Why You Need a Professional Poker Set

I'm telling you, if you're into poker, there's nothing better than having a professional poker set (well, unless you have a professional-looking poker table to go along with your professional poker set). Poker is a great game for many different reasons, and looking and feeling like some riverboat gambling professional or tournament Texas Hold'em player just makes it all that much better.

Just the other night, I went to play some poker at a friend's house. David always hosts a poker game on Friday or Saturday night. So, here we are, sipping our beer and firing up the stoagies, gathered around David's poker table--and, yes, he's got a professional-looking one--and then his wife Maria comes in carrying this slick-looking aluminum carrying case. She sets that case in the middle of the table, and David flips the latch. It's a professional set! Man, I'm telling you--if this isn't already exciting you, you're not a poker player. Not a very serious one, anyway.

Let me tell you some more about that professional poker set. It housed 300 casino-grade 11.5 gram composite-lay chips flanking two sets of professional quality playing cards. David said that he'd had the cards customized, too. I was getting the feeling of being in a real casino somewhere as I looked at that professional poker set.

Now, I know--you might not share my enthusiasm (or would it be better to say passion?) for this game, even if you do play. You might think this all sounds crazy. "Why is this loonie going crazy over a professional poker set?

That thing probably cost David a pretty penny. Why not buy some cards and plastic chips down at the local Dollar Tree?" Well, my friend, I feel my eyes glaze over when I hear a guy talking about vintage automobiles, so I feel for you. I'm not one of those men who cares at all about Old Car Shows, but a lot of my guy friends do. Yeah, I understand.

But I love poker, and I love the feel of a casino. I love the idea of putting that real casino feel into the comfort and convenience of your own home. And--I love nice stuff. I don't believe in going cheap.Saving money is one thing, but going cheap is something else entirely. Cheap stuff breaks easily, or gets dirty easily. And...well, it's just low quality.

A professional poker set reveals a mind-set of high quality. David cares about his gaming experience, and he cares about that of his friends. If you're getting together with friends for an evening, you want to enjoy that experience as much as possible. You want to remember it years later. If it's poker night, you want that experience and that memory. You don't buy cheap beer, you buy the good stuff like Sam or some Girls or Heineken or Beck's Dark.

(Yeah, I realize some people love Budweiser, and as long as that kind of beer is their idea of high quality that's what matters. But I'm getting off track.) You might even break out some scotch or brandy. You get some good Cubans or Colombians. Maybe you put on some good music on the stereo. You serve up some delicious food (you know, the kind that you don't find in health food stores). And you sit at a nice-looking poker table, of professional quality if possible, and you play with a professional poker set. That's just how it is.

The other night, David's professional poker set turned me on so much...the look and feel of playing with those cards and chips, all kept clean and neat in that nice case...that I'm now on a mission. I, too, am going to start hosting poker nights. And that means I need a professional looking poker table...and a very, very nice professional poker set. (I've already got the professional looking wet bar, by the way. And the dart set.)

Now, if you're getting as excited as I am by all this, just let me tell you real quick what I know. You can find professional poker sets that contain anywhere from 100 to 1000 chips. Some cases are aluminum, like David's, but others are Royce leather. I haven't decided yet which one I think is cooler-looking.

In fact, I'm considering an aluminum casing with a clear top--yeah, now just imagine showing off your pro-cards and pro-chips before you even flip the lid! Make your poker playing friends drool before the games even begin. I know that they also make "high roller" professional poker sets that include casino dice. That's not for me, but it might be for you.

Oh, and I've also seen the sets that can be personalized or go along with a poker room theme. I don't know about you, but I love a good glass of Guinness stout. So, guess what I'm considering? Yeah--a professional poker set with the Guinness name and logo on it. I might make an Irish pub poker room theme.

See, if you're going to host poker nights, you have got to do them right. Give your friends the complete experience. Include a professional poker set. It's more than worth it.

Learn more about Poker Chips and Poker Chip Sets from Brian Garvin & Jeff West at Poker Stars Direct.

How You Can Succeed As a Professional Online Poker Player

So, you want to learn to become a professional online poker player? Well, there are a few steps you must take first and a few poker strategy tricks you must learn before you can realize that easy dream of becoming a pro online-poker player.

In recent years, many people have made the decision to leave their full time jobs and even drop out of college in pursuit of becoming a professional online poker player. This task is not nearly as hard as one would think, if you have the discipline to adhere to certain poker strategy techniques and apply them to your game.

