A former marketing executive who still keeps her hand in that arena, Leikind took a break from corporate America and started taking classes that piqued her interest. Among those was playing cards, as she had always been a card player.

“When I went back to work, I noticed I was using the skills from poker,” Leikind said in our recent interview. “When people were trying to negotiate me down in price, I held fast. I kept coming up with correlations between business and poker.”

Among those, she found, were how to set the tone, be a leader, read people and pick up on nonverbal cues.

“It’s a game of psychology,” Leikind said. “Poker helps to enhance skills where women are weaker.”

In fact, when Leikind started getting invited to networking events, she noticed there would be “60, 70, 80 guys and a handful of women.” That was the void she suddenly wanted to fill and so about four years ago she formed Poker Prima Divas

“It’s poker for professional women, not only teaching them how to play the game, but the need to be aggressive,” Leikind said.
t is her mantra, in fact, that poker is the new golf. In that regard, it may also be an innovative way to get an ‘in’ during the recession. The skills it fine tunes are an obvious benefit, but the networking opportunities are vast as well, especially in the financial careers arena.

“This is not a bunch of degenerates playing cards,” Leikind said.

Even for those who have never been dealt a hand, the surge of poker is apparent simply from channel surfing on any given day. Poker tournaments are everywhere, from ESPN to the Travel Channel. According to PokerPages.com’s Industry Index, as of 2006 poker had grown over 400 percent since 2001; they cite “increased production and distribution of poker related television, the penetration of online poker and the creation and expansion of the World Poker Tour and The World Series of Poker” as reasons for the popularity explosion.

While much of that is tied to money, Poker Prima Divas is not. There’s no gambling — that’s illegal in New York, except in limited cases — but there are prizes and donations to charity.

One of the most intriguing things about talking to Leikind about poker is what she has learned about the proclivities of people.

“Men don’t care if they lose fake chips,” said Leikind, whose program is inclusive of men. “Women would rather have one chip left. They won’t go for it all and risk losing that chip. Men play to win as opposed to avoid losing their chips.”

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Poker Ashes is a poker tournament in which Australia’s and England’s best Cricketers pair up with two of the best online poker players as 888poker wants two of its online players to participate firsthand in this tournament. Superstar Shane Warne will serve as the Aussie team captain. For those who follow it, the Poker Ashes is one of the highly anticipated events in both the cricket and poker worlds.

In fact Shane Warne likes a punt. “It’s as simple as that,” the legendary former Australian cricketer said yesterday as he embarked on his latest gamble: professional poker. Warne who will captain 888’s team reckons there are plenty of similarities between cricket and poker.

You have to be very patient playing poker just as you do in a Test match. There are times when you’ve got to press hard and other times when you have to sit back. “Poker is actually known as a game of skill. It’s about how much you bet at a certain time to maximise your hand. You do need a little bit of luck but it’s also about knowing how to read your opponent,” he said.

The Ashes is an ideal opportunity to see your favorite Cricketers play poker, and also a tournament which benefits a charity organization that is near and dear to the winning team, making the event a real personal experience for the players. This annual event has taken place over the last several years with its origins in 2002.

The 888 Poker Ashes games are all heads up, no limit, texas holdem matches that are played one on one between the two teams, until the final game. In the final, the two remaining players go head to head in a high stakes battle for the crown of the 2009 Poker Ashes. The Ashes demonstrates both teamwork and good sportsman ship as participants follow and cheer on not only their team mates but also their opponents. Shane Warne has proudly been a part of it since its inception in 2002, watching it grow from year to year.

For anyone wishing to catch all of the exciting action of the 2009 Poker Ashes tournament, the games will be filmed and broadcast in their entirety on your local Fox Sports Channel, Channel 9 in Australia as well as on Skye Sports Channel in the United Kingdom. Make sure that you check your local listings and magazines or online for the specific times and dates.

It is psychologically easier to throw three $5 chips into a pot than three $5 bills. Chips make counting and stacking a lot easier but they also disassociate you from real hard cash. Real money can once again become clear for a brief time as soon as you have to buy more chips with real hard cash. It always makes you think when you have to reach into your pocket or purse and grab your wallet.

