Every poker player has a poker story (or two!) to tell other players about bad beat they received online or offline. Bad beats happen because poker is a game of chance; in the end, even the least probable outcome is a mathematical possibility. Also, players often forget to take into account the shifting probabilities that emerge as each betting round passes and more cards are dealt. A hand that is an overwhelming favorite to take down the pot before the flop, turn, or river is just a favorite. Better probabilities and odds at the start don’t guarantee a win all the time.

The number of bad beats received depends on the number of hands played by a player in a day/week/month  or a year . Greater the number of hands you play, faster do the chances of getting a bad beat increase. For a poker player to receive a bad beat is roughly the equivalent of a boxer, apparently getting the better of his opponent, being staggered by a sudden hard punch. It is not enough in itself to knock the victim out, but it can set him up for the final defeat; the pugilist would swing his fists wildly, anger clouding his better judgment and training, missing more than he lands, and possibly opening himself up to a more potent attack. The poker player at the receiving end of a bad beat too acts in a somewhat similar manner, as he forgets all about skillful play and basically starts going all out hoping for a lucky break. In poker lingo, it’s called going on a tilt.

It doesn’t have to be that way, however, if you train yourself for the possibility of such a situation. Just as a strong chin would help the boxer from our example remain in control despite a temporary setback, a calm, cool head in a bad beat situation would help many a poker  player.

There’s an oft parroted caveat by players that in online poker, the chances of getting a bad beat are greater than in offline games, which couldn’t actually be further from the truth. It isn’t hard to understand what gives people that idea, though. As we’ve said before, players  increase their chances of getting a bad beat as they play more and more hands. Online games are faster and some players even play on multiple tables at once. In an hour, a player plays 60 to 70 hands on an average, whereas while playing live games you end up playing, on an average, 15 to 20 hands in an hour. So if a player  would get one bad beat in a live game the chances are more than 2 times a player will get online, and if a player is playing on more than one table online, the chances multiply.

On a side note, online poker is completely fair and safe, as the cards dealt are completely random, thanks to the Random Number Generator (RNG) component that is, to put it simply, the heart of the online poker software. Players with little knowledge about the basic workings of online poker software are prone to crying foul about the ‘fairness’ of the system when they are losing, while the real reason may simply be that they’re on a tilt and playing irrationally. However, the fact is that if you have taken due care in checking out the operator’s credentials and their software certifications, there’s no reason for you to doubt whether the RNG adheres to industry standards; as the aforementioned certifications are issued by third-party institutions which have the last word on all things related to online gaming software development.

There are some players who love to give bad beats to others. Here’s a fun fact to cheer you up the next time you run into one of those: they are also the ones who will lose a lot of money in the long run. One out of ten times a player would give you a bad beat, but the remaining 9 times he will pay you; the total would come to  more than what you would invest in the game you got a bad beat in.

On a parting note, we’d like to take a page out of the books of every poker blog out there, and give you a candid (if heavily cliched) piece of advice:

If you can’t take a  bad beat ,stop playing poker

This week, we’re going to talk about something we have been pretty excited about for quite some time now. In fact we were almost hoping for yet another trip to Russia, preferably via Boom, Belgium. You guessed it, we’re talking about what is, inarguably, the biggest music fest in the world: Tomorrowland.

The uninitiated might want to call it the Woodstock of EDM (Electro Dance Music), but that would be a travesty of sorts considering that Tomorrowland literally dwarfs any other musical extravaganza in terms of the masses it attracts. Before we go on to talk about that, however, allow us to give you a little background on house music.

History of House

Electronic music, also known as House music, really started gaining attention in 1996. Detractors regarded as it yet another passing fad, but it wasn’t to be. It’s extreme popularity among youngsters provided great momentum to House. This was when the practitioners of this style of music had a limited array of instruments, namely the turntables, the electronic guitar and a stone-age version of the MIDI keyboard. As this genre gained the adulation of the masses, expensive technology also arrived on the scene. Pretty soon, music was being produced on computers, using software like FL studio, ABLETON and LOGIC.

DJ Tiesto in action

The year 2000 saw the rise of the biggest house music star ever: DJ Tiesto. Odious as comparisons are, we’re talking genre redefining big, in the same league as The Beatles and Elvis, people. Tiesto’s music started a new era, an era where his brand of house music even overpowered famous rock bands, in terms of crowd response, when it came to live concerts. His European tour saw more than one million fans, a benchmark in its own right. Time elapsed and others did too, 2002 saw other phenomenal artists like Armin Van Buuren, David Guetta, Pete Tong, Carl Cox and many others. Each of these have come with a style all their own and raised the bar in their own special way.

