Virgin Games Casino Punter

The Robots in Disguise Are Coming to Virgin Casino – Transformers: Ultimate Payback

virgingamescasino — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:35:25 +0000

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM — 06/19/09 — Virgin Casino today announces the launch of the brand new online slot game, Transformers: Ultimate Payback(TM). The multi-coin slot game offers players the chance to experience an action packed battle between their favourite Transformers complete with authentic characters, voiceovers and the theme song from the cult science-fiction series! Players can reap the rewards along the way with the slot game’s 25-payline configuration, Transforming Wild symbols, free spins and bonus level.

Throughout the base game, players can multiply their winnings into fortunes by making an entire reel wild by revealing Optimus Prime and Megatron Transforming Wild symbols on the second and fourth reels. And if that’s not enough, the Cybertron Variable Wild symbol can offer up to a 10 x line multiplier.

Players can settle the ongoing battle between The Autobots and The Decepticons once and for all with the Ultimate Payback Bonus(TM) which is triggered by bonus symbols landing simultaneously anywhere on the first and fifth reels. Optimus Prime (leader of Autobots) or Megatron (leader of Decepticons) battle when a ‘Fight’ symbol is revealed anywhere on the fifth reel. Before the great battle commences players are tasked with the tough decision of selecting which robot they believe will win. Players can spin for free (maximum 100 spins) until one of the Transformers triumphs and if their chosen hero wins players can cash in on up to 3250 bonus credits.

As with all Virgin Casino games, players can also earn V-POINTS – Virgin Games’ loyalty points – every time they play. Offering players the chance to redeem their points for further Virgin rewards, including Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Miles or cold, hard cash, V-POINTS can be transferred across Virgin Games portfolio of products, including Virgin Poker and Virgin Bingo.

Premium releases including ELVIS – A Little More Action®, Dungeons and Dragons: Fortress of Fortunes(TM), Cleopatra II(TM) and Da Vinci Diamonds® have already been added to Virgin Casino’s portfolio of games. Further big titles will be added to Virgin Games in the coming months, ensuring a constant stream of new and exciting games to keep players’ adrenalin going.

Virgin Casino launched under the Virgin Games brand in June 2004. The site was refreshed in June 2006, providing players with a greater choice of games and additional means of earning bonus points and rewards.

Transformers: Ultimate Payback(TM) is available on www.virgingames.com/casino/

(i) Transformers: Ultimate Payback(TM) is a trademark of IGT in the U.S. and/or other countries, and is used with permission. U.S. and international patents pending.

About Virgin Games

Virgin Games launched in June 2004 and has quickly established itself as one of the leading gaming websites in the UK. Virgin Games comprises four distinct offerings:

- Virgin Casino, part of the Wagerworks network, brings consumers classic casino offerings like blackjack and roulette, as well as great feature slots like Monopoly, Cluedo, Dungeons and Dragons Fortress of Fortunes(TM) and the highly popular MegaJackpots progressive games, with a seeding value of Pounds Sterling 1,500,000

- Virgin Poker, part of the Boss Media network, offers a huge array of games and content for beginners through to experienced pros – as well as the most generous loyalty scheme in the industry

- Virgin Bingo, part of the Virtue Fusion network, offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in the progressive jackpots, as well as Virgin prize bingo and a range of unique Virgin Games bingo games.

Blackjack Deserved of Your Attention

virgingamescasino — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:53:52 +0000

Considered by most as the other card game in a casino, with the main card game being poker, most notably Texas Hold Em poker, Blackjack, in one form or another, is one of the oldest card games in the world. Once only comprising of one basic game, where the player would have to have a hand of cards that totaled 21, anything over and they were bust, anything under and if the dealer had a higher total under 21, they lost, there have been many different variations of the game brought into the public light in recent years.

The game of Elimination Blackjack is one of the newest Blackjack variations and although it is expected to become popular in offline casinos, it is only currently available on a minimal amount of online casinos.

The main aim of this variation is to simply have more chips than ones fellow players. In theory, this is an easy task to accomplish. However, there are several twists and turns along the way to make this task slightly more difficult.