In an online casino, it’s usually just a matter of using a credit card or sending a money order/wire transfer to the online casino to get your virtual bankroll started. There are no real chips, just icons that represent chips, which are in fact virtual numbers. You must have an even greater discipline to respect your money in this scenario.

Time

In fact, you don’t even have to push the chips onto the table to make a bet, call a raise, etc. etc. All you do is click a mouse button and you’re done. It can be done so fast that if you don’t take a breath; it’s easy to have your judgment thrown off by emotion.

Your play is magnified on an internet casino. One main reason is that the cards and hands are played so much faster. There is very little physical movement, as all you have to do is point and click the mouse. It literally takes seconds. In real life there is the physical motion of picking chips up, counting chips, and placing them in the appropriate place.

This all takes additional time and fortunately can help you when having to make a decision. There is no real dealer in online poker other than an icon representing a dealer. That means no tipping. At a $1 or $2 tip per win, this can save your bankroll a lot of money.

The rake still exists and actually varies depending on the online casino you choose to play at. The rake should be considered because after all said and done if you break-even while playing, the rake would eventually take all of your money over time.

When there is a rake involved in poker it is your responsibility to find and play with players that you are better than. A home game is the only exception as there typically is no rake. If you’re in a heads up game online and your opponent is almost equal to you in playing ability, then you are both going to break even most of the time with each other, and find your bankroll slipping away to the houses rake.

On average, an online poker game will move three times as fast as a real casino. That means your weaknesses will be magnified three times. That means the rake is three times as much. Of course you’re still getting three times as many hands for your money. For some players however, this can be catastrophic. What seems like hours for someone to call a raise may in reality only take seconds in online poker.

It’s so easy to get used to this faster type of play, that you can easily lose perspective on the real amount of time passed. To go to a real casino takes planning. For some of you it might entail a flight, for others a lengthy drive. The time that it takes to get to the casino can be very helpful for your mindset because it psychologically forces to give you time to prepare.

In an online casino, you can play it right in your own home. What might take an hour or so to get to the local casino or a day or so for some of you, others can get into a Hold’em game online for real money in one minute or less. You don’t have to shower and shave or change your clothes. You simply have to click a few buttons and you’re ready to play. There may be no transition of mind set at all.

If you’re in a bad mood or good mood, happy or sad, you will most likely stay in that mood while you are playing until you have time to adjust. If it’s a mood problem, it might cost you an arm and a leg during that transition.

In essence it’s a good idea to pump and psyche yourself up. It’s one way many successful players mentally prepare for poker. Personal problems will definitely affects your game and not in a good way.

You will be dealt two cards and the dealer will be dealt one card with that card face up. Sometimes the dealer may be dealt two cards but one of them will always be showing.

All picture cards (jack, queen, king) have a value of ten. Aces have a value of either one or eleven.After dealing is complete – you must play your hand and decide what to do. You have a number of options:

Hit: Be dealt another card.

Stand: You’re happy with your cards and do not want another one. Your hand is over and the dealer plays his hand.

Split: If your first two cards have the same point value (for example two fives, two jacks, or two aces) you may split the cards and play them as separate hands. This doubles your bet however. Sometimes the “perfect blackjack” suggests splitting.

Double down: You double your wager and are dealt just one more card. Sometimes the “perfect blackjack” strategy suggests doubling down.

Insurance: If the dealers upcard is an ace you are offered insurance against the dealer having a blackjack. We never take insurance.

Of you draw cards and go over 21, you have “bust” and lose the hand. The dealer has to keep drawing cards if his hand totals 16 or less and must stand on 17 or above. This is important as you can stand any time you wish and can win a hand with a very low total.

If you win the hand, you are paid at even money – if you bet $1 you are returned $2. If you have a “blackjack”( an ace and a ten or face card) and beat the dealer you are paid at 1.5/1. So if you bet $1 your return would be $2.50. If your hand is equal to the dealer’s hand it is called a “push.” A tie if you will. Nobody wins and your stake is returned.