With the rise of House, DJ’s and music producers have also risen to the stardom level that was once reserved only for rock bands and pop stars. With electro music, evolved other sub-genres like psychedelic, trance, psy-trance, techno, minimal house, electro house, dark house, trip-hop, glitch-hop and the latest addition being dub step. Over the years, several top bracket personalities have emerged in this field: DEADMAU5, Markus, Laidback Luke, Afrojack, Avicii, Hardwell, Ferry Corten and few other young producers.

Electronic music festivals are where the best artists come together to enthrall crowds from all over the world who come together to enjoy their favorite kind of music. Among the best festivals were Tomorrowland, UMF, White Sensation, Miami music fest, Ibiza sunset and India’s very own Sunburn. The best and the most popular was Tomorrowland, where the top 100 DJs play to enthrall huge crowds. It first started in the year 2005 organized by ID&T in the delightful city of Boom in Belgium, and was a runway success. Since then it’s become a legacy, with the month of July witnessing record-breaking turnouts year after year.

Speaking of records, Tomorrowland 2012 broke all of them. While accommodations were arranged for 180,000 people, with only 100,000 available for those from outside Belgium, the event was nevertheless sold out within two hours. Whats more, there were over 2 million more in line for the tickets.

And it starts

Tomorrowland this year started on 27^th July and ended on 29^th July. Three days of complete madness, a blend of music, cultures and not to forget the best DJ’s on planet. 35000 stayed at the camps provided by the organizers, rest found shelters in the close by hotels.

This year 89 top DJs played at the fest. The tickets for the fest started from €72 and went up to €640 (for the full stay). 72 nations participated in this journey of music this year making it the biggest music fest ever. As it says “Welcome to the Children of Tomorrowland”.

We’ll keep bringing you more on festivals, movies and music from all over the world and then some mroe. Stay tuned to Club Cybertech, the online poker club for more fun and poker entertainment blog posts.

Normally these in-house tournaments have up to 35 players on an average; this week’s Friday poker tournament had 38 players and was one of the most interesting so far. I almost lost all my chips to a calling station but managed to survive and get my chips back to 2000 again but the blinds were increasing as the levels advance, I thought luck was just paving away from me that day, but to my surprise I saw the next deal, I was getting shot by the bullets, the best hand in poker ACES!!!

I had the option of shoving everything at one time in that Friday night poker game but I opted for a slow play, and succeeded. I doubled up, a few more good hands fell in my lap and I had a good stack of over ten thousand. After an hour the number of players shortened to 9 and moved to the final table.

The final table of that in-house Friday night poker tournament had a blend of experience players like Boss (CEO) of our company and few new to the game, and finally the table was left with three, Boss, Shirish and me.

Friday night saw ups and downs with everybody but Boss maintaining a consistent stack of more than 20,000 in chips. Then came the hand where I got knocked out by Boss, I got J T(clubs) Boss had K 8( rainbow), blinds were 1000/2000, flop opened 8,9,3,my raise drawing an open ended straight with 5000, was a semi bluff as I was totally dependent on luck for this one, Boss went for all-in with a pair, and I called but no luck for me, it was the perfect game of skill vs. luck, where Boss’s immense poker skills and vast experience in the game counted the maximum. I learnt something from that hand that as far as poker tournaments are concerned luck and skill should be well balanced and should be used to read your opponents.

See more poker entertainment news and updates on Friday night poker tournaments from Club Cybertech on your beloved online poker blog. Till then, ciao!

History of WSOP

It all started in 1970 when Binny Benion called top player of the game, decided that each winner of the event will be given a gold bracelet in honor of his skill and dedication towards the game, and since then it became a festival, every year in the month of April-May WSOP is held in Vegas and you will find every poker player, right from new to the poker pro’s.

All World Series of Poker events have been tournaments with cash prizes since 1971. A five-card stud event was later added in 1973 and new events have been added and removed ever since. In 1976, a bracelet was introduced as an award to the winner of every annual WSOP event.
Satellite tournaments were introduced in the early 1980s, allowing people to win their way into the various events.
1987 saw over 2,100 entrants in the series and by the year 2006 participation in the Main Event rose to 8,773.