Many professional online poker players will tell you the hardest part to overcome is building a bankroll while trying to avoid constant bad beats in poker. Since many poker sites using a randomizer makes it more difficult to win, especially from novice players, a certain online poker strategy must be used.

Although constant bad beats in poker are a fact of a professional online poker player's life, by keeping a steady and disciplined approach toward your poker strategy, you can avoid those constant bad beats in poker and win cash for your account.

Whether you are playing in a poker cash game or tournament, you want to stick to the methods of a professional online poker player and keep from going on tilt. The best poker strategy is to approach becoming a professional poker player as a business venture. As a business, you will have up days and down days, just like any business.

Even the prolific pro Tom 'durrrr' Dwan has admitted to losing as much as $1 million in a day. However, applying the correct poker strategy to your game will cushion you against major losses and allow you to continue in your career.

For the best advice, to become a professional online poker player and win cash for your poker account, play each tournament or poker cash game with the intention of making a profit. Do not play for fun or entertainment, and definitely do not play when you are on tilt (upset or mad).

Find the best poker strategy that works well with your style of game and apply the methods of other professionals to excel in your career choice. Learning from other pros in the field is perhaps the absolute best poker strategy you can apply to your game.

It only takes one or two great wins in an online-poker cash game or tournament to propel your poker career to the top. Therefore, use proven and steady discipline to advance your game and learn as much as you can from other professional online poker players who have already made it! Good Luck!

Get a free copy of the Ebook "How to Succeed as a Professional Online Poker Player with in-depth techniques and tricks for winning online poker. The book contains poker strategy and insights from several online poker professionals.

Paul Westin is a professional Poker player and has written several books and articles in trade magazines about online poker, including the award winning Online Poker Code Crack.

Develop Your Poker Skills With Help From Professional Texas Hold 'Em Poker Champions

How do you learn? Are you the type of person who likes to get your hands on things and just get at it? When you buy an item that requires assembly, do you open the box, ignore the instructions and try to figure it out all by yourself? Okay, if you get stuck you might look at the instructions. Or you might open the box, grab all the instructional materials, find an easy chair, sit down and go through the assembly instructions and the owner's manual thoroughly before you start. Then you proceed following the instructions step by step. Perhaps diagram instructions make the most sense to you so they are your preference. For some people video instructions best meet their learning needs so they go online to see if someone has made a video. Hey, you never know! These are all acceptable and effective instructional approaches that can be applied to any educational situation including learning how to play Texas Holdem poker or how to improve your poker skills.

Learning the mechanics of playing Texas Holdem poker, that is, the dealing, blinds and betting procedures can be accomplished in two or three poker hands. Becoming a good or expert poker player is another matter. Learning what, when and how to play your hole cards, when and how much to bet, raise or re-raise, or what to look for in reading your opponents are just some of the skills that must be developed to become a successful poker player. Some people are gifted with an instinctive ability or a mathematical mind that gives them an advantage in doing the poker math and making the right decisions based upon the statistics. Others are able to read body language and facial expressions which assist them with the human interaction decisions like determining when an opponent is bluffing.

Everyone has a special talent and ability that they rely on when playing poker, but regardless of what you are best at, you need to develop your all round poker style, skills and strategies to become a good or expert poker player. Traditionally, this has been done by playing a lot of poker hands, losing a lot of money, and developing your skills by learning from your experiences through trial and error. This is no longer the viable option. You cannot spend countless hours playing poker against skilled poker players learning the fine points of the game, there is just too much money to be lost. To gain this knowledge and experience, you need to access the many high quality poker educational resources that are currently available to assist you in the Texas Holdem poker learning process.

Fortunately, top poker experts and successful poker champions are willing to assist you in this educational process. These individuals share the poker successes and failures that they have experienced through text and illustrated poker books and visual DVD presentations. The books and DVDs demonstrate the actual situations or re-enactments of real life poker situations that have help shape their own poker skills and strategies development. You get to observe first-hand the thought processes that they use in making their poker decisions.

