Poker has taken off in popularity over the last decade, and online casinos are seeing a huge increase in players and activity for all of their poker games. We’ll take a look at two of Silver Oak’s most popular poker games – Seven Stud video poker and Aces and Eights video poker– and give you the rundown about how to play and how to make some money.

Seven Stud Poker

One of the most popular poker games on the planet, Seven Stud gives you the opportunity to wager your way into a huge hand, or cut your losses early and live to fight another day. The dealer will reveal two cards to start. Players can bet again to reveal another or fold if they feel as if they don’t have a competitive hand. This process repeats, until a player wages their way to the final draw, where seven cards will be laid out and your best hand is automatically picked by the game.

The winning hands in Seven Card Stud Poker, by rank, are:

1. Royal Flush
2. Five-of-a-Kind
3. Straight Flush
4. Four -of-a-Kind
5. Full House
6. Flush
7. Straight
8. Three-of-a-Kind

Note: A player needs a minimum of a three-of-a-kind to qualify for winnings. Also, jokers are wild and can be used to form any hand.

Seven Stud also offers a bonus round, which really tests a gamblers risk. If a player builds a winning hand of anything higher than a straight, they have the option to continually double their money in the bonus round. This is often the best way to make a killing in Seven Stud Poker as players can reach excessive amounts of winnings in a very short time

Aces and Eights

If you’re looking for something a little more fast-paced, Aces and Eights is for you. This single player poker game is a quick way to make money, as players can play up to 100 hands a time at a maximum of $5 per hand. The goal of the game is to get the best hand, with special payouts for Four-of-a-kind consisting of Aces, Eights, or Sevens. The game is played like traditional poker, with the option to keep whatever cards you want off the deal, and replace any with a one-time swap from the deck.

The order of hands is the exact same as Seven Stud, with the exception of the bonus payouts for 4-of-a-kinds. Also, the bonus round is a big time opportunity for players to quickly double their winnings, as players will have the option to continually double their winnings after each hand.

There you have it. Whether you’re a seven stud man or a guy who likes to make his money quick and easy, there’s a poker game for you on Silver Oak.

So what did he have to do to win the hundred g’s? It wasn’t easy. Father Trapp had to win a series of head-to-head Hold ‘Em matches, against competitors with a wide variety of experience. His first match was against fellow amateur, John Salley, a former NBA champ. When he dispatched the basketball star, he next sat down to play PokerStars pro Vanessa Rousso. Shockingly, he was able to take out the much more experienced player with a mix of aggressive play and some card luck.

But it was the next match that makes you wonder if there was some divine intervention. Father Trapp took on three-time WSOP bracelet winner, and one of the top poker pros in the world, Daniel Negreanu. Though he showed obvious signs of nervousness, Trapp held his own against Negreanu, and eventually won the match when his pair of 8s held up against a missed straight-draw. He’ll now have to wait until the show’s finale in November, where he’ll play one more match, with the winner of that one taking home a million bucks.

So what does he plan to do with his winnings? Donate it to his church, of course. He says he’s already handed over the $100,000, and if he wins the million dollar grand prize, that’ll be donated too.

Want to try your hand at some exciting poker action? Check out our selection of video poker machines right now. And if you’re not already a member at Silver Oak, get started right now!

You may remember a headline news story back in April of this year when Phillip Markoff (aka the Craigslist Killer) was arrested for murdering a prostitute he found on Craigslist.  Despite being on his way to being a doctor and a husband (he was in medical school and was engaged at the time), Markoff is now accused of robbing 2 different call girls and murdering a third.

While many people found it hard to believe that this clean cut med student would be capable of such heinous crimes, the evidence was quickly stacked against him.  Not only did investigators find video footage of him at the scene of the crimes, they found a bag containing the underwear of all three victims stashed underneath his bed.

It looks like Mr. Markoff may be going away for a long time.  That’s why, according to prison officials, Phillip Markoff has taken up poker to pass the time in the Big House.

