Shopping and Poker Blog: Views Of A Woman Poker Player

With the legal problems facing online poker in the U.S., many top American pros are contemplating a move to Canada to continue their careers as poker players. There are a few options for these players in terms of where to move. Understandably, most American players are looking to relocate to major cities with high-functioning internet and access to casinos for live games. American citizens are allowed to visit Canada for 6 months out of every 12 months. Here are a few Canadian cities that suit those purposes.

Montreal

The most international city in North America is home to Casino de Montreal and a whole host of culture and nightlife activities. While most people in Montreal speak French as their native language, a vast majority of residents also speak English perfectly well. Players need only be 18 to gamble inside Casino de Montreal. The casino’s poker room features a bad beat jackpot composed of an extra $1 raked out of every pot. The jackpot currently stands at $85,000. They also award $250 each day to the player who makes the highest hand of the day. A major plus of Montreal is that the cost of living is generally lower than the other cities mentioned hereafter.

Toronto

The most populated city in Canada is a fine choice for any Americans looking to relocate. Located in Ontario, Toronto’s international airport can lead one to just about anywhere in the world when wishing to take a break from the Poker Canada lifestyle. Toronto has a couple of casinos with poker rooms as well as NBA and NHL franchises for sports enthusiasts.

Windsor

Just across the Canadian border from Detroit, Windsor is the 16th most populous Canadian city at 330,000 residents. A major upside to living in Windsor is easy access to the U.S.; the city of Detroit is a mere 15 minute drive from Windsor (plus border crossing wait times). Windsor is also home to a few riverside casinos with poker rooms where the minimum gambling age is 19.

Vancouver

Finally, check out Canada’s third largest city, Vancouver, which many will argue is the nicest place in Canada to live. Unfortunately, it is also among the most expensive areas in Canada with a rather high cost of living compared to Toronto and especially Montreal. Vancouver is home to several casinos and poker rooms as well as the NHL’s ‘Canucks’. Just watch out for rioting Vancouverites when their team loses game 7 of the Stanley Cup!

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In an interesting controversy, it seems Phil Hellmuth believes that Harrahs may open or buy an online poker room. Then, at next years WSOP, it would not allow sponsorships of any other poker rooms (players couldn’t wear pokerstars.net gear) in an effort to only promote the Harrah’s card room.

Phil Hellmuth has stated that he thinks that this would ruin the WSOP. In protest, other online poker sites would set up a rival to the WSOP. All of the famous pros, who are sponsored by the online poker rooms, would play in this other event, since their sponsors wouldn’t allow them to play in the WSOP (Full Tilt/Stars owns their souls). He thinks Harrahs risks ruining the WSOP in a vein attempt to promote some makeshift online poker site more.

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There is a magical place where deals on home décor can become an absolutely fabulous place to rejoin the fab-home-fashion club. Have you ever read a home interiors magazine and seen the recommended shopping locations for the most chic and in-style retro pieces? Generally, these places are local flea-market, consignment shops, vintage boutiques, and antique markets. These are the places to find the treasures from the past of fashion while saving a tremendous amount in the process.

Retro fashions are the biggest “In” trends right now. Pick up any home style magazine and all you’ll see are armchairs circa 1960, floor lamp circa 1956, or hand woven retro rug circa 1973. The biggest of the big are pieces that have flown to us all the way from the 40’s into our home. Mixing and matching the punchiest of patterns with the sleekest of textures can equal fabulous.

Top designers agree it is all about the fabric, the design, layout, and the spell-it-out-loud appeal of the 1960’s. The appeal of mix-and-match fashion is bubbling over with extremes from one scheme to the next. Shopping at vintage stores will promise to deliver some savvy extras around the house, but what about bigger furniture? When it comes to furniture I would recommend attending a few local flea markets and consignment shoppes. These sweet local shops can be a treasure                finder’s heaven and can bless you with some pieces that are one in a million items. The general idea is to look for the scratch and dents, look for antiqued surfaces and creaky-looking chairs. You can reupholster anything, and definitely salvage certain items with a quick coat of paint. Decorating your home on a dime can be a snap all you have to do is your homework. Always take a few swatches of material, or strips of paint sample sheets in order to match and mix colors that you already have throughout your home.

