Poker cash spend

(Tue Mar 6th, 2007, by Morgan Collins)

Where does poker fit in terms of expenditure per household compared to other forms of gambling within the UK?

Gambling spend per household in the UK is on the up, particularly in the online sector and more so with online poker. Since the recent launch of Sky Poker TV channels, coupled with the list of high profile names now playing the game, the profile of the poker game itself has been raised along with expenditure. Online gambling has increased in general, and with the influx of online poker sites, poker gambling has become part of many people's lifestyles, and indeed many people currently earn their living playing poker all year around.

Currently there are 4 poker channels that can be viewed by UK Sky subscribers and over 200 poker sites that can be played around the globe, making online gambling a form of entertainment and recreation that ranks alongside the cinema and bowling in terms of visits.

People in the UK love to gamble. The UK has one of the highest populations with the propensity to gamble (some 62%) only just behind Australia and Sweden, though surprisingly slightly less per population than the US where only 62% of the population gamble.

The Gambling Commission which was set up in 2005 following the UK Gambling Act of that year (the most significant change in gambling law in over 50 years) reports that the UK also has one of the biggest gambling spend per capita of any other country in Europe. A figure of �1266 per capita, collectively �76 billion a year, and 7.7% of GDP has been quoted in some press releases, compared to that of �600 per capita in 2004.

So of the 33 million people in the UK that gamble, what types of gambling are people spending their money on and where does poker fit in that list.

Well let us look first at the forms of gambling that are considered. You have betting on sports like dog racing and horse racing. You also have bingo, national lotteries, pools and scratch cards. There is also casino gambling and slot machine gambling, and then you have online gambling

The National lottery is the most popular form of gambling in the UK with 65% of the population buying lottery tickets. The next most popular is scratch cards which 22% of UK residents buy each week. Slot machine gambling comes in next with 14%, followed by horse/dog racing 13%, and pools, 9%.

It may come as a surprise that still only 3% of the population actually gamble online in online casinos or online poker rooms . However, this just proves that there is still room for growth in the UK market. In general more men than women gamble online, except in the bingo sector where the percentage is 70% female to 30% male.

How much is being spent?

Average figures, provided by the Gambling Commission, show around 3.80 per household is spent each week on the National Lottery and some 4.00 per week spent on pools, scratch cards and other lotteries. 7.20 each week is spent on bingo, 5.00 for sports betting, and approximately 20 in land-based casinos. Approximately 10 per week is spent on online gambling and 5.00 on slot machines.

It is clear the online gambling is one of the major gambling expenditures in the UK. It is not clear how much is actually spent on online Poker, but considering poker sites makes up 75% of online gambling visits the amount is likely to be around �7.00 per household.

What is clear is that people love playing poker and it is not only men who have taken up this pastime. High profile female figures have begun to enjoy poker and the BBC reported one woman helping to support her family by playing poker at home.

With changes to the UK Gambling Act coming into force in September 2007, the government are suggesting that the Act will help reduce people propensity to gamble and will also protect children and problems gamblers. I will be a long time before proof of this is seen, but one thing is for sure, the profits raked in by the government on gambling taxes are set to grow alongside people's desire to play their favorite game of online poker.

About the Author

Written by Morgan Collins for VIP Poker Club an online poker games site for UK players. Resource links must be retained in reproduction of this article.

Difference between a good player and a dominate player.

Now with the lush amount of information regarding poker being out, a lot of people have now become "good" players. However, many have not taken it the next step to becoming a dominate player. What's the difference?

A good player has a strategy, and that strategy works well, it lowers the amounts he loses and maximizes his gain. It's often a very simple strategy such as picking good cards and playing them aggressively.

Isn't that what you should do? Yes and no. A dominate player will eat a player like this alive. A dominate player is someone who reads what his opponents are doing. He is a player that studies every single hand and every possible thing every player is doing. He is trying to see what gear everyone is playing at and is constantly changing his own gears in order to take full advantage of this information.

Do you multi-table? Yes, then you have no choice than to be just a "good" player. You have to live within a strategy and stick to it pretty strictly as you can never have a very good read on any given table if you have 36 different opponents. Can you dominate and multi-table? Only if you have a photographic memory and can scan your computer monitor very quickly. Even then you can only do so well as it requires much thinking to decipher your opponents moves and thinking and to exploit that knowledge.

So when should you multi-table and when should you dominate? You should dominate when you are playing a tournament, this information and knowledge can mean the difference of busting out on the bubble and making the final table. You can multi-table if you are playing a bunch of weak players, often at a small stakes table, but be weary of the sharks at your table who may appear harmless. You should dominate if you are at a table full of "good" players.

