PokerStars is pleased to offer some of the most generous poker deposit bonuses online. These deposit bonuses are a great way to increase your poker bankroll just by depositing and playing at the premier poker site on the web. PokerStars is committed to providing the discriminating online poker player with the best online poker experience available, and our deposit bonus program is just one of the perks available to PokerStars players.

First Deposit Bonus Promotion

100% First-Time Deposit Bonus

Make your first-ever real money deposit and PokerStars will give you a 100% bonus up to $50.

Claim your Free $50 PokerStars Bonus

Play all of your Texas Holdem hands like a pro with Holdem Genius™ - the most advanced Texas Holdem odds calculator and the ultimate weapon for playing technically perfect Texas Holdem hands.

Get Holdem Genius™ for Free

WHAT IS CALCULATEM PRO?

A decided advantage over your competition.

Poker players know first hand how indispensable Calculatem ProTM is to an online bankroll. It automatically reads your cards and table play, breaking down every possible scenario in real-time and instantly giving you exact poker odds to win in every situation.

SCREENSHOTS

Complicated Poker Odds & Strategy Made Easy.

Easy-to-read advice bar and poker odds chart make advanced Holdem decision making simple.

GET IT NOW

Beat your opponents with confidence.

Get it FREE now

Having come of age in the pool halls of Toronto, poker superstar Daniel Negreanu originally had aspirations of being a professional snooker player. In this kind of environment, he was never too far away from a card game and eventually become intrigued enough to play himself. He moved to Las Vegas soon after and hasn’t looked back since.

In the space of just ten years, Daniel has achieved possibly the greatest live tournament results record ever seen. In 1998 at just 23, he became the youngest ever player at the time to win a World Series bracelet, after taking down the $2,000 Pot Limit Hold’em event. This was to be the start of an incredible run of success at the WSOP*, one that still shows no sign of stopping today. After a 2nd place finish in the $5,000 Omaha Hi/Lo event in 2002, he returned the following year to claim his 2nd bracelet in the $2,000 S.H.O.E. event. He won a third bracelet in 2004’s $2,000 Limit Hold’em event for $169,000, and had another good World Series run in 2008, cashing several times and winning a fourth bracelet in the $2,000 Limit Hold’em event for $204,863. A few months later, Daniel travelled to London for the World Series of Poker* Europe and made the final table of the £10,000 Main Event, picking up $395,024 for a 5th place finish.

But while the money he’d earned in World Series events up to this point had been impressive, it was nothing compared to the huge payouts he would soon start winning. By late 2004, WPT events were generating massive prize pools and Daniel wasted no time taking his share. In September, he won the Borgata Poker Open for an incredible $1,117,400 and followed it up just three months later with victory at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic, a win that earned Daniel another $1,770,218. There have also been several other WPT final table appearances, helping him to add another $1,443,013 to his bankroll. Daniel also won $755,525 after finishing 1st in a WSOP* Circuit event in 2005. In all, his total live earnings currently stand at over $10,000,000.

Daniel has also become a popular poker author, with millions of poker fans regularly reading his books, articles and blogs. He regularly appears on major televised poker shows, as both player and commentator. When he has spare time, he enjoys relaxing at home; shooting pool and playing video games with friends. He’s also an avid golfer and can often be found playing for high stakes with other top poker players.

Extremely popular amongst fans, Daniel Negreanu is a true powerhouse in the poker world. He is a member of Team PokerStars Pro and plays online using the screen name ‘KidPoker’.

Great poker strategy advice, freeroll poker tournaments, poker bonus codes, updated poker news, poker room events and promotions

The investigation into the Ultimate Bet cheating scandal has named Russ Hamilton, winner of the 1994 World Series of Poker Main Event, as one of the people behind the scam that involved user accounts with the ability to see other players’ hole cards.

This is a similar cheating scandal to the one seen at Absolute Poker when a user named Potripper was detected winning a big tournament through suspicious means.

The online poker cheating came to light when several players expressed concern over the questionable actions of some online poker players. The players then started charting the suspicious account activity in an attempt to uncover a track record of questionable decisions that benefited these suspicious accounts. In light of these activities the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, which licenses many of the online poker rooms, launched a full-scale investigation. The KGC hired a gaming consulting firm run by Frank Catania Sr., a former New Jersey Assistant Attorney General.

According to the IGamingNews report, which takes its information from the KGC’s preliminary report, Russ Hamilton was behind the superuser scandal as he gained access through his work with the Ultimate Bet affiliate program team. The scam is estimated to have been running for three and a half years, costing Ultimate Bet players $6.1 million.

No other names have been revealed yet, but the KGC is already taking action based on the preliminary report. The full report on the incident is expected to be ready by November, and the Kahnawake Gaming Commission has said that they will be working with law enforcement agencies in order to bring the poker cheaters to justice.

The KGC has imposed a fine of $1.5 million on Ultimate Bet and has put forth a number of actions that Ultimate Bet must take before this cheating episode is concluded.

Read the full Ultimate bet Poker Cheating story.