“He plays every night”, according to to one source from the jail where  Markoff is being held.

I guess if you’re looking at decades in prison, it makes sense to take up a hobby.  But if you would rather learn how to play some video poker, you don’t have to be Markoff’s cellmate.  Check out this free video poker strategy guide right here on Silver Oak Casino to learn the ropes, then download a bunch of free video poker games by clicking on the big Play Now button below!

When writing this blog, we scour the globe internet for stories from the world of gambling that may be of interest to those who play here at Silver Oak Online Casino. But in all that scouring, this has to be the first time that we find a story that’s both interesting and relevant, in the pages of the “Faith and Reason” section in USA Today. But there’s a first time for everything…including, as it turns out, a first time for a poker-playing priest to be taking on both celebrities and poker pro Daniel Negreanu for a shot at a one million dollar poker pot.

According to the story, he’s Father Andrew Trapp, and he’s an assistant pastor at St. Michael Catholic Church in Garden City Beach, South Carolina. And he’s just one of the contestants on yet another poker reality TV show. And yes, there have been a lot of poker reality shows to appear on the tube, only to disappear in an underwhelming fizzle of low ratings, but this one might just be different.

It’s called PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge, and there’s a few wrinkles that might help the show actually attract some viewers. First of all, to qualify for the show you have to be good at poker, and have some viewer appeal. Those who place in one of the qualifying rounds of online poker aren’t automatically given a seat on the show. Instead, they have to submit a video audition, which is judged based on personality and an interesting back-story…like being a poker-playing priest for instance.

Now that Father Trapp has qualified, he’ll play in multiple rounds of poker, including one against celebrities like Super Bowl champ Jerome Bettis and former Playmate of the year, Jayde Nicole. Eventually, if all goes well for him, he’ll sit down for a game with a grand prize of $1 million bucks.

The first episode airs Sunday on Fox in North America, so you can tune in then to see if Father Trapp throws the keys to his church in the pot when he gets desperate. Or, even more intriguingly, to see if he gets paired in a heads-up match against a former Playboy Playmate. It could make for some interesting table banter.

Love the thrill of poker? Try out one of our big selection of the most exciting and popular video poker machines right here on Silver Oak.

When the Borgata casino in Atlantic City recently hosted a women-only poker tournament, things didn’t quite turn out the way the casino planned. A man defied tradition, if not the law, and entered the tournament as the only man in the 270 player field. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, he won.

The party-pooper’s name is Abraham Korotki and he’s a pretty experienced and skilled player, having previous victories on the WSOP circuit. On that fateful day, though, he’d busted out of an earlier tournament at the casino. But instead of playing a cash game, or waiting for another open tournament to come around, he decided to forgoe general decency and tradition, and play against the ladies.

After several hours of poker, Kortki wound up heads-up against one last player, a woman named Nicole Rowe. She asked him to “chop” the pot, meaning they wouldn’t finish the tournament, but instead split the 1st and 2nd place prize. Her reason? She needed every cent she could get to help pay her living expenses while she recovers from cancer. The chivalrous Korotki refused her request and when he eventually beat her, took the entire winner’s pot all for himself.

It does raise the question of whether casinos are actually allowed to offer gender-specific tournaments. And, according to the law, they can’t. Despite it being unenforceable legally, in the vast majority of cases players respect the women-only rule and don’t play where they’re not welcome. But not Mr. Korotki.

Hey, looking for some exciting poker action without any rules about who can and can’t take part? Then choose one of our online video poker games and play a few hands. And if you’re not already a Silver Oak player, take a second and download our free software. Just hit the blue button to get started.

They’ve come tantalizingly close, but so far no professional poker player has taken the top prize on a major reality TV show. On the new season of The Amazing Race, premiering September 27th, poker pros Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho will try to be the first to take their profession to the top of the podium…and win themselves a million bucks while they’re at it.

