The World Series of Poker is the biggest poker in the world, and this year it will be bigger than ever. These are some of the highlights on the WSOP 2009 schedule:

* 57 gold bracelet events over 50 days, May 27-July 15.
* A $40,000 buy-in No-Limit Texas Hold’em event, to help mark the 40th annual World Series of Poker on May 28, 2009
* A “stimulus special” $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Texas Hold’em tourney on the opening weekend, May 30-31, 2009, which is anticipated to draw the largest-ever live tournament field (outside the Main Event).
* 10 $10,000 buy-in World Championship events (WC refers to tournaments with a buy-in of $10,000 in each of the various disciplines of poker)
* The third annual $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. events, with an enhanced gold bracelet and the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy awarded to the champion.
* 35 open tourneys priced at $2,500 or less, seven of which are the popular $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em events
* Return of the ladies, seniors and casino employee’s tournaments.

As usual you will be able to qualify for the WSOP through online poker sites. Last year, over 1,000 qualified for the WSOP through PokerStars alone. So called satellite tournaments are already up and running on many sites.

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      Building a poker bankroll is mostly about bankroll management and about  keeping one’s eyes and ears open for the right sort of opportunity. When you decide  to get a poker bankroll started, there are two ways you can go about it: make a  deposit or start a bankroll from scratch. Now then, if you decide to make a deposit,  even if it’s just a tiny one, you’ll gain the obvious advantage of starting off with some  money. If you cannot afford to make a deposit or just do not want to, you’ll have to  work to get to that level.

     Some poker rooms offer freerolls which are accessible even to those who do not  make a real money deposit first. All you have to do to be allowed to play in one of  these freerolls is to create an account at the poker room that offers them and  register for the event. By finishing in the money, you’ll be able to get some real money micro stakes action going, and you can build your bankroll up from there. Read more…

      Every online poker room offers some kind of bonus on players’ first deposits. This is to  encourage people to get real money into their accounts and play at real money tables. Almost  every poker room offers a different type of bonus. Some focus on quantity, some focus on  quality. Generally speaking though, all poker bonuses offer players some sort of value. In  order to make the best of your poker bonus, you need to learn to evaluate the offers.

    First thing’s first: make sure the % match is high enough and that the maximum amount of  the bonus is also reasonably high. Keep in mind however that these quantities do not  accurately depict the quality of your bonus.

   Regardless of what you believe, sign up bonuses are seldom transferred directly into your real money account. Some sign up bonuses are, but they too need to be unlocked before the player can request a cash-out.
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The game of blackjack is easy to learn, but difficult to master. It is a very popular card game, and a favourite of many Littlewoods betting players, because it requires a lot of skill to play well.

Blackjack is also known as 21, and ‘Pontoon’. The game reached new heights of popularity in 2008 following the release of the film ‘21’, which told the story of a team of card-counters who were able to win millions at Casinos around the USA.

Before you rush to log on to Littlewoods and try to replicate their story, read on to learn more about the game. 

One of the first written references to Blackjack dates back to the early 17th century, where a game very similar to Blackjack was mentioned in a story written by Miguel de Cervantes – the author of Don Quixote. It is possible that Blackjack was being played in Castila even before the 17th century.
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