Online Poker Rooms, Making Money and Bonus Offers

The online poker market is fiercely contested among the now many competing poker sites in the market. With each poker room fighting for business, I wanted to take a look at how they make their money and how genuine offers to prospective players actually are.

Personally the first rule of thumb before venturing any further is that there is very little that is actually free. If a company is offering £500 free, it's £500 that comes with a few conditions (that are usually included in the finer print). The gaming industry is the same as any other. Whether it's shopping at Sainsburys and building your Nectar points, making payments through Neteller and earning points or something as simple as buy 1 get one free. None of these offers are freebies as they still involve you spending money. Getting you to spend money where you wouldn't otherwise have done is really something, and something that happens on a large-scale, especially in the retail sector.

It wouldn't be the first time I have seen someone close to me buying something because they got another one free. Did they need it in the first place? Probably not but it felt like they were getting something for nothing. Strike one to the retailers.

Now, we all know this - this isn't revolutionary. Understanding how it all works simply helps us to look at offers in their true light. Some offers really are great offers while others are smoke and mirrors. This is an area I want to cover in this article. Before I do that, I wanted to cover off how online poker sites make their money.

Internet Poker is a little different from many other 'gaming' business as the rooms don't have a stake in one player over another. Whether one player wins over another is neither here nor there, and rightly so, as this would be unethical. Poker Rooms make their money through two key ways.

Players can either play cash games, otherwise known as ring games, or they can play tournaments. In ring games, the site would take a percentage of each pot, usually between 3 and 5% of the total pot. The amount varies but it is very unusual to see anything above the 5% mark. In the tournament arena each tournament would have a fee, usually at 10% of the buy in. That's to say if a tournament cost £100, the fee taken by the room would likely be £10 - displayed as £100 + £10. This is fairly standard and with one of the key attractions being that large sums of money can be won for relatively small buy ins, the fee is seen as acceptable by players.

How Much Do the Poker Rooms Make?

How long is a piece of string. The larger rooms make a LOT of money. Take PokerStars which regularly sees over 250,000 players logged in and playing. The revenue is staggering. Many of the smaller rooms still make money but find it difficult to compete with the bigger players in the market. You might ask how they survive and that would be a good question. They survive as they don't attract the big players. This makes it a safer ground for many of the smaller time players who don't like to be sharked.

Of course, this makes these rooms a perfect ground for the better player as the quality of play is considerably worse than on larger networks or sites.

I've Seen Many Promotions Offered. Are they Genuine?

It is common for poker rooms to offer an introductory offer, usually a sign up bonus or free entry into a freeroll as well a promotions for their existing players. Let's start with the sign up bonus. These can range from $50 all the way up to $2,000 or so. Going back to my point at the outset of this article, let's not forget - nothing is really free. If you're expecting free cash just for signing up, you're going to be disappointed.

These bonuses are earned as you play. Each room will have the equivalent of VIP points that you earn as you play. These points are what players would use to exchange for cash, tournament entries or other merchandise. As with most things, the more you play, the more points you earn, so the greater the rewards. Another case of you need to spend to earn your bonus. That said, if you are going to be playing anyway, it is still free money when it's earned.

From time to time you will see 'no deposit bonuses' offered. This is more in line with the smoke and mirrors scenario mentioned. Sounds great but how can they give a way free money? I take you back to the point made - nothing is ever really free. In these offers, the fine print states that you need to wager a certain amount before you can withdraw it. So whilst it's your money in your player account, you can't do anything with it until they make their money first. Not as great an offer as they were apparently advertising. Read the fine print and understand the withdrawal requirements.

The one area that is genuine is the offer of entries into new player freerolls or tournaments. If you cash in these tournaments, that money can be withdrawn so this is a great way to kickstart your bankroll, if you have limited starting capital.

A final Word

Whilst I always advise players to shop around to get the best offers, I still firmly believe that there are great offers to be found. The poker rooms make vast amounts of money and the top sites do pour some of that back to their player base, which is essential to keep hold of their player base.