To do this accurately, when you are painting a room or an area of your home, be sure to take an index card and swipe a sample of paint onto the card. Keep these sample pages for times such as this. Do not focus on matching too forcefully. The most modern of homes share a hint standard color and blending colors, but also they carry an over-tone of confusing color to make the eyes follow the whole room. Taking the safe way out by matching every single piece can easily lead to eye-boredom, plus, the mix-and-match designs generally cost less because they lack matching pieces; lucky you!

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When you bring a new cat into your home, there’s a few things you’ll need to have to maintain the health and happiness of your feline friend. The basics you’ll need are the ones we all need to survive, food and water, shelter, somewhere to go to the bathroom, and loving care. A few other things you’ll need to look into are toys to keep them occupied for times when your not home and exercise, treats, etc…

The first thing you will need to establish before the cat or kitten enters your home is how much of the house they will be allowed to wander, and whether or not they are indoor or outdoor, or both. The reason this is a crucial step it because you’ll need to know if you need a litter box, where to put it if so, and how to block off area’s of your household. If you plan on having an indoor cat you will need a litter-box, litter for the box, and possibly extras such as a mat to limit the spread of the litter, and a smell capturer (which could be anything from a glade scent, to a filter on the box itself). If you plan on an indoor and outdoor cat you’ll need pet stain remover for “accidents” and may consider a littler box for winters if you live in a seasonal area with cold winters.

When looking for a litter-box there are many things to consider, and it may take some trial and error in finding what works best for you and your cat. The type of box is the first step. How much containment will you prefer as well as your cat willing to enter it? What size? How deep? You can go to your local pet shop or a basic store like Walmart to find the many variety’s and talk with the people who work there or own cats for suggestions. For the best Oder protection you can find, a closed plastic box with a flap to enter will be your best choice, although, like humans, some cats get claustrophobic and won’t enter, so if you try this be on the look out for accidents.

For cat food, you can go with an “for all life stages”, or find the specific type of food for made for the type of cat and age. There are foods designed for indoor cats, kittens, and older cats. You have the choices of soft or dry food, and depending on your price range, and what your cat enjoys, you’ll most likely settle on a favorite. You will need to keep a water dish down at all times for their use. You can get a specific dish or use one you happen to have in the kitchen and don’t use often.

The list of things you can get for your cat range from scratching posts to spacial dispensable water dishes, and you can go as crazy as you want in making your cat feel at home, it’s fun shopping for them and in some places, even bring them along!

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Poker has evolved over time from riverboats, to saloons, card rooms and casinos, particularly in Las Vegas, the gaming capital of the world. And since the mid 90s, more and more poker takes place in online poker rooms. Today, players all over the world can enjoy poker on their computers from the comfort of their own homes.

In many ways, the online poker games are superior the ones you find in brick-and-mortar casinos.

• Availability: You don’t have to travel to a casino to play poker, which can be quite a long trip, especially if you’re citizen of a state or a country where gambling is illegal.
• House Edge: A brick-and-mortar casino has quite a few expenses: dealers, locals, waitresses, floor managers, and so on. In an online poker room, however, these things are done digitally, so the house can afford to offer players much lower rakes and entry fees.
• No waiting: In regular casinos you sometimes need to wait for a seat at the poker table for the game you are interested. Sometimes you have to play at stakes you are not comfortable with just to get some action. In online poker rooms, this is never an issue. You can even play at more than one poker table at the same time!
• Variety: Casinos are limited by the physical space allotted for the poker room, so they only host the most profitable games. Online, there is no such constraint, so if you are into the wackiest of stud variations or the lowest of stakes, you can find your table easily.
• Bonuses: One of the biggest advantages with online poker is that you can earn quite sizable poker bonuses when signing up. In a casino, you might get free drinks and a discount on your hotel room, but online you’ll get real money to play with - often hundreds of dollars.