Format of WSOP

WSOP consists of, a number of events including all the variants of the game like Omaha, Stud, Razz, Badugi, etc.
Every event has a minimum number of players required to start the tournament, until then it does not start, might get cancelled if not met the right number.

Once the registration is done, a prize pool is formed and some of which are taken as the organizing fees and the rest is shared by the winners of the tournament. The WSOP main event, which has been the most popular event in the world right now, the winner is considered the poker champion of the world. The buy-in is set at $10,000. And the winner gets over a million dollars as the registered player’s number is huge compared to the other events.

WSOP started with 3 events in the beginning but now it has 61 different events as seen in 2012, poker events like the Women’s Championship, Senior Citizens Championship, $50k Players Championship and of course the Main Event which are some of the most popular events.

WSOP gave rise to poker celebrities, starting from Doyle Brunson to the latest Tom Dwan, every one of them was a part of the WSOP, and the WSOP is the one which brought lime light to them, the famous Stu Ungar won the title thrice, and was considered as one of the best poker players ever.

There are poker records based on the WSOP titles won like poker celeb Phil Hellmuth is known for winning 12 bracelets, the maximum won by any player ever in the history of poker, and the player of the year was recently introduced by the WSOP, and this year ranking is topped by Phil Ivey, who’s considered as the best cash game player at the moment.

One drop challenge

The year 2012 saw the biggest poker entertainment event ever in the history of the game, 48 players gathered for a buy of $1 million in cash some of which was donated to the charity that is to the One Drop Foundation. The best players in the game including Phil Ivey, Daniel Negranu, Tom Dwan, Gus Hansen, Antonio Esfandiari and many other businessmen participated in this event making it the highest prize pool ever of $42 million. This game saw the biggest hand of the century, $28 million which was to be shared between the first two places which saw Sam Trickett pitted against Antonio Esfiandiari and this is how it went.

Hand #85: Antonio Esfandiari had the button and raised to 1.8 million. Sam Trickett called and the flop came down jack of diamonds, five diamonds & five of clubs.

On the flop, Trickett checked and Esfandiari went on to bet. Trickett in turn came back with a check-raise to 5.4 million to which Esfandiari shot a re-raise to 10 million. Trickett took his time before he re-raised to 15 million. Esfandiari jumped all in which Trickett called.

Trickett pushed the all in for a flush draw while Esfandiari had trip fives with the seven. Trickett was the one walking the wire with his 36 million.

The three of hearts came as the turn keeping Esfandiari in the lead. The room went silent while every single breath was held waiting for the river card, Trickett and Esfandiari stood in the middle of the stage awaiting the one card that could make or break the game for either of them.

The dealer burnt and turned the two of hearts which became the most expensive card in poker history. Esfandiari’s slapped his head and pulled his hair as he ran in circles on the stage, unable to belive what had just happened. His fans mobbed him as they burst onto the stage and jumped up and down with him. Trickett was off with his rail, all was quite at that end. Esfandiari’s was hoisted high as he roared in triumph.

Trickett earned $10,112,001 for his finish making the largest score of his career. While Esfandiari went on to make history by picking up poker’s largest prize ever at $18,346,673 and his second WSOP gold bracelet.

Follow this poker entertainment blog for more WSOP updates and poker gossip from around the world.

UEFA Euro 2012: Sixteen national teams face off for the championship

When it comes to international football, only two tournaments steal the show: the World Cup and the Euro cup, the latter being less popular (and less prestigious) but still followed by football enthusiasts all over the world.

Over the years Euro cup has proved to be a vital platform for players to show their skills and commitment for their national teams. We often see a different trend of play where players who aren’t really good at club levels seize the occasion and come out with flying colors, while some of the more vaunted stars might fail to deliver. It has often been stated by experts that highly paid club football stars such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and others fail to maintain the level of intensity of club football when they don the national colors.

In any case, it is going to be a star studded tournament with fans cheering for their favorite teams as well as players, as sixteen teams battle it out for European supremacy.

In the past few days, group fixtures have been going on, some sticking to the script while others springing a surprise. The opening match between Poland and Greece was a lackluster draw, but good on Greece for at least managing that. The Russians, on the other hand and the very same day, seemed to have taken it upon themselves to wash away the drudgery of the opening match—with an avalanche of goals, by the looks of it—as they thrashed the Czech Republic 4-1.  The round robin stage, however, still has a lot of football left, so let’s take a look at the groups.

