By Samantha Williams 

So an independent audit was run in which participated a total of 100 UK-based online gambling companies. The results revealed a better state than before on the context of marked improvements in customer service. It’s for sure they didn’t want to gamble with their revenues and proved once again that the brewery-owner is essentially a teetotaller. Though the report kept the fact hidden between the lines, but it shall be unfair to claim that they didn’t commend these gambling sites for winning over other sectors in the UK market; namely, retailers and broadband service providers. What were the areas that came under the inspection? The audit marked the sites on different key grounds on which the improvements occurred. The first one is on the grounds of being tech-savvy (live chat and security issues); secondly, it is on the basis of performance on the other aspects (e.g. accuracy, response speed etc.). A whopping 61% from last year’s 7% and Talisma, one of UK’s leading customer interaction management solutions providers is now adding a few more to the existing list of questions for a better assessment in the future. They expect the responses could have been more accurate (perfectionist’s syndrome?) that way and would have revealed more than the 12% increase in offering an online chat facility by the sites or the fact that 90% of the telephone calls are answered within less than ten seconds or the improved email support that went from 60% in 2006 to 74%. May we have a glimpse of what was asked? Sure! But since we cannot provide the exact transcriptions, we shall swan the subjects on which the questions were set. 

• The minimum deposit/bet amount to open an account.

• Choice of currency to open an account.

• Various customer service criterions.

• Areas of improvement, inclusive of responsiveness, personalisation, newer channels for interactions, information accuracy and a few more.

• Tracking previous correspondences with past customers.

 When asked about their feedbacks on the survey, Jon McNerney (Vice president, International operations, Talisma) commented - “While it is encouraging that the UK online gambling sector has significantly improved customer service in 2007 there is still huge scope for improvement. In a growing competitive market, customer acquisition and retention is the key. UK gambling websites have a global customer base that wants easy access to information and immediate responses to enquiries, particularly when their money is quite literally at stake. Gambling websites need to evolve a customer-focused strategy that provides high quality, round the clock support and empowers agents to manage an increasing number of interactions across a growing number of communication channels.” However, improvement shall set its position as a constant as technology progresses and since there exist further chances of improvements in terms of online knowledge base and personalized phone calls, the day is not very far to see Talisma wearing an extra feather on its laurel.

By Samantha Williams

The game of Poker fascinates us, and it is the most amazing game in the world, providing a perfect balanced combination of your luck and skill. Anyone who has been going to casinos will tell you that, Poker is the best game where you can put your money on. Poker is not a game where you play against the house. You play against the other players, who are playing the game with you. The Casino has house has their interest in other games that it offers, where-as, in Poker, the advantage is that, the game eliminates Casinos interest in the deals that you make.

The large diverse origin of Poker makes the game that much fun to play, with all its complexity. This game has been developed by taking the best of features from several games through out the history, and this what makes the game the most finest of all gambling games, for the experienced, or just a clever novice gambler.

There are several Poker variations in the world. You must know this if you are interested in the game of Poker. Each of these variations has their own style, rules, and class. The five card stud, which you have possibly seen in movies, is the most well known form of Poker game. You will not find Poker being played this way in any of the casinos or in any tournament.

As you play a game of Poker with a group of other people, there are ways to know from the faces of others about how they feel about the cards that they are holding. Their facial expressions change which you need to read and you can piece together the information that you get from those expressions. Even to the extent, the body language of each of the players, and the way they speak reveal a lot of their thoughts, which are ofcourse related to the cards that they hold. On the other hand, if you play Poker online, it becomes quite difficult to know what the others have in their hands, for you cannot see their faces, nor can you understand their body languages. Chatting does not convey the emotions of others well enough, and therefore, you need to make your judgement on how the others putting their bets, and how quickly the other players react. At the same time, you should remember that the speed with which one bets is not always an indicator, since the person might be playing several tables at once.

If you can get an undivided attention from the other players, you can often guess or get an idea of what cards they hold. There are a few thumb rules which you may like to follow.

If the player pauses and then places a bet, it could mean that he has strong cards in his hand. This player may intend you to think that he is unsure, and hence he may pause. He may be holding a strong set of cards. An instantaneous bet may mean strong cards in hand. There are times when a player wants to intimidate you into calling by playing instantly. You should be careful not to give-in for such actions. You would need to consider the player’s position regarding the way they are responding, or putting in a raised bet. Those who take time to raise the bet may have strong cards, or may just be bullying one of the other players.

There will be occasions when you will find a player pressing the check/fold button, indicating that they might fold his hand to any bet. This happens especially if the player is playing more than one table at a given time. This could be advantageous to you. If the player checks and all others do the same, you may try a bluff against the player who checked first. There, may be times when the player checks but has a good hand. This is to create confusion in you to try and get you to bet.

The above are few of the points that you could note and apply them when you are playing your next game of Poker. As you play game after game, you would acquire a kind of sixth sense to notice the others behaving in an odd manner, which could easily give away their strength of their card holding. Always vary the speed of the way you bet, or keep the same speed at all the time no matter what card you have. You should always bear in mind that others are reading you as you are trying to read the other players.