France is no exception. This article will run through the main taxes in France and help explain how they work and if they might affect you.

Tax:

If you are domiciled in France, you will be taxed on your entire income whether it be from French or foreign sources. It does not matter what nationality you are – if you spend more than 183 days per year in France you are considered as French domiciled and still taxed on your world wide income.

For those not domiciled in France, you are still liable for any income from French sources; this includes rent from letting out your property and any income derived from working in the country. The authorities in both the country in which you normally reside and France will be interested in your earnings and if it is above a certain threshold you could be liable in both countries unless there is a double tax treaty between the countries – as exists between all EU members and many other countries. However it is very important to notify the authorities if you are making a permanent move to France before the event in order to take advantage of this treaty.

It should also be noted that in France taxes are not deducted using the PAYE system as in the UK; each individual must fill in their own self assessment form whereby taxes are paid the year after in which the income is earned (years run from January 1st to December 31st). To do this, you must first register at the “Centre des Impots” which is the local tax centre.

Income tax:

This ranges from tax levied on “earned income” which is a progressive tax to tax on “unearned income” such as investment income based on interest from bank accounts and property yields. A separate tax is levied solely on gross rental income if you let out your property in France.

France still strongly favours the family unit and there are distinct advantages in terms of reduced tax liability if you are a large family as tax is assessed on a household basis. If you are married and/or have children in the family, you pay less tax as there are more dependants; this is called the “quotient familial”. There are also other allowances such as those for childcare and domestic help all of which go towards making large families in France pay less tax than anywhere else in Europe.

If you are unmarried or united only by the PACS agreement (see more about PACS below), then you are likely to pay more tax than married couples – not just with regard to income tax but also inheritance tax.

Property tax:

There are two property taxes in France: taxe foncière and taxe d’habitation.

Taxe foncière is paid by the property owner regardless of whether you live there or abroad – but there is an exemption for two years for newly built properties.

Taxe d’habitation on the other hand is paid by whoever occupies the building at the time: hence if it is rented out it is paid by the tenants.

Both taxes are similar to UK council tax and are paid the year following the rental period with special allowances for retired residents and derelict properties.

Capital Gains tax:

This tax is paid on the profits of any property which has been sold, including jewellery, securities, shares and real estate. However, fortunately there are no taxes to be paid on the sale of your principal residence but only on sales of additional property. People who rent their main home are exempt if they sell their second home as well as those who have owned the house for 15 years or more.

If a property is sold within two years, then it is subject to 33.3% capital gains. However, this falls by 5% a year and is multiplied by an index linked multiplier of the eventual sale price of the property until 15 years are up. If there has been some renovation to the property, however, the cost can be offset against the profits as can legal and agency fees.

Inheritance tax:

The system in France is very different to that which you might find in England or anywhere else and it is advisable to talk to a tax advisor BEFORE you buy your property in France to prevent future burdens on your family or partner.

Whether you are a resident or not in France, you will still have to conform to french succession law and your family will still be liable to pay inheritance duty in France upon your death. It is also important to note that French succession law will not allow for you to leave out any of your children in favour of your spouse and will ensure that they get their share.

There are however, a number of different ways to minimise their burden depending on your situation, for example:

- A very popular and useful way of lessening your relatives’ inheritance tax if the tax in France is greater than it would be in your home country is to form an SCI which is a property holding company. The property in question can be divided into shares and these shares can be distributed as you wish with the result that any future inheritance tax on the property will be subject to the laws in the country in which you are a resident. It is also a good solution for those in a complex family situation living with people who are not members of their family. Shares can be freely given to a partner or children whereby inheritance tax will be avoided if done at least 10 years prior to death of the owner of the shares.

- For married couples who wish their half of the property to go to the surviving spouse, then the “clause tontine” is a good option. It is like a joint tenancy agreement and essentially suspends the ownership of the property until either spouse dies so that the entire property is owned by the surviving spouse. They will, however, still have to pay inheritance tax on half of the property.

- Another way to ensure that your half of the property in question goes to your spouse is to make a change of the matrimonial regime so that your properties are no longer separated. You must have been married for at least two years and prepared to pay some legal charges but it will mean that the surviving spouse will only pay 1% tax on the property as “registration duty”. This system can get complicated if there are children involved from current or past marriages as they still retain certain rights to the property and legal advice should be taken.