For example, most Elimination Blackjack games are played for a set amount of hands, generally 30 and as the title would suggest, players are eliminated throughout these 30 hands. The way players are eliminated is that there is a set amount of elimination hands in the game and when one of these hands has finished, the player with the least amount of chips is removed from the game. Therefore, not only do players have to ensure that they have more chips than their competitors at the end of the game, but if they have the lowest amount at the incorrect time, they will lose their place completely in the game.

Although elimination hands do vary upon the casino where the game is played, they are generally noted as being hands number 8, 16 and 25.

One of the main differences between this variation of Blackjack and regular Blackjack is that whilst in the latter the player plays against the house, Elimination Blackjack requires the player to play against the house and other players. As this is the case, the game becomes much more of a strategic one and allows for more thought to be taken when deciding on betting strategies and the risks involved in some hands. Although not possible to bluff, it is feasible to be able to ensure that a player is in a worse position when the Elimination Hands come around.

Whilst standard Blackjack is not really known as a popular and regularly played tournament game, the elimination variation is and it is becoming increasingly prevalent in online casinos. It is widely believed that as poker tournaments can often take up a large amount of a players time, especially as there are no set time scales, this variation of Blackjack is becoming preferred as it is a much quicker game, with a standard amount of hands that are to be dealt. This allows for more people to play, as they can estimate an approximate length of time that will be spent playing in the tournament.

Play Blackjack online with Virgin Games provide gaming services worldwide -

Casino,

Bingo and

Poker games.

Popular Online Casino Games A little run through

virgingamescasino — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:52:55 +0000

In recent years, online casinos have blossomed from a once dreary and unattractive playing ground for only seasoned professionals, into an area that is safe and inviting and allows everyone, regardless of age, assuming that they are above the legal gambling age, ability, budget or game choice to play.

When online casinos first became popular in the late 1990s, it was difficult to find a casino offering a variety of games, as most only offered two or three variations of poker. However, online casino companies soon began to realise that due to the increased popularity of online poker and casino games in general, partially due to the television coverage they were receiving, they had to increase the spectrum of online casino games offered. A decade on and it is now almost impossible to enter an online casino and not be able to play every type of casino game available. Poker, roulette, keno, slots, they are all covered and the majority of the time provide an extremely realistic gaming environment.

Poker, more specifically Texas Hold Em poker, will always be at the forefront of the online casino game world. Relatively easy to play and with a table to suit everyone, the game of Texas Hold Em poker is the reason why casinos, both online and offline, are as popular as they are today. Of course, it is not to everyones taste and some of the more laid back games, such as blackjack and roulette, are at top of the most played games list on some online casinos.

Played online properly, blackjack can be an extremely lucrative game. With no distractions from people or unwanted sounds, it can be very easy, if played strategically, to put the odds on the players side, rather than for the house and take home a large amount of money. Whilst it is not guaranteed, like all casino games, it is possible and many people make a living from playing online blackjack.

One of the more popular types of online casino games, aside from poker, is the chance or risk based games. Bingo, keno and roulette are all games that require almost no previous skill. All three games are based around the old game of lotto in which a set of numbers are chosen on a piece of paper and then a standard amount of balls are selected, if they match up, the player wins. Roulette is without doubt the most popular of these games within a casino and many people have tried to beat the roulette system. Practically impossible as it is purely a game of chance with no skill involved, the best way to play online roulette is the same way many play it offline, pick a handful of numbers and let the roulette ball do the rest.

Online casinos are a great way to play both traditional and modern casino games and with the introduction of lifelike environments in which people can create their own online persona, it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell the difference between an offline and online casino.

Play Online Casino Games online with Virgin Games provide gaming services worldwide -

Casino,

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Poker games.

Poker For Free – Where To Play and How

virgingamescasino — Wed, 27 May 2009 09:53:51 +0000

Free Poker – How to and Where

For decades, poker has been at the forefront of the casino and gambling scene. From its menial beginnings in saloons, to the multi-million pound industry that it is today, it forms an integral part of the gambling world.

The majority of people who play poker regularly play for money. However, there are several ways to be able to play completely free poker. Of course, any real monetary winnings might be non-existent or minimal at best, but free poker provides a fantastic insight into the way the game is played.

