A Story Fete

Have you ever played one too many computer game or watched one too many old rerun? You just can’t get into another mystery and you just feel flat? Maybe you are suffering from boredom, that familiar accompaniment to our automated, precooked lifestyles. If so, you need to check out these hobby. Hobbies have been found to be therapeutic as they relieve stress and get the mind active. In this article, you’ll find hobby ideas for every sort of person, from the intellectual to the athlete, from the homemaker to the attorney.

Many times we are bored because we have become too inactive. If this is your problem, you might like a sports hobby. Have you ever tried tennis? How about golf? Many people simply love bowling until it becomes an important part of their lives. Sports hobbies get you out of the house and often are a way to make friends with others. Then again, some active hobbies can be enjoyed in our own homes, such as weight lifting and doing aerobic dance to a video.

Speaking of aerobic dance, dancing is another great way to pass time. When you think of hobby ideas, don’t forget there are varieties of dance. Square dancing is fun for people who like getting together with groups, while ballet and modern dance appeal to the more contemplative souls. And while we’re on contemplation, you might enjoy doing yoga stretches as a hobby.

In case we’re feeling bored and listless because we’ve been cooped up in the house too long. If that’s the problem, here are a few hobby ideas to get you out in the fresh air. Have you ever thought of taking up canoeing, hiking, or trapping? How about getting involved with an environmental group? In many states, you can form groups to clean riverbanks and monitor water quality, and the state will provide perks such as t-shirts, work gloves, and first-aid kits. Or maybe you’d like studying the flora and fauna of your region. It can be great fun to stroll through the woods and fields with a field guide, learning to identify each wildflower, insect, tree, and bird.

There are almost as many hobby ideas as there are bored people in the world, because everyone puts their own spin on their favorite hobbies. Maybe you’d enjoy decorating your house with antiques, or learning to bake specialty breads from around the World. Maybe you’d like to take part in a little theatre production, or learn to play guitar. What about the fine arts of weaving tapestries or painting with oils? Candle making, soap making, and many other old-time crafts are being enjoyed again. Truly, with all these hobby ideas, there is no reason to stay bored for long!

Brad Booth(born September 20th, 1976 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) is a Canadian professional poker player known for his appearances on the GSN series High Stakes Poker. He is one of the most successful high limit players of the last decade. He was once referred to as a “poker savant” by Phil Laak and is rated as one of the best poker players in the world by Phil Hellmuth and Doyle Brunson.
In 13th episode of the third season of High Stakes Poker, Booth stated that he has been playing poker every day for 14 years – first in Vancouver, then Calgary and then in Yukon hence his nickname “Yukon Brad” – but is now slowing down.
Booth appeared on the second season of NBC’s Poker After Dark on the episode “International Week” and finished in second place to Patrik Antonius.
As of 2007, his total live tournament winnings exceed $640,000.

One of the most important part of a skateboard is the skateboard wheels. As with all parts of your skateboard, appearance is a big factor. You need to make sure your wheels look good with the rest of the skateboard. The other 2 factors are the hardness of the wheel and the diameter of the wheel. Larger wheels allow you to go faster. If you are doing a lot of skateboarding on ramps, you will want a larger wheel to get more speed so you can get more air. If you are going to be doing more tricks on the ground, you will probably want smaller wheels because they will be lighter and allow you to flip your skateboard easier. If you are going to do a lot of all terrain type skating, you may want to choose a softer wheel to give you a smoother ride. As with all of the elements of a complete skateboard, many skaters will be well served by getting a medium sized skateboard wheels of average hardness.

I am going to go over some of the main skateboard wheels you may want to consider. See what you like and try them out. You can find many of these wheels and links to great places to buy wheels for skateboards at www.SkateboardPlanet.net on the internet.

Bones Skateboard Wheels
Bones makes some really good skateboard wheels. They have special wheels for street, skate park, and ditch skateboarding. The wheels are designed to avoid getting flat spots from sliding. They also make a wheel called the Bones 100s which are a great combination of high quality and good price.

Spitfire Skateboard Wheels
Spitfire skateboard wheels are some of the most popular wheels on the market. They are high quality skateboard wheels made in the United States and guaranteed to be defect free. Spitfire has a large selection of wheels including special vented wheels that are supposed to go faster.

Pig Skateboard Wheels
Pig has been making skateboard wheels for quite a while. They have a large variety of wheel styles and colors. They also have some wheels that have an air core which are lighter and a line pro team wheels.

