We are sometimes asked here at gambling.ie what the best way of learning to play poker is and clearly the best answer is simple to play for small stakes and learn as you go but there is another way to learn about gambling on poker and that is to play the rather unusual game of let it ride poker or simply let it ride as it is sometimes known. This is a form of poker gambling where you do need to form a poker hand of 5 cards in exactly the same way as Texas Hold’em but there is no bluffing involved and you can only lose what you originally stake. Let it ride is similar in a way to video poker gambling where hands are paid out at fixed odds so the better your hand the more you win but there is a unique difference with gambling on let it ride poker which is explained in full in our online casino pages but basically you can adjust your stake during play. Your initial stake when gambling on let it ride is in fact three separate bets which are all placed at the beginning of the game before any cards are dealt but after the first three cards are dealt you can either withdraw one of your bets or let it ride (which is where the name of this gambling game comes from). After this decision another card will be dealt making four in total and you can again make a decision to withdraw a bet or not but the good thing about let it ride poker gambling is that even though you withdrew a bet at round one you are still in the game so if the fourth card is more to your liking you can still let your nest bet ride. Let it ride poker gambling can be great fun and will certainly help in appreciating the value of poker hands.

For Irish sports fans, gambling on football is as much to do with the English and Scottish game as it is their own domestic leagues. The club football season in Europe is nearly over, and last weekend saw a remarkable climax to the English Premiership which was eventually only settled in the very last minute of extra time. There’s no doubt that a number of football gambling fans were biting their nails right to the end. Next on the agenda for football gambling fans has got to be the European Cup final on Saturday between Bayern Munich and Chelsea. Bayern are currently odds-on favourites with both Paddy Power and Ladbrokes at 4/5 and 3/4 respectively, and both have Chelsea at 10/3. As with most sports gambling opportunities, there are a huge range of alternative bets on offer for this important match including score prediction, full time and half time, and first goal scorer. This summer also has an added bonus for football gambling fans, with the European Championships starting in June. All the major bookmakers are already offering odds on the first round matches, so if the result of the European Cup is does not ring any bells why not look forward to the international games. First game for Ireland is against Croatia on June 10^th, and again both of our most popular online sports bookmakers are offering similar odds on an Ireland win in their first game of the tournament, at 5/2 and 12/5. For many of us, gambling on football tends to fade from our minds at the end of the domestic club season, but this year there are a wealth of football gambling opportunities to be had during this tournament, with the added bonus that almost all the games will be televised live.

Should you mention gambling in Ireland most people will think of one of the two best known names in gambling in Ireland which are Ladbrokes and Paddy Power but online gambling provides much more choice with several large organisations providing services and this is particularly so with online casinos but notwithstanding that, Paddy Power Casino remains one of the best available. Paddy Power casino gambling carries a complete range of casino games both in download and instant format although the instant casino has up to 50 games less choice but still has lots from the well known and traditional casino games of roulette and blackjack right through to lesser well know ones such as Baccarat or Caribbean Stud Poker. Paddy Power casino has fairly recently introduced new casino gambling software which is why there is a “new” tag against the casino and currently there are also three bonuses worth up to €200 for new players at the online casino to celebrate. If you are the type of online casino player that likes the idea of big jackpots then there are few better than at Paddy Power casino where there are at least 15 jackpot slots together with another 30 odd other jackpot games available. Casino gambling at Paddy Power casino can also be done using the live casino tab which takes you directly to roulette, baccarat or blackjack tables with croupiers actually dealing cards or spinning the wheel so whereas other forms of casino gambling rely on a Random Number Generator, live casino is actually happening while you watch from webcams with pictures streamed directly to your computer. Another option at Paddy Power casino for those who like head to head gambling games can be found in the “player” section at the top of the Paddy Power home page. Here you can find gambling games such as Gin Rummy or Backgammon played against another player. There is a good choice of online casinos but Paddy Power casino remains a good choice.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the online casinos have introduced a much wider audience to the thrills of casino gambling. The much bigger range of casino games which the online casinos are able to offer has ensured that almost any new gambling customer can find a game they will like, and most of these games can also be played for very low stakes. The online casinos have also been able to increase the popularity of some of the more established casino games, none more so than poker. Poker gambling is fast becoming one of the most popular gambling activities online, with Texas Hold’em leading the way as the favourite poker format. Gambling on poker went through a pretty lean time in Ireland over a number of years, and many casinos did not even offer poker as a regular option for their gambling customers. Many believe that it was the televising of poker tournaments which started the resurgence, but there is no doubt that the online casinos have led the latest boom. Texas Hold’em is of course the poker format used in all the major poker tournaments, and it is therefore no surprise Texas Hold’em gambling has become the favourite format for poker gambling fans. If you’ve not played Texas Hold’em poker, we have detailed the rules in our casino games pages, but the popularity of this form of poker gambling is almost certainly due to the use of community cards and the number of gambling rounds during each hand. Each player is dealt two cards face down, and the first gambling round then takes place. Those players still in the game will then see the first community card dealt face up in the middle of the table, and another gambling round is played out. This process is then repeated until there are five community cards on the table which can be used by all the remaining players to form their best hand. Having seven cards from which to form a hand usually improves the quality of the hands, and the number of gambling rounds generally ensures bigger pots. If you are new to Texas Hold’em gambling, make sure you play in Free play mode until you understand the game.

