Online Poker vs Sports Betting

The rise of online sports betting and daily fantasy sports (DFS) as multi-billion dollar industries has seen many poker vs sports betting comparisons be drawn, including parallels to the online poker boom of the early 2000s.

Many online poker networks also host sportsbooks, such as 888 and PartyGaming.

There are some that worry online sports betting could share the same fate as online poker which is banned in many US states. For the time being however betting sports is considered a skill game in the United States, and is legal.

Poker vs Sports Betting – Top 3 Similarities

Both poker and sports betting offer financial rewards to players who make the best betting decisions in the long run, and both involve short-term variance, or ‘luck’.

There are a number of skills shared by successful poker players that translate well to the world of betting sports, whether you’re a fan of the NFL, NBA, baseball, or soccer.

#1 – Bankroll Management

It might not be fun, but it’s probably the most important aspect of both sports betting and poker.

No matter how good you are at picking winning lineups, failing to use disciplined bankroll management will catch up with you eventually.

In DFS for example, GPP (Guaranteed Prize Pool) contests can be compared to large field, guaranteed multi-table tournaments (GTD MTTs) in poker; they’re both high variance, and consequently require a large number of buy ins.

An example GPP event in the DraftKings lobby, the $10m Millionaire Maker

50/50s and heads-up games are more analogous to cash games in poker, where proven winners can grind out a relatively consistent, low-variance profit.

One key difference in managing your sports betting bankroll though is that when you enter multiple contests on the same day, the results are highly correlated with each other.

If e.g. Chris Paul is widely perceived to be great value on a particular night, the percentage of people who roster him in each contest is going to be similar.

There will be some fluctuation – he might be 59% owned in one contest, and 67% owned in another – but he’ll never be 80% owned in one contest and 15% owned in another.

The result is that when you pick a high-scoring lineup that cashes in one of your contests, there’s a good chance it will cash in the others as well.

Conversely, if your lineup doesn’t do so hot, you might end up with a goose egg for the night.

Contrast this with poker – load up a few cash game tables, and you usually find yourself seated with different players at each table. You might be dealt monsters at one table, while getting cold-decked at another.

There are a lot of independent variables at play that separate your results at each table, and you’re much more likely to finish with a middling result.

 One of the largest fantasy sports sites, DraftKings recently partnered with the World Poker Tour

#2 – Psychology

While both DFS and poker are mathematical games at their core, there’s no denying the element of psychology inherent in each of them.

The role of psychology in DFS is most prominent in the GPP format, while 50/50s and HU matches are mostly data-driven.

The GPP fields are big, the payout structures are top-heavy, and there’s only so many players that can be rostered. Inevitably, some people end up with identical lineups. If they finish in the money, that means they have to split their prize with other entries.

GPP players sometimes try to avoid this by making unorthodox contrarian picks, making it less likely that others will share their exact lineup.

It’s often correct to pick a lineup that you expect to perform worse than others on average. You might finish in the money less often than others, but it’s made up for by the fact that you’ll have to share your prize money less often when you do cash.

The psychology, then, comes into play while trying to predict which players others will choose. Being aware of the day’s sports headlines is important, as sites like ESPN are very influential on casual fantasy sports players.

One of the best ways to get a feel for public sentiment is to keep tabs on some of the major sports discussion forums. Many people openly discuss their picks, and you can adjust your lineups accordingly.

#3 – Data Analysis

Online poker players use tools such as Hold’em Manager to track a variety of statistics on their opponents, and to analyze their own play.

In online sports betting, most of the data you’re concerned with involves the athletes themselves. Not all data are created equally, and identifying the most relevant stats for your sport is crucial to finding success in sports betting.

Bet on football, tennis, snooker and more on 888 Sport

This might be most apparent in baseball, which has a larger and more diverse body of data than any other sport.

For a long time, earned run average (ERA) was the go-to stat for evaluating MLB pitchers. With modern analysis, we now know that ERA is actually a terrible metric, and that strikeouts per nine innings (K/9) and walks per nine innings (BB/9) are far better predictors of future pitching success.