As reported right here at Silver Oak a couple months ago, rumors leaked out during shooting that pro poker players would be taking part in the 15th edition of the hit show. But their participation has now been officially confirmed, along with the identities of the rest of the teams. And Ho and Michelle aren’t the only competitors with some name brand recognition. A pair of Harlem Globetrotters, Nathaniel “The Big Easy” Lofton and Herbert “Flight Time” Lang, will have a chance to prove their globetrotting skills aren’t just useful on a basketball court.

But the real question for gambling fans is whether the poker skills they’ve developed, like the ability to read opponents, to bluff, and to know when to go all-in on a huge gamble, will help Ho and Williams in their quest. In recent years, other poker pros have tried, and failed, to win a big reality show prize. Annie Duke was runner-up to Joan Collins on Celebrity Apprentice, while Jean-Robert Bellande wasn’t able to finish in the money on Survivor.

This season of The Amazing Race promises some new twists. The new “Switchback” challenge will force the players to go back for another attempt at the most difficult “Roadblock” from earlier in the game. And another task will force the contestants to lead a tour group through the streets of Tokyo, with the first team to get their entire twenty person group across the finish line winning the challenge.

If you’ve got some poker skills of your own then check out our huge selection of online video poker machines. Just download our free software and start playing now!

For sale: Sequined glove. Not sure where the other one is. Cost: $48,000.

Next time you’re in Las Vegas, you can take a break from the video poker machines and Blackjack in the casino and take a peek at the only $48,000 glove you’re likely to ever see. People say the best career move a celebrity can ever make is to die prematurely. And that certainly seems to be the case for Michael Jackson. Beset by a massive and growing debt for the last 10+ years of his life, the King of Pop’s estate is now a money making machine. And even people who aren’t associated with him are able to cash in.

Michael Jackson was long known for his eccentric fashion, best symbolized by the single white glove he frequently wore in concert. A number of the gloves have been auctioned off over the years, but none have ever made the kind of money this most recent sale did.

In 1996, MJ tossed one sequined glove to a lucky fan. It was the same one he wore when he got married to Debbie Rowe earlier in the day, which no doubt added to its collectibility. And now, thirteen years later, Michael Jackson’s glove has just sold at auction for that hefty $48,000 price tag. Not bad, considering it doesn’t even have a partner.

It was bought by a representative of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The chain of hotels and casinos has been a long time collector or rock n’ roll memorabilia, with a collection that includes things like Jimi Hendrix’s guitar, Elton John’s sunglasses and Mick Jagger’s dentures. The glove will be put on display where it’s hoped it will attract lots of the musician’s fans, who will then eat, drink and gamble enough to justify the hefty price tag.

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On last night’s episode of “Mindfreak”, master illusionist Criss Angel did the seemingly impossible – he levitated his entire Las Vegas studio audience. What makes that all the more amazing is when you realize how many all-you-can-eat buffets there are in that town. But besides levitating the over-fed crowd of onlookers, he did something even more incredible – he levitated everyone watching the show at home on TV.

Or at least that was the idea. But, as all the videos feverishly uploaded to YouTube this morning suggest, not many people actually levitated. Though there are a surprising number of comments from people that say they did feel “lighter” or at least “tingly all over”. Of course, there are also comments like the one that says: “yeah I levitated, right over to the Easter Bunny’s house”. There’s a skeptic in every bunch.

Criss Angel is one of the ultimate showmen in a town long known for them. Las Vegas has always offered amazing casino action, but it’s also the home of some of the biggest stars in the live performance game. And right now, none owns the city like Criss Angel does. Between his Vegas-based hit show “Mindfreak” and his (semi) successful partnership with Cirque De Soleil, “Criss Angel Believe”, he’s levitating an awful lot of money into his own pockets.

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If you’re someone who likes to scour online casinos looking for the video poker game with the best odds, look no further. Bonus Deuces Wild features the lowest house odds, and that means you’ll win more when you play!

