Wherever you look then there are card rooms all over the internet and sites like PokerCage help people like us to be able to pick and choose the best sites to play at. This for me is an important part of being a successful online poker player. I know too many people personally who were making good money online a few years ago and who are now really struggling. Many people say that this is because the online games have become far tougher. This is true but it isn’t the only reason why players fail to make money.

I think that too many players end up stagnating by staying on the same site for far too long. Sure they build up substantial player notes but you have to ask yourself just how effective these player notes actually are when your opponents are also taking detailed notes on you? So in my opinion then it is becoming increasingly important to move from site to site to freshen things up somewhat and to be able to do that then you need site reviews to help you in these areas. The better the site review then the easier it is for players to change card rooms and find good poker games.

Time For Rupert was sent off 100/30 joint-favourite to win the key Gold Cup trial, but after tracking the leaders for much of the way was in trouble after the fifth last and lost his position. Flat to the boards, the Dennis O’Regan-ridden gelding stuck to his guns and stayed on again at the one pace to finish a 14-length fourth to the impressive Midnight Chase, but clearly that form isn’t good enough to have any real chance in the blue riband event in March, a point Webber was the first to acknowledge. Anyone looking at the Grand National betting odds online will know he has a real chance of going well at Aintree though.

The son of Flemensfirth, runner-up to Big Buck’s in the 2010 Ladbrokes World Hurdle, was made favourite for last year’s RSA Chase at the Cheltenham but could only finish fifth to Bostons Angel, and after making a sound enough start this season when second to weird Al at Wetherby in October was very firmly put in his place by Kauto Star and Long Run in the Grade 1 Betfair Chase at Haydock a few weeks later. His confidence boosting win at Newbury in December gave hope that maybe there was better to come but Webber now sees the horse as lacking gears at the top level and may give the eight-year-old a fascinating entry into the Grand National, a comment that prompted a number of firms to introduce him into the ante-post betting for the Aintree marathon at odds of 33/1.

Buckley played in losing Grand Finals for the Magpies in both 2002 and 2003 and had retired and been made assistant manager by the time the side finally prevailed in 2010 and says even this triumph did nothing to quell his disappointment.

”There is no way I can possibly fill that void. Being a premiership player is something you get the opportunity to do whilst you are in the best athletic and physical years of your life,” Buckley said.

”I don’t get the chance to fill that void.”

The 39-year-old has inherited a superb squad and is clearly full of enthusiasm for his new position ahead of his first live Aussie rules  game as a coach.

Buckley admits that he misses the responsibility of controlling his team on the field something he did throughout his career with Brisbane and Collingwood.

He is sure to be a very hands on coach in his new role and says he is looking to build his squad in his image, bringing in young, tenacious talent so they can emulate his success, despite the AFL betting odds not being in his favour.

“If I had a choice right now, I would play. I would rewind and I would start all over again,” he said.’

‘But the next best thing is to look at half a dozen new recruits that come in to the place and give them the opportunity I believe I was given.”

Compare this to the Irish team, and you can see why England may well be feeling pretty relieved, with the Irish relegated to fourth favourites by the bookies despite having a weight of expectation piled on their shoulders by the Irish public. Those following the Six Nations rugby betting will be wondering if they can pull of a few upsets.

So, why have the Irish been slated by the bookies? In large part it seems to be to do with the team’s scheduled tricky trips to Paris and Twickenham, fixtures that will surely define their chances of putting up a fight for the coveted Six Nations crown. With the Irish also facing Wales in Dublin in their opening game of the tournament, a game that may turn into something of a grudge match given the fact that they last met in a World Cup game that ended with an Ireland exit, you can see the reasoning behind the bookmakers’ thinking. http://betting.betfair.com/rugby-bet/

If Ireland fail to put on a show without their talisman Brian O’Driscoll, who has in the past been the man to help the Irish cause, then questions will no doubt be asked as to why the Irish have not spent more time ensuring that they invest more money and time on youth development. Whatever the outcome, the fact of the matter is that the Irish are playing for pride this year, and if they achieve more than the wooden spoon, they’ll have done pretty well.

It is essential for any online pro to have as much liquidity as possible to be able to sustain an income from the game. Let us say that 40,000 players are active on a poker site. Breaking this down still further could reveal for example that the average production per player in how much they contribute to the site or the winning players is $500/year. If we assume that 90% of the players are losing players and the rest are winning then we have 36,000 players contributing $500 which contributes to around $18 million in profits which is split between the site by taking rake and the winning players.

If we split this 50/50 as a broad general rule then the site would take say $9 million from the losing players and give the other $9 million to the winning players and so the +ev players have $9 million to fight over. Although that figure isn’t as high as what it sounds because if 10% are making money then that equates to 4000 players out of 40,000 and so $9 million divided by 4000 comes to $2250 per annum. It is fun to play around with these types of numbers because knowing how much the average player who makes money takes from the game is instructive because it can highlight how they play and what their motives are.

I like doing these calculations because it is instructive to know how much money the average online poker player places into the environment and also how much money is taken out by the poker site. I think the average winnings of a typical winning player is quite low although in the modern climate then any net plus figure really is an excellent score indeed.

So what this proves is that for any professional or semi-professional player to be able to make a good living from the game not only requires a certain number of contributing players but it also requires a good rake structure and a playing style that is different to the masses. In this case the masses are more than just the losing players but the combination of losing players, break even players and also average winning players which in all likelihood contribute at least  95% of the poker playing population. In fact this figure when expanded slightly to players who say make $25,000 per year or more from online poker would be at least 99%.

