For years now, growing revenues from poker play at racetracks have been adding millions to Florida’s tax coffers. The surging popularity of Texas Hold ’em and tournament poker has added even more fuel to the growth of Florida tax earnings, until now.Recently, some racetracks decided to up the ante and challenge legal limits on amounts wagered in poker play. Initially, state courts didn’t object to the challenge, allowing the Florida state Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering to increase betting limits at authorized sites. When no-limit wagering at poker tournaments made its debut, however, officials decided to step in and cease all tournament poker activity indefinitely.Though cash games (mostly low limit) can still be played at the racetracks, some sites, such as Dania Jai-Alai and Melbourne Greyhound Park, have already started to see a drop in patronage. Other card rooms, particularly in southern Florida, reported no significant changes thus far as a consequence of the legal ruling.There is tremendous competition for clientèle in the gaming industry, mainly from cruise ships, tribal casinos, and online gambling sites. Understandably, then, the ban on poker tournaments has many Florida card room managers concerned. Most of them, however, are hesitant to contest the issue openly since they have a vested interest in the promotion of gambling in the state.For questions, feel free to contact the OPN Staff.© 2005 OPN – The best of Online Poker

Online casinos allow players to gamble through the Internet and in the comfort of whatever place they are in rather than traveling to wherever their favorite establishments are located. They are also known as Internet casinos or virtual casinos because of this.Just like their tangible “brick and mortar” counterparts, online casinos have ratings in the form of payback percentages and odds. Some of them even publish payout percentages on their sites, vaunting higher payback and higher frequency than their competitors.Payback percentage is defined as “is the overall percentage that a machine will return to the player in the long run.” This parameter is usually programmed into whatever game the virtual casino might be running and is set according to the owner’s specifications.Due to its very nature of being virtual and intangible, online casinos have trust issues with prospective and even regular clients. In light of this many casino owners have purchased and/or leased proprietary software made by reputable software entities like CryptoLogic Inc, Realtime Gaming, Microgaming, and Playtech. They then peg their online casino’s trustworthiness with the programming companies’ reputations and the stability of their random number generators.Online casinos are classified into three types according to how players interact with each other. These are:o Web-based online casinos – these types of virtual casinos do not require downloading files; they readily play through a wide variety of Internet browsers. Some of them require Flash or Java for a player to participate in games however. The advantage of this kind of casino is that sound clips and graphics needed for the game is streamed directly to the client over the Net. This dispenses the need to download relatively huge files.o Download-based online casinos – Participating in this type of casino involves downloading a client installer needed for players to access the virtual site. The advantage of this type of casino is that it generally runs much faster than Web-based ones. The disadvantage is that interested players need to download the client and the risk of installing malware from shady parties is very much real.o Live-based casinos – In this kind of casino, players can hear, see, and interact with other players. The Internet is just relatively an unobtrusive medium of communication as players participate in a real world environment.Online casinos may offer any one or all of the following gambling pastimes: online poker, roulette, blackjack, baccarat, craps and online slot games.

With times as difficult as they are, people are struggling to find new ways of making ends meet.  Previously, the way to do this was through investing in the stock market and hoping for the best.  However, in recent years, faith in the stock market has waned, and real estate seems just as unreliable.  More and more, people are looking to sports betting systems for the answers to their financial woes.  Unlike the stock markets, there is an honesty in sports investing that most people can appreciate.  However, there are still dangers that the un-initiated may face.The first major risk that sports bettors face is going too far too quickly.  This all or nothing mentality is holdover from the days of stock market gambling.  Right now there is no reason to potentially go bankrupt due to a sports betting system.  Any reputable company will tell you that you shouldn’t use more than 5% of your income on sports betting.  Using any more than that is simply inviting disaster.  That ties right into the next risk, which is what strategy to use. There are a surprising number of sports betting systems being advertised online.  Each of these systems claims to be the right choice for all your sports betting needs.  However, most of these sites will be of no help to you, especially if their business plan does not match your own.  The problem is even worse when the sites are run by untrustworthy individuals.  When you begin your search, do so by looking for customer reviews about the company as well as a business portfolio.  If the company is worth talking about, then you should have no trouble finding satisfied customers.  The next major risk is trying to do too much.  You may love all sports, but keeping up with all of your NFL picks, NBA picks, MLB picks and NHL picks may be too much.  There is no shame in cutting back on the others to focus on the one that is most dear to you, or has the largest potential of profit.  You need to learn balance in all aspects of sports betting, from the actual amount of money to be used to which company strategy to choose.  More than that, you need to choose a company that has that same kind of balance.