There are various sites that give sports player projections. Instead of relying on any one site, the best way to use this information is to combine them in a spreadsheet to create aggregate projections.

Aggregate projections have been shown to outperform the vast majority of individual projections. You can use the aggregate as your own projection baseline, but you’ll still need to account for other factors like late lineup changes.

Another very data heavy sport is basketball, with poker pro Haralabob Voulgaris famous for using mathematic models to bet on the NBA.

High Five on WPN Sep 10 – 29 with $5 Million GTD

The High Five online poker tournament series returns to the Winning Poker Network September 10 – 29, 2019 with $5 million in guaranteed prizepools.

The number one US-facing poker site Americas Cardroom and it’s sister site Black Chip Poker have developed a following with the popular series and it’s about to come back once again with 100 events in total.

ACR’s High Five series was created as a way to give a nod to the 420-friendly players. Offering Main Events that award $420,000 in guaranteed cash and daily ten-minute breaks – at 4:20, of course – reinforces the theme, and ACR is making things even better this time. Instead of just one $420,000 Main Event, there will be a total of three – September 15, 22 and 29 at 16:00 ET.

Also looking ahead to December, the network will host another Venom tournament, this time with a $6 million guarantee, in one single huge tournament.

Best Online Poker Websites for Indian Players in 2019

Vivek Rajkumar, online poker pro

The love of the Indian audience for online poker is growing at an exponential rate as more people are getting familiar with the game and learning how to gamble online in India. Playing online poker in India is getting more convenient each passing day as many land-based casinos are opening up to the game.

However, online poker remains the best way to play the game in this country as people prefer to play it through the internet from the comforts of their home or anywhere else, anytime. Online poker needs a special skill set and analyzing power which makes it more of a mind game than mere gambling and this has contributed a lot to its success among Indians.

While the game itself has garnered much fanfare, it is highly imperative to play it safely across virtual platforms. Not all websites are equally secure and reliable to play online poker and many misuse their resources to cheat their audience.

It can often be overwhelming to come across dozens of poker sites available to play in India. All of them might promise dreamy rewards on the surface but are just honeytraps to lure in unsuspected players, and must be avoided at all costs.

Most Indian players are fairly new to the online poker scenario and are in a dilemma as to what to look for in a good poker website. One of the top features to look for is the security of the site and safety of user information like account details, contact number, and email id as well as the ability to safely deposit and withdraw funds.

Muskan Sethi, India’s first female poker pro

Customer service support, traffic, great software support, multiple interactive tournaments, loyalty points, and bonuses, as well as betting limits, are other important factors to consider when choosing a good online poker website.

But which websites are best to play online poker? Here are some of the best online poker websites for Indian players in 2019:

Black Chip Poker

On the Winning Poker network, Black Chip Poker is the RoW (rest of world) facing skin of Americas Cardroom. India traffic is accepted. All players signing up via an affiliate site receive 27% rakeback on demand – pay yourself after every session of cash games or tournaments you play. The network recently ran a $5 million guaranteed tournament in July 2019, one of the largest online poker events in history.

PokerStars

Touted to be the numero uno website for online poker enthusiasts in the world, PokerStars has been in business online since 2001. It is also available to be played as a downloadable game on both PC and mobile. The variety of games offered on PokerStars is mind-boggling at a wide variety of stakes. It also garners very high traffic in both ring games and tournaments round the clock.

The website packs awesome features like multi-tabling, reviewing hand histories, and searching for, tracking, and chatting with other players. It also features a functional web cashier and fast and secure banking. A welcome bonus of $600 acts as the icing on cake.

Winner Poker

On the iPoker network, Winner Poker accepts Indian players and those that sign up via affiliate can earn 65-70% weekly rakeback, based on iPoker’s source based rakeback system which equates to around 40% conventional rakeback.

Some more rooms accepting Indian traffic include Betsson, Nordicbet and RedKings on the Microgaming network.