After a number of ‘false dawns’ earlier on this season it looks almost certain that the Willie Mullins-trained son of Montjeu will at last be put to the test in a race that makes up for in quality what it lacks in quantity. At the five-day declaration stage Hurricane Fly headed a list that also included the Grade 1 winners Unaccompanied, Oscars Well, Voler La Vedette, and Thousands Stars, together with the rank outsider Kalann. Punters looking for a little more excitement might want to look at the best online Cheltenham Gold Cup betting instead.

The race looks sure to give punters a good idea of what shape the horse who broke the unbeaten run of Peddlers Cross is in, having brilliantly landed last season’s Stan James Champion Hurdle before going on to bag another huge prize when following up at Punchestown six weeks later, beating his stable companion and subsequent French Champion Hurdler winner Thousand Stars with plenty to spare. A series of niggling setbacks have forced repeated delays to his return to action, but now Mullins confirms his stable star back in top form although he did suggest that however well he goes at Leopardstown the 13-time winner is more than likely to improve for the outing.

Priced up as the odds-on 4/7 favourite to make a winning return, Hurricane Fly could be given most to do by the two mares Unaccompanied and Voler La Vedette, the former having beaten Thousand Stars in the Grade 1 Istabraq Festival Hurdle at Leopardstown‘s Christmas meeting, while the latter confirmed her wellbeing in completing a seasonal hattrick at the same track 24 hours earlier.

Supporters in the arenas and fans watching live hockey online  around the world are poorer for his absence from the ice.

But there is one place in the NHL where so much promising youth is flourishing that it detracts, slightly, from all of this doom and gloom. That place just so happens to be Ottawa.

Although General Manager Bryan Murray certainly has it all to do when it comes to deciding how many young prospects he can fit into an already jam-packed roster, the fact that the Sens appear to have invested their NHL picks  so astutely means that, unlike some GMs in the NHL, he will actually have the chance to build his team from scratch, getting rid of dead wood and replacing squad positions with players full of potential, even if that potential isn’t being converted into anything spectacular quite yet.

The Senators have endured a bit of a rough time recently, but the fact that they have seemingly learned well from the problems they previously faced, when they paid too much money to overpriced stars who didn’t provide value to the franchise, means that the club can now join the trend of signing cheaper younger players and ensuring they have some cap room left for the big trades if they need them.

Whether or not the Senators’ strategy works out for them, one thing that can be said is that it is an admirable policy and one that should be fully supported by the NHL and its top

With the Bruins first in goals for and first for goals against, it’s difficult to imagine a side capable of toppling them at the moment. Perhaps, if there were to be a side to grab away the limelight from the bustling Bruins, it would be the Blues in St Louis, an unlikely candidate for stealing the headlines and NHL betting tips, but one deserving of doing just that nevertheless. The Blues are 5-0-1 this calendar year and have that precious commodity running through their ranks that no amount of dollar can buy: confidence and self-belief.

Other movers and shakers in the NHL include the Canucks and the Blackhawks, Chicago making the most of a strong week to prove a point to the likes of Detroit, while there have been significant signs of improvement from the San Jose Sharks.

At the other end of the picture, however, lie the likes of the Flames, who are fresh off the Mike Cammalleri saga and four points off a playoff spot, with top teams keeping them out of contention at the moment.

There is still a whole load of NHL action to come this season, but with the likes of Boston and the Blackhawks starting to prove their class, now is the time for the best of the rest to put forward their case for playoff contention.

With the Wings now having won a total of 14 games on the bounce at home, they have made fixtures in Detroit one of the most terrifying prospects for hockey teams facing the misfortune of heading there to compete, with the majority of teams as well as their fans watching live hockey online from home expecting to slip to a heavy defeat before they even arrive in the city.

However, home dominance aside, the Red Wings need to improve both their form and their road trip percentages if they want to reach the playoffs and prove themselves worthy of the NHL betting tips being flung their way. With playoff games split between home and road games, the simple fact of the matter is that all teams know they have to be half decent in both ties in order to progress far into the playoffs.

Should the Red Wings fail to learn the habit of winning away from the comforts of home, they will know that their chances of beating the likes of the Chicago Blackhawks, in the process becoming the new NHL champions, will be greatly reduced.

Unlike a number of his colleagues, Manning has played in the Super Bowl where he was the MVP as the Giants beat the New England Patriots 17-14 and has told them they must leave no stone unturned as they look to once again defeat the Patriots when the two sides meet at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on February 5th. Anyone looking at the Super Bowl 2012 betting will know the size of the task facing them.

The playmaker is known throughout the NFL as someone who likes to let his actions do the talking. This means whenever he does make a speech, everyone takes notice and knows he means everything he says.

“We got an excellent message from Eli,” safety Antrel Rolle said. “It was very well-needed. For players like myself who have been to a Super Bowl, it is still great to hear someone speak with that kind of leadership. And you know, Eli doesn’t say much. When he says it, he means it and you know it is coming from the heart.”

The 31-year-old has become notably more vocal this season and years of being reluctant to speak to the press. At the beginning of the season he was if saw himself as an elite quarterback and immediately said ‘yes’. This has led to his performances coming under even more scrutiny this term but he says it’s not something he regrets. Fans of Betfair NFL action should bear this in mind.

“I thought I gave an honest answer,” he said. “I didn’t regret it at the time or think anything of it. Obviously it has been made into a big deal and I can’t always control that. My job is to play the game, it’s your job to talk and make up stories.”