It is not often that something new and interesting happens in the online gambling world but here at gambling.ie we have discovered a great new online casino which is specifically for the Irish online gambling public and it is called All Irish Casino. Some may consider that another online casino is not what is needed but what we at gambling.ie particularly like about this one, apart from the fact that it is specifically for the Irish market, is the way in which it has been set up in conjunction with an actual casino and that casino is the Portomaso Casino in Malta. The Portomaso Casino is one of the largest and best known casinos in Malta and many of our Irish gambling friends may well have visited it during a holiday on the island but the association brings a lot of professionalism to the online casino and in fact there is a live casino option at All Irish Casino which instead of having webcams in an obscure room in eastern Europe has pictures beamed directly from the casino premises meaning of course well trained and knowledgeable croupiers and dealers which all adds to the enjoyment. All Irish Casino is licensed by the Lotteries and Gaming Authority of Malta which is very correct and well respected authority and All Irish Casino has chosen to use casino software developed by Netent which provides a full range of online casino gambling and for those that like a change also provides a few slots which are a little bit different from the rest. All Irish Casino is going to be very popular with Irish gamblers and we are very pleased to add it to our short but exclusive list of online casinos. All Irish Casino has no intention of branching out into other forms of online gambling and prefers to remain in the field in which it excels so give All Irish Casino a go and you will see what we mean.

It is well known that horse racing is one of the favourite sports gambling activities in Ireland, and Irish trained horses are always well backed. Last weekend saw the first of the English flat racing classics, the 2000 guineas at Newmarket, and a sixth win for Aidan O’Brien in this race with Camelot justifying his favourite status to come through the field and win in the final furlong. An added bonus for Irish horse race gambling fans was that this was also the first English classic win for Aidan’s son Joseph. Most bookmakers responded to Saturday’s win by making Camelot favourite for next month’s Derby, and the expectations are that the horse will be an odds-on favourite by June 2^nd at Epsom. There is even talk that Camelot could become the first horse since Nijinsky 42 years ago to win the Triple Crown. That would be an interesting gamble for sports fans gambling on horse racing, but there is no doubt that in the opinion of many racing experts Camelot will be a force to be reckoned with over the mile and a half at Epsom. For Irish sports gambling fans there is also the prospect of being able to follow a long and possibly distinguished riding career for 18 year-old Joseph O’Brien. Many horse race gambling pundits were sceptical when young Joseph was appointed stable jockey for his father, but Saturday’s win and the manner in which it was achieved, has done his reputation no harm at all. If he can pull off his second English classic win at Epsom on Camelot in June, there will be many Irish horse race gambling fans ready to gamble on his obvious talent. All in all a good weekend for Irish horse race gambling fans, and maybe a good number of future potentially successful gambling opportunities to come from this stable.

Online casinos offer a vast range of online gambling opportunities so if you want a change from sports gambling or whatever your regular online gambling is give an online casino a try. There are casino games that require knowledge and strategy and then there are those casino games which are a question of pure luck and one of those is red dog which we shall feature today. Red dog  has got to be the simplest gambling game around with only three cards in play and it is also one of the fastest games around. Red Dog is also known in some circles as “Acey Deucy” or “In between” but the game rules are the same. You start gambling on Red Dog by choosing your table stakes and then place an ante bet after which you will receive two cards face up. To win at Red Dog the next card that you are dealt must fall in between the first two so clearly the more cards that are possible the better your chances of winning; Ace is always high in Red Dog gambling so clearly the best hand is an ace and a two (hence the name Acey Deucy). Depending upon your first two cards you can decide whether further gambling is justified and you either place an additional bet or not. To encourage you to gamble on spreads that are smaller (meaning that the number of possible winning cards is smaller) the online casino will pay better odds so if you have for example a Jack and a three which has a spread of seven (there are seven possible winning cards) you will only receive odds of one to one but for a spread of two or three the odds will be much better. Two cards dealt in Red dog gambling that are identical in value requires no further action as a third card will automatically be dealt and if that is again of equal value you get paid at 11:1 and if not you get your money back. Red Dog is a no skill casino gambling game and well worth a try.