Group A: Poland, Greece, Russia, Czech Republic

This could be a fairly easy group, as seen by the opening match between hosts Poland and surprise 2004 champions Greece, and the 4-1 beating that Russia delivered to the Czech Republic after that.  If the current sports betting scenario as seen with various bookmakers is any indication, none of the teams is a significant favorite to advance and a combination of struggling offenses and miserly defenses should make for a competitive, if not compelling, round-robin. Can any of these underdogs replicate Greece’s 2004 run to the title?

• Poland: The Poles have higher hopes this year but haven’t reached the knockout stage of a major tournament since the 1986 World Cup.
• Greece: Champions in 2004, they vindicated the people crying ‘fluke’ as they failed to even qualify for the 2008 Euro Cup. They have tallied three goals in the last two major tournaments combined. Enough said?
• Russia: Russia’s was the fairy tale in Euro 2008, upsetting the Dutch with a deserved 3-1 win in the quarterfinals before the dream run came to an end in the semis, at the hands of eventual champions Spain. This year, they have made all the right moves to start off with a spectacular victory over the Czechs. 
• Czech Republic: Offense was an issue for the Czechs through most of qualifying: no player scored more than two goals in the run of play, until a four-goal outburst against Lithuania on the final day of group play. Now, with the 1-4 humiliation suffered at the hands of Russia, it looks like defense is going to be a worry too.

Group B: Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, Germany

This should be very well be the Group of Death as every team except Denmark has a significant chance of advancing, even in the light of their upset victory over the Netherlands in their opening group fixture. It isn’t that Denmark is a weak team. However, since they’ve just had the bad fortune of being pitted againt powerhouses such as Netherlands, Portugal and Germany, Denmark have their task cut out. The going just got tougher for the Netherlands, though.

• Netherlands: After reaching the 2012 World Cup final, the Dutch are well within their rights to be optimistic for EURO2012. Far removed from the usual Dutch ‘Total Football’, Van Marwijk’s more defensive, and win-at-all-cost, style football has served them well. If they can manage to shrug off Saturday’s surprise 1-0 loss to the Danes, they still have a fighting chance.

• Denmark: This Denmark team is a long way from the Denmark team that won EURO1992. Since that victory Denmark have made it past the group stage of the tournament only at Euro2004. However, Denmark still has what boxing fans would call a puncher’s chance, and can still pack a wallop as the Dutchmen found out to their own expense on Saturday. Ever the dark horse, Denmark may not advance yet, especially if this victory proves to be a flash in the pan. However, they could very well decide who makes it to the next round and who doesn’t.

• Portugal: They have a knack of going the distance in major tournaments; they may not be overly convincing in doing so but they are consistent semi finalists. 

• Germany: Germany come into EURO2012 as the overwhelming favorites, with the most vibrant German side in many years. Despite not winning a trophy since their 1996 European Championship, they go to Poland/Ukraine looking to end La Furia Roja’s (The Red Fury, Spain) dominance of world football.

Group C: Spain, Italy, Ireland, Croatia

Group C, we can say is the most predictable Group in the Euro 2012. Spain and Italy look fairly confident of going through unless Ireland and Croatia come up with some upsets. Spain are the defending champions with a very good squad but Italy haven’t played well in the recent past losing some International friendly matches in the course but still look like a stronger contention than the other two left.

• Spain: Spain who have already been crowned World Champions in 2010 in South Africa and are the current defending champions of the Euro. They are already favorites to retain the trophy. considering the world class players they have. With a lineup that boasts of Iniesta, Xavi, Fabregas, Villa (hope he comes back from injury) and Puyol, they certainly have the finest firepower at their disposal. One can only hope that their 1-1 draw (read near defeat, but for Fabregas scoring in the 64th minute) in the group opener against Italy was just a one off. 
• Italy: The Azzurri were world champions in 2006, but have lost their way since. Their slow plodding, cautious brand of football may not be very popular with the spectators, but Italy could very well be a major threat if they can recover their lost confidence. They almost managed to take the game away from defending champions Spain with Di Natale’s late goal, and that would give their fans some hope. 
• Ireland: Certainly the minnows of the group, albeit with a fair fighting chance. If Ireland does play well, they have got a chance to be second in the Euro 2012 group stages. They qualified second in their group behind Russia before crushing Estonia 5-1 in the Euro playoffs. Their Euro finals campaign hasn’t started off great, being crushed 1-3 by Croatia. 
• Croatia: Croatia has a marvelously talented, if mercurial side, and their inconsistency over the past few years does not bear well for their chances. That inconsistency in the team can make them finish in the third place. Yes, they do have great players with the likes of Luka Modric, Kranjcar, former Arsenal striker Eduardo looking to terrorize their opponents but with Spain and Italy on the group it’s hard to say who will survive. Their 3-1 drubbing of Ireland should boost their morale for future fixtures.