- In 1999 a new contract called PACS was also brought in under French law giving certain benefits to same and different sex couples which were not previously available. These inheritance and fiscal rights are not as beneficial as those available to married couples but are certainly an improvement on the previous situation.

Wealth tax:

This is a tax levied on assets that exceed 720,000 Euros and covers a wide range of assets to include your property and bank balances amongst other things. If you are resident in France but not domiciled there, then you will only be taxed on what you have in France. If domiciled there as well then the tax applies to your entire fortune all over the world.

For other articles on buying French property, see www.leapfrog-properties.com/articles

About the Author

Nick Dowlatshahi is the managing director of Leapfrog Properties, a UK specialist agency in French property. Leapfrog offer an online database of up to 200,000 properties for sale in France plus a personal service from fluent French speakers to help you find, view and buy your property. Leapfrog Properties website is at www.leapfrog-properties.com

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Banks typically take 30 days to close a loan, but with seller financing, YOU make the decision and this can be done much quicker, thereby removing a buyers contingencies faster and in effect leading to a much faster home sale. Regardless of whether you are selling FSBO (For Sale By Owner), or with a real estate agent, make sure you use “Seller Financing” in your marketing and advertising, be it in newspaper ads, flyers, or in the MLS description.

Other Ideas to Sell Your Home Faster

Number 1: PRICE IT RIGHT ! Not too high, not too low, check comparables and local agents to get the right number, if you are not getting any action after a week or two, you probably have it priced too high.

If you will be selling FSBO, use a flat rate MLS open listing. For under $500 you can get listed in MLS with no frills, check the newspaper or call agents to find one who offers this. It will give you much broader exposure and is advertising well spent. Also strongly consider offering a buyers agent commission of 2-4% depending on how quick you want to sell and how hot your local market is.

Put up lots of signs around the neighborhood, especially on weekends, hold regular open houses, prepare your house for sale, keep it neat & tidy and remove the clutter.

Sell Your Home for Full Price

1. Normally a seller will accept a lower price (below market) for an all cash no contingency fast closing.

2. It will sell for market price if the buyer needs 30-60days to close escrow and will need to qualify for a loan at a bank and do a home inspection.

3. You as a seller should charge even more (above market) if you will be giving seller financing terms, maybe 5-10% higher than Case 2, or more depending on the terms.

A Good Investment

Taking back a note can be a very good investment since you will be making interest on your money which is usually better than CD’s, money market rates. In fact you can select the interest rate you want! This is especially appealing if you have no need for the money right now.

In fact it is such a good investment, that many investors buy seller carry-back notes. If you have no interest in holding a note, it is common for a home seller to carry-back a note and sell it at the same time as the home closing occurs. This is called a simultaneous closing.

We Buy Real Estate Notes and can facilitate simultaneous closings, call for more info on this. We can also help in setting the terms of the note so you get the best price.

Tax Benefits

When selling a home, under current tax law, if you lived in your home for 2 of the last 5 years, your capital gains will be exempt up to $250,000 (twice that if married). Otherwise, your capital gains will be taxed in the year that you collect the capital gains. If you will have significant taxable capital gains on your home sale, it may be very good for your tax situation to take back a seller carry-back note and spread your sale proceeds over several years, or postpone it for several years. Talk to your tax adviser.

Steps for Successful Seller Financing

1. Pull the prospective buyers credit report. You will need their permission, but always review a credit report on each borrower, it is a small expense.

2. Can they afford the home, job, income. If they cant afford it, or have a shaky job or income situation, a foreclosure will be much more likely.

3. Use a professional to draft the paperwork. Each state has many laws regarding real estate sales, contracts, and mortgages. Use an experienced attorney to draft the promissory note and mortgage or deed of trust.

4. Down payment – Sellers usually ask for 10-30% down payment to protect themselves in case the buyer stops making payments and the seller has to foreclose on the loan, and take the property back. The larger the down payment the more equity protection you as the seller have. The buyer will also consider how much money he has put down if he is in foreclosure and cant make the payments and wants to walk away from the house. Zero down is very little encouragement for a buyer, should he hit a rough patch.