If you’ve not played blackjack before, don’t worry. Most (if not all) the casinos we recommend have a practice facility where you can hone your technique and get used to the strategy sheet without risking any money.

One of the best things about online poker schools is that you can easily get information on how to play the game without having to be intimidated by a full casino setting. Some beginning poker players will get nervous easily in a physical setting. Fortunately, by competing for free online you can learn about the game of power without having to put up with the pressure of the real game.

Also, you can learn about the game without having to use the form of body language. Of course, this is one of the downfalls of these online card games in that without a physical setting the player will not be able to train one’s ability to hide body language for one’s increased success in the game.

So, what online poker schools are available? PokerStars is one of the best places to go for learning how to play the game. The site has games for new and experienced players alike. Not only can you learn about the game and how to play it for free but you can even get into major poker championships through competitions including the world famous World Series of Poker.

Paradise Poker is another of the top sites. Owned by Sportingbet PLC, this is known for being one of the more secure sites for poker online. The site has become more popular in that it uses the Sportingbet platform, which is more conventional and secure than other programs.

Party Gaming’s Party Poker is one of the fastest growing places for online poker. It is free to use and it features all sorts of amazing tournaments for people of different skill levels. It also has the Party Poker Million, which is a top level tournament. It is a No Limit Texas Hold’em style poker tournament. Other online card games on the site feature different styles of poker that include limits and other special features.

There are some online poker schools that have games that require money to play. However, the table limits on these sites are much lower than those of typical poker places. Some limits will be as low as a penny.

You should be sure to check out some of the many online poker schools so that you can get a better idea of how the game works and how to use certain skills in the game so that you can win. There are some different sites that have their own qualities, and you can even get into high level tournaments if you are good enough at these games over time.

Here is a little simple maths to show the money making potential of basic strategy.The “house edge” (the amount of money a casino expects to win from any player) for blackjack is estimated to generally be in the region of 2.5%. In other words, the casino would expect to win $2.50 in every $100 wagered by the average blackjack player.

By playing a strategic game you can reduce the house edge to 0.50% or even lower.

To encourage players to open accounts with them, most casinos offer new account holders bonus money as an inducement. For example – deposit $50 and get another $50 added to it for free. It does come with conditions attached though – usually by way of a wagering requirement. This means you have to wager a given amount of money first but this differs from casino to casino. It is important to check and understand wagering requirements.

Now – some simple maths to illustrate how you can profit from this “free” money: Example:

You open an account with Casino X, deposit $50 and are given $50 free. Your available stake is now $100. The wagering requirement is 10 times the deposit and bonus amount. In this case that means $1000. This does sound a lot but it isn’t really as all you wagers (wins and losses) count towards that $1000.

So – if you were playing at $1 a hand and had a sequence of W, W, L, W, W, L, L, L, W, W you would be $1 ahead over the sequence but have wagered a total of $10. Get the idea?

By playing strategic blackjack you reduce the house edge to say 0.50% (or lower). Thus, based on your $100 starting amount and wagering $1000 you can be expected to lose just $5 (1000×0.5%) under ideal conditions.

So, you have $95 after completing the wagering requirement. Take off your $50 and you’ve now got a $45 profit courtesy of the $50 the casino gave you on joining.

If you were to do the same in different casinos you can see how it can accumulate. An easy way to keep track on your progress towards the minimum wagering requirement is to write it down and keep a simple spreadsheet remembering to add “one” time you split or double down.

More importantly though, have fun – it is a game of cards, after all. That is what makes it exciting – strategy and chance !