Mini Logo Skateboard Wheels
Mini Logo wheels are made by a division of Powell. The idea is that you get the same wheels Powell markets without the fancy logos or pro skater endorsements. The wheels won’t look as good as the premium wheels, but will perform the same. This way you get high quality skateboard wheels without the high prices. Considering that the logos get worn off pretty quickly, this seems like a great option for wheels.

Abec 11 Skateboard Wheels
Abec 11 specializes in making larger wheels for downhill and slalom skating. The wheels are softer and considerably larger than normal skateboard wheels. The 97 mm Flywheels are twice the size of normal skateboard wheels. They also make Retro wheels.

Better Skateboard Wheels
The Better Skateboard Wheels company has an interesting story. It was stared by a group of skateboarder parents who were tired of spending so much money on skateboarding wheels. These wheels are made in the United States and are a high quality wheel at a great price. The downside is that they aren’t fancy and there really aren’t any specialty wheels, but this works fine for many skateboarders.

Pro Company Skateboard Wheels
There are tons of other skateboard wheels available. Virtually every professional skateboard company offers their own specialty wheels now. If Plan B is your favorite, you can get Plan B wheels to match your deck. Birdhouse, Element, and many of the other big companies do the same. You may not get the specialty wheels this way, but for most skateboarders, looking good is the top priority anyways so matching wheels are great!

Good luck on finding the perfect wheels for your skateboard. The choice is up to you and as long as you like what you picked out, you have the best wheel for you. Check out all the equipment for skateboarding at www.SkateboardPlanet.net for some great deals.

Introduction to Rakeback

I just want to say thanks to the staff of Community Gaming News for bringing the wonderful world of poker rakeback to my attention. Up until this week I have been giving my hard earned poker money back to Full Tilt Poker, that is until I learned what rakeback is all about.

I joined Cake Poker Rakeback from the Community Gaming News website and started getting 33% of my rake back right away and to make things even better Cake is full of fish and I started to get in the money much more often.

For those of you out there that do not know what rakeback is here is the explanation given by Community Gaming News:

“Rakeback deals are based on the amount of monthly gross revenue (MGR) that you generate for a particular poker room. The amount of monthly rake you bring in will determine how much monthly revenue you create for the poker room.”

You can also watch the video on the home page of Community Gaming News that explains how it all works here: http://www.communitygamingnews.com

I have also adapted a new way of playing that works so well with rakeback that I don’t even have to win to see a profit. It is very easy to do also, Simply put: play tight - that’s the key to making money with rakeback programs, the closest to a sure thing you’ll get at the felt.

If you go to http://poker-lessons.net you can even open a window that shows you what hands to play based on your position. I took this easy to follow course and even tightened it up some and now I am making the most I ever have at the tables.

Understand, you won’t make a killing making all your poker money from the rakeback but with your new playing style gives you increased odds of winning when you do play a hand and with the added fulltilt rakeback money you will be very pleased.

Best of luck to everyone trying this method, I know it worked for me and I am sure with some discipline it will work for you too.

Michael Johnston

top poker rakeback

Poker News November 21st, 2008

November 22, 2008

Gambling in Great Falls

The drive down 10th Avenue South in Great Falls looked a lot different twenty-five years ago. Casinos started to spring up in the mid-80s and now you’ll find ten of them on the main drag alone. So what effect does the gaming industry have on our community nearly 25 years after the Video Poker Machine Act was passed? Jane Yonkin says she had a hidden addiction that consumed her life for fifteen years. “It was horrible, suicide was there…it was one of the options because I let my life go so badly…I didn’t feel I had anywhere to turn,” she said. The darkest hours of life were spent in front of the flashing lights of an electronic gaming machine. “Almost from my very first time, there was a problem. I lost like only a dollar, but I wanted to win it back like me versus the machine.”

Read More?

poker games

Card Player Player of the Year Update

A handful of players made progress on the Card Player Player of the Year leader board during the past two weeks, but two of them made moves near the top 10, as Michael Binger and Dario Minieri added to their point totals. Binger won the third poker tournament of his career when he beat 131 opponents to win the title at the World Series of Poker Circuit stop at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe. For his victory in the $5,000 no-limit hold’em main event, he took home $181,379 and 624 points. This took his point total up to 4,416 and put him in sixth place, ahead of David Benyamine.