Join an online casino –

The easiest way to play free poker is to sign up to one of the many online casinos when they have promotions on. Some run weekly promotions, whilst others only offer them periodically, however the majority almost always offer some form of free chips bonus. Some smaller casinos will offer a free amount of chips if a set amount of money is deposited, whilst larger and more established casinos will simply provide a free amount of chips once a free signup has been completed. For both, the chips generally have to be gambled a set amount of times before they can be withdrawn.

Play the free poker games

Often most popular on online casinos (although some offline casinos offer them occasionally), there are several free roll games that have a free buy-in, but a cash reward. Furthermore, the reward will occasionally be a free buy-in to a larger tournament. Whilst the player will have to provide their own money to play with, the initial outset of the buy-in can help raise the funds needed considerably.

Simply play for fun –

Some online casinos or poker rooms *Virgin Games being one) have their own set, dedicated area for free play games, in which players – as long as they signup to the casino (which is usually free) – can play as many hands of poker as they like, using ‘play’ money. Any winnings earned are in ‘play’ money and cannot be withdrawn. Ideal for new players, it is also a great area to practice a new strategy instead of taking the risk and using it in a real money game environment.

Be a sponsored poker player

There are some poker players who are sponsored by friends, colleagues or business partners to play poker. Not highly recommended unless everything is discussed properly beforehand, it should only be carried with someone who is an experienced poker player who understands poker strategy and someone who knows the risks involved. In its basic form, the way it works is that a person gives his poker playing friend £500 to play poker with, with the guarantee that he will be returned with at least £600 and agrees that the poker player will keep 25% of the total winnings. Although often tedious, if the poker player is experienced enough and plays to a set strategy, they could turn that £500 into £1000 very quickly, paying the investor back £750 and keeping £250 for themselves. This process takes a lot of trust and should only happen if the investor can afford to spare the money.

Blackjack Skill Chance Popularity History

virgingamescasino — Thu, 21 May 2009 09:33:31 +0000

Seen as one of the most popular casino games around, second only to Texas Hold Em poker, Blackjack is a fascinating game that has been played, in one form or another, for hundreds of years.

Dating back to the middle 1600s, although an exact origin is not known, the game of Veintiuna, Spanish for 21, was being played in Castile, generally by lower class citizens. The aim of Veintiuna was exactly the same as Blackjack is today, which is to have a hand worth 21 in value, without going over, known as going bust. The only difference in these days was that the game was played with a Spanish deck of cards, which lack the number 10 cards.

Veintiuna, or Vingt et un, as it was called in France in later years, was brought to North America throughout the 1800s. Although an easy game to play, it never really caught on at first. However, as most casinos could see the potential for the game, especially in their favour, a lot of casinos began to try to increase the popularity of the game by offering bonuses depending on the hand which won the game. One of these bonuses was given to any player whose hand consisted of the ace of spades and either the Jack of spades or the Jack of clubs, both black jacks, this winning hand coined the term Blackjack and began to be a nickname for this new game.

One of the reasons why Blackjack is such a popular game and has been since people became aware of the game, is due to its variety in play, making it suitable for card players of all abilities. For beginner Blackjack players, the game is extremely simple, have your cards dealt and then if you feel you are far enough away from 21 in value, take another card. If not, then stick. Playing Blackjack this way is almost solely based on chance, with a small amount of skill involved. However, for the more experienced and seasoned professional Blackjack players, the game can become much more skillful. For example, players can split hands, double down or look at the probability of a certain card being dealt next, a skill known as card counting that has thrown Blackjack into the public light on many occasions.

Card counting is the act of counting and memorising the cards that have been dealt out onto the table. With these cards in mind, skillful players can have an educated guess to which cards may be dealt next, giving them much more of an advantage over other players who are not card counting. Popularised in many films, most recently 21 which sees a group of MIT students travel to Las Vegas after becoming professionals at card counting and win millions of dollars by using their skill.

For centuries Blackjack has been a popular game around the world. Varying in name and some more detailed rules depending upon the geographical area, the game of Blackjack is one that any one can play, regardless of ability or experience, with the opportunity ( similar to poker )to take away substantial sums of money.

