Women Lead the Way Online

Women Lead the Way Online

With the online gambling sector set to triple to an astounding USD25 billion by 2010, one cannot help but question the masked identity of the consumers who game online, and just how is it that these people are keeping the market alive with possibility.

According to recent media reports the world online is vastly becoming a women’s playground with at least two thirds of the majority of gamblers and poker players being of the female sex. The biggest gambling event in history, The International Casino Games, boasts at least 56 of their 100 esteemed players who are to take part in the prestigious finale tournament aboard a Caribbean cruise, are female.

So just what is it that drives the ‘fairer sex’, as they are commonly known because of the patriarchal view that women are no more than objects of beauty that to be ‘seen and not heard’, to go online and game away?

Head of Poker Girl, a website catering for the gambling needs of British women, Julian Morel says, “the majority of our [female] clients are in property, fashion and public relations (PR), and the prizes like manicures and facials are not the reason why they game online.”

Morel attributes the spike in female players on the Internet to the social aspect of gaming online. The interaction could be seen as the equivalent to a ‘girls night out’ which is typically a night when girlfriends get together and let their hair down for some fun and a good chat.

The good ol’ ladies of Wisteria Lane in the award-winning soapie, Desparate Housewives, have also been contributing to the growing interest in poker, and it is a fact that well-known female celebrities like Nicky Hilton, Jennifer Tilly and Mimi Rogers, all hold regular poker tournaments so they can duke it out with other celebrity players for the title of “Star Poker Player”. Television shows like Las Vegas and sports shows such as ESPN Poker and The Small Town Poker Tour, all add to debunking the mystery that is gambling.

Celebrity endorsements enhance the popularity of many online endeavours as can be seen with the new Palms Home Poker Host, a poker software initiative, taken on by Jamie Spears, father and mentor of the illustrious pop star Britney Spears. This only adds to the attractiveness accrued to gambling online and for many women who look to the stars as their role models, seeing a Britney or Ben Affleck playing poker would give them the incentive to try it out too.

Usually this leads to regular sessions online and winnings that are quite appealing when it comes to beating the odds in games like Texas Hold’em, which is proving to be a women’s favourite when gaming on the Internet.

John Hughes, Marketing Director for 7Sultans Online Casino and Royal Vegas Online Poker says, “We are seeing an increasing number of female poker players. As women tend to be more disciplined and analytical than men, poker as a sport seems to offer both a social and competitive aspect, making it the perfect ladies’ game.”

So there it is in black and white, women like the freedom that Internet gambling affords them and winning online gives them the added bonus of being independent, and being able to afford the finer things in life is just one of the incentives that any woman needs to get gaming.

You Know you’re An Online Poker Player when...

You Know you’re An Online Poker Player when...

· You think "sitngo" is a real word.
· You come home from playing poker and immediately play more poker.
· You've played poker for years but have never actually seen a deck of cards.
· You know most of your best friends by their screen name only.
· The first time you played in a cardroom or casino, you looked for the "bet all/raise all" button.
· You stay up till three in the morning because "there's this freeroll on Royal Vegas."
· You miss your mother's birthday because "there's this freeroll on 7Sultans"
· You wear a catheter for no medical reason.
· You haven't seen the sun in three days.
· Your idea and your girlfriend's idea of "all-in protection" are two very different things.
· You won't play in your local cardroom because there's no refer-a-friend bonus.
· Your entire wardrobe consists of online player's hats and shirts.
· GL, NH, NB, GG and TY all make sense to you.
· Though you can't walk and chew gum at the same time, playing four simultaneous sitngos is no problem.
· You don't remember your own phone number, but know your NETELLER details by heart.
· You upgraded to DSL and a high resolution 20" monitor "for no particular reason."
· You can cram a four-course meal into a five minute tournament break.
· The first question you ask of any vacation spot is, "Do they have internet?"
· You've been playing online every day for the past 18 months, but can quit any time you want.
· You haven't seen your spouse/lover/significant other in weeks, but you see RustyNail23 every damn day.
· Sleep? Who needs sleep?
· You’ve typed, "I hate you, I hope you die" in the chat window on more than one occasion.
· You've taken every bad beat known to man -- except the next one.

