While the high rollers may not provide a significant portion of the revenues in the casino industry as a whole, they can have a major effect on the net income of the casinos. There is a huge cost involved in  attracting the highest stake gamblers. If a casino takes this chance and wins a whale, its expenses become large. But, if the casino’s investment pays off well and the high rollers lose, the casino’s or the poker’s room gain  exceed its expenses of attracting the VIP gambler.

Some of the poker rooms that offer VIP bonuses are the the Everest Poker, the RedKings, the Party poker and various others. In Party Poker, players are ranked VIP on the basis of the number of points earned by them in each month. The more points they earn, the higher they move up the VIP level.

Everest poker:

Benefits of the VIP Summit Club at Everest poker includes:

• Open enrollment for all players
• Cash rewards up to $5,000 a month
• Bonus Summit Points up to 750% a month
• Priority Customer Service

Redkings poker:

Offers the following facilities to its VIP players:

• Daily Points Race
• Bonus Vendor (coming soon)
• Reload Vendor

In order to become a VIP Club Member, a player is regularly required to wage real money at the poker sites. The more loyal a player is, the more rewards and benefits he/she receives.

Name: Michael Schuhardt
Nickname: “parlo”
Player from Germany
Winner of a $4,000 prize package to the ECPokerTour Salzburg

Name: Wolfgang Müller
Nickname: “deledder”
Player from Germany
Winner of a $4,000 prize package to the ECPokerTour Salzburg

Everest Poker Winners:

Name: Shaun Craig
Amount won: $6,500
He will represent Everest Poker at the 2009 Irish Open in Dublin.

Name: Shaun Craig
Nickname: “yurMI007″
Player from Ireland
Shaun Craig will represent Everest Poker at the 2009 Irish Open in Dublin after winning a $6,500 package from a buy in of just $80.

Name: Hanno Hörmann
Nickname: “Fmeinheit”
Player from Austria
Hanno Hörmann will represent Everest Poker at the 2009 ECPT Salzburg event in April after winning a $4k package from a $200 satellite

Name: TheWrangler
Nickname: “thewrangler”
Player from Denmark
‘TheWrangler’ won the $250k Guaranteed Tournament on Sunday 4th January.

Name: goFold
Nickname: “goFold”
‘goFold’ won the $250k Guaranteed Tournament on Sunday 18th January.

Party poker Winners:

Player Mstr_Splintr was the highest placed Party poker Qualifier and ended his tournament in 19th place cashing for EUR 3000.
Player Vorbix won the EUR 500 side event and cashed for EUR 13,000.
Player GIOWIM1 managed to win his place to Galway for only $1.

Winners of the Progressive Bad Beat Jackpot

Winners of the $300K Guaranteed Sunday

18-January-09

Screen name Win Amount
I_SpooK_Y     $60,000.00
Flpro_157      $33,000.00
Kuli100999     $20,700.00

$50K Guaranteed Saturday

17-January-09

Screen name Win Amount
Frydbrun        $12,539.00
Tiefenmuehle $8,569.20
Spyfluga        $7,046.00

• Jens F, a factory worker from Finland won over €149,900 jackpot online at Casino Bellini on August 27th. What made his win even more remarkable was the fact that he wagered a total bet of €2.25 on the Queen of Pyramids progressive slot when he received his huge winnings.
• In a recent interview, Jens F stated that he prefers to play online. “I can do something else while playing”. I was preparing spaghetti when I won”. Now Jens plans to go on holiday with his winnings.
• Jens hit the large jackpot after he received a winning combination of five Pharaohs on the 2nd line of the 5-reel 9-line slot machine. Queen of Pyramids and Beach Life slots are his favorite online slot games.
• Nadine T. from Toronto (nickname “Number”) hit a $235,853 jackpot at CSCasino’s Rags to Riches slot machine. Nadine had been playing the Rags to Riches slots regularly for the past 10 years and his dedication paid
• A new VIP Casino player Jemo went from Rags to Riches and won $131,250 after depositing just $100 on the Rags to Riches progressive slot. Still celebrating his big win, Jemo said, “This is a dream come true to me. When I won, I just stared and stared at the screen with my mouth wide open, thinking this is not real. I was almost in shock. I’m so happy.”