Virgin Games Partners with the Independant Newspaper

virgingamescasino — Thu, 07 May 2009 06:15:34 +0000

Virtual casinos bring the game right to your laptop. As The Independent launches its own poker league, Rob Sharp discovers why online gambling is becoming an even bigger deal

Wednesday, 6 May 2009

In a dusty room that has never seen the light of day, a concerned-looking man sits nervously behind a computer screen. He takes a moment to assess another man, who sits at a terminal nearby. They are locked into an anxious battle of wills. The first man looks his opponent slowly up and down, before quietly clicking on the computer mouse beside him.The two men are showcasing Virgin Games Poker, Virgin’s online poker gaming website, at Aspers, a casino in central Newcastle.

There are few things that would tempt out journalists on such a drab day in the North East, but online poker is big business. One million people gamble using the controversial card game in the UK each year, part of a global industry worth over £1bn. By logging on to virgingames.com or PokerStars.com competitors can emulate their poker-playing heroes from the comfort of their bedrooms. An increase in the tax on poker profits from 15 to 50 per cent, announced in last month’s Budget, will clip the wings of traditional poker operators. But many online poker companies, including Virgin Poker, are based offshore and are thus exempt.

While encouraging people to gamble responsibly, today The Independent, in a joint venture with Virgin Poker, launches its own poker league via independent.co.uk. “Nowadays there are over half a million regular online poker players logging on and playing,” says Joe Legge, poker product manager at Virgin Games. “For some, it’s their profession but for most it’s a form of entertainment that is mentally stimulating and doesn’t have to involve risking a lot of money. The Independent’s poker league is a great extension of our commitment to the social side of poker playing.”Steph Boyd, from Darvel near Glasgow, known simply by the gaming moniker of “mole man”, is one of the people who relies on poker playing online for his entire income, not just for entertainment.

In 2006, his first year of professional play, he claims to have made £1.5m. “It’s a great lifestyle, it’s a great job,” he says, sat at a traditional poker table close to the online gamers in Newcastle. “To be honest, there are not a lot of other jobs I could do. Before I turned professional I worked as a fitness instructor, but then I made a serious amount of money in a very short space of time.” Three years ago, he created a bank account and deposited into it £1,000 to fund his poker. Soon he was able to regularly withdraw a monthly salary of £200. Before long he gave up his job to turn to poker full-time. Needless to say, for every poker tale of rags to riches there is another ending in ruin.

Former mayor Jayne Yeomans was jailed last month for stealing almost £65,000 to fund her online poker addiction. In an effort to cover her tracks, the 49-year-old forged her husband’s signature and remortgaged their house to raise £25,000 to pay some of it back. Kara Scott, who hosts the television coverage online of the PokerStars European Poker tour, plays at least three hours of online poker a day. She thinks cases such as Yeomans’ are not representative and give a misleading impression of the world of online poker players. “I think there are people out there with really addictive personalities who get addicted to anything,” she says. “Some people are always going to take it too far.

Thankfully, there are organisations out there [such as GamCare.org.uk] you can get in touch with. And with most online poker sites you can select the option to deny yourself. You effectively tell the site about your problem and they will block you for six months or a year so that you can’t get back on.” As a condition of handing out poker licenses, the British government’s Gambling Commission insists poker companies encourage socially responsible gambling. Operators must verify people’s ages before allowing them to play (in the UK players must be 18 or over) and provide as much information about socially responsible gambling on their websites as possible.

Players are encouraged to contact a charity such as GamCare if they feel they have an unhealthy interest in online gambling (or are using it to escape from their problems, become restless when they are not playing, or continually try to stop but can’t). Virgin Games is licenced and regulated by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission, the Channel Islands’ own regulatory body for poker. Boyd is confident that for him, gambling is only a positive thing, and that he has found a way of making his online habit work for him. “My priorities are my wife and three kids. I have luckily been able to buy a new house and that is a great thing to have at my stage in life. My online poker playing is a wee bit of fun.

So far, it has been very good to me. It just seems to be common sense for me to keep going. My wife went to university three years ago and hopes to start a new job in finance. All in all, she has been very supportive.”Playing at home also has advantages for Scott. “I can see how coming to somewhere like Newcastle to compete in a traditional poker tournament with lots of burly men might be intimidating to some women,” she says. “That fear is definitely circumnavigated by playing online. And you do get a few men who do some really inappropriate things. Yesterday there was a drunk man among the crowd of people asking for my autograph. He asked me to autograph his penis. I said no. What I should have said is, ‘Do you want me to initial it?’”

