We agree with Cardplayer Lifestyle’s Robbie Strazynski when he says…

... Run it Once are doing a great job with their social media on a relatively small budget.

Case in point: Beyond getting the word out about the online poker room, Run It Once’s innovative StreamR rewards program—that credits players with generous rakeback if they do their thing on Twitch so others can watch and learn—results in some great videoed poker moments.

And the RIO video team maximize this by compiling the best moments into a regular compendium, uploading it to YouTube.

F5 have highlighted one of these in the past, but this week’s is perhaps the best yet. There’s a few great moments, but the one that really caught our eye is the last (we’ve started the player at the beginning of the segment because we know just how lazy time-poor some of you are. But the whole vid is pretty great!)

Our hero finds himself playing €2.5/€5 NL Hold’em game … and €1500 added to the pot. For the math-shy, that’s 300 free big blinds up for grabs. According to the RIO team, this could be the largest seen yet.

Oh, and our hero gets QQ. Does it hold up? Watch and find out…

Want to learn more about Run it Once Poker? Read: The Successes and Challenges of Upstart Online Poker Room Run It Once Poker over on pokerfuse!

If you haven’t heard yet, PokerStars is quietly rolling out a brand new game engine to power their desktop software. And we’re all over it.

Codenamed Aurora, PokerStars might not be talking it up much yet—be we sure are. Over on pokerfuse we have an in-depth look at the changes, Poker Industry PRO has an exclusive interview with the man behind the plan and here on F5 we are keeping your eyeballs clued to mesmerizing sliding animated GIFs.

If you can tear yourself away from that smorgasbord of click-friendly content, there’s something else we’ve got for you: In fact, there’s one aspect we haven’t talked about yet: the new animations.

Right now the changes are pretty minor on the surface. But tucked away there are some interesting new touches here and there that make the games more engaging. And perhaps the best example is with the intro to Spin and Gos.

First, here’s the old one:

Here’s what it looks like in Aurora—note the higher frame-rate, giving for a quicker spin effect; the pulsing glow behind the spinner; and the smooth shrink to the top right corner.

It’s subtle, but the change is there—and that’s the direction we think PokerStars is going to take with this new engine moving forward. Attention to detail to tweak various parts of the online poker experience: Improve the feel, give a feeling of increased dynamism, smoother transitions and more responsive experience.

Thanks to our big brothers pokerfuse and Poker Industry PRO, we now know that PokerStars is planning to launch a big new product update that’s going to impact the online poker experience at the tables.

Some changes are subtle—tweaks and improvements here and there. In other places, the changes are more dramatic. Overall, the new client will offer a richer experience, with higher resolution graphics, smoother animations, and improved sound effects.

But that doesn’t mean it’s better. So you think this is an upgrade or a step backwards? Here we put some side-by-side for your viewing pleasure, and you can judge for yourself.

(if you’d rather do the sliding yourself, head on over to pokerfuse which has interactive widgets!)

Mercury

First up is the Mercury theme—changes here are pretty subtle.

PokerStars wants to keep this update minimal, so the default experience for players will be pretty much the same. You’ll notice, however, that the bottom left box has changed quite a bit, with nicer buttons and a more legible font. The felt is darker, and card faces are slightly bigger.

Classic

Next up we’ve got the old original PokerStars theme, now called “Classic.” Much bigger changes here—the background has gone all modern and minamalist, there’s a bright shining halo of a light source at the top, and everyone’s name plates are in the more modern style.

Some old-school online poker players might lament the changes here, but it seems like a big step in the right direction to us. Definitely a clearer experience for those that play more than a couple of tables. We’re a fan.

Saloon

Finally, and most controversially, is Saloon. Where do we start?!

Firstly, you might not even be familiar with the old theme—that’s because, let’s be honest, it aint a pretty sight. Its a weird mish-mash of designs and all looks like something out of the 1990s.

The new one—well it’s certainly modern. PokerStars has certainly made use of the new Aurora game engine here, there’s animated smoke rising from the cigar, there’s a sheriff’s badge for the dealer button… it feels a bit too busy for us, so I doubt it will be a hit with multi-tablers.

But maybe it’ll prove to be a hit for casual players?

Anyway, that’s just our thoughts, what do you think? Let us know on social.

Online poker has been attracting hundreds of thousands of players from all over the world who come looking to hit the big money. It is easy to see why online poker has become so popular given that not only are the cash prizes bigger at places like Novibet casino than you’ll find in a traditional casino, but there is also the added benefit of being able to play at all hours, from anywhere that you happen to be. Whilst many try not everyone is able to win big when playing online poker, and if you want to be the one who takes home the cheddar, here are some tips which may help you do just that.

Stamina

If you want the big money then you need to be prepared to work for it and in the case of a big field tournament that means staying the course. These tournaments get filled up very quickly because of the low buy-in costs and that means that getting to the latter, and more profitable stages, will require you to stay patient and keep your wits about you. If you expect to get in, win big and get out, then you are unlikely to find much success, this is very much a marathon and not a sprint.

Simplicity

Online poker requires a far simpler approach than playing in a casino and the key really is to keep things simple. A bluff at any stage of the tournament for example just won’t carry any weight as it does in the casino because your opponents are playing their hand only, and rarely focus on what your actions say about the cards which you have. With this simplicity it is also key that you get the most value which you can from made hands, given the number of opponents in the game, many of whom love nothing more than calling your bets, giving you an advantage to use your financial clout to move forward.

No Mixing Up

Playing in the same way at a casino is going to ensure that your opponents quickly learn how you like to bet and when, which will usually result in your loss over the long term. However when you play online this is not the case, perhaps when you get up to the higher stakes tournaments, but in the main you are playing against thousands of different people and there will be nobody with a keen enough eye to spot how you like to raise the stakes early on big hands or how you like to hold back on the turn. When playing online you can feel free to mix it up and if something is working, keep it going.

Remember that many of the people who you are up against are not rich in their experience and they will often get excited by big hands and make their intentions very clear with how they bet against you, learn to spot these signs and take advantage of them if you want to walk away the victor.