Humans are designed to think whether they like it or not. While animals live to preserve their gene pool, a huge part of being human means to relentlessly think for the sake of something larger than life, for the sake of survival.

It goes without saying that in order to be a victor and survive the game of Poker, sharpness of the mind shall be used.

Being sharp does not mean that you have to be academically intelligent, it means that you have to be knowledgeable. Sharpness in the game of player means knowing how to properly deal with your own game, your opponents and most importantly knowing how to deal with your skills.

The line that separates a good Poker player from a winning Poker player is the willingness to constantly learn, observe, and adapt.

Successful poker players survive because of self control and eyes that carefully read each opponent. Do not bother playing player if you do not have self control and is impatient. You will only lose. Self control is about the art of suppressing your emotions so you can carefully analyze the exact situation you are in, which in turn, will help you make wise decisions.

The greatest poker players are like journalists who are always eager and always on the look out for more information that will lead them to discover something big. For instance, what will you do if you are faced with a player who might be bluffing? Do not make the mistake of stereotyping that player. Instead, what you do is just observe that player until you can gradually see his intentions and his real position. When you observe, you learn. Remember that.

If you think observing is mind reading then you can put it that way. You can attempt to read or decipher the ulterior motive of your opponent by observing both his actions and expressions. Your opponent’s verbal and facial expressions can help you crack the code you are looking for. Once you have cracked his style, you can now freely anticipate each move he makes. But be careful not to draw any conclusions yet.

Though anticipation is critical in a game of player, it does not mean that you will not prepare yourself for any backfire. You have to make sure that you can adapt well to every situation you might get yourself into. Losing is not an option and anticipation does not always equate money.

The game of player, like evolution, is all about survival. In order for you to survive, you need to observe. Observing allows you to learn and be vigilant to the possible dangers around you. Keep in mind that observing is the only way to learn and learning is the only way to cultivate success.

France announced, last Friday, that it will
soon open its market for Online Poker,
online betting and gaming market.

Two days after a meeting with Charlie
McCreevy, the European
Commissioner
for Internal Market and Services, French
Budget Minister Eric Woerth reportedly
communicated the guidelines in which
France will undertake a “controlled
opening” of its online gaming market.

The meeting highlighted on the European
Commission’s infringement procedure
against France, the possible methods or measures in implementing the opening of online gambling market in France, and the period of time for the measures to be approved by the French legislature.

Woerth said that he will discuss the guidelines with the French Government on a cabinet meeting scheduled Wednesday.

Taxation levels for online gambling firms, according to Woerth, had not been set for the reason that he wanted to consult first the different parties involved in the sports and betting industry.

Other than the taxation levels, the sports team sponsorship issues has not yet been discussed.

Woerth also wanted to make sure that the technology, they will use in electronic data processing and financial transactions , is well secured.

By autumn, the bill to open the online gambling market will be presented to the French parliament.

The regulatory body is said to start setting up during the first half of 2009, awarding of licenses will take place before 2009 ends.

Operators or parties are required to obey any decision that will be handed down by the present legislative set up.

As of the present day, online games or any promotions related to them are still forbidden.

According to Woerth, the operator’s behavior concerning promotions about online gambling will be considered and evaluated before the awarding of licenses.

Anyone who will disobey the present rule will be accountable and will pursued by French authorities.

Referring to the monopoly and competition of online gambling sites in other countries, Woerth proudly said that it is for the sake of “realism” that France decided to open its doors for the online gambling market.

He was reportedly happy to announce that his dialogue with State Secretary for European Affairs Jean-Pierre Jouyet, was successful.

Since Commissioner McCreevy said that guidelines Woerth presented to him was positive, the bill will be presented to the commission before presenting it to the Parliament.

If everything is successful, Online Poker, casino games, like roulette and blackjack will be launched.

Awarding of licenses will be done by regulatory authorities to make sure that the young will be protected and to make that safe gambling will be strictly enforced.

Licenses of a five year period will be given to operators with reference to industry sectors; licenses obtained in other European states are welcome to apply for licensing in France.

One thing that symbolizes the booming industry of poker is the emergence of poker related products that every poker enthusiast wants to have.

First there was the poker pop shirt, then the poker shades which is made to conceal your emotions in the Poker table, and now comes the coolest USB Flash Drive perfectly shaped like your poker chips that could serve as a reminder as well as a proclamation of your love for the game.

It is undeniable that the market size of the poker industry had expanded from a mere casino poker, to an Online Poker. Most cannot seem to get enough of their love for this ancient game that they are willing to purchase products that will let the whole world know they are into Poker.

It is for this reason that another product has once again been reportedly patterned after a poker chip.

Dane-Elec, one of the largest manufactures of memory modules and boards for computers, telecommunications and digital appliances, had just recently launched their newest product called the poker mate which will soon to be the envy of everyone who is addicted to poker.