Poker people: Winners and losers

* Chris Moneymaker, an American accountant, won a seat at the 2003 World Series of Poker after playing a satellite tournament in the PokerStars online poker room. It cost him $39 to enter the first game; he ended up netting the $2.5m first prize at the global tournament. “It’s a contentious issue whether poker is actually gambling,” he says.

* Zachary Gruneberg, a 19-year-old player from Pennsylvania, dropped out of university last month to pursue a career as a professional poker player. In January he won $250,000 at Australia’s 2009 Aussie Millions Poker Championship. He’s too young to gamble legally in the US, so instead, he spends his time playing online. “There’d be days where I’d play 10-plus hours of poker online at school,” he says. “While you’re playing, you can do so much other stuff. You can watch a TV show, talk to your friends, be on Facebook. It’s all about multi-tasking.”

* Roy ‘the Boy’ Brindley, born in Dorking, Surrey, left a career training greyhounds to win £1m in online poker over an eight-year period. In his autobiography, ‘Life’s a Gamble’, he admits that gambling addiction has rendered him homeless at points in his life. Nevertheless: “To me, it’s massively satisfying. I was never good at sports and was 30 when I discovered a game that I could win at,” he says.

* Christopher Proudfoot, a finance controller, siphoned £1m of his employer’s money into his bank account between December 2004 and January 2008 to fund his habit. The 28-year-old fraudster, who now lives with his parents in Inverness, pleaded guilty in February to embezzling the cash. “The problem with some of these sites is when you win big they have their own way of getting it back,” he says. “When you’ve won a fair amount of money you can’t easily get it back. They don’t let you withdraw without letting everyone you are playing with know, so you carry on competing.”

Dungeons and Dragons Slots from Virgin games

virgingamescasino — Fri, 01 May 2009 09:17:10 +0000

Virgin Casino launches new slot game, Dungeons & Dragons: Fortress of Fortunes™ -

London, xx April 2009 - Virgin Casino today announces the launch of the brand new online slots game, Dungeons & Dragons: Fortress of Fortunes™ – a multi-coin slot game offering players the chance to enter a fantasy world in the form of a legendary hero in search of immense riches. Players can cash in along the way with its 20 payline configuration, free spins and multipliers as well as super-rich reels with stacked wilds®.

The ultimate prize lies behind the gates of the Fortress of Fortunes™ Bonus dungeon – to unlock and enter players must receive three or more Bonus symbols anywhere on the reel. It’s then down to the legendary hero to explore the dungeon, uncover treasures and battle monsters in search of free spins and multipliers. And the action doesn’t stop there – the fantasy adventure is completed in the Fortress Free Spins™ Bonus where the reels are enriched with Stacked Wilds® and the bonus paytable is boosted with higher top rewards and many more ways to win. During the Free Spins Bonus if three or more Bonus symbols appear anywhere on the reels the Free Spins Bonus is re-triggered and a maximum of 180 free spins can be awarded. Additionally, line up Bonus Stacked Wilds® and reap the benefits of multiple top awards!

As with all Virgin Casino games, players can also earn V*Points – Virgin Games’ loyalty points – every time they play. Offering players the chance to redeem their points for further Virgin rewards, including Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Miles or cold, hard cash, V*Points can be transferred across Virgin Games portfolio of products, including Virgin Poker and Virgin Bingo.

Premium releases including ELVIS – A Little More Action®, Cleopatra II™ and Da Vinci Diamonds® have already been added to Virgin Casino’s portfolio of games. Further big titles such as Dungeons & Dragons will be added to Virgin Games in the coming months, ensuring a constant stream of new and exciting games to keep players’ adrenalin going.

Dungeons & Dragons: Fortress of Fortunes™ is available to play now on www.virgingames.com/casino/

-Ends-

* Dungeons & Dragons: Fortress of Fortunes™ is a trademark of IGT in the U.S. and/or other countries, and is used with permission. U.S. and international patents pending.