Nothing beats Vegas for gambling entertainment. But since we can’t get to Vegas, baby, any hour of the day or day of the week, online poker rooms provide an amazing opportunity.

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      Everyone has a down day whether you like it or not. What matters is how you bounce back from it. You can either fall into a depression or you can try some power boosters to get you feeling back to your “new” self. Depression isn’t only found in women. Men get depressed also. Here are a few tips to get you feeling invincible.

      For both genders exercise can be the answer. When you exercise, your body releases a feel good hormone called endorphins. The same is released when you eat chocolate or other foods. Eating is not the answer. Eating will probably just feed your depression because it’s a temporary comfort. This is why you find many people overweight, anxious, and depressed at the same time. You can get caught in a never-ending cycle of depression easily if you don’t know how to make yourself feel better the right way. Take a walk, put some music on and dance, or spin in circles in your room like a child. Anything that is really silly will most likely make you smile of how ridiculous you are acting but once you get over it, it can be very liberating. Women will feel a benefit from her man exercising more. He will feel stronger; his veins will be pumping and will most likely feel friskier than normal. Both parties will definitely feel a benefit from some sexual exercise but getting to that point during depression will be hard so make sure you exercise first.

      This brings us to the bedroom. Be more active in the love department. Just like food it can be a temporary fix which is why it’s important to do it for the right reasons. Exercise and then have some fun. It will release even more endorphins and get you feeling loved and light. Sometimes we just need an extra hug to make us feel better. Make a playful sexual game to get you laughing in the process. Act silly, get creative and have fun. Turn off your cell phone, TV or all of your distractions and really get lost in the games. Stay in a hotel room for the night if you need to but make sure you make the time.

      For all you lucky single people, do things that will boost yourself esteem by doing things that you would usually not do. Schedule a photo shoot and get glamorous. You will feel beautiful and unstoppable. Sometimes you need to “fake it til you make it”. Make believe that you are photogenic and get out of your comfort zone. The result of the photos will stun you. You will notice how hard you are on yourself and accept the new beautiful you. Shy in front of the camera? Then you don’t need to leave your home for this next one. Draw a bath, (yes you men should do it too!). Put your sexy music on, and pamper yourself. You can be your own lover. Give yourself what I call a “tune up”. Try a new hairstyle, a new color, or simply clean yourself up. You will leave the bathroom refreshed and will go straight to your blackberry to schedule your next tune up. Make it a ritual and watch how it changes the way you feel about yourself.

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Omaha Poker

Omaha Poker is a variation of Hold’em that is played using four hole cards instead of only two.  The best five cards are used to determine the winner, but you must use two cards from your hand and three cards from the board.  Unlike Hold’em, you may not use any more than three of the cards off the board.  The betting system and the blinds are the same as Hold’em.

Each hand begins with each player being dealt four cards.  There is a big blind, a small blind, and a round of betting.  If the game is Omaha Pot Limit, each player can bet up to the size of the pot.  A raise must be the same as or more than the previous raise.  Once this round is completed, the dealer will lay out a three card flop.  This is done exactly like Hold’em.  Following the flop, another round of betting ensues.

The turn card is laid out by the dealer, followed by the third round of betting.  The fifth and final card is laid out by the dealer and the final round of betting is completed.

The player with the best hand made of five cards is the winner. However, in Omaha poker, you are only allowed to make a five card hand using two cards from your hand and three cards off of the board.

