“What’s that father?” a little boy once asked his father. “Can I play with them?”

The father replied, “No, son, it is not a toy! It is money, my boy!” The boy hurried off to play outside, though, wondering why his father considered those colorful chips as money.

Most children in America grew up with different kinds of colored chips. This colored chips represents money in the casinos. For example, a player who wants to play poker has to buy some chips to be used when betting. And because this is the kind of money that is being used during a game in the casino, particularly poker, others eventually call it poker money.

Poker money comes in various shades of blue, red, and other colors usually seen in the casinos.

In a particular poker game, a player’s poker money account is comprised of real cash and real chips. Normally, players could convert their cash to chips and vice versa. This can be done any time the player wants to do transactions except during a game.

Poker money arrives after a player settles down on a table and is ready to play poker. This poker money, in terms of chips, is being laid out in front of the concerned player.

However, before proceeding into playing poker, every player must make a deposit for his poker money.

In a live poker game where players get to play facing each other, the poker money are converted easily from cash to chips and vice versa on counters provided in the casino.

On the other hand, online poker games have different ways of managing poker money. Most of the online poker websites require their players to have their poker money accounts through deposits. Generally, these can be done into two categories. One category of depositing poker money is through direct methods wherein players use a credit card or draft in order to deposit money. The other category of depositing poker money is through a 3rd party services like NETeller or prepaid ATM which acts like Internet banks. Here, players can do transactions such as depositing poker money and transferring funds to online poker Web sites.

There are six deposit methods usually used when dealing with poker money by means of a 3rd party.

First of its kind is the Neteller. This method of depositing poker money is usually available on many Internet sites. Neteller offers players the choice of cashing out directly poker money into their account. Opening a Neteller account is like having an online wallet.

The other method you could consider is the MyCitadel wherein online poker players need not check their mails for drafts. MyCitadel is a payment system that manages US and Canadian customers mostly catering to poker money related matters. Here, poker players can have their poker money by purchasing chips online.

Then there is the FirePay, a Web based cash account. FirePay is great site wherein players with fund accounts from a United States bank can directly open a poker money account with them. Funds can be transferred directly from a U.S. bank account.

You also have the option in using a prepaid ATM. The difference with prepaid ATM is that players get to deposit their poker money to an ATM card and not just a Web site. When doing cash outs, it goes directly to your card. And the good thing about it is that the prepaid ATM works with most local ATM machines.

If you are not so convenient in using ATM, you could opt for credit cards. Poker money deposits can be easily managed without having a 3rd party. Or better yet, you could use the bank draft or check wherein your poker money deposits are better secured. Plus most Web sites offer 10% bonus when you deposit poker money through this method.

Last option would be the UseMyBank method wherein it also guarantees secured, fast, and easy transactions. Though, only those who have Canadian online bank accounts can be eligible.

And after you are through making poker money deposit, and maybe playing some hands of poker, there are online poker Web site that will give you a choice if you want to cash out your poker money at once or remove your funds at the site if in case you still want to come back and play. With the six deposit mode mentioned, you can be assured of having your poker money, whether chips or cash, remain exactly like you left them.

So, when the time comes you have finally decided to play poker online or in a live poker room in the casino, try to think of ways how to manage your poker money. After all, those chips are not just plain plastics. Poker money is exactly the reason why you have played poker in the first place.

By: Nicholas Tan

Online poker room is a good place to test your basic skills and define the best live poker game playing strategy for yourself. At the Internet poker room table you would have to play against possibly more skilled opponents.

The first and the main live poker game tip on our list is: do your homework, study the basic poker rules, memorize all possible poker hands, visit Internet poker forums, read books on poker, chat with other poker card players.

Then try a few FREE versions of an Internet poker room game at our sister site: 3-hand, 5-hand, Caribbean Stud, Texas Holdem Poker, Video Poker. They all are fun to play!

Take full advantage of live poker game deposit bonuses at the Internet poker room you choose. Almost all Internet poker rooms offer deposit bonuses for new poker players, usually from $30 to $50. 