You will have the most success and learn faster if you use the instructional resources that are best suited to your personal learning style. If you are an adult, your years in school will probably helped your identify how your learn most effectively. If you are younger you may still need to experiment with several different types of resources to determine which approach is best for you. However, whether you learn best working hands on, working it out yourself, imitating the actions of others, reading books, manuals and guides or watching videos, there are a vast number of educational resources available for purchase online to assist you in improving your poker game. Each of these resources are acceptable and effective learning approaches that can teach you learn how to play poker, how to improve your poker skills and enable you to become a poker champion.

At http://www.holdempokersupplies.com we provide the opportunity for you to learn how to play Texas Hold'em poker and to develop your poker skills and strategies utilizing the accumulated knowledge and experiences of world renowned poker professionals. We provide a broad range of Texas Holdem poker books by the top poker authors for those individual who prefer the written text and visual charts and diagrams as their approach to learning. We also have a good selection of Texas Holdem poker DVDs that present the instructional material through video media for those individuals who learn best by the auditory and visual approaches. Our books and DVDs are for sale at cheap, discounted prices with free shipping also being available. We invite you to use our poker instructional books and DVDs to build your home poker library to enable you to become the best Texas Holdem poker player that you can be.

Chris Massini

Poker Chip Sets - From Coins to Professional Clay Poker Chips

Poker Chip Sets - Where did it all start?

Keeping a straight flush or better yet, a royal flush in your hand is indeed a sign of a good hand. You can play all you can, stack poker chips over and over again, but did it ever strike you how this game of poker started? It has always been stated by philosophers all over the world how important it is to know your historical roots. One poet even cryptically said that he who cannot draw over three thousand years is living from hand to mouth, whatever that means.

To save you from the trouble of understanding that line, it simply means that you have to know your historical roots in order to become a human being, or a true poker player for this matter. In a game of poker, you surely don't want to look like a sore loser right? Yes, it is understandable that studying history can become so boring. It must be so tedious that you must have slept your history classes way back in school, unless you are a history aficionado. In any case, poker chips and threrefore poker chip sets also have a history of their own, which is quite interesting to say the least. So why not take a little break from the games and know a thing or two on how poker chip sets came to be.

Poker Chip Sets - A History of Poker

First, it is a good idea to start the lesson with poker itself. There would not be any poker chip sets if there was not any game to play with them, right? Anyway, the history of poker is arbitrary, just as a heated game of it with drunken friends who are trying to cheat each other. Truth is that the game does not seem to have an origin, so how can you learn about the history of poker chip sets? Do not be saddened, because that just shows how old poker is today. Anyway, the first reference to the game in history was through a book of rules written by Jonathan H. Green back in 1834, where the game was an addiction among Mississippi natives.

It was even called the cheating game, no wonder. At least you now know that the game did not start in Las Vegas and that the game has involved a bit of cheating ever since it came into being. To continue, the game was first played with only 20 cards, using only the top five highest cards, namely the aces, the kings, the queens, the jacks, and the tens. During the time that Green was writing about the cheating game, poker was the number one game along the Mississippi River.

Poker Chip Sets - The Evolution of Poker

The game has evolved a lot of times since, starting from 20 cards, then going to 32, and finally reaching 52, plus 2 additional jokers. Still, the origin of the word poker remains a subject of debate. Some say that it came from the French poque, others claim that it must be the German pochspiel, while another group thinks that it is the Hindi pukka. Whatever it is, there is still an element of poker in it, all of the words starting with the letter P, perhaps? It does not end there yet, because there are some explanations that trace it to the English slang poke, which is no less used to describe the activities of a pickpocket.

The pickpockets added an R to disguise themselves. A more occult and magical point of view is believing that the word came from hocus-pocus. Now there are so many ruckuses as to how poker came around to be called poker, but it is still interesting to know that there are actually people who would flush each other just for the sake of naming things, not to mention the handful of foreign terms that you now have for your own use. Now how about the poker chip sets?

Poker Chip Sets - What came before poker chips?

In the early beginnings of the game, different gamblers had different currencies. Coins and gold nuggets were first used a long, long time ago. Widespread gambling had begun around the 18th century, and at that point, the differences in coins became a problem. To come up with a solution, gambling places, but not necessarily casinos, gave the gamblers an alternative. They used bone, clay, ivory, paper, shellac, and wood as substitutes. Yet another problem was created because of this. The cheating gamblers turned to forgery, which forced gambling establishments to brand their own substitutes in some way to make them unique in some way.