How do you become a dominate player? It takes a lot of discipline and patience, along with a lot of practice. You must make guesses on reads, and when you first start out you will more than likely be wrong a good amount of times. As you practice, you will begin to get better and better. It requires a lot of practice and study, it may seem boring to study hands you are not involved in, but the knowledge that is there is invaluable. As you begin to get better you will just begin to react to players more so than reading them, you will get gut feelings and they are often right on the money. If you have the patience, and the discipline you too can become a dominate player.

Advantages Of Playing Online Poker

By Jeff Dragt

Getting involved in online poker games is a wonderful way of
enabling you to play a great card game in the privacy of your
own home. There are so many tremendous advantages to playing
these poker games via the internet. First of all, it is
convenient in that you do not have to drive a long distance or
even short distance to a gaming facility as you will most
likely only need to walk into the other room where your
computer is set up. A second reason why online poker games are
a great way to enjoy your card games is that the stakes may
sometimes be a bit lower than if you were to proceed to gamble
at a physical establishment. A third advantage of playing poker
games online is that concentration is more readily available as
you are not playing poker in a distracting atmosphere where
other players are sitting to the left and right of you in
sometimes overly close quarters. A fourth and important
advantage to playing poker online is that you can play this fun
game 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without ever having to leave
the comfort of your own home. Lastly, as gaming tables at
casino establishments can sometimes be largely filled up, by
playing online poker you will ultimately eliminate the wait
that often exists at gaming tables in casinos.

Convenience for the seasoned or beginner poker player is one of
the many advantages of playing online poker. Even though gaming
institutions are popping up in more and more places these days,
it is still likely that you will have to drive a good distance
to reach a casino. As a number of casinos will usually have
ample parking, there will still be those instances where you
will have to look around for awhile for a parking spot and
sometimes even pay for your parking while you are inside the
casino. By playing poker online at home you are able to
completely disregard the notion of driving anywhere at all and
can use your time more wisely as opposed to wasting it by
driving to and from the gaming facility. Another plus with not
having to drive to a gaming establishment is that you will save
money on gasoline. Online poker is definitely for the
convenience-lover.

Lower stakes in the poker game are also an advantage of playing
poker in an online setting. As individuals that play poker
online are often beginners and are trying to learn the ins and
outs of the game, low stakes poker games online make this type
of table game a great place in which to learn without losing
large amounts of money. In order to find the websites offering
low stakes poker online, simply do a general search using a
phrase such as “low stakes poker online” or “poker games online
low stakes” and you will be met with a number of poker websites
from which to choose the one you like best. Just be sure to
thoroughly review the site prior to playing for safety reasons
to make sure it is legitimate.

A third advantage of playing the game of poker online is that
concentration will be more focused and centered in the comfort
of your own home. Sometimes when you are playing poker table
games at a casino, or any type of table games for that matter,
other players can be distracting and almost intrusive. With
online poker, you are able to concentrate better thereby
increasing your chances of winning. When people are unable to
concentrate, they tend to make silly moves thereby losing more
money than they might have had they been able to concentrate.
Playing poker online enables you to be able to concentrate on
the game at hand and eliminates any outside distractions that
may be present within a casino setting.

Having the availability of playing online poker 24 hours a day,
7 days a week is another wonderful advantage of playing a poker
game in this manner. This is wonderful for the individual who
likes to wait until later at night when the house is quiet and
work is done for the day when he/she can sit down in front of
the computer and enjoy a game or two of online poker. It
doesn’t matter what time of day it is as you are sure to find
an online poker game in progress. Availability is a beneficial
advantage to the poker game lover.

Finally, playing online poker is a great way to ensure your
place at a virtual gaming table. How many times have you driven
to your local casino, or in some instances not so local casino,
and found that you had to wait an unimaginable amount of time
to secure a spot at a card table that was within your budget?
My guess is quite a few of you have experienced this type of
waiting game. By utilizing the availability of online poker
websites you will be able to find a place at one of their
virtual tables and no longer will you need to wait in line to
enjoy some poker action. This may also help you to relax as
sometimes waiting in lines can cause unnecessary anxiety and
aggravation.

These are just a few reasons why playing poker online is a
great alternative to playing this game at a casino in your
area. Not only is online poker convenient but it also allows
you to concentrate on your game and increase your winnings.
Additionally, it allows you to play this entertaining game for
lower sums of money, thereby limiting any potential extreme
losses. Also, you will never have to wait in a smoky, crowded
casino area again looking for a table spot to open up. After
hearing about all of the aforementioned reasons, why not give
online poker a try and see for yourself all of the wonderful
things that it has to offer. Chances are you will not be
disappointed.