How to Start a Tattoo Business at Home - Instructions

Especially for starting a tattoo business, you must be a skilled artist, who has enough time to spend for running the business in a professional way. This is a business which takes much time and effort as well as a significant amount of investment to start with. Tattooing being an art which is applied on the skin directly, the most important point is that you must be aware on how to sterilize the tattooing equipment properly as well as you need to educate your customers on how to care about the new tattoo applied onto their skin in order to avoid infection. In addition to the excellent artistic skills to draw the business owner must be totally business oriented and health concerned.

Below are some instructions that help you to become a successful tattoo business owner.

Instructions 

Approach your city planner and clarify what are the formalities to be completed in order to start a tattoo business from home. If you stay for rent and planning to buy a home in the coming days, you must ensure that you buy a home in a city that is famous for its residential apartments and commercial establishments.

Get trained well and try to become an excellent craftsman in the art of tattoo. It may take several years of apprenticeship or training to become a master of tattoo art. Find out the nearest and affordable training institute and gain knowledge on the great art of tattooing. If you practice drawing, while you attend training you would be able to improve your skills and also to build your portfolio. As an extracurricular thing, you may attend expos and workshops that have been conducted by the tattoo artists in your area.

Once you have learned and gained the necessary skills for tattooing, approach an expert tattoo artist for becoming an apprentice under his guidance. This will help you to get experienced in this field soon. The mentor tattoo artist would teach you on how to use the different tools for tattooing and also how to sterilize the piercing equipment in a proper way etc.

Once you complete the apprenticeship, get a tattoo artists license as well as a legal license to run the business.

As a last step, purchase all items required to start the tattoo business at your sweet home. The main things you will need for your business include a sterilization equipment, tattoo machine, needles, disinfectants, gauze, medical gloves, medical tapes etc.

Gemini Horoscope 2013

Of all the signs Gemini is definitely the one that needs to be reminded about balance. 2013 is certainly going to give you tons of opportunities for you to find balance and to discover when you are off balance. It sounds like 2013 is going to be a challenging year for the Gemini; it is actually the year many Gemini's have been waiting for. Rather than feeling overwhelmed, a Gemini will discover the passion they have long been seeking and avoid the burnout that's been slowly creeping up on them.

Gemini Career and Work Horoscope in 2013

The last few years you've been working extremely hard at your job, as you attempt to get ahead of ahead of the rest of the group. You're ready for some real challenges in your life - who are you and what can you do. You'll have to wait a little longer, because this isn't the year for that 'big deal' in your career. This is the year when you will keep up the 'good fight' you've been fighting.

This is the year to tap into all of those skills you have tucked away and use them to the best of your ability. You are going to once again be in a phase of preparation at work, but over time you are going to enjoy the 'payoff' you've been so patiently waiting for. Don't be too quick to share your plans for the future with others. There are a few people that would like to get in your way, so just stay 'hush' about move past them stealthily in 2013.

Gemini Love and Relationship Horoscope in 2013

Gemini has never had to worry about companionship or love in their life. The Gemini has the ability to get along with almost everyone. You are always seeking out new people to meet, even when you are just out and about for the day. 2013 is going to have you facing a few more challenges than previously experienced. Yes, you can easily manage your relationships but others in your life aren't so cooperative.

Don't be surprised when you find yourself having to tell others they aren't living up to your standard and that you have to take care of yourself before you focus on others. This doesn't mean you have to evict all your relationships but it is time for you to tell those that are hindering or hurting you that you no longer want to keep them in your life. This is going to be tough for you since you never want to lose friends even if they drain you.

It's important that you save your energy for the people in your life that make you happy and support you. Those are the ones that count.

Gemini Health Horoscope in 2013

Gemini's can be really unhealthy or really healthy - perhaps this is related to the twin nature of your sign. However, you'll also need to keep an eye on it this year. This is the year the opportunity is there for you to restore your health.