The Poker Hall of Fame is a group of poker players who have played poker well against top competition for high stakes over a long period of time. Originally established by the Horseshoe Casino, membership is now awarded by Harrah’s World Series of Poker. Over the last 10 years, most recent entrants are:

• Roger Moore, 1997
• Stu Ungar, 2001
• Lyle Berman, 2002
• Johnny Chan, 2002
• Bobby Baldwin, 2003
• Berry Johnston, 2004
• Jack Binion, 2005
• Crandell Addington, 2005
• T. J. Cloutier, 2006
• Billy Baxter, 2006
• Barbara Enright, 2007
• Phil Hellmuth, 2007
• Dewey Tomko, 2008
• Henry Orenstein, 2008

Watch the legendary Doyle Brunson host his original talk show with Poker Hall of Fame inductees Jack Binion and Crandell Addington who tell their incredible stories about high stakes poker Poker Hall of Fame Inductees

American gaming enthusiasts have been asking themselves that very question, after Republicans in Congress recently amended the Safe Port Act (H.R. 4954) to prohibit financial transactions between American financial institutions, such as banks and credit card companies, and online gaming sites.

Most of the online gambling sites operate out of Europe or the Caribbean, and are listed on the London Stock Exchange, which until now has placed them largely out of reach of American authorities. Although internet gambling is prohibited in the US, authorities have until now been more or less powerless to do anything about it – of the estimated $12bn in annual revenue generated by online gambling in 2005, approximately half came from American players.

Apparently, Presidential hopeful Senator Bill Frist, who helped push the last minute amendment through, wants that money back in the pockets of hardworking local bookies – after all, online gaming, much like online pornography, has been one of the most profitable areas of internet commerce.

Or at least it was until Frist and his gang got going. News of the impending passage of the legislation in Congress wiped $7bn in market capitalization off the books of publicly-traded UK gambling sites such as Sportingbet PLC and 888 Holdings PLC before President Bush even signed the legislation into law last week.

That, combined with the recent arrests of internet gaming industry executives such as David Carruthers and Gary Kaplan of BetonSports.com, who were indicted on a variety of federal racketeering, wire fraud and tax evasion charges, or Peter Dicks of Sportingbet, who narrowly escaped extradition to Louisiana, has convinced some observers that the party’s over for the online gaming industry.

American players were livid when the assets of BetonSports.com were frozen by the Department of Justice pending resolution of the criminal charges against the company and its executives. All in all, the industry seemed by most observers to be on the ropes.

Well, that certainly hasn&’t slowed down Calvin Ayre, the man who parlayed a truck full of fresh Canadian fruit into an internet gambling empire. The Bodog Entertainment Group, founded in 1995 by Ayre, recently purchased the Australian internet gambling outfit Betcorp.com, in an effort to expand its presence in Canada and Europe, where the regulatory climate has been decidedly friendlier to online gaming.

While the Canadian citizen operates Bodog out of Costa Rica, Ayre has embraced all the trappings of a Las Vegas gambling mogul. The Bodog website is littered with Ayre pawing barely clad women and more clad sports stars. According to Forbes, Ayre, 44, has at least $1bn in the bank, which can’t please Uncle Sam. Close to 95 per cent of Bodog’s sales come from the US, while neither Ayre nor the company hand a single red cent to the US in taxes. We decided to interview the betting playboy for an insider’s perspective on what are certainly proving to be interesting times for the online gaming industry.

The online gaming industry lost $7bn in market capitalization in one day after Congress passed legislation prohibiting American financial institutions from doing business with online gambling companies. What do you see as the long term impact of that legislation for your industry? And where does the internet gambling business model go from here? Is there any creative way around the legislation?

While the jury is still out on the long-term impact this recent piece of legislation will have on the industry, there’s really no secret to how catastrophic this bill has proven short term for the publicly traded online gaming companies. Bodog.com, being privately held and positioned in such a way that it’s able to adapt to the ever-changing and quite often volatile online gaming environment, has been able to weather this storm with relative ease. Although we have a few months to fully assess all the changes and their potential impact on our gaming channels, we remain confident that we’re better positioned now than ever before to expand all of our entertainment product channels, including gaming, into existing and new markets, such as Europe and Asia.

To what extent can the online gaming industry survive without North America? There seems to be a ton of potential in Asia. Do you agree? And how do you tap that market?

A solid brand is solid brand no matter where you are in the world. Bodog.com will continue build on its current success, while pursuing its aggressive plans to expand into new markets around the world, including Asia and Europe. This has always been part of our long-term objectives.