Group D: Ukraine, Sweden, France, England

This is arguably the best group of the 2012 European Championships. There are some favorites and despite none being noted as a real contenders (like Spain, Netherlands and Germany), no one is really willing to completely write them off. All these teams are capable of upsetting the best teams on their day. Whoever gets into the next round could very well spoil the chances of some of the big names of European football who’ll qualify from the other groups.

• Ukraine: Just like Poland, co-hosts Ukraine did not need to go through qualification since they are playing on home grounds. It should be noted that the lack of superstar names in their roster does not reflect on the effectiveness of the squad. They are very capable of winning games and should not be overlooked. Their measured performance in the nil-all draw against Sweden proves their ability to play a good defensive game. 
• Sweden: FIFA ranks Sweden as 17th in the world and a big reason behind it is in their towering forward, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Ibrahimovic has the capability to tear through the toughest defenses and find holes where he can score important goals. The squad may be lacking other big-time names but midfielders Rasmus Elm and Sebastian Larsson are known by avid football fans and are tipped to be vital if Sweden are to get anything positive in the tournament.
• France: All football fans may not agree, but Les Bleus are the favorites to win the group. They have strength in all areas of the pitch and have youth on their side. Some may want England to win the group because of nostalgia but with players like Patrice Evra, Franck Ribery, Yann M’Vila and Karim Benzema in the French ranks, France are clear favorites. Their Monday draw againt England may suggest otherwise, but France were clearly the superior team on the ground.  
• England: This squad has some of the biggest names in English Premier League and most of them are household names. However, they seem to fold when vying to attain international glory. They try to prove doubters wrong in 2012 with their European campaign, starting things off by appointing a new manager in Roy Hodgson. The Three Lions may often be in the news for all the wrong things but no one is in doubt as to their potential.

Here’s a Dream team chosen by us:

Goal Keeper:

• Iker Casillas (Spain)

Defenders:

• Daniel Alves (Spain)
• Giorgio Chiellini (Italy)
• Holger Badstuber (Germany)
• Ashley Cole (England)

Midfielders:

• David Silva (Spain)
• Xavi (Spain)
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
• Arjen Robben (Netherlands)

Forwards:

• Robin Van Persie (Netherlands)
• Mario Gomez (Germany)

We’ll keep you updated as the tournament advances. Until then, for this as well as updates on poker entertainment, stay tuned to Club Cybertech.

March 20 2012: Our Travelogue Begins

It was on the 20^thof March that we took off from Mumbai on a flight to Dubai, from where we were to catch a connecting flight to Moscow. Since Vijay was slated to join us later, it was just the three of us — Faiz, Aprma and I — who were on that flight.

The night before our departure, we’d been given quite a sendoff. Suffice it to say that a sleepless night spent partying meant that we not only spent the flight sleeping—as had been the plan anyway, hence the bender—but also chose to rest in Dubai while waiting for our next flight. It was either that or indulge in the time-honored Indian tradition of raiding the duty-free liquor store, which at this point of time seemed less appealing than resuming our slumbers. Only Faiz seemed inclined to do some walking about, as he seemed rejuvenated enough from merely sleeping in-flight. Anyhow, after four hours at Dubai, we were on our way to Moscow.

Who Needs Extreme Sports? I’m Sledding on a Jet Plane

Club Cybertech Travelogue: Icy Russia at the fag end of March

As we flew into the Russian air space, it was pretty clear that nobody told winter in Russia that late March is supposed to be spring time. As we descended to land in Moscow, the city seemed literally shrouded in the pristine white of freshly falling snow. My first thought was: we’re going to land in this weather? To think that they cancel flights merely due to rain back home!

I found myself wondering whether pilots have special qualifications for flying in arctic weather. The tarmac seemed covered with an icy sheen of its own that made us all rather nervous. Our fears ultimately seemed unwarranted as we had as near perfect a landing as one can expect in the conditions. As we made our way off the craft, I made a mental note to check if arctic weather pilot qualifications were a real thing.