The 3-reel single payline Rags to Riches slot game has a progressive jackpot. In this jackpot the pool builds up every time players spin the reels until someone spins the coveted ‘Jackpot’   symbol. After playing for a short time with just $100, this is exactly what Jemo managed to do.

Some of the recent online poker winners are as follows:

• Kathy M from USA won $2,005.00 playing Aces and Faces 10 Play at Gaming Club on February 01, 2009.
• Kelly P from USA won $3,300.00 playing Break da Bank at Jackpot City on February 01, 2009.
• Antonio D from Italy won $25,025.00 playing PowerPoker – Joker Poker at Lucky Nugget on February 01, 2009.
• Marc M from USA won $15,750.00 playing Starscape at River Belle on February 01, 2009.

Yes. Playing poker online is considered legal. However, the player has to be above 18 years of age.

How to Choose a right online poker room?

A player can choose a right online poker room by answering the following questions.

• Is the satellite tournament important to me?
• Am I going to put money up to try to win big prizes?
• Does the number of players playing poker hold importance for me?
• Am I bothered about getting rewards for my loyalty/play?
• Would I like to play in big poker rooms than smaller ones?

A new player about to begin playing online poker must select a poker room which offers a good sign-up bonus. He must however, be careful regarding the terms and conditions of procuring such bonuses. Some of the larger sign-up bonuses may look attractive, but the player must read the small print of the poker site.

How can I learn to play poker?

There are a few ways of learning how to play poker.

• Online Poker Schools: Players can find poker rules, strategy tips, and poker terms explanations online. Some poker rooms, including Pacific Poker and Everest Poker offer interactive poker schools with visual lessons on how to start playing poker.
• Books: People interested in playing poker can opt for books designed for beginners.  They should then try to play either with friends or online.
• Friends: Friends can give you the basics of the game.

Is there a secret for winning money by playing poker online?

There’s no real secret, but if you follow some rules and techniques, you can surely improve your chances of winning.

Can online poker games be played in complete security?

Yes, you can play poker games in complete security provided you choose a reputed, registered, and  financially sound poker website. You can find a complete list of online Poker websites that are listed on the London Stock Exchange. This will give you an idea of the reliability of the poker rooms.

What is a Poker bonus?

A bonus is a sum of money offered by a poker website to attract new players towards its games. Bonuses are very important to players because they provide a risk-free introduction of the poker games to new online poker players.

What is a Poker Tournament?

A poker tournament is an event in which players compete for all or a part of the prize pool. Each player enters the tournament by paying an amount as an entry fee. To participate in the game, a player buys a set number of tournament chips. The chips are non-negotiable, having no cash value except at the end of the tournament. The contestants play until all, but one or a few are busted. The top finishers divide the prize pool according to the tournament rules.

An Internet poker room is a good place for players to learn the rules of the game, test their basic skills and chalk out a proper game strategy without risking their money. This is possible because the players can study the basic poker rules, play free poker games, visit Internet poker forums, and also chat with other poker card players.

The online poker rooms include poker rooms of large online poker networks and independent poker rooms. A poker room belonging to online poker networks is called a skin. Some of the significant independent poker rooms are Party poker and Everest Poker.

However, before selecting a poker room, a player must ensure that the poker room is protected by a reliable Internet security firm. Another requirement for online poker room is a valid license from a trusted gaming commission. Next, a player must check whether the poker room offers unique features like multi-tabling and operating system compatibility. Checking player traffic is also one important aspect in online poker rooms. The larger the traffic, the more games a player can play.

In addition to the games, the level of bonuses and promotions of online poker rooms must be checked for. Beware of scams involved in it. To ensure this, a player must read all the small prints carefully. He must also make himself fully aware regarding the rules for procuring such bonuses.

Other important factors to be considered for selecting an online poker room are financial stability, accessible customer service, and ease of competitions. Reviews offered by other players are also regarded as one of the best sources to compare various online poker rooms and choose an appropriate online poker room.

Last but not the least, a player must place a limit on the money he is going to gamble before he starts playing live poker game. As a beginner, one must not play too many poker hands. A player must also not rush into Internet poker room tournaments until he masters the art of the game. If these points are
kept in mind, the game of online poker will be entertaining as well as rewarding for any new player.