5. 1st position or 2nd position – A first position note is much safer for the seller than a second position note.

6. Set the interest rate above current bank rates, to encourage the buyers to refinance down the road.

Also Read this Article: “Tips for Creating a Seller Carry-back Real Estate Note” at http://www.jmacfunding.com/articles.htm

Other Alternatives to Seller Financing

1. Land Contract / Contract to buy

2. Lease Option

This information can be useful to:

Home Sellers, Home Buyers, Note Buyers, Attorneys, Accountants, Financial Advisors, Real Estate Agents, Business Brokers.

Disclaimer:

I am not an attorney, nor a tax accountant, laws vary from state to state, and any advice implied by this paper should be checked with an attorney and/or tax adviser.

JMAC Funding
PO Box 91472, San Diego, CA 92169
jmac@jmacfunding.com
http://www.jmacfunding.com
(619) 846-1550
 About the Author

I am a real estate broker licensed in the State of California as well as an investor of real estate and debt instruments. We buy real estate notes and real estate contracts nationwide and make private and hard money loans on real estate in California. Feel free to contact me with any feedback, or if you are contemplating selling a real estate note.

These are the sort of questions that we ask ourselves or hear about from other people. We really wonder if these are true or not, or if these questions are valid or not. Let’s take a closer look at credit cards and how it is beginning to shape (if it hasn’t already done so) the way we live at present.

First off, what exactly is a credit card? The Columbia Encyclopedia defines it as “a device used to obtain consumer credit at the time of purchasing an article or service”. Basically, a credit card is the plastic, I.D. like thing with a black magnetic strip across the back which can be used to make purchases via signing. How is this possible? The seller receives the credit card information from the customer by swiping the magnetic strip into a specialized device that can specifically read the card. The bank or credit card supplier then pays the seller. The customer and the credit card supplier then do business with the customer paying the bank the amount he owes via a monthly fee. If he is unable to pay the amount in full, he has the option of paying a minimum balance; however, the remaining balance is subject to an interest rate, usually around 3.5%. Once you get the experience of using your own credit card, you will actually find out that it is a simple process – just give the card, sign, get your card back, and pay later.

Credit cards appear to be the thing of the present, and will go on growing towards the future. It would not come as a surprise to many if it totally replaces cash in a few years’ time. As the days pass by, credit cards grow more and more popular with a lot more people. More and more business establishments are accepting credit cards, with the trend not seeming to stop anytime in the future. Think about it – would you rather carry a few inches thick of cash in your wallet or purse, or a lightweight, plastic, I.D. size thing that you can use for the same function, or even more. The cash, once you’ve run out of it, you can’t purchase any more. With the credit card, you can purchase a whole lot more in one day. Many people nowadays shop with the power of the credit card at their disposal, bringing home bags and bags of shopping items, all without having to pay a single dollar in cash that day.

Yes, this tiny piece of plastic can be useful in shopping. Before, only a few select stores would accept credit cards; now, only a few select stores DO NOT accept credit cards. Almost anything can be acquired with a credit card. You can even make online purchases now. Online purchases are rapidly growing in popularity. You just need to have a computer, internet connection, and a credit card to make it happen.

Credit cards have a thing called credit limit. It is the maximum amount of credit you are allowed in a month. Anything over it will not be credited for that month. If you try to make a purchase when your credit limit is full, your credit card will be rejected until you are able to pay at least the minimum balance owed for that particular month. In some cases, credit card providers will give you a “secured” credit card, wherein you have to give a deposit in cash which in turn will be your credit limit (deposit $1000 – that will be your credit limit). Secured credit cards are usually for those people deemed by the provider to have bad credit standing.

Credit cards are slowly transforming the way people live. It is like a security blanket of sorts for a lot of people. However, it can also be a bad thing since you have the ability to overspend in an instant. Owning a credit card is a nice thing, provided that you use it responsibly and make sure it doesn’t control your life, because it has the power to do so.

