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Poker Online |
| Can I play in more than one game at a time, unlike in a real card
room? A Yes—many poker online allow and even encourage you to play in two or more games simultaneously. (After all, they rake more money this way.) It’s easier at some poker online than at others to segue from screen to screen (meaning table to table) to accomplish this, so if you want double or even triple action, try out several sites offering multiple game play to see which has the most congenial software. Q Exactly how much will I know about my opponents, and how will I know it? A Beyond what you observe and/or record of their play, you’ll know only their made- up screen names or “handles,” and—above or below the handle— the city or state or country the player declared as his place of residence when he signed up to use the site. (However, very little policing seems to go on regarding verification of this information, since such obvious phonies as “Planet Earth,” “Skid Row,” “Doghouse,” and “Beyond the Rainbow,” have been spotted even in cash games online). Opponents’ handles are customarily (but sometimes optionally) accompanied by colorful visuals such as computer composite figures or avatars, photos, or cartoon caricatures submitted by players or created through software at the site. These are avatars of the live people they represent. Q But aren’t players likely to choose handles and avatars that are misleading or deceptive? A Yes, and most do. Screen name “Granny Hannah,” predictably accompanied by a composite avatar or photo showing a bespectacled old lady in a rocking chair darning a sweater, is likely to be a 25-year-old card shark from Atlantic City. Be forewarned: When it comes to identity, little online is what it appears to be. So you may as well join the crowd: Choose your “handle” and accompanying avatar carefully to mask your identity and playing style. Once you’ve chosen, you may not be able to change them, so put some thought into what name and image will represent you online. In a grouping of video poker machines, known as banks or carousels, all of which may look exactly the same, casinos will often 'mix-in' several VP machines with inferior pay programs (short/partial pay). Most often in such a bank of regular non-progressive, non-bonus VP machines, only 1 or 2 may be the Jacks or better 9/6 (nine coins for a full house, and 6 coins for a flush), while the rest are 8/5, 7/5, or even worse, 6/5. |
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