Casino Sites for Indian Players

If you’re interested in video poker, three card poker and other card games such as Blackjack, below are some online casinos that are reputable for Indian players:

Royal Panda

The Royal Panda online casino is a great destination that was formed in 2014 but has still managed to earn a massive fan following, thanks to factors like a nice welcome bonus with easy wagering requirements, a secure instant play platform, hundreds upon hundreds of great casino games and much more. The gaming selection is massive with special emphasis to mobile users. Royal Panda also boasts of one of the best security protocols in place out of any online poker website with fully licensed and regulated games. 

Betway Casino

A name to reckon with in the international online poker circle since 2006, Betway Casino uses trusted, easy-to-install, state-of-the-art Microgaming software to offer an unrivaled gaming experience that can be played both on PC and mobile devices. It is eCogra certified and is a part of the Microgaming progressive jackpot network. Betway Casino is a popular destination known for its very high payouts and offers a great welcome bonus.

Spin Palace Casino

A trusted website that is well-liked by players for its online poker among other games, Spin Palace casino is famous for providing games that are independently audited and regularly updated to offer the highest quality online casino experience. The website is easy to use and is also available to download and play on mobile. The selection of games is impressive with a wide variety to choose from. Spin Palace has an excellent loyalty recognition program which rewards generously.

Americas Cardroom Finish Software Upgrade, Fix Rakeback Payments

Good news from Americas Cardroom as they completed their software upgrade yesterday (July 2nd) and paid players all outstanding rakeback. Perfect timing a couple weeks before their upcoming $5 Million Venom tournament.

The Venom event will kick off on July 14th on ACR and Black Chip Poker and is the largest tournament ever put together by any US-facing poker network. This tournament is going to be a record-setting event and you don’t want to miss out on all the excitement!

Here’s a little of what the $5 Million Venom will offer:

• The chance to become an instant millionaire – The top prize is $1 million in guaranteed cash. Your life could change in a minute!
• Multiple chances for entry – The $5 Million Venom offers multiple Day 1 starting dates. If you don’t make it through on Day 1A, take another run on Day 1B or Day 1C. This is the first multi-Day 1 tournament for ACR and everyone has a chance at a seat.
• Seats for free – ACR is adding $120,000 a month into their Step tournaments, making it easy to win a $2,650 Venom seat. Step 1 is free to enter for everyone.
• Incredibly fast $1M payout – Americas Cardroom is going to show the world how fast and dependable bitcoin is. The winner will receive their $1 million first-place prize by crypto within minutes of the final hand. Don’t worry if you’re not a crypto fan. You can always send your winnings back to ACR and they’ll pay you using a conventional banking method.

Here’s the complete $5 Million Venom Schedule:

• Day 1A: Sunday July 14th at 1pm ET (12 hours of play)
• Day 1B: Tuesday, July 16th at 1pm ET (12 hours of play)
• Day 1C: Sunday, July 21st at 1pm ET (12 hours of play)
• Day 2: Monday, July 22nd at 1pm ET (12 hours of play or down to final 8 players)
• Day 3 (if needed): Tuesday, July 23rd at 1pm ET (Play down to the final table)
• Day 4: Wednesday, July 24th at 5pm ET (Final Table plays until tournament is over)

To learn more about this summer’s biggest tournament visit the Americas Cardroom by clicking below. If you’re a new player, clicking below will also lock in a 27% rakeback account.

Americas Cardroom Freerolls to the $5 Million Venom Event

Americas Cardroom freerolls are running right now as a way to qualify in steps for the $5 Million Venom event on July 14.

Win your seat for free and play for a first prize of $1 million guaranteed.

Find a freeroll at 12am, 4am, 8am, 12pm, 4pm and 8pm ET every day. Combined, the freerolls pay out 113 tickets each day to a Step 2 tournament. Climb to step 6 to play for a ticket to the Venom event.