Cherry Blossoms and Porsche Carreras

We’d already noticed the snowy weather conditions, and now we could feel them quite literally. We had warm clothes, but were simply not prepared to face temperatures that were over 15 degrees below zero on the Celcius scale. I mean, wasn’t it something like 42◦ C just when we left Pune? That was, of course, a little before the period recorded in this travelogue.

Anyhow, we had to, as the English would put it, have a butcher’s around Moscow anyway. Since warm clothes were first on the list, off we went to GUM, Moscow’s largest departmental store. And we had no idea just how big till we got there. There was a direct metro train link to GUM from the airport. Once there, it was pretty clear that this was Russia’s answer to Harrods’. No kidding there, folks; the store simply had just about every product you could think of, with a mindboggling variety of brands for each product.

(Clockwise from Left) Cherry Blossom Tree inside GUM, two of the cars that were part of the Porsche display.

What momentarily rooted me to the spot, though, was the Porsche “through-the-years” display which had every Porsche 911 ever made, one from each generation, lined  up in the GUM corridor.

Once we had the gawking-at-stuff-beyond-our-reach ritual conveniently out of the way, we went to buy what we came for, and also ended up buying stuff that hadn’t been on the list to begin with.

Travelogue Highlights: Red Square, Kremlin and Saint Basel’s Cathedral

St Basil's Cathedral

We had over seven hours to spend in Moscow before we could catch the flight to Tomsk, out of which a good 2 hours had been taken up by GUM. Safely wrapped up in appropriate clothing, we found that one of the exits very conveniently led to the part of Moscow I’d wanted to see for a long time indeed: Red Square. Well, it was Kremlin that I’d always wanted to see, but it just happens to be on Red Square. Red Square is actually surrounded on three sides by the Kremlin, GUM and Saint Basil’s Cathedral.

Built in the 16^th Century under orders from Ivan “the Terrible”, Saint Basil’s is perhaps the most recognizable building in all of Moscow; it certainly is the most distinctive. There simply are no analogues in Russian architecture to this cathedral which, with its near garish colors and outlandish design, seems to have come straight from an Arabian Nights tale. Perhaps with good reason, as it is said that it was commissioned to resemble the religious structures of Jerusalem.

Travelogue Continues: Moscow to Tomsk

Anyhow, taking in the sights at Moscow was definitely time well spent. It was now time to catch our flight to Tomsk. On the way, I read that Tomsk is a widely renowned educational center with students coming in from all over Russia and even abroad, for a wide variety of educational disciplines. In fact, as we later found out, a leading surgeon from India was in fact visiting the Medical Institute in Tomsk during the tenure of our stay there.

I’ll be sharing details about our stay in Tomsk in my next travelogue post on this online poker blog, and there really is a lot to tell. So do keep your eyes peeled for updates.

So this is what it’s all about: a trip to Tomsk, Russia. Trust us when we say, that nobody goes to Russia with a spring in their step as they would for a tropical paradise. Now that the trip is over, however, we know that we’ve come back from a part of the world that is every bit as fascinating as Tahiti or Bermuda. We know that some part of Tomsk, Russia shall forever be with us, which is why we’re sharing our Tomsk diary with you. But first things first; allow us to introduce ourselves and our purpose for this trip.

Working for Cybertech: Our Tomsk Connection

Cybertech is a multinational business concern in just about every sense of the world. We cater to a global clientele, with offices, teams and associates in various locations across the world. Recently, our team of web developers from the India office got an opportunity to experience this diversity first hand, as we spent a two-month tenure at Tomsk, Russia. If the mention of Russia sends a shiver down your spine, let us assure you that it really was extremely cold; not that that changes anything.  In a manner typical to the fun and learning culture that we are familiar with in Cybertech, the trip was quite literally an amalgam of hard work, harder partying and was overall a great learning experience both professionally and personally.

A Prelude to the Tomsk Diary: The Journey Starts

Mosow's GUM Department Store

We first landed at Moscow after an uneventful flight from Mumbai, via Dubai. An exhausting journey in its own right, we still had some way to go. There was a seven hour stopover before we could catch the flight to Tomsk, and unlike Dubai where took the lounge a little too literally, we spent a better part of our time in Moscow shopping at the GUM Department Store. While some of it was pure retail therapy, we did need the trip to the store anyway as we didn’t have the right clothing to brave the -15° C temperature here.