This was the 10th final table of the year for Binger, who has won $1,005,846 during the course of 20 cashes in 2008. This was the seventh time that he has cashed for more than $100,000 in any one tournament since he started competing on the tournament trail in 2006.

Read More?

rakeback deals

High-est Stakes Poker Ever

Two hundred thousand dollars. That’s the minimum for how much players will have to buy in for on the fifth season of High Stakes Poker.

The unprecedented amount highlights the newest season of the poker series that regularly features the richest cash games in television history.

In all prior seasons, the series began with players buying in for “only” $100,000. However, by the end of last season, the amount was upped to $500,000 per player.

“High Stakes Poker, by a wide margin, has become a must-see on Game Show Network for poker players and poker fans all over the world,” said Henry Orenstein, an executive producer of the show.

Read More?

JC Tran to represent Team PKR in Premier League III

PKR.com, the next-generation poker room, has today announced that leading pro poker player JC Tran will be representing Team PKR playing in the forthcoming PartyPoker.com Premier League III.

JC Tran is one of the world’s most feared tournament players and is the #1 ranked player in the ESPN-Bluff power rankings. He has over $6.8m in career tournament winnings, and is one of a select few to have scooped both a World Series bracelet and a World Poker Tour title. Over the past five years, JC has recorded 23 WSOP cashes (including seven final tables) and 11 WPT cashes (with five final tables).

The $75,000 buy-in event will take place in London from November 21 – 30 and will feature an all-invited field of 12 of the world’s finest poker players battling it out for a share of the $1.25m prize pool. Players include Roland de Wolfe, Phil Hellmuth, Tom ‘Durrrr’ Dwan, Annette Obrestad and 2008 WSOP main event winner Peter Eastgate.

While representing Team PKR in this event JC will wear PKR branding and will also provide an interview that will be featured across PKR’s online TV station (PKR.tv) and its customer magazine (Stacked).

Simon Prodger, Marketing Director at PKR said: “We’re honoured to have the world’s best tournament player represent PKR at this year’s Premier League. It’s a great format, and our association with JC will help introduce PKR to a whole new audience of poker fans”.

poker strategy

Canadian Casino News November 22, 2008

casino canada

B.C.’s casino operators choose to play it safe in a risky economy

If Las Vegas is any kind of barometer, B.C. gambling operators should brace themselves for slower growth.

The U.S. recession has cut visitation to Sin City by an estimated 15 to 20 per cent and the fire sales are on. Rooms at the ultra-luxurious Bellagio — normally $300 and up — have been slashed to $149.

Harrah’s recently scrapped plans to build a $500-million resort in Kansas and casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp. avoided bankruptcy this month with a share offering that raised $2.1 billion in badly needed capital.

B.C. gambling officials say Metro Vancouver casinos won’t automatically feel the same pain because they depend largely on the local market, not national and international visitation like Las Vegas.

But B.C. Lottery Corp. vice-president Kevin Gass said they’re not immune from economic realities either.

Read More?

gambling poker

Vancouver Canucks team up with River Rock Casino

The River Rock Casino in Richmond will become “the official casino of the Vancouver Canucks and General Motors Place” under a new partnership announced Thursday between the Canucks and Great Canadian Casinos.

The deal will also see the club section of GM Place becoming “the River Rock Club.”

Great Canadian said in a news release that River Rock will host “two VIP road trips and VIP hosting nights” as part of their promotions this season.

Read More?

poker lessons

Canada Eyes Legalized Sports Betting

The Toronto Star reported that the federal and Ontario governments in Canada are quickly moving towards legalizing Las Vegas style sports betting. Revenues in Canadian casinos have declined as they have in the US casinos and the casinos are looking for ways to increase business. Legalized sports betting would be especially beneficial in the casinos that border the US in Niagara Falls which attracts players from New York and Windsor which attract players from Detroit.

Currently the Canadian casinos offer a government run sports lottery called Pro-Line which is similar to the parlay cards where you must choose three or more teams. The new proposal will let players bet on individual sporting events.

Read More?

Global Payments Announces Agreements With Nine Casinos Throughout the U.S. and Canada

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:
GPN), a leader in both payment processing and gaming cash access services,
today announced agreements to provide nine U.S. and Canadian casinos with
its comprehensive suite of cash access products and services.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010221/ATW031LOGO )

The gaming establishments have signed contracts to utilize a number of
Global’s innovative VIP LightSpeed(R) products including: PlayerCash
@dvantage(R) credit and debit card cash advance services, VIP Preferred(R)
check-cashing services, and ATM Cash @dvantage(R), which allows patrons to
initiate electronic check transactions at ATMs without casino cage
assistance.

