My First Online Texas Holdem Tournament

Ok, my first tourney was over pretty fast. The game play is different than the usual online poker match as there always seems to be someone going all in, so to just stay in a hand to see what may come up is not possible. If you stay out of most hands you will last longer but eventually you will run out of chips as the ante keeps going up plus the big blind and little blind get higher every few minutes. I think my first tourney lasted 20 minutes before I got caught playing what I thought was a good hand and went all in against someone who had been going all in every hand and winning. I thought his luck would run out against me. I had two queens dealt me when I went up against the winner, I got one more on the flop giving me three of a kind. I figured this hand was mine since no cards showing were higher than a queen until the last card which was a king. I mean, what are the odds in one hand two people would be dealt a pair with the first two cards? Apparently the other guy had been dealt two kings on the draw, which sucked for me. So what did I learn in my first tourney play? Luck plays a big part in these tourneys so I wouldn't be plunking down a lot of money on them until you get some experience under your belt by playing in freeplay tournaments which run almost every day at different times on Sportsbook.com. You'll get some experience and have a chance to win gold cards and chips during the games which you can use to enter tourneys or spend on bonus items on the site.

See you at the tables,

Joe

 

Sportsbook.com Start up

In this post I'll go over the startup steps for Sportsbook.com in case someone needs them.

Sportsbook.com Poker offers you a 100% Deposit Bonus and a free seat into a weekly $500 Freeroll tournament to every new poker player on their first deposit!


1. Click on the Sportsbook.com link
2. Click the Poker button.
3. Download and install the software
4.Click the Sportsbook.com shortcut which should be showing on your screen after the install.
5.In the upper right hand corner of the site click Join Sportsbook.com
6.After you create your account you can claim your bonus by following these steps.

(This bonus is for poker only and can only be earned out through the poker room.)

7. Login to your Sportsbook.com Poker account.

8. Make a real money purchase. (You can use Visa, MasterCard or other methods outlined on the site)

9. Click on the *Rewards tab* then the *Deposit Bonus tab* in the poker lobby.

10. Enter the code FIRST100 into the bonus code box on this page. 

I messed up when I made my first deposit because I made a deposit (Before I installed the software.)
I still got my bonus but had to take a few more steps, so install the software first.

100% bonus

Once the system confirms that the code is correct your bonus money will be credited to your pending bonus account. Your Pending Bonus account balance and the number of days you have remaining to earn it out will be displayed on this same page.

Your bonus will not be credited all at once, it is credited to you earn your bonus only by playing on the site .

    When you have bonus money sitting in your pending bonus balance you can earn it back by playing in real money ring or tournament games.


When you play for real money you’ll earn Frequent Player Points (FPP). Each FPP that you earn is worth $0.06 towards your bonus. Once you’ve earned $10 worth of bonus money, the funds are removed from your Pending Bonus account and added to your Sportsbook.com regular balance.


This will continue until your pending bonus account reaches $0. Note that your last payout could be less than $10 if the remaining amount in your pending bonus is less than $10.



Please note that you only have 90 days (dated from the creation of the Pending Bonus) to earn back that bonus. Otherwise, you will lose your bonus.



$500 Freeroll Tournament seat

Along with your bonus money you’ll also receive a tournament seat that allows you to play in one of our weekly ‘Welcome Freeroll’ tournaments that features a $500 prize pool. These are FREE to enter and only available to brand new members who have made a real money purchase. These ‘Welcome Freeroll” tournaments will run every Wednesday at 10:30pm ET.



To redeem your tournament seat, go to the PRIVATE tab before the tournament start time. Double click on the “Welcome Freeroll” and click register.


I recomend looking thru the site and reading the SportsTutorial it will answer most of your questions and give you a good understanding of how the site works.
This site has a lot to offer in addition to poker.

