islandofpoker-com

© peterjoel1

If one is highly interested in becoming a professional player when it comes to any poker game, he or she must consider several important traits and characteristics. Foremost of all is the capability to make very quick but highly thought about decisions. Be it a live or an online poker game, one must gain such speed through practice and through histories of over a thousand plays.

Another essential quality is stringent focus. One must be able to take note of each and every opponent's strategy and must take time to review past plays. Then there's also the very valuable trait of learning to start playing only at one table then gradually progressing as mastery of the game heightens. Lastly, professional poker players have a schedule. They ensure that they play in poker games that will provide them with the greatest profits.

© chrisstreeter

The online poker game site Full Tilt Poker has announced the Onyx Cup, a tournament series with buy-ins ranging from $100.000 to $300.000 with an estimated $30 million prize pool across the series. There will be a series of five preliminary events that will culminate in a $250,000 buy-in Grand Finale, where $1 million will be added to the prize pool.

These events will be held in locations across the US, Europe and Asia. The announcement of the Onyx Cup has sparked debate in the poker world. Some people were excited by the high-stakes tournaments, while others were more critical. Chad Holloway thinks that Full Tilt Poker has very bad timing in launching such an extravagant event with the world wide recession still ongoing. Rich Ryan, on the other hand, believes it will be good for poker because it will showcase the best players in the world.

© Podknox

Following the recent closures of top US online poker sites Full Tilt , Pokerstars and Absolute Poker which shocked the online poker world, legal poker site NoPayPOKER.com has experienced a surge in new members who want to play free poker online.

NoPayPOKER believes that the site closures represent the next step by the US legal system to restrict online gambling. Poker sites that are still operating in the US market with cash models are now reviewing their positions as some players withdraw their funds in case more sites are closed and funds frozen. NoPayPOKER offers a no deposit, no subscription and advertising based free poker model that doesn't run afoul of any US laws. This has made the site appealing to American players in spite of the fact that big money games are not on offer.