Oliver Hudson, celebrity sibling – as the judges have gone through great lengths to tell us – rubs his chin a couple times (is this intentional? Do they players actually not know they’re throwing out tells like their pennies in a fountain?) and raises back. He’s sitting on pocket 10’s himself. Already with a 69% statistical advantage, Hudson now sits stone-faced, trying to play it cool in the company of a professional and legend.

The flop, the ridiculous flop, the…..insane flop….is Ace, Ace, 10. So both players land of full houses, but Sammy Farha of Full Tilt Poker has the high hand, and quickly earns the check mark. It probably bears mentioning that this is actually the first hand in the entire tournament. Talk about quick action right out of the gates.

Both players do a great job of restraining their faces. Both are wearing sunglasses, as well, and it’s situations like this that you appreciate what that’ll do for you. In a not entirely shocking move, both players check.

The turn, not that it matters, is a queen. Now Hudson moves, though, and bets 300 chips. Can’t blame the guy, I’d have done the same thing. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have been as disciplined and tossed some more in the middle after the flop.

It’s quick and dirty from this point on. Farha raises back to 1,300 chips. Hudson goes all-in (oops). FullTilt Farha calls right away, and after Hudson reveals his boat, Farha casually flips his cards, like it ain’t no thing, and doesn’t say a word.

Hudson throws out an “Oh my God!” and a “First hand!” – but it’s all just sprinkles and whipped cream on Farha’s 10,000-chip banana split.

I think most people would agree this one might have been a little more luck of the draw than actual betting skill, but who cares, that’s a crazy flop, and the fact that it was on the first hand of the tournament only adds to the amazement.

The announcers’ comments at the end are priceless if not obvious. “He just blew through 10 grand in about 90 seconds.” Awesome.

Many feel in no-limit tournaments on Poker Stars.com, especially the big ones, it’s vital that bluffing take place at least once in a while. I go back and forth on this. Of course, if you’re good at it, bluffing is a wonderful skill to use to your advantage, assuming others don’t have success in reading you. But buying the pot, smart betting and luck of the draw are all just as useful, if not more so. And, what many people don’t realize, is that you can expose yourself as being predictable by being “unpredictable” just enough for other intelligent players to start picking up on it. If you bluff once in a while just for the sake of bluffing (and you get called on it, thus having to show your hand), you’re going to end up doing yourself more hard than good.

In a limit game, getting a bite on a bluff when more than four people are left at the table is difficult to accomplish. Many people will call with a small pair or high card, sometimes with nothing pre-flop, since the risk isn’t that great. I lost a huge hand once trying to bluff, lost to a pair of tens and couldn’t believe what the other guy was betting with. It was only $1/$2. Whether you’re playing online or in a casino, you’ll undoubtedly run into the player who will just keep calling and calling. You’ll be able to figure this one out very soon into the game.

Another factor is how well situated you are in the chips. If you’re high-stacked, it’s safer and easier to just buy pots (although that can be seen as a form of bluffing in and of itself anyway) than to try to bluff on occasion. If you’re bleeding chips, though, and are right around the corner from the Poker Stars Download blinds going up, you might want to make a more aggressive move than usual since your back is against the wall anyway.

Bottom line, bluffing is part of the game. And in a tournament, one of your goals should be to score a regular win to keep your chip count stable. With the blinds increasing regularly, sometime you’ll need to bluff to try to stay on your “schedule” of winning hands.

Everyone always says so. They’ll tell you “you’re crazy, it’s April” – as if you hadn’t looked at the calendar. But I’m telling you they’re wrong. And for me, 90% of the teams that looked shaky back in early April last year went on to suck it up through the summer and fall. Yes, sometimes a team needs to get it’s crap together, but more often than not, the wrong chemistry or lack of talent can become readily apparent by week 2 of the season.

Some will say August. Give me a break. Not only is that past the All-Star break (anyone’s final breaking point for online baseball betting and whether a team even has a chance), but if a team isn’t showing any signs of life up to that point, how are they going to turn it around down the stretch to become contenders, especially in a hard division?

Others say May or early June, just crossing the 1/3 mark of the season. This is more realistic. If you’re going to throw in the towel on the season before it gets too late, this is really the time to do it.

Let’s not be mistaken here. I’m not talking about the division races being over by this point, just talking about a team that’s sputtered in neutral kicking it into high gear. If your team (cough, Yankees, cough) don’t show they want to win and/or can win consistently and against their stiffest competition, they won’t be there at the end, either. Games in April count just as much as games in September.

One more barometer I’ll throw out there. How the baseball universe believes a team should be playing could factor in to how long fans will go before panicking. Meaning, there’s no specific date and it’s all about play. If you’re team is dwelling in the cellar, but they’re hitting and pitching up to their expected ability, then you should panic. That spells trouble. But, if you’re team is losing, but the hitting is in a major slump, or the pitchers aren’t pitching well, then you expect that to turn around at some point if the team has the talent. One could say – cough, Yankees, cough – here, as well.

So I start panicking by the end of April, and often it’ll cause me to alter how I bet on games as a result.

• The most important thing for new online gamblers to understand is the local laws for where you live. If you can’t legally gamble then it’s wise to know this before you go and sign-up for an online casino.

• Certain online casinos, such as Golden Casino, cater to certain countries and you need to make sure that the online casino you choose caters to your country. If you spend a little bit of time reading some online casino reviews then you’ll be able to find an online casino where you can play in based on the country you live in.

• Do some safety checks before signing up for an online casino such as making sure there gambling license is valid. You can find most of the information you need to know by reading through online casino reviews of the casinos you want to join. It’s important to find out any flaws the online casino has before you decide to deposit your own money into the casino.

• With so many different payout options available online you need to find an online payment option which works for you. Some online casinos only provide certain payment options so keep this in mind when you’re searching for a casino. All casinos accept credit cards, but if you’re going to use an online processor you need to make sure the casino accepts this form of payment first.

• Most online casinos allow players to play for free before they need to deposit to the casino. If you’re new to online gambling then I would suggest you spend a bit of time playing the games for free so you can ensure you like everything before committing your own money.

• Every online casino offers a bonus for new players, but most casinos differ in the size of the bonus which means you should do some research. First you should make a short list based on the above tips of online casinos which will work for you then you should find out which one of those casinos offers the biggest sign-up bonus.

• Test out the customer support with the online casino you’re thinking of joining before you actually join the casino. This will help you gauge how quick the service will be when you are a player in the casino. Having quick support is essential if you need help with withdrawing money or if something happened in the casino so don’t join an online casino which takes forever to answer your test support ticket.

These are all simple tips which new online gamblers should go through before deciding where to play online. You only need to do it once and then you can save yourself a lot of headaches down the road knowing that you’re with a safe and reputable online casino.