About the Author

Sue Hunt has written many articles on the credit card industry and is the webmaster of a website offering information regarding credit cards. If you are are interested in learning more about credit cards log onto http://www.searchcreditdeals.com

<strong>Current camera:</strong> If the gift receiver is already using a digital camera you should get the model number, the memory storage and the accessories they have. In such cases getting a digital camera would only make sense if you can afford to buy a new digital camera that is significantly better than the current one they have. A better camera is not simply one that has more mega pixels. As you will see later other considerations like lenses, flash and battery are no less important.

<strong>Photography and technology level:</strong> If the gift receiver is savvy when it comes to technology and photography you can consider higher end cameras that allow more flexibility and options but are harder to use. Digital SLR cameras fall into that category. If the receive is not into photography or technology you might want to choose a camera that is easier to use such as a digital point a shoot one. It can result in high quality pictures, is easy to use and thus can be very satisfactory to the amateur user.

<strong>Expected usage:</strong> What is the expected usage of the camera? It is hard to answer this question but you can try to estimate based on knowing the gift receiver. For example if he or she travel a lot for long periods you want to pay attention to features such as camera weight, size, battery life and memory storage. If he or she hardly travel these features are less important.

<strong>Additional cost:</strong> The cost of owning a digital camera is not limited to the money paid to purchase the camera. In most cases the owner will spend more money on accessories and other additional products. When giving a gift you want to make sure that the receiver would not have to spend more money in the near future for such additional accessories. To make sure that it does not happen the gift should include additional accessories such as batteries, memory cards, lenses and cables as needed.

<strong>How many megapixels:</strong> It is hard to avoid this question. New cameras are packed with an ever increasing number of mega pixels. Is more mega pixels better? it really depends. More mega pixels is important if the receiver is going to print photos (especially enlargements) or if they are going to zoom in and crop fine details out of big photos. If they just plan to view the photos on their computer screen and maybe print a few 4X6 prints every now and then than 2 or 3 mega pixels is more than enough (yes… just 2 or 3). When buying a gift you would want to buy what is considered the standard megapixels number to date. A good advice is to buy what is considered standard. If after budgeting for extra accessories you still have more money to spend on the gift – you can always go for a higher megapixels number.

<strong>Batteries:</strong> There are two kind of batteries that can power a digital camera: disposable or rechargeable. The advantages of disposable batteries are that it is easy to buy a few, carry them and replace the ones that are empty. They are available in any store and thus very convenient when traveling. The disadvantages of disposable batteries are the cost of buying new batteries every time your batteries are empty and the capacity (in most cases disposable batteries do not last as long as good rechargeable batteries). Disposable batteries are not friendly to the environment – you do not want to get them for someone who is environmentally conscious. Rechargeable batteries require only one purchase. The disadvantage is that if you run out of batteries during a photo shooting session or somewhere away from home or a power supply you can not just buy another battery. If you know that the gift receiver travels a lot and might be involved in long photo shooting session you might want to include an extra battery in your gift.

<strong>Zoom:</strong> There are two types of zoom – optical and digital. Optical zoom works by physically moving the camera’s lenses and changing the focal length. By changing the focal length you can make objects appear bigger and fit the full photo frame. Digital zoom works by applying built-in software in the camera to define a portion of interest in the photo. Once chosen the software crops the rest of the photo and enlarges the area you chose to fit the complete photo frame. The downside of this digital process is that the enlarged photo quality is lower than the original photo’s. The conclusion is that optical zoom is superior to digital zoom. From a practical point of view digital zoom should not be considered zoom at all. Some manufacturers state the camera’s zoom figure without specifying if it is optical or digital. This information is confusing and done on purpose to inflate their real zoom numbers. When you compare different cameras zoom always compare their optical zoom capabilities. You can totally ignore the digital zoom figures.

About the Author

You can find more information on digital photo printing and photography in general on printrates.com – a site dedicated to photo printing This article can be reprinted as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Ziv Haparnas writes about practical technology and science issues. Ziv Haparnas is an expert in technology.

Authors can submit their articles to the content hubs. Others can then download these articles and post them on other sites. The benefit for the author is that once the article is posted on a content hub, it contains his company name and web site address. So it provides an inbound link to the author’s web site, meaning a link from another site to his. Plus, if the article is well written it will get downloaded by others and posted on their web sites, providing even more inbound links to the author’s web site.