Step Freeroll Structure

● Step 2 ($6.61 buy-in) – 25 Seats guaranteed to Step 3
● Step 3 ($16.51 buy-in) – 15 Seats guaranteed to Step 4
● Step 4 ($55.01 buy-in) – 6 Seats guaranteed to Step 5
● Step 5 ($215.01 buy-in) – 5 Seats guaranteed to Step 6
● Step 6 ($630.01 buy-in) – 1 Venom Seat guaranteed

A Venom ticket is worth $2,650.

In total, Americas Cardroom and Black Chip Poker are putting $120,000 into Venom Steps.

In the Cannuli Challenge, Winning Poker network pro Thomas Cannuli is attempting to win three seats in three months, starting with no bankroll at all. Look for him in a daily freeroll and join him.

Online Poker Bonuses – Understanding the Best Offers

Poker’s meteoric rise in popularity over the last 15 years has been driven by two main factors. Firstly, the inclusion of major live events on mainstream television. And secondly, the arrival of online poker.

Image credit: Pixabay

The post-millennium poker explosion

TV presence and media coverage of top tournaments such as the World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker brought the game to the masses. It also turned top poker players into celebrities and celebrities into poker players, sparking interest in a new generation of casual poker fans.

Poker nights became a common social activity and the number of weekly players hit new heights. As more people learned to play the game, online poker gave them the opportunity to practice and play for real money in a safe environment at any time of day or night.

Online poker bonuses

With so many people taking up poker and so many websites vying for their business, the best sites started offering attractive bonuses to entice players to sign up. The types of promotions have varied over the years, but it is now common for poker sites and online casinos to offer a free cash bonus to every new player who signs up.

To make it easy for new customers to find the best online poker bonuses, sites such as www.bestonlinecasinos.org.uk have been established. These review sites are similar to the comparison websites you might use when looking for a new insurance deal or other financial product.

Basically, they assess a range of factors including online safety, level of service, reliability of software and quality of bonuses to help players find the right online casino for them.

What makes a great poker bonus?

When it comes to bonuses, what makes a great offer? The first thing that will grab users’ attention is the amount of bonus cash offered. This can range from tens to thousands of dollars. Many players are tempted by the bigger cash numbers and rush to sign up and play.

Only then might they find out that the wagering requirements to receive the bonus are very restrictive, and in some cases, extremely difficult to achieve. But what are these requirements?

Understanding bonus wagering requirements

If you are not sure what a wagering requirement is, let’s take a closer look at this feature, which is often hidden away in the small print of online casino sites.

A wagering requirement refers to the number of times a player must stake the equivalent of the cash bonus before the money is released into their account.

For example, if you must deposit $20 to get a cash bonus of $100 but there is a wagering requirement of x5 including your deposit, you will have to wager 5 x $120 ($600) before you can withdraw any bonus winnings.

Okay, you might think, I’ll probably wager that amount eventually. But there may also be a time limit on meeting the wagering requirement. So you may have just 14 days to wager $600 and release your bonus winnings.

“Online-Poker – Chips und Karten auf dem” (CC BY 2.0) by marcoverch

Check the Terms and Conditions

It is often the case, that the best bonus deal overall offers a lower bonus payment but has much easier wagering requirements. All licensed and industry-regulated poker websites will display their wagering requirements and other information related to their bonus in the relevant terms and conditions page of their website.

However, many players do not look beyond the monetary value of the bonus before signing up. So, it is vitally important that you check through the terms and conditions yourself, or find a reputable casino review site that you can trust.

As we have explained, online casino game bonuses are not always what they seem. The best deals are often the ones that have lower cash incentives but more reasonable wagering requirements.

What’s more, they are always offered by fully licensed and authorised poker websites that have a good reputation for service and offer speedy pay-outs. Make sure you understand what makes a great poker bonus offer before you sign up and start wagering.

$5 Million GTD Venom Event & More Next Month at WPN

The Winning Poker Network is making the final preparations for its largest tournament to date, the $5 Million Venom on July 16th. It is certainly going to be a huge deal, but WPN’s event schedule is always on fire with incredible tournaments for players of all levels.