Where it all begins

The final leg of our journey brought us to the Siberian city of Tomsk, our destination and where our Tomsk diary narrative actually begins. At Tomsk we were greeted by Evgania, and what a great host she turned out to be! Throughout our stay in Tomsk, she was our tour guide and interpreter, both rolled in one. The latter made her particularly indispensable, as few people in this part of Russia speak English. Later, at an English language session with our Russian colleagues, we were to learn that Russian gentlemen do not greet ladies by shaking hands; not even in a workplace setting. This was quite a revelation, and a cultural lesson for us.

As we would discover over the period of our stay here, this area is culturally rich and there’s plenty of sightseeing that can be done. There were many beautiful churches and cathedrals built in a distinct architectural style. We even experienced a slice of India when we visited the local ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) compound and saw many Russian nationals dressed in traditional Indian vestments and offering prayers to Lord Krishna in Sanskrit and Hindi songs.

Tomsk Diary: Of Food& Drink (Potatoes Everywhere!!)

A trip to the nearby city of Novosibirsk was one of the highlights of our Russian sojourn, as was our visit to a local beer brewery. Our entire team was instructed in the art of brewing, with all of us eventually earning our brewer’s certificates too! There shall be more on all that in later posts. We also visited the zoo while in Novosibirsk, where we saw exotic creatures that we’d so far seen only on Discovery Channel.

As for food, guess what do a bunch of hungry Indians do when in a foreign land? Go hunting for flavors and spices from the motherland, of course! One can hardly blame us, what with potatoes being a staple part of the diet and thus being added to virtually every Russian culinary preparation we’d come across, in manners we’d find quaint back home. Add to that the fact that two of us were vegetarians, and we were in a fix. That was eventually remedied, as you’ll read in subsequent posts on this poker blog.

The Russians love their vodka—no brownie points for guessing that—which is distilled from potatoes and is drunk neat with every meal. Where there are spirits, though, there is a night life and the night life in Tomsk is quite simply smashing. Teatro in particular was a favorite and we went there frequently. The ambiance was great, the vodka (and other drinks) was flowing and on more than one occasion, we partied into the wee hours of the morning.

This is the story of our brief but heady love affair with Russia. We shall soon be back to our online poker blog as each of us regales you with our own tales of Tomsk, Russia; it is an experience none of us will forget in a hurry. Hopefully, by the time you’re through with the Tomsk diary series, neither would you.

In 1971, the Razz event was introduced in the ‘World Series of Poker’. Razz Poker is basically a variant of Stud Poker where players are dealt 7 cards each. The objective in this game is making a 5-card hand which is the lowest of all. Ace is ranked low in Razz which makes the 5-4-3-2-A combination the most powerful. This hand is also referred to as ‘the wheel’ or ‘the bike’. An important point to keep in mind is that the ‘straights’ and ‘flushes’ are not taken into account in Razz.

Play Poker Online: Basic Rules of Razz

The game starts with an ante and the subsequent rounds are third street, fourth street , fifth street, sixth street, seventh street and the showdown. The different betting actions that players can perform are the ‘check’, ‘fold’, ‘call’, ‘bet’ and ‘raise’. When you play online poker, you may choose to preset certain betting behaviors such s call or raise or fold.

Initially, a small amount of betting is done in the form of an ante. The players are dealt 3 cards in the third street; out of these three cards, two are hidden and the remaining one is exposed. In all the next rounds except for the last one i.e. the seventh street, every player is dealt an exposed card. In the last round, the final and seventh card is dealt face-down.

The maximum number of players who can participate in the game of Razz is 8. In case you have these 8 players playing till the seventh street, a shortage of cards crops up. In such a situation, a single card named ‘community card’ is shared by all players. This card is placed in a face-up position at the center of the table.

If two or more players possess cards with the same, lowest value, the pot is shared among them. This situation arises only when two or more players reach the stage of showdown.

Tips to Improve

The A-2-3 is considered an ideal opening hand for playing Razz; with such a combination, you have the best chances of winning the game. The ‘door card’ i.e. the exposed cards of your opponents are considered important from the point of determining the betting options. For example, if the ace is exposed, you would say that the player possessing it has a strong betting hand.

You can play this Razz at several online gaming sites that allow you to play online poker. As a parting tip, you should keep one thing in mind while playing the game of Razz: low ranking cards are the key to suceed in this variant of poker. Keep watching this poker blog for more on online poker and poker news. In the meanwhile, go ahead and register yourself to play online poker and get started!

