check-raised before you bet, and stick to the plan. When the board flushes on the river, you’re nut hand suddenly runs the risk of becoming second best against your opponents. Don’t automatically fold when a flush comes in, but give your opponent credit if you don’t know how they play or you’re unsure. Here’s what happened when I went against what the board texture and my instincts were telling me in a $10 Sit N Go:
With blinds at 20/40, I picked up 9s-9h from UTG+1 and raised to 100. My opponent called in the BB. The flop came down 9d-Jd–3c and I bet 110 with my set. My opponent came along. The turn was safe, the 6h. I bet 240, about half pot, hoping for a call. Bad news came on the river when an Ad completed the flush. I was concerned, but put in a small value bet of 375. When my opponent check-raised me all-in, it was clear to me that he had the flush. I couldn’t find the fold button, and called off the remainder of my stack, of course to find my opponent holding a king high flush.
Good, aggressive players are capable of balancing their river check-raising range between the nuts and complete air. They pull off bluffs by relying on their hand-reading abilities to find the right spots to represent a monster. Advanced players look for coordinated boards to tell a story that makes sense. For instance, check-raising when the river completes a flush tells your opponent you made your draw. With beginners, the story is one of desperation and wounded egos. They use the play as a last-ditch attempt to take down a pot. Newbies are also often transparent about chasing draws, then check-raising all-in when the river bricks.
When the betting ends, the river check-raise is the last opportunity to extract value from opponents when you hold the winning hand. When you don’t, take advantage of tight players who fold too easily, by check-raising them off their hands on the river. It’s a great play to use on a player who’s taking advantage of you, and stop loose-aggressive players from stealing every pot. It only works if you can be reasonably certain a player will bet the river when checked to. Bluffy players make ideal targets, happy to throw out a bet at any sign of weakness. Don’t think about trying this move on a calling station.
Poker players have less experience betting the river, because most hands don’t make it further than the flop. The benefits of the river check-raise go beyond each individual hand. Once your opponents realize you are likely to check-raise their river bets, they’ll be less likely to make them, and instead start checking back, giving you free cards.
Check-raising the river with the best possible hand is a no brainer. The hard part of utilizing this strategy is betting an amount your opponent is likely to call. Check-raise bluffing is player dependent, so consider your opponent’s tendencies. Next, look at the board, and if the conditions are right, put your opponent in the hot seat with the river-check-raise.
The river-check raise is an aggressive strategy, so you should attempt to take down more pots and improve your table image. Don’t overdo it, or other players will catch on and exploit you. Include bluffs in your range, because if your opponents realize you’re only check-raising the river for value, they’ll fold every time.
Everyone knows that poker is popular the world over. During this current month of September specifically, however, the UK is the place to be if you’re looking to play some great poker. The British Poker Festival has partnered with 11 of London’s largest cardrooms and casinos to put together a calendar filled with more than 100 poker events making UK poker awesome this September. In particular, you don’t have to be a high roller to enjoy them either, as many of the poker tournaments sport very affordable buy-ins. Here are 10 fantastic reasons poker lovers should flock to the UK this September:
The Sky Poker Tour is attended by hundreds of players from around the UK. This tour offers some of the finest live venues in the UK and provides a unique opportunity for players to meet people they’ve played with virtually in online poker rooms. The Sky Poker Tour also opens the door for players to meet presenters and analysts from Sky Poker TV, with Tony ‘Tikay’ Kendall, Richard Orford, Sarah Champion, Anna Fowler and others from the team. This event was held 7th – 8th Sept. at Aspers Casino Newcastle. The prize pool in the £100 + £10 tournament had a guarantee at £15,000.
This event started online and continued live in the Dusk till Dawn club. The lucky (and skilled) winner walked away with around £20k. It took place from September 5th–8th. In case you’re interested in additional event details, you can check for them on their Facebook page.