Global will provide services to the following U.S. casinos: Mardi Gras
Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado; Player’s Club Casino in Ventura,
California; Running Aces Harness Park in Forrest Lake, Minnesota; Hoosier
Park Racing & Casino in Anderson, Indiana; 7th Street Casino in Kansas
City, Kansas; Bodine’s Casino in Carson City, Nevada; and Wind River Casino
in Riverton, Wyoming. Services in Canada will be provided to Flamboro Downs
in Hamilton, Ontario and Georgian Downs in Innisfil, Ontario.

You need to consider the style of your new skateboarding deck before you get into the technical aspects. This needs to be on the top of your list because skateboarding is a lot about style. Who is your favorite skater? What is your favorite team or company? What kind of graphics do you like. You need to consider all these things because you want to be proud of the way your skateboard looks.

Now that you have the style part down, you need to decide what kind of skating you are going to use your new skateboarding deck for. This will determine what size your skateboard should be.

If you are going to be doing a lot of skating on vert ramps or pools, you are going to want to have a wider board that is a little more stable. This means you will probably want a skateboard that is 8.25 to 8.5 inches.

If you are going to use the skateboard for a lot of street skating or doing a lot of technical tricks, you probably want to get a narrower skateboard that will allow you to do flip tricks easier than if you are using a wider board. Skateboards that are 7.5, 7.75, or 8.0 inches are commonly used for this type of skating.

If you want to get a skateboard deck that will work well for all types of skating, you could choose a skateboard deck that is 8.0 inches wide and have a nice all purpose skateboard.

If you are just looking for a skateboarding deck to cruise around on and not really do any tough tricks, you could consider old school deck or a longboard.

Whatever type of skateboarding you plan to do, thinking about it a little before you buy the first cool skateboard deck you see will make sure your new skateboarding deck gives you years of service in addition to just looking cool! Good luck on your quest for the perfect skateboard deck.

Check out skateboarding equipment at www.skateboardplanet.net to find great deals on skateboard decks and all your skateboarding equipment needs.

When a participant in lacrosse goes to a quality lacrosse equipment store they are confronted with a major decision, as there are practically hundreds of brands to decide from. One of the majory problems this presents the player is knowing which of the brands is the most competent, and which of the brands is the crappiest. Back in my lacrosse playing years spanning from my days as a high school player, to my years as a player of an elite NCAA Division II lacrosse championship team, and continued nowadays in my club programme, I have tested a wide assortment of lacrosse equipment. And with every new piece I located a plethora of flaws, until the moment I found both the Warrior Lacrosse Sticks and Cascade Lacrosse Helmets brands.

Warrior Lacrosse Equipment is recognized nowadays to be the industry leader in with their design, functionality, and protective elements found in all of their equipment. In fact, they are thought of so highly in the lacrosse leagues that they are the primary sponsor/supplier of lacrosse equipment to the major professional outdoor lacrosse league, Major League Lacrosse (also known as the MLL). I have found that the Warrior Lacrosse Equipment brand excels with the highest quality performance and safety requirements for every level of lacrosse player. Their equipment lets you to get better during play while keeping your body healthy and protected.

When it comes to protecting the most vital part of my body, my skull, I only trust one brand of lacrosse helmets, the Cascade Lacrosse Helmets brand. Quite often thought of as the market front runner in coming up with new technology and ideas for lacrosse helmets, Cascade Lacrosse Helmets have long been considered the to be “top of the line” for players of every level. As a tribute to their durability and protection, the only occasion I have ever went through a concussion during the entirety of my lacrosse years, was the only time I didn’t utilize a Cascade Lacrosse Helmet.

My players approach me all of the time and say to me, “Coach, what kind of lacrosse equipment do you think I should wear?”. Based upon my personal experiences, I always recommend them to only go with the highest quality, the Warrior Lacrosse Equipment and Cascade Lacrosse Helmet .

You see the thing is lacrosse is such an full contact sport it is critical that you own the most quality lacrosse equipment that you can to guarantee your safety when out there participating on the field. The brands that I have recommended above are of the utmost best quality you can discover in the entire lacrosse industry.