About Virgin Games

Virgin Games, a subsidiary of Virgin.com Ltd, launched in June 2004 and has quickly established itself as one of the leading gaming websites in the UK. Virgin Games comprises three distinct entertainment offerings, giving consumers the chance to play their favourite online games the Virgin way:

Virgin Casino, part of the Wagerworks network, provides a taste of Vegas online, with classic casino offerings like blackjack and roulette, as well as popular feature slots like Elvis, Cleopatra and Vegas, Baby!
Virgin Poker, part of the Boss Media network, offers a huge array of games and content for beginners through to experienced pros – as well as the most generous loyalty scheme in the industry. The successful Virgin Poker Festivals, which take place in casinos around the UK throughout the year, now allow gamers to experience the fun of Virgin Poker offline too
Virgin Bingo, part of the St Minver network, offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in the progressive jackpots, as well as regular promotions and an unrivalled loyalty scheme

Poker and that big bad credit crunch

virgingamescasino — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 13:48:24 +0000

Lots of people around the planet are being affected by recession, known more commonly as the credit crunch.

Everyone, regardless of whether they are multi-national company or a single person living alone, are tightening their belts to try and get through this difficult financial period in time.

To some, understanding that poker has seen a rise popularity recently, may come as a bit of a shock. To many people, poker is seen as simply throwing money away whilst playing cards – money which could be spent elsewhere. However, what many people don’t actually realise is that playing poker online could actually ease the financial burden that this downturn is causing.

The first and foremost factor people have to appreciate is that it is only poker that money should be played and not casino games of any choice. The reason behind this is that regardless of what non-players will say, poker is almost primarily a game of skill and nous. This means that whilst some luck is involved – as with all sporting games – poker can be won by playing to a good strategy. It may take some time to recover any losses incurred at the start, or to make a large profit, especially with the temptation of playing outside of the strategy when one appears to be on a winning streak, but it is possible to predict approximately; how much extra could be brought in by playing poker efficiently.

A prime example of this is Peter Eastgate, the 2008 World Series of Poker winner. Playing poker predominantly online as a favourite past time, Peter Eastgate went, in a matter of months, from being an amateur, online poker player to the winner of the most prestigious event on the poker calendar. Taking home a gigantic amount of $9,152,416, any of Eastgate’s potential financial worries were set aside as he played rigidly to a poker strategy,

For many people completely new to the game, playing poker might seem somewhat adventurous, especially to those who have never played a card game in their life. However, the internet is packed full of websites that feature masses of free information on how to play this wonderful game. Self-teaching the basics, the next step is to move on to some ‘play-money’ tables online and see the results. Working to a set basic poker strategy (for example, folding on any cards that are lower than a certain value), any amateur online poker player, individually or at a tournamentcan soon be earning an additional, tax-free income by playing poker.

With a lot of spare time on people’s hands due to financial constraints and more and more casinos offering some fantastic incentives – most notably free money after a minimal deposit – people are learning to play poker at a faster rate than has been seen in many years. It may take a while to learn and become an effective poker player, but the world of

Texas Holdem Poker – Straight from the heart of Texas

virgingamescasino — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:58:52 +0000

Often cited as one of the most popular versions of the casino card game poker, Texas Hold Em is played around the world by people of all ages.

Young or old, new or experienced and for real money or play money, Texas Hold ‘Em is one of the best types of poker to play – and can be very profitable if one plays well

Known commonly as simply ‘Hold ‘Em’, Texas Hold ‘Em’s history can be dated back effectively to the early 1900’s to Robstown, Texas, United States of America. Whilst most believe that the game’s history reaches further back than this, the early 1900’s were when the state of Texas officially recognised Texas Hold ‘Em as a card game.

During the following years, Texas Hold ‘Em became massively popular and by the mid-1960’s it had reached the hallowed gambling ground of Las Vegas. Unbeknown to most at the time, Texas Hold ‘Em was to become the biggest played card game in the world. However, there were a few people who could see the game’s potential, most famously Crandell Adlington, a well-known gambler who said when he first saw Texas Hold ‘Em being played in the late 1950’s, he realised that if it were to be taken to the masses, it would become the number one game to play.