Bad Position, Decent Cards

In the middle and later stages of tournaments, there are often times when
you're forced to make a pretty big commitment on a relatively weak
holding. These are uncomfortable spots because you never want to risk a
large percentage of your chips with a mediocre hand. Things get even
more difficult when you're playing from the blinds and out of position.

For example, say you're playing late in a tournament. The blinds are $500
and $1,000, and there's a $100 ante. You're in the small blind with
$18,000. It's folded around to the button, an aggressive player who raises
frequently in late position. He has $30,000 in his stack and he raises to
$3,500. You look at your cards and see Ad-9s.

You know that A-9 isn't a great hand, but you can't ignore it in this
situation. First off, given your opponent's history, he may very well be
raising with a hand that is far worse than yours. In fact, in this spot, he
could very well have two rags. Another consideration is that there are a lot
of chips in play. Between the blinds, antes, and your opponent's raise, you
stand to pick up over $5,000 in chips if you can take down this pot, which
would be a nice addition to your short stack.

So, you're probably going to want to play this hand. But what's the best
action?

At first, it might seem that calling is a reasonable course, as it would keep
you from getting overly committed on this marginal hand. But calling has
some pretty big downsides. With a hand like A-9, you're usually not going
to like the flop very much. In fact, you'll fail to make as much as a pair
about two-thirds of the time. If you do flop a pair of 9s, how are you going
to proceed if the flop also has an over card? Even on an Ace-high flop,
you'll have a tough time knowing if your hand is good.

What's more, if you miss the flop completely, you leave yourself vulnerable
to being outplayed. It's going to be very hard to bet if the flop contains
three cards that don't help your hand. If you check, your opponent will
likely make a continuation bet, and you'll be hard-pressed to continue,
even though Ace-high might be good.

In spots like this, your best move is to press an edge while you have it -
before the flop. Re-raise all-in pre-flop. Your opponent probably won't have
a hand that he can call with and, if he does, you'll have plenty of outs. You
still have about a 25% chance against AK, for example. Not good, but not
dead.

The important thing to keep in mind is that, in the later stages of a
tournament, you don't want to make many decisions after the flop when
you have a medium-strength hand like Ace-middle kicker or middle pocket
pair, and you're playing out of position. Put your chips in while you think
you have the best of it, and hope for the best. If you let these marginal but
good situations pass you by, you might regret it later when your stack has
been whittled down even further.

In Depth Full Tilt Poker Review

Get the most objective poker room reviews for all of the top online poker rooms. We offer exclusive poker bonus promotions that you will not find at any other poker website. Get objective and thorough poker room reviews for PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Poker com, Carbon Poker, Doyles Poker Room, Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet. Utilize our Poker Tracking Software pages to get free trial downloads of all of the latest advanced poker odds calculator software programs. We offer Texas Calculatem, Calculatem Pro, Sit N Go Shark, Poker Crusher and Poker Evolver online poker tracking software. We provide the latest breaking poker news to keep our readers up to date about recent poker news like the Kentucky Court Imposed Online Poker Ban.

Poker Evolver is a new poker software for online poker tracking that will help you evolve to the next level. Find your pitfalls and take advantage of your opponents' mistakes. Using the online poker tools properly is huge problem for new players. Poker Evolver is developed from the normal user's point of view, not from programmer's or professional poker player's. The software gives you easy-to-use poker tracking software and support - you can concentrate on playing. Get detailed information on all of your opponents at the table with historic details as well. Visit the Poker Evolver website for more details on this innovative tool that is specifically designed for the advanced poker player to get the edge you need to win more money playing online poker.

Do not miss the daily freeroll poker tournaments that are offered by Carbon Poker. Great freeroll poker tournaments with real cash prizes. They are also offering a first time deposit poker bonus offer of 100% of your initial deposit.

In Limit Hold 'em, it is not uncommon to see pots that are contested by four,
five, or even six players. This happens with some frequency at lower limits,
especially when playing with those who haven’t learned the virtues of a tight-
aggressive style of play.

In multi-way pots, draws become especially powerful, and playing big draws
aggressively against multiple opponents can create very profitable situations.
For example, say that you’re dealt As-8s on the button. Three players limp
before the action gets to you, and you decide to limp as well. Both blinds call,
so a total of six players see the flop of 4s-7s-Jc. You have no hand at the
moment, but you do have the nut flush draw.

On the flop, the small blind bets and three players call. What’s your best
action? Clearly, folding would be wrong. With two cards to come and nine
outs, you’ll make the nut flush roughly 35 percent of the time, making you
only a 2:1 dog. With six small bets going in the pot pre-flop and four going in
on the flop, you’re getting pot odds of 10:1.

You might be tempted to just call and see what the turn brings but, in fact,
raising in this situation gives you better value. The pot is getting large and it’
s likely that all your opponents are going to call. Even those who have
nothing more than second pair or a gut shot straight draw may feel that their
pot odds are favorable enough to justify calling the second bet. If your raise
gets called by four people, you’ll be getting great value. You’d be getting 4:1
on your money when you’re only a 2:1 underdog – a clear win for you.

The raise might also work well for you on the turn and river. By acting after
the flop, there’s a chance that the other players will check to you on the turn.
This gives you the option of checking and taking a free card if you don’t make
your flush.