Sports Betting Arbitrage, Scalping, Sure Bets, and Arb Trading all refer to the one thing, the idea of making a guaranteed profit from a difference in odds between sportsbooks. Normally, backing all outcomes of a single sporting event at a single bookmaker would result in you guaranteeing a loss of a few percent – this is the bookmaker’s margin. However, if we take the best competing odds from different bookmakers, it is possible to make it so that guaranteed loss turns into a guaranteed profit. By betting on those high odds so that your winnings are the same no matter what the outcome, you are arbing.

Here are a few risks you may want to consider before getting into something like this:

Change in Prices

Most sport books online offer different prices for different events, so before placing your bets in arbitrage betting, it’s often a good idea to check first that the prices your bookmakers offer are still available. The point here is to not depend on the bookies that hold their prices. Furthermore, the prices on exchanges can change very rapidly, so it’s important to make sure that when you are considering arbitrage that you place any exchange bets while the first price lasts.

Maximum Limits on Stakes

Usually professional bettors say that the maximum stakes may affect your arb sports betting plans. It may even prevent you further by placing your full stake while arbitraging, so before you place the initial bet, make sure that none of the bookmakers you have registered within the arbitrage have a maximum limit. It’s also very important to take note and understand that all betting exchange prices are subject to some sort of a stipulation limit. So make sure before betting that you examine the available liquidity at the second and third prices in line, not just the best price

OK, so Arbitrage may seem difficult in the beginning, and the truth is it has a steep learning curve. But any legitimate opportunity to work at home and make a good profit at the same will always involve real work. Once you master the few basic principles and continually apply the above triple check steps, you will very quickly improve the rate at which you can place an arb. Your mind will be triple checking everything as you go, and you will flow through the whole process without needing to think about it. But in the beginning… you have to take it slow! sports betting picks

Winning with RakeBack While keeping your Bankroll Even

poker rakeback

Rakeback offers provide online poker players the opportunity to receive a percentage of the rake they contribute to each pot back at the end of every month. These rakeback offers vary by online poker room, but they all have one thing in common. You don’t have win in order to make money while playing your online poker rake back account.

Yes, this is the truth. Online poker players are playing every day with the objective of winning money at online poker tournaments and ring games without understanding the fact that by just playing you are generating money for yourself via the rakeback offer you have signed up for.

Rakeback is as simple as this: Your Rake Back = Monthly Gross Revenue X Rakeback %

Now we need a couple definitions.

1. What is rake and how is rake calculated:

The rake is the fee that every online poker player pays to the “house” or in this case the online poker room for playing in a hand at their online poker room. This fee is different from poker room to poker room. The rake is calculated in one of two ways, the dealt method and the contributed method. The dealt method is calculated by totaling up all of the rake in a hand and then dividing that amount between all players who were dealt cards in the hand. The contributed method is calculated based on the total amount each player pays into the pot. The dealt method gives an edge to those players who play fixed limit games. While the contributed method can add up to greater rake for No Limit poker players and thus earning greater rakeback.

how to play poker

2. What is Monthly Gross Revenue (MGR)

Monthly Gross Revenue is the total amount of rake you generate while playing at the online poker room. This amount includes all rake contributed while playing ring games as well as tournament entry fees. Some online poker rooms do not pay rakeback on tournament entry fees so you should check with the poker room before signing up. So now that we have these rakeback definitions down, we can calculate how much theoretical rakeback you can earn in a month. A player who generates $1000 in MGR over the month and is signed up to a 40% rakeback deal now will receive $400 in rakeback at the end of the month.

$1000 X 40% = $400 to your pocket.

Now this $400 is going to be paid to you wether or not you win $5,000 or lose $100 playing online poker. The rakeback is always going to be there and is only dependant upon how much you play, not how much you win. Now let’s take a look at yet an other example of how rakeback can make you a profitable online poker player.

Like all poker players you are going to go through hard times and find it difficult to even just break even. In our above example, you don’t even have to break even at the table in order to still earn a profit. As long as you generate the $1,000 in monthly gross revenue, you now have a $400 cushion to work with. So even if you happen to end the month down $200, you are still going to end the month up $200 after you receive your rakeback payment.

As you can now see, if you didn’t before, the importance of playing online poker with a rakeback deal in place for yourself. You can find many rakeback offers at Treasure Hunter Poker by visiting any of our rakeback pages.

Don’t throw your money into the muck with your cards any more. Start making money while your are making money at the online poker table today.

holdem poker