Come to think of it, poker chip sets were, in a sense, created to keep those cheaters away. But it doesn't change the fact that even when casinos become popular, chip forgery was still an activity not unknown to gamblers and establishments alike. Now that is the reason why each casino has its own specially designed chip that are extremely hard to copy. Indeed, it has become a challenging but exciting task to have their own brand of poker chips. It is also worth mentioning that by this time, the poker chip sets are now of various sizes and materials, depending on the value of a certain chip.

Poker Chip Sets - Technology

With the progression of technology, there are now many manufacturers of poker chip sets which serve many casinos. The chips also had a standard size and weight, which is 39 millimeters in diameter and 8.5 grams to 20.5 grams. Now the chips also come in various quality materials and beautiful designs. Some even have microchips implanted on them, just to put a stop to forgery. These chips are not only available in casinos, but they have also become available to the public. It was because of the seemingly endless frenzy with poker that poker chip sets can now be seen at dining tables in many homes.

Now you know how the poker chip came into light. It is not actually the game itself that brought it into this world, but it is the means of substituting the money waged in poker that made poker chips the way they are. It is an invention out of practicality and convenience, you might say.

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Professional Texas Holdem Poker Player Stress Relief - The Home Poker Room Solution

Anyone who has ever played Texas Holdem poker online, in casinos or even at home with friends feels pressure when engaged in playing a big hand. Your heart beats a little faster and a knot forms in your stomach. Depending on the size of the wagers or the size of the pot, your muscles might tense up, hands may start to tremble and you may even begin to perspire. These physical symptoms occur in novice and intermediate players when involved in relatively small pots. Imagine the pressures that professional poker players experience while playing high stakes poker games where huge amounts of money are at stake. Add to this scenario television coverage or a large live audience where your every decision and move is being analyzed and second guessed by the audience and the commentators. At stake is not just a large amount of money, but also your reputation as a poker player. Now that's pressure!

In the early days of televised professional Texas Holdem poker, players were fitted with heart monitoring devices that allowed their heart rates to be displayed throughout a poker tournament. It was amazing to watch how heart rates of these professional players soared as the cards were turned and the players tried to maintain a calm and relaxed facade. It was not uncommon to see heart rates soar from the low 70's beats per minute to 140 beats per minute and higher. In the course of a high stakes or a high profile poker tournament, the professional poker player undergoes these types of stresses repeatedly throughout long days over the course of several days. The physical and mental pressures are enormous. Human beings cannot continue to experience these extreme pressures for a prolonged period of time without potential threats to their physical health. Poker players require down time between events to relax and get away from the pressure.

Like any other professional athlete, the professional poker player needs to continue to practice his or her trade even during down time to keep their skills sharp. Professional golfers may return to their home course and play some "friendly golf" with their friends. Pro basketball players take the opportunity to play a little one-on-one or three-on-three for "burgers" with their buddies at the school yard. Athletes in all sports have similar outlets that allow them to engage in their sport at a fun level but with sufficient motivation to work on their skills and to even try to develop something new.

A home poker game room offers professional poker players the same sort of fun and relaxed environment to play a little "fun" poker with friends. It provides the opportunity for face-to-face interaction buddies where the pro players can work on their poker persona and on controlling the physical manifestations of the stress that they encounter during high stake and high stress poker. Building a fun, comfortable home poker room with the necessary equipment and proper decor to create the right mood and atmosphere requires good planning and the best professional quality poker supplies.

The first major component of a first class poker room is the poker table. This table needs to be a full size, casino grade table with all the amenities that are necessary to ensure optimum player comfort. Padded arm rests and a padded table top with casino quality speed felt would be mandatory comfort considerations. Proper lighting is important to ensure that eye strain and eye fatigue do not become factors that will affect the comfort needs of players during prolonged periods of poker play. The chairs selected must also be capable of providing optimum support and comfort for extended periods of time.

Top quality clay poker chips and playing cards are required to ensure a professional mood and atmosphere. To keep the poker game running smoothly with blind and ante increases occurring automatically and on time, a quality timing system is required. Finally, the home poker room decor should have a decorative theme that creates a comfortable, inviting setting. In this environment the interaction can be fun and relaxed but with enough structure and atmosphere to provide good competition.

A well planned poker room with professional quality poker supplies can be a great environment for the professional poker players to relax and recharge their batteries between big events. It can be equally valuable to novice and intermediate poker players who may aspire to greater things, to improve their poker skills and strategies in a low-risk but professional quality environment.

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