The level of aggression that you show with a draw will largely depend on
your position. To show how your play might change with position, imagine
you’re in a hand with the same hole cards (As-8s), the same number of
players (six), and the same flop (4s-7s-Jc). This time, however, you’re not on
the button but are in the big blind instead when the small blind bets out.
Here, you want to encourage the other players in the hand to put as much
money in the pot as possible. If you raise, you’re probably going to force
players with second pair or a gut shot to fold, so your best option is to call.
Give your opponents every opportunity to throw money in the pot.

Finally, let’s look at how you might play the same cards when you’re the first
to act. If you have a nut flush draw in the small blind and there are six
players in the pot, go ahead and bet. It’s a favorable situation for you, so
you want to make sure that some money goes in the pot. When out of
position, I’ll usually follow-up my flop bet with another bet on the turn no
matter what card hits. Then, if I miss again on the river, I can decide whether
or not I want to bluff at the pot. If I’m against only one or two players on the
river, I’ll usually bluff. If there are five players left in the hand, I won’t bother.
It’s too likely that someone will call.

You can make a lot of money playing draws in low-limit Hold 'em. Just
remember that you want as many people contributing to the pot as is
possible, which means that in different positions, you’ll need to do different
things to get the most out of your draws.

Our website is constantly being updated to bring our readers the most up to date poker news, the top poker bonuses, free poker, freeroll poker tournaments, and poker room reviews. Get all of the best poker bonus offers to Pokerstars, full tilt, poker com, Carbon Poker, Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker. Read our in depth poker room reviews to get insights and objective poker room reviews. We offer poker strategy articles, poker pro tips, WSOP Gallery of Champions, and WSOP Results. Now offering some of the latest Poker Tracking Software programs to help your online poker strategy. Texas Calculatem, Calculatem Pro, Poker Crusher and Poker Evolver are just a few of the great poker tracking software odds calculators we offer. Read about the Kentucky Poker Ban that was recently passed by the courts. We strive to bring you all of the latest poker information available.

The implications of this are that many other states will most likely follow suit. This means that any state will have the power to ban a poker room or online casino, or even worse, take the website from the owner until they comply with the court order. I will keep everyone posted of any new developments in this court case.

I expect the appeal process is already in the works, but appeals take time, a lot of time in most cases. I have already seen that some online casinos and poker rooms have a statement reading that all residents of the state of Kentucky are now banned from playing online at their poker room or casino. This does not bode well for us poker players in the US.

Calculatem Pro

From the makers of the hottest selling poker odds calculator comes Calculatem Pro - the most powerful Texas Holdem odds calculator on the market. Calculatem Pro has revolutionized the world of Texas Holdem poker calculators with its superior features and precise customization that makes it much easier for the user to utilize. It uses the latest, most sophisticated technology and algorithms to instantly calculate hand AND pot odds - bringing you the most accurate advice in a sleek, easy-to-use interface. Calculatem Pro is a "must-have" for any Texas Holdem poker player serious about winning at the poker tables.

Calculatem Pro Poker Hand Odds Calculator Software

Congratulations to the 2008 WSOP HORSE event winner, Scotty Nguyen. Poker professional Scotty Nguyen won nearly $2 million at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas on Monday, topping a field of 148 players and emerging from a strenuous final table with his fifth WSOP gold bracelet.

Nguyen beat 23-year-old Michael DeMichele in H.O.R.S.E., a rotating-game tournament that cost $50,000 to buy in.

The various poker games and limited betting structure reward all around play and is said to truly reward the best players over the long haul. Along with the main event, many players consider H.O.R.S.E. the most important tournament in the World Series of Poker.

Nguyen won the final hand Monday at limit Hold ’em, pushing DeMichele all in with an ace and a 10. DeMichele, far behind in chips, called with an ace and a three, and Nguyen’s 10 gave him the win when both players paired their aces. DeMichele won $1.24 million for his second place finish.

“I guess I’ll have to live with being that guy,” said DeMichele of Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Nguyen said it felt good to break through and win his first gold bracelet since 2001.

“I’m gonna make Phil Hellmuth squirm,” he said, referring to the World Series of Poker record holder with 11 bracelets.

Nguyen started the final table Sunday with the second-highest chip stack among a tough field that included DeMichele and poker professionals Erick Lindgren, Barry Greenstein and Huck Seed.

Learn more about Scotty Nguyen

Win a seat into the 2008 WSOP main event at PokerStars

Free $50 poker bonus from PokerStars

Take advantage of this poker bonus from PokerStars and double up your poker bankroll. For a limited time only, any new player who signs up at PokerStars online poker room and makes an initial deposit will receive a free $50 cash bonus. PokerStars offers great table games and tournaments, freeroll tournaments with real cash prizes and some of the largest prize pools of any online poker room. A great poker room, PokerStars is a reputable and trustworthy online poker room for you to wager. Yesterday was the final day to qualify for the free 2008 WSOP main event seat give away at PokerStars. They are sending over 2,000 online poker players to the 2008 wsop main event tournament this year. Hopefully we will get to see some of them at the final tables.

Free $50 from PokerStars