Do not be deceived because though the poker mate looks like an ordinary poker chip, it is actually a flash drive that easily pulls out from the side of the chip. This sleek and compact interface design allows you to safely and conveniently store your document files, images, and music videos. poker mate is available in 1gb or 2gb memory capacities at prices not higher than $28. It also comes with a five year warranty that will make you a sure winner when you buy this.

It turns out though that Dane-Elec is not the first one to think of this product.

Memorex, now a division of Imation Corp. and is considered to be one of the most widely recognized and respected names in the consumer electronics industry, had earlier launched a very similar product.

Memorex call it the poker Chip USB Flash Drive offering only up to 1GB of storage capacity. Unlike the poker mate, the poker Chip USB Flash Drive comes preloaded with Big Fish Texas Hold’em software on the drive allowing poker enthusiasts to play Texas Hold’em right on their personal computer.

Both products support Windows 2000/XP and Vista, Mac OS 8.6 or above-Mac OS 8.6 – 9.x USB 1.1 support only- Linux 2.4.x These flash drives will certainly be put to a good use. Not only will it help you in organizing and storing important files, it will also serve as a constant reminder of your dream to be a Patrik Antonius and rule the poker world and the need for you to make money for whatever reasons you have.

This has got to be the luckiest year of David Singer and Eric Lindgren who both won their first Word Series of Poker bracelets in the morning of June 5.

Considered to be two of the best Poker players of this generation, Singer and Lindgren had bagged the most wanted bracelet in the Poker industry.

Victory sided with Singer when he participated in the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event.

Reports said that Singer was not expecting this win because he was already discouraged , earlier in the match, upon reaching the final table.

Singer had the second lowest chip stack of 83,000 when he got into the final table but proved victorious after he played carefully, sticked to his game plan, and chose the correct spots where he could play.

Lindgren reportedly won the toughest final table in the history of World Series of Poker. He is a victor of $5,000 Mixed holdem Limit/No Limit event and beat other known poker players like Howard Lederer, David Williams, Justin Bonomo, and Rolande de Wolfe.

According to reports, Lindgren’s had won because of his game plan which was to play tight in the no limit and play loose in limit part of the event.

Lindgren, just like Singer, had to struggle from a low chip count earlier in the match; Lindgren reportedly said that he had already entered another tournament because he thought that winning in this tournament was next to impossible.

Good thing these poker players did not give up, because if they did give up, they would not have the most coveted bracelet everyone is dying to have.

Lindgren is a team member of Full Tilt and is an American professional poker player who has several victories behind him; his first major victory was at Bellagio in year 2002.

Singer, on the other hand, is a poker professional from New York; he used to be an environmental lawyer of a non profit organization working on issues concerning the Long Island Sound.

He earned $1,000,000 last year when he played in the Caesars Palace Classic $9,800 No Limit Hold’em Championship Event.

Reports said that at about 1:00 a.m. on June 3rd Nenad Medic was named the Pot Limit Hold’em Champion in the first event of the 2008 World Series of Poker at the Rio Hotel and Casino.

It is said that it was no easy task for Nenad because he had to fight his way through a final table that
consisted of well known pros such as Phil Laak, Patrick Antonius, Kathy Liebert, Andy Bloch and Mike Sexton.

Going into the final table Nenad was reportedly 2nd in chips with about 1.2 million and it did not take long for Nenad to bust another player out of the tournament, because on only the 5th hand of the day Phil Laak moved all in and Nenad called and flipped over pocket aces and after the board was laid out Nenad’s aces held up and Phil Laak was knocked out in 9th place. A couple other victims to fall to Nenad were Chris Bell who Nenad knocked out in 6th place and Kathy Liebert who was knocked out in 3rd place by Nenad.

It was now down to heads up action between Nenad Medic who sat at 4.94 million in chips and Andy Bloch who sat at only 2.1 million in chips. It was a long and stressful heads up game which took over an hour of play and on the last hand of the match Nenad turned a heart flush and Any Bloch had a pair of nines. For his win Nenad won is very first World Series of Poker Bracelet and he took home over $794,000.

According to reports, Nenad is a former college basketball player turned Poker professional.

While at the University of Waterloo, Medic has already been playing Poker with his team mates. And after his graduation, instead of playing basketball professionally, Medic started playing Online Poker professionally.

Success is without a doubt in a favor of Medic. He reportedly made his first success in WPT final table at Pokerstars.com and in Carribbean Poker adventure in 2005.

January of 2006 came where he won the final table at the Aussie Millions. He bagged the 3rd place and earned $282,432. He also earned $1,717,194 when he won the final table at the World Poker finals last year.

Reports also said that Nenad is a sponsored pro with Full Tilt, a popular Poker Room.

Medic plays Online Poker under the alias Serb2127, a Poker Review said.