It is well known that Irish sports gambling fans enjoy their football, and for many it is the English Premier League that attracts their attention. The European football season is finally coming to an end and the opportunities for gambling on football will soon be limited to matches in other parts of the world. This weekend however one of the oldest and most watched football matches in the world will be taking place at Wembley. The FA Cup final has always been a football gambling bonanza for the bookies, and many believe that this year’s final is as close as it has been for a long time. Liverpool and Chelsea are two of the top clubs in Europe, but neither would claim to have had a particularly successful season thus far in the league, so the FA Cup represents a chance for both clubs to bank some silverware and possibly redeem their reputation. Most bookmakers have Chelsea as favourites, with Paddy Power offering 5/4 on a Chelsea win with Liverpool at 2/1. As usual, gambling on football is not restricted to just the result of the game, and there are many other gambling options being offered to sports gambling fans who are looking for better odds. If you fancy Chelsea to win but think Liverpool may start the better of the two, you can get odds of 25/1 if Liverpool are leading at half time. Alternatively, if you think it will be Liverpool who come back from a half time deficit to win, Paddy Power are offering 30/1. At gambling.ie, we believe that for many sports gamblers in Ireland and elsewhere, gambling on football entails looking for a way to back your favourite and get better odds, so it is often the alternative gambling options which attract their attention. This year there look to be some attractive gambling odds being offered on this match, so if you’re looking for a better return on your stake take a look at the Paddy Power online sports gambling site and take your pick.

Wherever you go in Ireland it is becoming increasingly clear that scratch card gambling is a major part of our gambling landscape. The appeal of gambling on scratch cards appears to have spread to all age groups and across the whole spectrum of society. When scratch cards were first introduced in the eighties, there were very few choices and they all cost a standard one euro. Now it is possible to buy scratch cards at your local newsagent for as much as ten euros, with corresponding increases in potential winnings. The online casinos have of course recognised the growth in scratch card gambling, and many of the major online casinos now offer their own versions of scratch cards which provide instant results and allow us to enjoy scratch card gambling for very small stakes, often as low as 0.1 euros. Our most popular online casino operator Paddy Power have seven scratch cards, with themes varying from horse racing and golf to popular TV programmes. There is a choice of format with winning combinations of 3 from 6 or 3 from 9, all allowing various levels of stake. For those of us who want to try scratch card gambling for higher stakes, Party Casino have two scratch cards with stakes  rising to $250 or even $500. Gambling on scratch cards online offers instant results plus a choice of how much you want to stake, and with a variety of different themes there is a scratch card to suit all tastes. Scratch card gambling is here to stay because it’s easy and offers quite good potential winnings for very low stakes, and now that the online casino operators have got involved you do not even have to go down to the local shop.

In recent general gambling news we find that Ladbrokes has reported profits 3.9% up on the previous year helped by strong results at Cheltenham (which is good for them but not for us as punters) and an increase in over the counter gambling at shops but what is surprising is a 22% increase in profits from the gambling machines which are located in those shops. We have reported several times in the general gambling news that machine gambling is not a good idea when online gambling and online casinos are so readily available and which offer much better odds than machines in a bookmakers shop. Interestingly online sports gambling is also up some 22% according to Ladbrokes which we can completely understand due to the convenience of online gambling. Also back in the general gambling news is the long running saga about online gambling in the USA and experts attending an East Coast Gaming Congress in Atlantic City next month are reported to believe that legalisation of online gambling is a question of when rather than if although it is unclear whether this will be governed at a federal or a state level. The UIGEA (unlawful internet gaming enforcement act) has been in existence for a number of years preventing the American public from all forms of online gambling despite the fact that casino are available in many US states. We shall keep our eyes and ears open in the general gambling news but do not expect any sudden changes. Also in recent general gambling news is the for sale sign that has been put up over our own Irish Lottery. The Government has put up a 20 year license to run the Irish Lottery and unsurprisingly Camelot who run the UK equivalent has shown interest but fortunately for us here in Ireland a clause includes the fact that 30% on revenues must still be given to good causes.