Like with all our online video poker games, the basic rules of Bonus Deuces Wild are super easy to learn. You’re dealt a hand of five cards. You choose how many you want to hang onto, anywhere from zero to all five, then re-deal. Then you win different amounts based on the best poker hand you were dealt. In Bonus Deuces Wild, like the name implies, 2′s are wild, which makes it easier to hit lots of big hands. There is some strategy to learn about what hands you should be trying for. It’s pretty easy though, and you can get all the basics with our free cheat cheat, available here.

If you prefer your video poker action fast and furious, then be sure to check out the multi-hand option available in this game. The idea is that you can play up to 100 hands at once, instead of just one. When you play multi-hand, you’re still dealt the original hand of five cards. You then choose which cards to hold onto, and which to discard, then hit the “Deal” button for the re-deal. At that point, the game deals you out the number of hands you’re playing. So if you’re playing 25 hands, for example, you’ll receive 25 re-deals on your single hand. It’s just as easy to play as single hand, and can pay off with some truly enormous wins!

So if you want a game with the best payouts, and options to play as fast or slow as you want, check out Bonus Deuces Wild. Good luck and have fun!

Maybe justice really is blind. For years now, various parties have been involved in various legal fights throughout the US, as the legal establishment tries to create a clear definition of what exactly poker is. Depending on which side of the fence they’re on, these parties have been trying to either have poker declared a game of skill, paving the way for greater legalization, or declared a game of chance, and one that is so terrible that playing it will be punishable by being locked in a cell with Phil Hellmuth for a year.

Finally, in the last couple years, sanity seemed to be reigning. In a couple different cases, a few notable rulings seemed to indicate that the legal system was leaning towards viewing poker as a game of skill. The argument being, of course, that if some players can consistently win at poker, which of course they can, that the game features more skill than luck. If poker truly was a game of chance, then why are there poker pros, who consistently win bracelets and make it to final tables?

But in that case of Colorado engineer, Kevin Raley, a judge just threw out a jury’s earlier ruling and declared poker a game of chance, and thus, a game that should be considered gambling. In another case, a judge made a similar ruling last week, even disallowing expert testimony at trial that would have argued poker’s merits as a game of skill.

With the legalization of poker being argued at the highest levels of US government, these recent rulings are poorly timed, at least if you favor the game’s legalization. Will they have an impact on US legislators, as they decide which way to vote on an upcoming bill in support of legalized poker? Only time will tell.

At Silver Oak, we offer a whole lot of different types of online video poker. Yes, there’s a lot of luck involved, but that just means that even if you don’t know how to play, you can still win a nice juicy jackpot! See all our video poker games, or start playing right now!

As mentioned here last month, NBC has a new reality show where nobodies can take on poker royalty for a shot at a million bucks. The show, Face The Ace, premiered last night, and so far the score is: nobodies 3 – poker pros 0.

The show features some of the biggest names in the poker world. And last night, Phil Ivey, Erick Lindgren and Howard Lederer all got their butts handed to them by a pair of amateurs you’ve never heard of. A player named Jonathan Nygaard beat Phil Ivey and got to walk home with $40,000 for his troubles. But the big story of the night was that a guy who lives in his mom’s basement took on both Erick Lindgren, and Howard Lederer, and beat them both. And not only that, on next week’s episode, airing on Saturday the 8th, Don Topel will again leave the basement to take on yet another pro for a million dollars in cash.

Do you love the action of poker and the thrill of hitting a huge jackpot? Then check out the huge variety of online video poker games right here at Silver Oak. Get started by downloading our free software. Just hit the blue button and you’ll be playing within seconds.

Time’s a tickin’ on our huge July giveaway of $10,000 in free casino cash! On August 1st, one of our players here at Silver Oak will wake up to find an extra ten grand in their pocket, and it could be you!

Qualifying for the draw is easy, and you might already be in. All you have to do is sign up for Silver Oak and make at least one cash deposit in the month of July. Do that, and your name is in the hat. Signing up only takes a second, and once you do you can play dozens of your favorite casino games, including online slots and video poker.

Learn more about our monthly $10,000 giveaway and all our current deposit bonuses. And good luck at the tables!