Omaha Hi-Lo Poker

This could be one of the most challenging variations of poker that is played today.  In order to be successful, you’ll need to have a good sense of what hands are likely to take the pot.  You need to play for both sides of the pot to come out ahead in this game.  This game’s popularity is growing very quickly due to the challenge it offers, and there are many events each year that are dedicated specifically to this game.
Most of the pots are smaller in this game than in Hold’em.  However, players typically get their money back more often during this game.  In other words, you can generally play stakes that are a little higher than you’re used to during this game.

Omaha Hi-Lo is similar to Hold’em.  There are two blinds and the table rotates clockwise.  However, at the beginning, there are four cards dealt to each player.  You will use two to make your final hand, but the high and the low hands will split the pot.  There must be at least three low cards dealt to the board by the dealer for a low hand to be possible.

Some hands can scoop both the high and the low pots.  Suited cards can win by making a flush.  You’ll also have a chance to make the wheel (A-2-3-4-5).  If you have both high and low cards, you might have a shot at a straight on the high end or two pair high and a low pair.

Don’t try for half the pot, unless it is very high.  You can have a good hand to begin with, but if the flop misses your suits and doesn’t pair, you need to fold.  Playing for half the pot is not worth betting the rounds to lose your money.

You can also end up only winning half of either pot.  This is called getting quartered.  It’s not that uncommon for more than one player to have the A-2.  Never raise on the last turn or river card, if you only have the low hand.  Obviuosly – given all these possibilities – Omaha Hi-low is not a game in which bluffing frequently is recommended!

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Five Card Draw poker is pretty simple to learn, but – as with any card game – your skill level will become better with experience and lots of practice.  Five Card Draw is a classic form of poker and was once the norm for most card games.  During the Wild West days, this was just about the only game you’d find in a saloon.  However, the advent of Texas Hold’em Poker has now overshadowed this once immensely popular game.

The poker rules for Five Card Draw – as with any poker game – is to get the best hand and win the pot.  Before the dealing begins, all players must ante up.  This is an amount of money placed in the center of the table by all of the players.  The first ante is usually small.  The dealer will deal clockwise and lay the cards face down.  The dealer will deal out five cards to each player, and should deal to himself last.

Now the betting begins. The player on the dealer’s left will start.  If the player checks, the next player has the opportunity to place a bet.  If no one places a bet, the cards are gathered up and the hand is over.  If a player bets, the other players now have the option to call (match it), raise the bet, or fold their hand.  Once the round is finished, the players will have the opportunity to draw additional cards.

Once the players have drawn all the cards they want, the process will start again with the player to the dealer’s left.  The player can keep his hand or discard up to three cards.  To discard, the player will lay his discards face down on the table and the dealer will give the same amount of cards – face down – back to the player.

Now another round of betting ensues.  Once completed, there are different hand rankings with which to win the game.  A royal flush is the best hand you can get and it is the combination of an ace, king, queen, jack, and ten all of the same suit.  A straight flush is any other five cards, in order, of the same suit.  Four and three of a kind are four and three of the same cards, respectively.  A full house is three of a kind, plus another pair.  A straight is five cards in consecutive order, but not of the same suit.  Two pairs are another ranked hand, as well as one pair.  The lowest ranking goes to the hand with only a high card.

Whoever has the highest ranking hand wins the pot.  It should be noted that because of the difficulty in getting a top-ranked hand, three of a kind and high pairs are considered good hands.

This game was once the only game allowed in Nevada because it was considered a game of skill.  However, in the 1930s, Nevada passed legislation to allow gambling of all types throughout the state.  Nowadays, you can find almost every variation of poker played in one casino or another.  Texas Hold’em poker is still one of the most popular, but the second most popular is Five Card Draw.

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Apparently, one Wal Mart worker was killed today during a stampede when people rushed the store at its opening to find deals.

Stampedes are just sad….it just shows how humans can be inconsiderate animals and trample over others due to their own self-interest. It’s one thing if people are escaping a terrorist threat or a fire, but BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING? My God, anyone who was at that store should be ashamed. Many of those people should be arrested for involuntary manslaughter.

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Hehe :0)

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