You can bet on:

1. Pachinko - NFL,Pachinko MLB, Pachinko NBA, TVPoker, Super Hi Lo Bonus, Simplified Hi Lo
2. Blackjack - Multiplayer BlackjackBlackjack SwitchSpanish BlackjackBlackjack Super 7´sBlackjack 52Mini Blackjack
3. TV Poker - Three Card Poker, Casino Hold´em, Pai Gow Poker, Free RideShowdown Poker, Poker Dice, Deuces Wild, Jacks or Better, Jokers Wild, Video Poker Side Bet
4. American Roulette, European Roulette, Mini Roulette
5. Progressive Slots -  Reel Sports, Club Seduction, Sunken Treasure, Hot Rod, Tropical Island, Hook Line Sinker, Rock & Slots
6. Bonus Slots - The Slot Father, Gladiator, Mad Scientist, Aztek Treasure II, Three Wishes, The Glam Life, Treasure Room, The Heist 

There's More:

• Baccarat - Sic Bo
• Craps
• Jackpot slots - Club Seduction, Caribbean Stud, Free Ride, Sunken Treasure, Hot Rod, Tropical Island, Reel Sports
• Skratch cards - Poker Scratch, Slamm Jamm, End Zone, Game Day, Pieces of Eight,Donut Dollar, The Pitch, Penguin Party 
• Virtual  Sports- Football Frenzy, Virtual Derby, Touchdown Frenzy - Pachinko
• Entertainment Games - Super Hi Lo Bonus, Simplified Hi Lo, Red Dog, Battle Royale, Super HiLo,Wheel of Fortune, Sic Bo

I hope I've given you an idea of what the site is all about. .......

My next post I'll go over my first tournament and playing on the site.

See you on the tables,

Joe

Poker Start Up: Finding A Game

Welcome to (Texas Holdem Poker with Joe)

My Blog, discussing my start at playing Poker online. Join me as I try to make my mark on the Poker World. Follow my blog to find out if I make it to the top (Las Vegas) or go all in one too many times. Hopefully we'll all have some fun and learn something new! I plan on reviewing various sites and games as I try my hand at the hottest game on the internet.

Texas Holdem Poker

My Starting point is SportsBook.com

So far they are the only site I've found that a credit card will actually work to start an account. At all of the sites I've checked out with the exception of Sportsbook.com. You need to make deposit's via check or other means (Most sites will help you make a deposit),So don't think you can't play for stakes on other sites. You can and I'll review them in future blogs along with the process of getting started on them. There are too many opportunities at different sites including some great tournaments that you can play in. So I'll cover all I can.

 

For ease of startup I've chosen Sportsbook.com

The Welcome bonus at SportsBook.com is about 10% of First Deposit. 100% First Deposit bonus up to $650.00 for Poker play, plus a free entry in their new player tournament which is a plus, (Its Free!) The tourney is quite fun easy to play and has a top prize of $500.00. It's fun playing for real stakes. The controls are very easy to master, within a couple of minutes you feel like an old pro.

 

You can control the amount you spend by picking a variety of ongoing (Ring) games and scheduled tourneys, costing only pennies per hand up to the real big money if that's your game. There is really something for everyone who likes to relax with a little gaming but doesn't want to fly to Vegas or NJ or drive to the nearest casino for some well deserved fun. I'll keep you updated on the sites and games I find so check back to see what I uncover and together we'll find the most bang for our buck and maybe even win a big one.

See you at the table;

Joe

The Poker Journey Starts here !

Welcome to Texas Holdem with Joe !

This Blog will chronicle my Start up and Journey thru the online Poker Sites
as I Learn the game as played online and try to make it thru to my dream destitanation Las Vegas.

I'll review Sites to help players up their games. Plus News,Guides, andProducts to help your game. Each Poker site I play on I'll review for you, including instructions on how to get started.

I'll start with $25 in my account and see how far that takes me on each site.
Join me in my quest to gain a berth in a Las Vegas Tournament.

Together we'll all learn something about the game. See you at the Tables !

Joe