A great way to accomplish this is to simply set aside some time every day to participate in something that is healthy for your body. This could be a walk that supports you physically as well as spiritually. What you do isn't important - it's about doing something you like and finding balance in your health because when you do the rest of your life will also become balanced. So take this year to focus on restoring your body's balance. You know you are ready for change Gemini!

Some History of Creating The Illusion of Movement

Creating the Illusion of movement has been the fascination of many throughout history. Early examples of this can be found in cave drawings and on pieces of pottery. However these really can't be considered animation in the truest sense of the word, even though the artists were trying to show some form of motion.

The first flip books appeared in the 19th century and were a little closer to what we would consider animation in today's world. These books consisted of drawing that would show the illusion of some sort of movement, when the pages were flipped quickly and in a coordinated manner.

True animation cannot be considered being born until the advent of the motion picture or what is known as cinematography. With the use of the motion picture animators could produce high quality animation such as stop motion and animated cartoons.

Animated cartoons became very popular in the early 20th century. They were often shown before full length feature films and were usually only six or seven minutes long. These types of animated films where know as cel animations and each frame had to be hand drawn. Each cel or drawing had a slight change in the characters position, which gave the illusion of motion. The completed cels where photographed one by one against a background picture. Warner Brothers and Walt Disney animation studios produced many high quality animation shorts of this nature during the 1940's and 1950's.

Today animated cartoons re no longer produced using this method. Computers and 3D animation software has taken over. There are many types of computer animation. They all have one thing in common, they produce digital imagines on a computer and take much less type to produce than hand drawn cels. Of course you need to known how to proficiently use the software and have access to it.

Finding The Best Antique Shop Stores in London

If you are passionate about collecting antiques, you'll love doing it in London. There is quite a lot of appealing antique shop stores to go to in London. Whether you are just looking for some gifts or souvenirs, or maybe you are a serious collector, you will definitely find what you are looking for in London.

There are a large number of stalls in the city that offer the opportunity of finding all you need in one place. Plus the malls are usually in operation seven days a week which gives you the advantage of shopping at your own convenience. You can find excellent fine art dealers in Bond Streets, St. James Streets and kings Road. If you have a lot of cash, it will be equally good to visit Rafferty and Walwyn, Haslam and Whiteway, and Waterhouse and Dodd.

One very popular place you can go is the Alfie's Antiques Market located at Church's street. This market began operation in 1976 and was opened by Bernie Gray. The building has stalls at the floor and a restaurant in case you want to have a break from shopping. Most of the dealers here are experienced and can be of assistance in helping you find what you are really looking for.

Another place to look is at Grey's which is located in the West end of an aged terracotta building. It was opened in 1977 and has close to 250 dealers who can provide almost anything you want. There is a wide range of collectibles you can choose from which include vintage clothes, photographs, watches, musical instruments, old dolls, Nouveau jewelry and accessories.

There is another good place that you can go to especially on Wednesdays and weekends. Located in Islington, Camden passage is filled with a lot of malls specializing in Art Nouveau jewelry, decorative objects, fine art and juke boxes.

I won't fail to mention an equally appealing place to go if you are looking for antique shop stores in London. Antiquarius is a beautiful place and it's likely that you have noticed it if you've been to kings road. With over 80 dealers, the building has been around since the 1960s and you will get to find some collectibles, fine art, furniture and vintage clothes there.

It would also be lovely for one to check out one of the finest antique shop stores in London. Vernon collectibles is located at Portobello Road. The place is usually busy during weekends, so if you don't like too much crowd, go there during the week and get to find some arms and armor, old cameras, clocks, glassware and toys. There is also a café downstairs in case you want to take a drink or a soft meal.

So if you are considering shopping for collectibles in London, you can visit any of the mentioned places and you will find a lot of beautiful collections to choose from.

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