Poker Gremlin

Internet is the place where one can find poker chip retailers in numbers of thousands. Having so many options, it is very important to know what to buy. There are two main types of gaming chips of different origins, which home game players can purchase online. One can find numerous “cheap” Chinese chips as well as more expensive ones which can cost up to 5 to 10 times more, but which come in high quality.

What differentiates trustworthy poker chip retailers from the rest is the “sample” set that most of them sell which is smaller then a regular set and serves as example, to convince you of the quality. When getting sample chips, you need to test them to see how resistant they are.

Inlay Labels

Usually custom chips have a stick on or printed label. It is important that the label does not get pulled off by a nervous fingernail during a game. So what you can do is try to peel the label off either with the fingernail or with a knife.

If it is of high quality, the label won’t scratch off. Also do the water test. Dip the chip in water and leave out for the night. This way you can see how the material behaves in wet conditions, which happen a lot during a poker game when drinks are involved. You should also check whether the labels are centered on the chip and if the edge spots are lined up with the design of the label. Also see if the label gets easily marked or scratched.

Hot Stamped Chips

This kind of poker chips have a gold text stamped. The text represents either branding or values. It is important that it doesn’t rub off or the golden paint doesn’t transfer to another chip when they rub together. Use a knife or your fingernail to try to scratch the text off.

Edges

Depending on the finish of the poker chip, they can have square edges which can be quite sharp or, quite the contrary, soft edges. The Modern Clay chips have an intended “worn in” look and feeling by having the edges pre-rounded. You can smash the chips against each other with their edges, so you can see if there are dents or marks left on the edges. Denting and marking indicate a quality clay chip, but the marks shouldn’t be too intense or the chip will fast get mutilated. “All in” clay chips are too soft, for instance, so they get quickly damaged.

Stacking / Face Texture

The stacking ability for poker chips is hard to tell from just a few of a certain type. It is usually known that clay chips are better at stacking than the composite or plastic chips, which are a lot cheaper. The plastic ones tend to slip very easy. It is the case of the cheap Chinese chips. The Nevada Jack clay composite chips, on the other hand, can be stacked even a hundred of them and still have no problem.

Online poker is where it’s at and what better way to start your day than poker gaming. OzPoker players can enjoy a fine selection of the very best online poker games, including Texas Hold’em, Razz, Stud, Omaha Hi-Lo, Caribbean Stud Poker and other games. For high rollers, low rollers and straight up poker sharks, the stage is set for contests of note.

Now you can put your skills to the test against fellow players at the 888poker tables with enhanced PokerCam functionality. Sharpen your game at TitanPoker and win one of the massive poker pots up for grabs. With the 42nd Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas winding down, global poker fever is just getting started.

The Asia Pacific Poker Tour 2011 is presently being showcased in the glittering city of Melbourne and it runs thru the end of July 2011. Big players, big action and even bigger pots are there to be enjoyed. Stake your claim to a poker fortune!

Get your game on with freerolls, cash games and Sit & Go’s, with Australian online poker games.

The next opponent of Isildur1 (Viktor Blom) has been announced by PokerStars and it’s going to be Daniel Negreanu. It’s going to be a match which takes 2 days, taking place on March 20th and March 27th. On both occasions, 2,500 hands will be played.

The agreement specifies that they will play No-Limit Hold`em, four table $50/$100. Both Blom and Negreanu will have at their disposal $150,000 to use during this challenge.

In order to prepare for this match, Negreanu has been four-tabling with $5/$10 against other good players over at PokerStars. From the practice sessions he’s up $13,000 right now.

The last showdown match of Isildur1 was done against DodgyFish72, where he won by only a $10 advance.

The Spring Championship of Online Poker from PokerStars will be returning on May 8-22 2011, with a guaranteed $45 million, plus a number of tournaments which will conclude just before the WSOP 2011. Like before, each of these events will have three different buy-in levels. If you got the money, you can choose to play at the same time in all three events with different buy-ins.

The schedule of SCOOP 2011 was released yesterday and it will have between 6 and 9 poker tournaments daily. The end of the series will be on May 22, when there will be 3 main events.

The buy-in event of $109 will come with a $1 million guarantee. The middle one with a buy-in of $1050 will have a guarantee of $3 million. Finally, the high main event which has a buy-in of $10,300, will come with a $5 million guarantee.

After starting 2011 quite well, Erik Seidel does even better now and wins the NBC Heads-Up Championship. After winning $3.6 million in January and February 2011, Seidel got another $750,000 yesterday, while beating Chris Moneymaker, which took home $300,000.

The NBC Heads-Up Championship began on Friday in Las Vegas, at Caesars Palace and there were 64 players in total at the beginning. One of the surprises of the first rounds was Phil Ivey, which was defeated by Daniel Cates (Jungleman12).

Thanks to this win, Seidel is now the top dog on the All Time Money List, with a total of $14,697,297. Previously, Daniel Negreanu was at the top of that list.

Graham Pound of Reading just won the £500 Main Event played at Summer Series event in Luton for £8,740. This was a 5 days event that started off with Guiseppe Fontana winning the £150 No Limit Freezeout. Then Alex Burton beat a field of 69 in the £250 NL Freezeout. Chen Ten won the £250 PL Omaha Double Chance Freezeout before Ian Wilmott took down the £100 NL Hold’em Bounty Freezeout.

Deborah Masson became the first female to win a GUKPT main event. She had the luck to defeated the 33 strong field in the £300 No Limit event. She won £3,670. Other winners were: Alisha Skene (£200 NL Hold’em Freezeout), David Gooch (£150 NL Hold’em Freezeout) and Richard Scott (£100 NL Hold’em Bounty Freezeout).

Tomorrow night, at the fabulous ARIA Resort & Casino at City Center the officially one-table high-limit poker room will be opened for business. It is called “The Ivey Room” and will open May 22nd with an invitation-only $1 million pot where VIP players will have a shot at a $250,000 first-place prize along. There is also a $100,000 bonus for eliminating the room’s namesake, Phil Ivey. There are also 24-hour tableside dining, and a 42” flat-screen television– essential for sweating all those sports bets.