Virgin Poker Room Basics:
	Country of Origin	:	United Kingdom
	License	:	Malta
	Year of Foundation	:	2005
	Software	:	Boss Media
	Language	:	English
	Sign up Bonus	:	£100
	US Players		Not Allowed

Virgin Poker Review

Summary:

Virgin Poker has attracted a lot of traffic to its website since its launch in 2005. The extravagant promotions offered here are the main reason for such a drift of traffic to its website. However the games played here also draw great crowds, as the games played are soft enabling players to make some profitable games. As it is a segment of the Virgin Group of industries, the Virgin Poker website is completely reliable and a safe place to play your favorite game.

Software:

Virgin Poker uses the well-known Boss Media software that powers the iPoker Network. As is common to the Boss Media software there are straightforward features without much fuss over stand out avatars. The simple interface provides easy game play and maneuverability. The menus are well set with everything readily available at a click from the lobby. A game filter allows players to quickly get to the games instead of scanning through the whole list.

The tables are neat and uncluttered, allowing you to play without difficulty. You can compare your play statistics, thereby increasing your scope for improvement. Also available are flop percentages, note taking facility, average pot size all of which are accessible from one point, the lobby. The graphics are good, giving you an enjoyable playing experience.

Games:

There are a number of cash games that can be played here such as the common Texas Holdem, Omaha, Omaha High, Omaha Low, 5-Card Draw, 5-Card Stud and 7-Card Stud in limit, fixed limit and no limit versions. The Boss Media software is able to accommodate nearly 9,000 tables offering live cash games. The varied limits allow players to play games at micro-limits as well as high limit games can be opted for by those who prefer making larger wagers.

Virgin Poker is centred on European players and most of the traffic here is of players from the wide iPoker Network. Cash games are available throughout the day and you can find players at all times but at peak hours the traffic can reach a good 3,600 players.

Tournaments:

There are several sit and go tournaments and multi-table tournaments to choose from. Apart from this there are €25,000 daily tournaments and weekly €100,000 assured tournaments to be played. A recent addition to the bonuses galore includes the €1m guaranteed tournament which takes place twice a month. Also available are entries to live satellite tournaments that you need to qualify for.

Bonus:

Virgin Poker offers a 100% sign up bonus of up to £100 to every new player who signs up for a new account. The bonus amount can be availed of by wagering for it and there are 180 days in which you can do so.

Promotions:

Virgin Poker offers great incentives to its players. It offers daily free rolls plus weekly jackpots and rewards for the top player of the month and various other offers. It also offers V-Points for every raked hand that you play. You can accumulate these V-Points and exchange them for fabulous prizes such as Virgin air miles, mobile top ups, shopping vouchers or cash in your account among various other options. There are the V-Points races that involves three free rolls every week which help you add on more points to your account.

Also available are bad beat jackpots, sit and go jackpot tournaments among others. A referral program is also offered where players are given $25 for introducing a new member to sign up for an account at Virgin Poker.

Deposit Options:

The deposit methods accepted by Virgin Poker include Visa, Mastercard, Neteller, Switch, Solo, Bank Transfers, Click2Pay, Bank Draft, Personal Checks, Moneta, Paysafecard and Delta

Withdrawal media include Visa, Neteller, Switch, Solo, Bank Transfers, Moneta, Delta, Bank Draft and Click2Pay

Customer Support:

The support staff can be contacted by the UK toll free number: 0800 2790 681 and via email at: support@poker.virgingames.com.

Also available is a live chat facility that is very convenient if you need to contact the staff for an immediate query.

7 card stud has started to gain in popularity because of the mixed games that are quickly becoming players favorites. In looking for a little more spice than hold’em on its own can offer, HORSE allows you to play 5 different games. The well rounded poker player can dominate these types of tournaments and cash games. In order to do so, you are going to have to master playing 7 card stud as it shows up in three different varieties in the game of HORSE.

The original 7 card stud game is the 4th leg of HORSE and where a seasoned player can really make a move. A lot of players will fall in love with certain hands when they are clearly second best or worst. This is the type of scenario that you need to avoid. If you are not clearly going for the best hand, you have to get out.