About the Author: Jeff Dragt is an avid online poker player who
writes for several online poker website.
http://www.texasholdempokerpro.com

Source: http://www.isnare.com

Balancing Life And Poker – Aim To Achieve An Equilibrium

By Andrew Ferguson

Starting out as a poker player it is easy to become deeply involved in the game, especially when you start winning. Constantly earning money is addictive, something that I would define as completely different to a gambling addiction. Every moment you are away from the table can lead to thoughts of missing out on the positive expected value associated with playing poker. This kind of poker obsession can be a great thing at first, it allows you to learn the game and work up a bankroll pretty quickly. In the long-run though, it can be fraught with problems.

When you do start experiencing the inevitable downswings and bad beats of poker, your heavy involvement in the game can become a problem. Your instincts will not allow you to walk away in situations where you have become steamed and could use some time away from the game. So instead of walking away when you are down three or four buy-ins for the day, you stay at the table because you don't have anything else to do with your time, or you are obsessed with winning. Inevitably, you continue to lose because you aren't in the right space mentally, your opponents are outplaying you or getting lucky and it simply isn't your day.

Breaks from poker are essential when you are in a rut, but if you don't have a balanced approach to your life, it is likely that you don't have many other interests outside of poker. Players who have a good equilibrium between poker and their life will immerse themselves in their families, business, physical fitness, reading or whatever else makes them tick or allows them relax away from the table. Their emotional welfare, while influenced mildly by how they do at poker, isn't deeply engrained their poker profit. If they are running bad at poker, they have plenty of other things going on in their day to day activities that they don't have time to think about it.

Even if you are good at playing through losing streaks and you feel like you can play poker all the time without any problems, this kind of lifestyle will catch up with you. Whether it be your physical or mental health, something is going to give in the long term. Spending long hours, 300+ days a year playing poker will take it's toll on your physical fitness in that all that time sitting down and living a very inactive lifestyle. You'd be surprised how much getting up from the table, giving up some poker time and going for a short jog everyday can help you out, both at the poker table and away from it. Physical health aside, the game of poker will wear you down mentally unlike any other. Even if you can keep it together at the worst of times, after thousands of hours and hundreds of sessions you will eventually be broken down. It is no surprise that many of the top poker players have famously broken down or developed substance abuse problems.

Poker is a great game, there is no doubt about it, but life is great and has so much to offer. So before you next sit down at the poker table, consider how long you are going to play and whether or not your poker playing is in balance with the other activities in your life. Do you really want to wake up in ten years time and realize you wasted the best years of your life playing poker, when you could have experienced so much if you'd played just a little less everyday?

Copyright 2007 – Andrew L. Ferguson. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

The Eureka Kid is an up-and-coming young poker player who publishes free poker commentary content. The Omaha Split provides all the Omaha High/Low rules and strategy you'll ever need to know!

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Taxes For Gamblers

By Richard Chapo

The federal government wants their hunk of meat regardless of how you earn money. This is true even if you don’t think of it as working, such as when you are gambling.

To say that gambling is a big time money industry is a minor understatement. From playing the ponies to traveling to Las Vegas for a weekend, there is little doubt that a lot of cash changes hands. The IRS, however, views it as an even larger industry than you might think. While casinos and the horse track are obvious gambling niches, the IRS also includes lotteries and raffles in the mix. This effectively means many people who don’t view themselves as gamblers actually are. If you buy a lotto ticket every once in a while, the IRS considers you one.

If you gamble, you are responsible for reporting your earnings and paying taxes if you won more than you lost during the year. If you lost more than you won, you get to right off the winnings. Unfortunately, the IRS will not let you claim a loss from gambling. In short, the house always wins with the IRS being the house.

If you have gambling winnings, the tax process can a bit annoying. You must file the 1040 form for your taxes because it is the only one that allows for the reporting of earnings. You want to report the winnings on Line 21.

If you have losses, you can deduct them to the extent they cancel out your winnings. Unfortunately, you can only deduct them if you itemize. In this case, we are talking about line 27 of Schedule A.

Regardless of whether you won or lost, you must keep tax records of your gambling efforts. Much like proving business mileage, you need to maintain receipts regarding payouts and the money you spent. The records should include the time and place you did your gambling. As with most tax records, you should keep these for a minimum of three years.

Richard A. Chapo is with BusinessTaxRecovery.com - providing information on taxes.

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