First published in World Player Magazine

Poker chip Purchasing Made Simple

Poker chip Purchasing Made Simple

Credit cards may be the easier way to purchase poker credits online but they are not always the most convenient or the fastest way to get poker chips when playing online. Alternative payment methods are an easy and efficient way to fill up your account and they are safe and secure to use too.

Online transactions, also known as ‘e-transactions’, are vastly becoming the new age way to get all your banking and account payments done. Alternative payment methods make your life so much simpler if you effect all personal transactions from one place – your desktop, as opposed to visiting several different outlets to do the same inane thing over and over again.

Offering multiple payment options on your website is one of the ways that you can increase sales by increasing customer convenience and confidence. Providers that offer alternative payment methods, such as charging directly to a web wallet, electronic funds transfer (EFTs), and electronic checks, handle these transactions through a secure server or a payment gateway that utilizes the latest encryption software. This ensures that the information which you provide to them is always kept safe and that they remain confidential.

With an EFT, phone bill charges, and debit cards, funds are verified before the purchase is complete, reducing the risk of fraud and insufficient funds returns. At most online poker rooms there is usually a Banking section which will lead you to a “Deposit” page that lists all the preferred alternative payment methods like NETELLER, Click2Pay and PrePaid ATM. Other ways of taking payment online includes person-to-person, mobile commerce, pre-paid cash cards and micro-billing payment solutions.

These purchasing options are completely hassle-free, fast and most online casinos and poker rooms will give you an added incentive for using them. These could be in the form of free credits, bonuses and other promotions that are on-going and rather rewarding if you are a regular player.

Credit cards may still be the most common method of payment for online purchases, but other industry-leading payment options are available at your fingertips. You are afforded better service and more choice online so take the time out to familiarize yourself with your preferred payment method and make the better choice. Now you’ll have more time for playing online and less time worrying about the amount of chips you have left - doesn’t that make you feel good.

First Published in World Player Magazine

From Ancient China to your Dorm room…

From Ancient China to your Dorm room…

Chances are that your home, like the home of most other Americans, contains a standard pack of 52 playing cards. Card games are probably the most common pastimes across countries, continents and cultures. A simple game of cards combines two elements, which have always lured would-be players: chance and skill.

Playing cards have a history dating back to Ancient China, soon after paper was invented in that same country in 150 BC. These Ancient Chinese “Money Cards” had four suits: coins, strings of coins, myriads of strings and tens of myriads. In fact, these cards may have been paper currency that acted as a tool for gaming and the actual stakes being played for.

It isn’t clear exactly how and when playing cards were introduced into Europe. One of the popular beliefs is that the Mamelukes of Egypt (military caste composed of Turkish slaves) brought the first playing cards to Europe in the late 1300s. The Mameluke deck consisted of 52 cards of four suits: polo sticks, coins, swords and cups. Each suit contained ten “spot” cards or number value cards and three face cards: there was a malik (king), na’ib malik (deputy king) and a thani na’ib (second or under deputy). The cards were all hand-painted and nobility were the only ones to use them because they were the only people wealthy enough to afford them.

In Europe, different countries began to experiment with the design of the playing cards. Face cards began to represent European royalty and attendants, i.e. the king, chevalier and knave. Queens were later introduced into playing cards in various ways. In the 1400s, a deck of playing cards consisted of 56 cards, most of them containing a king, queen, knight and valet. German decks had suites of hearts, bells, leaves and acorns and these suits are still present in Eastern and Southeastern European decks today.

Italian and Spanish cards from the 15th century used suits of swords, batons, cups and coins. It is likely that the Tarot deck was invented in Italy at the same time. The four suits used in contemporary decks (hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs) originated in France in the late 1400s.

In early games, the king was the highest valued card in a suit, but the Ace subsequently became the highest card. The Knave of the earlier decks evolved into the Jack. So where did the joker come from? The joker is an American invention. It spread to Europe along with another great American invention, the game of poker.

First published in World Player Magazine