The $5 Million Venom is the biggest tournament WPN has ever put together, as well as the biggest ever put together by any US-facing poker site. It is going to be a record-setting event and, with $1 million guaranteed for the big winner, someone is going to become an instant millionaire.

There’s more excitement on WPN than just the $5 Million Venom. Over $3.8 million in guarantees are on tap each week through events like these:

• $200,000 GTD ($1,050 buy-in) every Sunday at 2pm ET

• $125,000 Sunday Special ($215 buy-in) every Sunday at 2:30pm ET

• $70,000 GTD ($1,050 buy-in) every Tuesday at 6pm ET

• $20,000 to $50,000 GTD Daily High Roller ($530 buy-in). Times vary

The $5 Million Venom is rapidly approaching and you don’t want to miss this historic event. Americas Cardroom and Black Chip Poker make it easy to pick up a seat for free, offering a number of opportunities to earn a seat through events such as the site’s Step tournaments and daily satellites. For all the details on the $5 Million Venom, click below.

World Series Satellites Upcoming on Americas Cardroom – Head to Vegas

The 2019 World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event in Las Vegas kicks off on July 3 this year at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino. You can be there courtesy of Americas Cardroom and Black Chip Poker.

The USA-friendly online poker site is hosting their WSOP Takedown Week from June 3 – 9 for you to win your free trip to Vegas.

Satellites are running every day during that week, with buy-ins starting at just $2.20. The daily satellites lead to a WSOP Main Event Satellite on Sunday, June 9 at 4pm ET ($1,920 direct buy-in).

Up for grabs in that WSOP Main Event satellite are 15 WSOP prize packages. Each is worth $12,500 which means $187,500 is awarded in total.

You’ll be headed to Sin City with the $10,000 Main Event buy-in and $2,500 for travel & accommodation expenses to play in the world’s most prestigious poker tourney. You can also just choose to keep the $12,500 in cash instead, although that seems a little boring!

You can also play in a Step Tournament right now to win your way to Vegas. Step 0 costs just 28 cents and you can move up the ladder to Step 7 which is the WSOP Main Event Satellite on June 9.

For those who prefer online poker to live, ACR are giving you a chance to win $1 Million. Just play in Americas Cardroom’s $5 Million guaranteed Venom tournament that begins July 16. This is going to be one for the record books as the biggest tourney ever offered by a US-facing site.

High Five $1.3 Million GTD Series April 17-21

The Winning Poker Network’s ‘High Five’ tournament series runs April 17 -21, 2019 on all skins including Americas Cardroom, Black Chip Poker & Ya Poker. Look forward to:

• 5 tournaments a day for each of the 5 days in a row
• $1.3 million in total guaranteed prizepools
• A $420,000 GTD Main Event
• Buy-ins as low as $1+0.05
• A courtesy break daily at 4:20pm ET
  

If you’re wondering where The High Five got its name, look no further than your local dispensary. Americas Cardroom seems to think that a lot of poker players like the green stuff, so they’ve given The High Five a 420 theme.

But there’s more to this than a marketing gimmick. The High Five really is one of the most popular poker tournament series, simply because it appeals to players of all stake levels, bankrolls, and skill levels. Buy-ins are small enough that everyone can feel comfortable playing in it. And guarantees are impressive enough, even for high rollers.

In the mood for something much bigger? You won’t have to wait long. This July, Americas Cardroom is running The $5 Million Venom, a single tournament that spans multiple days and features $5 million in guaranteed prize money. For more information, visit their website via the link below to also receive 27% rakeback if you’re a new player.

March Madness BetOnline Freerolls April 6-8

BetOnline and sister site Tiger Gaming are running two extra freeroll tournaments this month as part of March Madness.

Find the dates and freeroll passwords below. All players are welcome.

March Madness Poker – Final 4 – $1,500 Freeroll

• April 6, 2019 @ 18:00 ET
• Password: 875713

March Madness Poker – Championship – $2,500 Freeroll

• April 8, 2019 @ 18:00 ET
• Password:  454123

New players can take advantage of $10,000 in new player freerolls, and a signup bonus of 100% up to $2,500.