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How to play in poker tournaments

How To Play In Poker Tournaments

There are a large variety of poker games. Games from Texas Hold’em to Five card stud. Though the types of hands you try to get are always about the same, the games are played very differently. If you are interested in playing, you might want to go into one of the many poker tournaments that are offered online. First, though, you’ll need to understand what types of games there are and what hands are the best.

Texas Hold’em is the most popular type of poker in the US these days. The game is played by dealing each player two individual cards and then placing, face up, on the table five more cards. Players make the best five card hands from the seven cards that have been dealt.

In five card stud, players are dealt five cards from which they must select at least one and up to all five to keep. The rest are given back to the dealer, who replaces the cards they hand back in with new cards. Betting goes on after this and then players reveal their hands. The player with the best hand wins.

The best hand that you can get is the Royal Flush. A Royal Flush is a type of straight flush. A straight means all cards are in sequential order. A flush means they all belong to the same suit. To achieve a royal flush, the cards must be Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten all in one suit. These are extremely rare hands.

The next best hand that you can have is four of a kind. It is just what it sounds like, four of the same number. If two people happen to have four of a kinds in the same round (which is highly unlikely but possible) the highest cards win.

Next on the list is the full house. A full house has three of a kind and a pair in the same hand. This is followed by a flush. Following comes the straight. A three of a kind (without a pair making it a full house) is then the next highest hand. Followed by two pairs, then one pair. If no player has any of those combinations, the winner is determined by the holder of the highest card.

The ace is the highest card, followed by the king and then on down the line from there. There are variations, depending on the house rules. Occasionally a card may be declared «wild, » in which case it can count as whatever card best helps your hand.

Make sure to learn how to play the game before joining any poker tournaments. They are a lot of fun, but they can be expensive to join in. The pots on the big tournaments, though, get up to several million dollars, so it can be lucrative if you have the skill and the patience to really learn to play the game well. Some people dedicate their whole lives to playing the game, so don’t run into anything too big before you have some practice.

How uk businesses can beat the recession by capitalising on the growth of chinese tourism

How UK Businesses Can Beat the Recession by Capitalising on the Growth of Chinese Tourism

With Chinese New Year celebrations in full swing, the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visiting London and the unprecedented growth in Chinese inbound tourism to the UK, you would mistakenly believe that the UK is well practiced in welcoming Chinese visitors. Yet many hotels, retailers and tourist venues are unfortunately ill-equipped to serve what will become the most important UK inbound tourist demographic.

China’s tremendous economic growth is generating the largest new tourist market which will require tourism sector providers the world over to adapt their services, products, food and language to suit outbound Chinese travellers who will growth from 40 million in 2007 to 100 million by 2020 (The World Tourism Organisation).

The UK is already benefiting from the rise in number of Chinese tourists.  Visit London, predicts inbound tourism from China will rise by approximately 425% by 2012.  Coupled with the recent relaxing of visa restrictions, a strengthening Chinese yuan, and Visit Britain’s strong marketing campaign in China, the UK is in a particularly strong position to benefit from China’s outbound tourism.

However Yaxley Consulting, which assists UK tourist destinations, hoteliers and retailers in adapting their services to suit Chinese tourists, found in a recent market assessment that many UK providers are still relatively ill prepared for the growth in Chinese visitors.

Speaking recently to members of the Historic Homes Association, Managing Director Jocelyn McConnachie said, “a limited number of Chinese speak English. Tourist venues should be making small adjustments such as providing short Chinese brochures, or a few pages translated into Chinese on the organisation’s website to help Chinese visitors make the most of their trip. Far more than other nationalities, Chinese tourists take time to research their holidays online, yet few UK tourist designations have Chinese translated pages. Those venues that do have translated pages are experiencing strong new growth and gaining ground against their competitors, which is critical in this difficult economic climate.”

She also added that more retailers and hoteliers should be looking to Chinese tourists as part of their business survival plans during 2009. “Chinese tourists will spend up to 80% of their travel monies on shopping. They appreciate value-for-money and simple online marketing activity which includes dual language special offer vouchers can encourage shoppers and allow retailers to measure results. Hotels can exceed Chinese guests’ expectations with small, cost effective adjustments to their existing services.”

McConnachie is adamant that staff should be trained to anticipate Chinese travellers’ needs and speak a few simple phrases. “The business will see a return on its training investment not just from the visitor’s experience but also word of mouth advertising. Chinese tourists rely on recommendation more than many other travellers.”

Yaxley Consulting www.yaxleyconsulting.co.uk  consults to leading industry bodies on trends in outbound Chinese tourism and works with businesses in targeting Chinese tourists. Its sister website www.ukwang.com (launching mid 2009) will be a key source of information for Chinese visitors to the UK.  Both are part of the Yaxley Group www.yaxley.com.