Hands that cost 7 card stud players the most money are mid pairs that they play out on the string. For example, you have Q9 in the hole a 9 on board. There are 6 other players in the game and they are showing A, K, 10, J, 7, and a 5. The 5 leads out on a force bet, the A calls and then the K raises, the 10 folds, the J calls and then the folds. You are next to play, what do you do?

If you are smart, you are going to dump the hand. You can be pretty sure that you are up against KK and possibly JJ. You still have the A to play behind you who very well may be setting up a check raise. The problem is the at most amateur players are going to fall in love with their split pair and will try to chase it down. It is the wrong decision and it is going to cost you a ton of money in the end.

It has been said before and it is worth saying again, stud is not a chasers game. With so many bets, you will end up broke if you continue to chase down hands. If you are not clearly sitting on the best, you must get out of the hand. In reality, the only hand that should still be playing in this example is the K and depending upon what the A does, he should possibly be out of the hand.

One of the major keys to 7 card stud is ensuring that you are not chasing down a losing hand. While you cannot always assume that the player has matched their card underneath when they are showing a high card, how they play against the other high cards gives you a ton of information.

Here, it would be foolish for the K to fire unless he was already paired up. He can be assured that anyone behind him that has matched a card will at the very least call him if not come over the top to see where they stand. Of course, he still has the A that is in front of him to worry about as well. You can easily see where playing mid and small pairs can get you into a heap of trouble. When you are deciding to go in or not, you want three cards to the flush or straight or the high pair going on board. If you play to anything else, you are playing to second best.

Let’s start this out by telling you that you should never be in a hand to solely go after the low side of the pot. You will see far too many people going head to head on 4th street with no chance of hitting the high hand and then end up splitting the pot if they get lucky. Even them, they still lose money because of the rake, it just does not make any sense.

The low in 7 card poker should be something that you happen to get, not the main focus of your hand. Realize that even if there are multiple players in the hand and you start out chasing the low, you still only may end up with a quarter of the pot or less. Plenty of people will play any hand that start with A2 and if you are looking at the same cards, you are going to split the split.

However, you can stay in a hand if you were going for a high and it falls apart on 6th street and you now only need one card to win the low. At this point, you only have one card left and the odds more than dictate you hanging around to capture some of the pot.

When you start your hand out, the only way you have a chance to scoop the pot is by going high and low. This is the ideal situation and one that you look for in starting quality hands. For instance, you start the hand with Ah2h4h. You are in huge position to scoop here. You have the A high flush draw and are also looking at a possible straight for the high. In addition, you are starting down at 3 to a low. This is not only a starting hand, but a raising hand.

The key to a good starting hand in hi/low is to have the ability to scoop the pot, which of course means that you get both the high and the low. While you may end up only getting the low as the hand plays out, you have to make sure that you start out with the intention of getting them both. If all you do is try and chase down low hands, you are going to find your bankroll continuing to shrink and you will eventually go broke.

This is what separates the good hi/low players from the bad ones. It may be a little tough to fold that 247 hand, but when you realize that you are conceding one half of the pot every time you play a hand like this, reality will start to settle in and you will realize how foolish it is to play a hand like this. Remember, if you don’t have a chance to scoop with the first three, the hand is not worth playing.

Hold’em has taken over the poker universe and is the most popular game in the world right now, but multi games like H.O.S.E. and H.O.R.S.E are quickly gaining steam at the casinos and online.  People are getting a little bored with Hold’em and are looking for other games to spice it up a little bit.  Well, in order to be successful in any of these multi games, you are going to have to get back to the roots of the game and become proficient at 7 card stud if you want to win the cash.

7 card stud was once a game that dominated poker rooms and households alike.  All of a sudden, The World Series of Poker started getting televised and everyone wanted to become a professional Texas Hold’em Poker player and become an instant millionaire.  Now, with the popularity of H.O.R.S.E, 7 card stud is making a mild come back and people are realizing this is a true poker playing game.

