Online Poker Tips

While the overwhelming majority of people who play online poker do so on a traditional computer or laptop, a small but growing segment of the online poker market is migrating to a new breed of software clients –  and game formats - specifically designed for mobile devices.

Driven by the increasingly popularity –  and capabilities –  of portable devices like the iPad and Android phones, mobile online poker is still in a nascent stage.  Two of the first companies to focus exclusively on the mobile poker market are Switch Poker and Terminal Poker.  For updates on the mobile developments for major rooms such as Titan Poker and Bet365, we suggest subscribing to this poker bonus guide.

Switch Poker is a room that bills itself –  correctly, to the best of our knowledge –  as the first online poker room compatible with an iPhone or iPad.  While a handful of mobile poker clients have been available for Windows and Android phones –  most notably software from Full Tilt Poker and Cake Poker  –  owners of Apple mobile devices were out in the cold before Switch Poker came along.  Switch is browser-based poker that doesn’t require Flash in order to run, making it a breeze to play on any mobile device that has a standard web browser like Safari or Chrome.

Another early entrant into the world of mobile online poker is Terminal Poker.  Terminal also offers a browser-based experience, although you can also play via a downloadable client, but differs from Switch in an important way –  Terminal is similar to Rush Poker in that it creates new tables for every hand, dramatically increasing the speed of the game and eliminating the frustrating down time that has somewhat stunted the growth of mobile poker to date.

While rapidly growing, mobile online poker is not without some drawbacks.  There aren’t any mobile clients we’re aware of for paypal poker rooms, for example, and neither of the rooms listed above accept players from the US.  Expect both of those things to change as mobile poker moves from the margin into the spotlight over the coming years.

A new online casino is open to US players, but the main question players are asking is whether or not that casino is a safe and secure online gaming destination.

The casino in question is Buzzluck, an online casino utilizing the NuWorks platform.  The casino is backed by the Club World Casino Group, a company with a solid reputation among online gambling enthusiasts.  The license for the casino is issued by Curacao.

First, a bit more about what the casino offers.  Buzzluck provides players with a standard suite of casino games, including popular table games like blackjack and, of course, slots, the king of the casino floor.  Slot options include a number of progressives, including the flagship Monster Millions  game.  The casino is only available in a download version at the moment, with plans for an instant play client apparently in the works.

The comp program at Buzzluck amounts to a small fractional percentage refund on your gross wagers, with $1 returned for every $1000 in total turnover. 

You can boost that rate when you first sign up by using this Buzzluck Bonus Code on your first deposit for a match bonus of 100% up to $868.  Even better, the clearance rate for the  bonus is 25 times the bonus amount in gross wagering, a very reasonable rate by current online casino bonus standards.

With the basics out of the way, back to our original question.  Is Buzzluck safe for US players?  The general thought is that no online casino is completely safe for US clients, given the recent rash of payment processor seizures. 

Players from the US should think twice before depositing large sums of money at any online gambling site.  That said, small amounts for casual wagering are likely a reasonable risk at this casino, largely due to its license and parent company.  As the saying goes –  more appropriate now than ever –  buyer beware.

Quick History of Native American Casinos

When discussing usa casinos, images of Las Vegas or even Atlantic City may spring to mind. However, there's a number of casinos across the USA owned and operated by Native Americans. The trend for Indian owned casinos began in the early 1970s when a couple of Native Americans were given a tax bill for their property. This resulted in a couple taking the state of Minnesota to court.

Eventually the US Supreme Court ruled that state governments cannot regulate activities that take place on Indian reservations. The Supreme Court ruling opened the door for casinos and gambling establishments to be opened on Indian lands. It's estimated today that there are about 400 casinos across the United States operated by Native Americans. It's probably no surpise the most profitable Indian casinos are those close to major cities.

The Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut is more profitable than any casino in Las Vegas or Atlantic City. And with over 300,000 square feet dedicated to gambling, the Foxwoods Resort Casino is the second-largest casino in the world, only behind the Venetian Macau. Also in Connecticut is the Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino, which is the second largest casino in the United States, just behind its neighbor the Foxwoods. The success of both Indian casinos is largely attributed to them being about halfway between Boston and New York City.

Indian casinos offer virtually everything Las Vegas casinos do, with the exception of sports betting. Indian casinos offer games like roulette, slot machines, video poker, blackjack, and even high-stakes bingo and lotteries. While some of the smaller Indian casinos may not have the range of entertainment Las Vegas casinos have, the major Indian casinos such as Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun offer top-notch entertainment and sporting events such as major boxing matches. So the next time you're considering playing in a US casino, remember Indian casinos offer a good alternative to Las Vegas and Atlantic City. The money saved traveling can be your bankroll for your next poker game at your local Indian casino.

When you decide to play online poker, all you should have to worry about is playing your best game.  Whatever extra time you have to devote to poker should, ideally, be put toward improving your game and preparing for your next session.

Unfortunately, the current state of the online poker industry means that players are forced to instead spend a good chunk of that time on investigating sites and doing often extensive research into what site they should choose to play at.  Thanks to the crowded market, the lack of transparency in the industry and the often complex structures of bonus offers, choosing one of the online poker sites as your primary home becomes an entirely separate game to master.

Recognizing this challenge, a number of sites developed and run by poker players aim to take the mystery out of choosing an online poker site.  These sites break down the various components of rooms, simplify the fine print of bonus offers, and basically give an insider’s point of view on the sites.  That’s a great resource for new online poker players, who can simply evaluate lists of poker sites like the one linked previously.  With a clearly formatted table breaking down and comparing a handful of the top sites, the player’s challenge of finding an appropriate online poker home becomes far less of a burden.

That doesn’t mean all of the work of deciding where to play online poker is done for you, however.  There are still a number of decisions you’re going to need to make for yourself, and those decisions might require you to give a few online poker sites a play money test run.  While this might seem boring and tedious –  who wants to play poker for play money? –  it’s an important part of gaining the information you’ll need to make the best decision for your own preferences.  For example, some players prefer sites with a ton of bells and whistles, while others just want a stripped-down, almost spartan experience.  Some people really care about customer service, while others only care about game selection.  It can be difficult for you to really understand what factors you place the most weight on until you actually dig into the room and mess around a bit.

Choosing an online poker room is a big decision, and you should use all the resources at your disposal to help you make that decisions as efficiently and as judiciously as possible.  Do that and you’ll spend less time deciding and more time doing what you want to do –  playing poker.

The legal situation in the US regarding online poker continues to evolve.  While many online poker players have chosen to leave the US to play online poker, it seems as if momentum is growing in the nation’s capitol for regulation of online poker.

If that happens, online poker for money could return to the US in a big way.  While there are still a handful of small real-money sites that allow US players, the process of depositing and cashing out is often tedious, and game selection is generally a bit thin.  Those conditions may be tolerated by hardcore players,  but the simple fact of the matter is that casual players are not willing to jump through many, if any, hoops to play online poker.

The only thing that can apparently remove those hoops in the status quo is regulation.  Most are in favor of Federal regulation, which would cover the entire US.  Others prefer state regulation, arguing that states are the best agent for regulation and the quickest path to widespread regulation.  The issue of state vs Federal is certainly a complicated one and beyond the scope of this article, but regardless of the path regulation takes, it now seems certain that it will reach the ultimate destination of unambiguously legal, roadblock-free poker in the US.

Would that mean a second poker boom?  It’s also tough to predict that outcome accurately.  There’s obviously a massive demand for poker in the US, and no doubt a very large population waiting to return to online poker when the picture is clearer.  Some believe, however, that poker –  especially online poker –  is a bit of a fad that had already peaked even before the DOJ started cracking down on sites.  One thing’s for sure, however: There are certainly plenty of people who can’t wait for real money online poker to come back to the States for good.