Somewhat surprisingly, Texas Hold ‘Em poker wasn’t overly popular at first in Las Vegas. Played only in small game rooms in casinos that were mostly off The Strip, this actually proved vital to the game’s future success. Due to the lack of popularity in the beginning, many professional poker players such as Amarillo Slim and Doyle Brunson studied the game and became experts, beating almost everyone who they played against. Seeing the amounts of money this duo was winning and the amount of people following the two players, casino’s along The Strip started paying more attention to Texas Hold ‘Em and more and more tables were being opened up for dedicated Texas Hold ‘Em games. By the middle of the 1980’s, Texas Hold ‘Em was dominating the Las Vegas poker scene and was becoming increasingly popular, for the first time since its origin, outside of the state of Nevada.

One of the primary reasons why so many people love Texas Hold ‘Em is that it is not simply a gambling game. Due to the four opportunities of betting throughout the game, it is possible for players to operate much more strategically and therefore have the chance to earn a great deal of money much more quickly against newer Texas Hold ‘Em players.

There are many different tactics that professional Texas Hold ‘Em players put into practice, each varying slightly from the last. From taking count of their chance of winning the hand from the pre-flop, players will then continue to look at their odds of winning throughout each hand, bluffing where necessary. It has to be noted that most professional Texas Hold ‘Em players will study and memorise their chances of winning the hand prior to playing regularly, which is one of the primary mistakes most amateur-professional players make.

London Lad Strikes It Lucky Playing Poker!

virgingamescasino — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:32:12 +0000

Following the success of last year’s poker festival in the city, Virgin Poker held its second Newcastle poker event at Aspers Casino over the weekend. Over 200 poker enthusiasts took part in the exciting two-day live tournament setting sights on the impressive prize pot of over £30,000.

Having won a place at the tournament via a €150 buy-in at Virgin Poker, players at the main event took part in a Texas Hold’em No Limit Freezeout extravaganza to compete for their share of the prize pot. Ross Javis, London based journalist who writes for Poker Player magazine was the chip leader as he entered the final table and maintained his lead throughout the final leg securing him the Virgin Poker festival title and the impressive top prize of £7,000. Kris McLackland from Newcastle put up a good fight and walked away with second place prize money of £5,500.

To add a Virgin twist to the tournament, players in the main event were given the chance to knock-out professional poker opponents whose heads carried bounties of fantastic Virgin giveaways. Prizes included Virgin Rally Driving Days & Virgin Hot Air Ballooning.

For those not lucky enough to win a seat in the main tournament, there were a variety of side events on offer to give everyone the opportunity to get involved – regardless of their poker playing abilities. Practice tables offered ‘live play classes’ for less experienced players, whilst a Wii bowling battle for those who still wanted to prove their competitive streak.

Joe Legge, Poker Manager for Virgin Poker, said: “It was great to return to Aspers Casino for a second time and bring the fun of the Virgin Games experience to the people of Newcastle. Local residents, poker professionals and the Virgin Games staff entered into the spirit of the weekend and dressed to impress – outfits included, Newcastle football strip, a Las Vegas show girl and another wore a horse’s head to celebrate the Grand National. It’s all slightly crazy but all part of the fun and what makes the festivals such a great experience!’

For further images and information on the Virgin Poker Festivals visit www.virgingames.com/poker/festival.aspx

- Ends -

Main Event – Winners

Place	Prize	Winner
1^st	£7,000	Ross Jarvis
2^nd	£5,500	Kris McLackland
3^rd	£4,000	Andy Edgington
4^th	£3,000	Brian Clarke
5^th	£2,500	Richard Potts
6^th	£2,000	John Crawford
7^th	£1,500	Krzysztof Zawierucha
8^th	£1,000	Dave O’Connor
9^th	£750	Glenn Hopley
10^th	£400	Simon Kinnaird

Player Bounties – Winners

Player	Bounty	Winner
Maria Demetriou	Guaranteed Entry to a £100K Tourney on Virginpoker.com	Kris MaLackland
Shelley Rubenstein	Guaranteed Entry to a £100K Tourney on Virginpoker.com	Anthony Cross
Kara Scott	£150 Virgin Voucher	The Mole
Nick Wealthall	£150 Virgin Voucher	Kris MaLackland