Broadway Casino holds poker events every day of the week. This past Sunday they had a £50 NLHE Mega Stack Freezeout. Mondays and Wednesdays they hold a £25 NLHE Freezeout, Tuesday, a £25 NLHE Win the Button Freezeout is contested, Thursdays is the £30 NLHE Bounty Freezeout, and Fridays is the £40 NLHE Freezeout. There’s also a £30 Double Chance Freezeout on Saturdays and a £30 Treble Chance Freezeout on Sunday night.
Running from 15th Sept. – 22nd Sept., 2013 at the Grosvenor G Casino Manchester, this year’s tour guarantees a huge £1,750,000 in prize money.
Held from Thursday 19th Sept. – Sunday, 29th September, there’s a £50,000 DTD Sponsorship deal to the winner as well as a €7,500 Caribbean Poker Tour package given out to all those who make the final table.
The UKIPT returns to PokerStars LIVE at the Hippodrome Casino, London with the third leg of this event being held 27th–29th September, 2013. It costs £250 + 25 to enter and this tour stop offers a new, lower buy-in so players of all bankroll levels can take part. This state-of-the-art venue offers regular cash games and tournaments. Players can qualify online.
This event will be held Wednesday, 25th September. Doesn’t get more straightforward than that.
This event starts at 3:00 pm on Sunday, 29th September and is great value for lovers of Omaha poker.
Redtooth organizes the UK’s largest pub poker league with more than 1,000 venues registered nationwide. The 29th September, Sheffield RPT event is already sold out, but they do still have 4 other RPT events around the country taking place over the next few months.
Generally speaking, the English Poker Open is a cornerstone of UK poker in September, but this year’s series, originally scheduled for 23rd – 29th September, has been postponed until 2014. The new dates will be announced on the English Poker Open Website soon along with full details and promotional information.
So if you’re already in the UK or are planning on visiting this month, there’s some awesome poker being played this September. Be sure to contact the venue tournament organizer directly to confirm details to any of these events before travelling though, as schedules can and do tend to change.
For successful players, poker can be an excellent way of making money, whether in live games or online. However, while online poker can be lucrative, it can also be dangerous for those who do not appreciate the risks of carrying out financial transactions online. There are several important things you should bear in mind in order to avoid becoming the subject of credit card fraud or even identify theft and to keep your funds safe. Here’s a list of 3 critical tips for a safer online poker game:
There are a considerable number of online poker sites available on the Internet, some of which are reputable, some of which are not. When looking for a poker site to play on, you need to consider which sites you can trust with your money. Aside from the most well-known online poker sites out there like PokerStars, Titan Poker, and Full Tilt Poker, there are a number of top-notch smaller sites out there like pokermira.com which are also popular for a reason; they pay out winnings immediately and have thus earned a good reputation. The financial integrity of reputable online poker sites like those is usually 100% guaranteed and your money should therefore be fairly safe in their hands. If you are apprehensive, even for a second, about making a deposit at an online poker site, be sure to look up and read some reviews before you proceed.
Even though you might be playing on a highly reputable online poker site, that doesn’t mean that your PC is immune to viruses and hackers. If you have inadvertently downloaded a malicious virus – while browsing the Internet or downloading files, for example – it may have the capacity to ‘read’ your credit card details as you enter them. In a worst-case scenario, your money will be in serious jeopardy. Thus, it’s critical that you be sure to install good-quality virus protection software and exhibit a good dose of common sense when reading e-mails or downloading files. Assuming that you do, you should be able to play online poker safely.
If, having found a trustworthy online poker site and installed a good antivirus program, you are still wary of giving out your financial information, there is a third step you can take to protect yourself. By using a trusted online payment processor, it won’t necessarily require you to submit your card details to your chosen poker site. Instead, your payment is processed via a virtual middleman, which then keeps your credit card details safe from third parties, minimizing the risks.
Much like online shopping, playing online poker for real money involves putting your financial information into the hands of strangers and thus exposing yourself to potential fraud or theft. Though one can never cover all the bases as well as one would hope, by playing on reputable sites, installing good antivirus software and using online payment processors, you should be able to avoid the main pitfalls of online financial transactions and have a carefree, secure online poker experience.