Online poker is superior – Here Is Why

You can play online poker in your pajamas

Unless you happen to be one hell of a hottie or a well known high roller, you might not be given access into any of the  casinos located iv Vegas…in your shorts and slippers. Online poker, on the other hand lets you start gambling away with talented opponents looking and feeling as comfortable or as formal as you like. Being at ease definitely helps you ease up and concentrate on the game at hand.

Traveling To & Fro was never this simple

Need a break; well then go ahead and take one, there is no time obligation on online poker. You can play against real contenders any time, night or day and never have to worry about time running out. You also save money on gas, food and that expensive parking spot

It is your Game

You are the boss here; you call the shots with online poker and get to choose the game you want to sit in. Some casinos only have certain card games, as decided by general popularity. Online poker lets you play anything from Omaha Hi Lo to Stud or Telesina.

A quicker Game

Thankfully in this day and age, technology has made everything fast. You do not have to wait for long periods of time for your turn. You can play poker faster and thus treat yourself to up to many more hands even up to fifty percent more hands per hour than you would in a land based casino.

Online Poker Anonymity

Anonymity can work to your benefit as you no longer give away “tells” about yourself, and you can mold a fictional ID to lure your opponents into overconfidence.

Take advantage of online poker tools

Online poker lets you have as many online poker tools as you like, as you can upload hand histories, install tools for tracking an hourly rate, find out what hands are winning the most money, and even customize your own sound effects, avatars. Land based casinos do not appreciate people walking with electronic stuff.

Reduced expenses

Not only do you save money on a trip to the casino, like fuel, parking… etc but you also pay less rake (most online casinos have a cap of two to three dollars) and u must tip the dealer. Thankfully, the computer dealer doesn’t care—he’s loaded on virtual drinks anyway.

Multiple Table Game-play

If you have ever visited a real casino then you know how crowded the property can get. With online poker there is no long waiting periods for tables to open. In online poker, one can play multiple tables at once. This would increase the chances of winning and increase the amount of returns, making a poker player richer in a lot less time. Some skilled online players can handle up to 10 or more games at the same time. Don’t try this in Vegas unless you’ve mastered human cloning.

Staying Safe

Casino security heads aren’t very friendly, you might want to tell off someone that’s shouting too loud or blowing smoke in your face, well that may end up in a physical fight and we know how the casino heads deal with things like this. At home you don’t have to put up with any bullying tactics or other distractions.

Online poker gives you great gambling action and real money but in a life replication that’s just a tad better than reality.

Online Casino – Video Poker Machines

The game of poker is said to have been conceived way back in 1830, where it is said to have been played by French immigrants in New Orleans. Video Poker uses an adaptation of the game called five-card draw poker. In the meantime, the coin-operated card machine (widely known as a “slot”) was invented sometime in the 19th century, with poker machines appearing in Frisco in 1890’s.

These video poker machines were very ordinary in comparison to what we see these days, using real cards rather than just the symbols.

These machines began to lose popularity during the first half of the 20th century. Financial issues shared with the inadequate technology of the led to people losing interest in playing. A very basic electronic poker machine was out in the mid 1960s but this machine gained only negligible success.

It was only in the mid 70s that the Video Poker machine much like the ones we see today became available. Major advances in technology led to a central processing unit (CPU) being installed inside the machines to give them  something  that could be described being similar to having “brain”, with a monitor  to transmit the action to the person playing.

In the meantime, casino operators began looking for new-fangled high-profit games, and the coupling of a slot machine with the more time-honored game of five-card draw poker proved to be a pleasing combination of the old with the new.

Online Casino – Early Video Poker

The earliest Video Poker device was built in the year 1976 by a company called Bally Manufacturing. It came in black and white, but the color version followed only eight months later, manufactured by the Fortune Coin Company. As the years went by, computer chips became a lot cheaper to mass produce, and increasingly more casinos introduced Video Poker machines as they happened to be more financially viable. A version called Draw Poker was released in 1979 by a company called International Game Technology (IGT), and it achieved major success.

Online Casino – Video Poker Gains Popularity

Video Poker games truly took off in the early 1980s where it became popular in most casinos across Vegas. The players found themselves far less anxious being in front of a machine than they were when sitting down at a table in with other players. The status of the game has steadily amplified during the last 10 years and it can now be found in almost each and every casino on the globe, as well as in restaurants, lounges and pubs and on the World Wide Web.