Why do you think the American gaming industry has put so much money into trying to shut you down, rather than joining the party? Word on the street is that some hefty lobbying money from the American side of the industry is behind this attempt to cut off the air supply of the online outfits.

It has been reported that certain traditional gaming interests are in fact not opposed to having an open and regulated online gaming market. That being said, our focus has always been on evolving our brand and growing our business channels instead of spending time and effort questioning the internal politics within the borders of these countries. Bodog.com is now considered one of the largest brands in the digital entertainment space, and as long as we stay focused on growing our business, we couldn’t be positioned better to continue our extraordinary evolution.

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Individual cards are ranked from the Ace, which is the highest card, downwards through King, Queen, Jack and then the number cards. The Ace is slightly different, in that as well as being the highest possible card, it can also be the lowest. This comes in handy when your Texas hold’em hand is a straight.

All poker games, including Texas Holdem, only consider the best 5 cards in your hand. There are no “tie breaks”. So it doesn’t matter what your sixth card is – it won’t be used to break a tie. Similarly, there is no ranking of suits – all suits are equal. In the event of a tie, the pot is split between the winners.

In descending order, the best Texas Hold’em hands are:

• 1. Straight Flush. This is five consecutive cards, all of the same suit. The best possible straight flush is a Royal Flush, which is made up of Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten of the same suit.
• 2. Four of a Kind. Four cards of the same rank, plus a fifth card.
• 3. Full House. Three cards of the same rank and a pair of other cards. If more than one player has a full house, the highest ranking three cards determines the winner.
• 4. Flush. Five cards of the same suit. Flushes are ranked from the top down, so for instance A7532 beats KJT94. If there are two flushes with exactly the same cards, there is a tie.
• 5. Straight. 5 sequential cards, not of the same suit. Ace can be high or low in a straight so it could be used with 5432A or AKQJT. Remember that you cannot continue a straight “around the corner”, so 2AKQJ is not a straight.
• 6. Three of a Kind. Three cards of the same rank with any two other cards. In flop games like Texas Hold’em poker, it is possible for two or more players to have the same three of a kind, in which case the two “kicker” cards will determine the winner.
• 7. Two Pair. Two cards of one rank and another two cards of a different rank, plus a kicker card. As with three of a kind, it is possible in Texas Hold’em Sit’n'Go tournaments for two or more players to have the same sets of two pairs. In this case the kicker card will determine the winner.
• 8. One Pair. A pair of cards and any three other unrelated cards. In Texas Hold’em tournaments the same rules on kicker cards apply to this are with three of a kind and two pair.
• 9. High card. Where none of the other hands have one the game, the player with the highest single card in their hand is the winner. If two or more players have the same high card, the next highest card or cards are used to find the winner.

Learning to play winning Texas Hold’em requires reading and studying. If you read just one book about the game you will be ahead of about 80 percent of the other payers at the table. Spending the money for a good poker book is a lot cheaper than trying to get your education at the tables in a live game.

You will be dealt two cards to start as will the dealer. The dealer cards will have one hole card and one face up card. This helps you to theorize based on the card showing. However, you don’t want to just play off of the dealer’s top card. It can be misleading to some extent.

In strategy, even basic strategy, you need to know when to take a hit and when to stand. There are two types of hands that you can play on. There is the hard hand which means you don’t have an ace, and the soft hand in which an ace is a part of the play.

Difficult Hands:

• When the player has a total of 8 and the up card of the dealer is 2-9, ten or ace you will always take a hit.
• When the player has nine and the up card is 2, 7, 8, 9, Ten or Ace you should take a hit. On the 3, 4, 5, 6 up card for the dealer you should double down.
• If you have 10 or 11 for the total you will want to double down on any up card with the exception of the Ten or Ace. On those cards you will hit.
• For a 12 you will take a hit when the up card is the 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, or Ace. For the 4, 5, or 6 up card you should stand.

Keep in mind if you are going to stand, some casinos will not allow you to stand on anything less than a 15. Other casinos go by the old school rule that if the dealer has 15 they may not stand, but you are allowed to stand when you want. It pays to know the rules so you can understand what strategy you should be playing. It will also depend on the up card of the dealer.