Place a limit on the money you are going to gamble with before you start playing live poker game.

When playing a poker game, analyze the playing habits and poker playing strategies used by your opponents at the Internet poker room table.

As a beginner do not play too many poker hands, you will be sure to loose. Play only the higher value starting hands.

With chosen low poker limits you can play live poker game for several hours for less than the cost of a movie ticket. So even if you lose a little, think of the expense as a small payment for a nicely spent evening.

Play online poker games at your present mastery level. If you are just a beginner poker card player, do not rush into Internet poker room tournaments, your time will come after months of improving your skill in numerous live poker games.

Learn how to fold a poker hand and when. Fold if you have nothing in your hand, do not be afraid to fold poker hands as many times as necessary.

Becoming a successful player by mastering the art of choosing starting poker hands, employing pot odds, and aggressively betting your winning hands.

By: Stan

From the inception of playing poker online, the game has undergone a change for life. Mortar and brick casino games are so saturated with hassles for a novice who’s playing poker for the first time that it was reserved for the rich businessmen only.

Making online poker available to beginners is a good idea because then they can play the game for fun. The play for fun type of poker doesn’t stop with eradicating the fear that newbie’s feel while playing; it also helps them master the game without causing significant damage to their purses.

– Tracing the game play while playing Fun Online Poker

Novices and beginners are required to track the play. In the usual casino poker, it is more challenging to track plays. While playing the conventional poker, it becomes easy to track ones winnings, although knowing details on every aspect of his game is tough.

One will not be able to know about the entire hand history, but if one wish to, then he or she should make a note after each hand. This makes tracking in the brick and mortar casino poker games very distracting and time consuming.

While playing poker in play for fun format, it becomes easy for novices to track one’s game. Almost all the ‘play for fun’ web sites have an option known as hand history. It is an option that helps a player track all the poker actions that a he / she or his counterpart makes.

This facility of tracking each hand in poker games played online is a boon in disguise in many ways. Almost all the software applications are able to process one’s hand histories in a play for fun type of game, and return’s detailed summaries to every play.

While playing online poker games, tracking plays include not only the exact statistics of every winning and rake. The tallies of every winning and rake are useful for purposes regarding taxes.

This variety of poker also provides the detailed responses of a poker game. The novices who are keen on improving their game may utilize these statistics for identifying their weaknesses.

Such statistics may also help in keeping an eye on ‘leaks’ of player’s in playing for fun poker. When person’s winnings are lost due to a mistake that he committed, it is known as a leak.

Analysis as detailed as this was unavailable earlier in the playing for fun genre of poker.But with the propagation of ‘playing for fun’ type poker, it has become a regular feature among serious players of poker.

– Advantages in Playing for Fun Poker games

A usual tradition in the conventional casinos is that they provide faithful customers with food, accommodations and their merchandise free of cost!

But playing for fun type of poker, which is played online, has introduced a new innovative method to reward their loyal clients. The poker room’s online reward valued customers by means of deposit bonuses. The client is given a bonus code which is to be entered while placing a deposit in an account. This bonus code can either add a percentage or may set an amount of bonus chips in which is added with the original amt of deposit.

Excluding this, many playing for fun poker rooms are hiring important managers who can develop new methods to make their faithful and loyal players happy.

– The playing for fun poker compatibility

Many playing for fun poker rooms comes with Microsoft Windows software that can be easily downloaded. However, such Microsoft software needs a software emulator for it to function on Linux and Mac’s.

However, many playing for fun poker rooms have customers who run their games on a Mac or Linux.

– Poker Portal On the net

The poker portal online is a site that provides info about poker. These poker portals online contains poker news, results of poker tournaments, strategies for poker and reviews about poker.

Many of the poker portals that are on the net contain a very large amount of content that deals with poker; but still there are other sites which are available just to function as mere go-between or conduits to web sites other than it. Such sites contain the regular playing for fun type of poker rooms which helps in molding the beginners and novices to the actual brick and mortar casinos.

By: Abhishek Agarwal