The fact of the matter is that 7 card stud makes up 60% of H.O.R.S.E.  Razz Poker is just a variation on stud and uses the same basic principles.  After you play regular stud, you finish up with Stud hi/low before starting all over again.  If you are a great stud player, you can clean up in this cash game or tournament.

Most Hold’em players get into a very bad habit of chasing down hands.  They are used to playing common cards and not actually working a hand and betting against other people’s board.  Stud Poker makes you not only keep track of your hand, but every card that is played.  Part of the art of stud is to know which cards for your draw and your opponents draw have been burned.  When their hand is not made on the board, you will make your play based on your hand and the perceived chances that they were able to draw out.

For instance, if you are holding a 34 in your hand and they are the filler cards for the straight that your opponent looks to be chasing down, you already know that he has only 6 live cards.  Maybe two 3’ and three 4’s were already folded by other players who have dropped out of the hand.  He is not paying attention to the other hands and is throwing good money in after a bad chase.

The other thing about stud is that the more experience you gain, the better you will be able to read players hands based on pre-flop action and how they follow it up on 4th and 5th street.  If someone is banging away pre-flop with a 5 showing, you are pretty assured that they are sitting on a set or a monster high pair under.  If they catch another 5 or catch AKQ on one of the streets, you know your mid pair is in a lot of trouble.  By paying attention to everything, you will find that you are much more successful than the average player at stud.

If you have never played stud, you may find all of this a little difficult in the beginning so do not play for high stakes.  Go play online at the quarter tables until you get the knack for this.  As you get better, you can move up in level until you are in the games that you usually play at.  When you really get comfortable, it is time to exploit weaker players and get in on the H.O.R.S.E tourneys and cash games.  Just remain patient during the Hold’em and Omaha stages and then drop the hammer when the stud games are being played.  Make the chasers pay and build your stack to get the coveted first prize money.

For many years, Stud was the game of choice in back rooms of restaurants, home games, bookies, and casinos alike. But since the boom of Texas Hold’em that occurred in the early 2000′s it seems Stud Poker has been lost in the shuffle a bit. Many great players, such as Phil Ivey, made their start in stud and still continue to play it today. While, it may not be as attractive to some tournament players, because you can not push all-in at any moment; the game of stud should be an attraction to anyone who loves mental warfare and strategic poker.

There are many different forms of stud, ranging from stud games that play against the dealer, such as 3 card Caribbean stud, to games that are played against other players, such as seven card stud hi/lo. In due time, we will look at the many forms of stud, studying strategy and philosophies amongst each one. However, today I will focus on the most common form of stud found in casinos and online, seven card Stud Hi.

seven card stud is an ante game, where each player is required to post an ante, which is normally 10% of the big limit, before receiving any cards. There are 7 “streets” in stud: a street refers to players receiving cards. After players post their antes each player receives 2 face down cards and one face up card. The player with the lowest card showing, 2 is the lowest possible, is then forces to “bring-in.” This is a bet of double the ante. This player may also raise the limit, which is the small limit, if they wish. All other players act from left to right, calling, folding, or raising. After betting is complete the players receive “4th street.” This is a face up card that refers to the 4th card they receive. The player with the highest showing card now must act first. They can bet the small limit or check. After the betting is complete, players receive another face up card, “5th street.” Players must now bet the big limit for the remaining streets. After betting, the last face up card is dealt as “6th street.” Once players bet again they receive “7th street,” which is a face down card. Players now have their last opportunity to bet.

Players will have 4 cards exposed and 3 concealed. It is also important to add that players can raise on any street, but they may only raise the limit for that street. After all betting is complete, players showdown their hands. The best 5 card hand wins. The rank of hands is the same as in other forms of poker, such as Texas Hold’em. Royal Flush is the top hand, ranging down all the way to a high card hand. These details of the game of 7 card stud will become very important when we discuss different forms of strategy.

We must ingrain these rules of the game into our minds, as our strategies are based solely around these unique characteristics. Join me tomorrow as we look into 7 card Stud Hi strategies that can help you start making money immediately.