Inbound Links and Why They’re Important

So what’s the big deal with inbound links? Well, let’s see what Google, the top search engine, says about how important they are to your web site’s ranking on the search engine:

“The heart of our software is PageRank™, a system for ranking web pages developed by our founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University. And while we have dozens of engineers working to improve every aspect of Google on a daily basis, PageRank continues to provide the basis for all of our web search tools.

“PageRank Explained

“PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page’s value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves ‘important’ weigh more heavily and help to make other pages ‘important.’”

So in order for any web site to get a good page rank on Google, it has to have many sites that link to it. But not just any sites. The sites that link to yours must have a high Google page rank themselves, and if they do, Google assigns more importance and a higher page rank to your web site. So if you have many sites linking to yours, and those sites have a high page rank with Google, then you will have a high page rank also. And that helps to make your site appear higher up when someone searches on the search engine.

How to Get Inbound Links

So now we have established that getting inbound links to your web site is desirable. And we have mentioned that you can get inbound links to your site by submitting articles to content hubs.

Are there any other ways to get inbound links? Yes, there are. There are two other ways that are legitimate:

1. Find other web sites that have high page rank and have something to do with your web site or your industry, write to their webmaster and ask them to put up a link to your site on theirs. Usually it works best to put up a link to their site first before you ask them, which will make them more inclined to link to you. 2. Wait until other sites notice you and decide to put up a link to your web site.

Number one above will take many man-hours, finding the sites and writing to them and putting up a link to their site on yours. Number two means you can’t control it – not a very good option either.

So the best method, in my opinion, is submitting articles to content hubs. There are over 900 hubs on the Internet at this time, some with high Google page ranks. Once you submit an article, it can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks for your article to appear on the search engines. After 4-6 weeks these articles will tend to drop off search engine results, so it is best to submit a new article at least once a month, better twice a month or once a week.

There is a free online tool that measure how many inbound links there are coming to any given site: http://www.marketleap.com/publinkpop/

Go to this page and enter your web site in it and also enter the web sites of some of your competitors, some of the sites that rank highly for the keywords that you want to rank highly for. This tool will give you a good yardstick for seeing how many links you have compared to your competitors. Chances are you’ll see that the competitors who are highly ranked for your desirable keywords have many more inbound links than you do.

The Solution – a Content Hub Submission Campaign

The solution is to get a campaign going of submitting articles to the content hubs. How fast you decide to go will be determined by your available resources, and the size of the gap between you and the competition.

What should you submit? If you publish a hard copy or email newsletter, then you probably have a bunch of articles that you’ve already written related to your business or industry. Here is a sampling of the article categories from a popular content hub:

Advertising Advice Affiliate Programs Autos Awards Blogs Book Reviews Business Careers CGI Computers Communication Copywriting CSS Dating DHTML Direct Mail Domain Names EBooks ECommerce Education Email Entertainment Environment Family Finance Fitness Food Free Gambling Gardening Government Health Hobbies Home Accessories Home Business Home Repair HTML Humor Insurance Internet Investment Javascript Law Link Popularity Malware Management Marketing Marriage Metaphysical MLM Motivational Multimedia Music Newsletters Non-Profit Off-Line Promotion Online Promotion Other Outdoors Pets Politics Press Releases Product Reviews Psychology Publishing Real Estate Religion RSS Sales Scams Science SE Optimization SE Positioning SE Tactics Self Help Sexuality Site Security Social Issues Spam Spirituality Sports Technology Traffic Analysis Travel Viral Marketing Web Hosting Web Design Webmasters Weight Loss Women’s Issues Writing

Chances are you can find a topic or category that will relate to your web site or business.

The important thing is to get a content hub campaign going. It’s one of the best ways to have a real impact and drive up your search engine rankings.

About the Author

John Eberhard is President of RealWebMarketing.net (http://www.realwebmarketing.net), a marketing consultant, writer and political analyst living in Los Angeles. He can be reached at http://www.realwebmarketing.net/contact.html

Here are some tips on promoting your blog.

1) Quality Content – Interesting content will keep your readership returning. Update your blog regularly.

Googlebot, which is Google’s web-crawling robot loves content. The more you update your blog, the more frequent the search engine spiders will return to it.

2) Take part in forums that are related to blogging. Ask other bloggers for their opinion on your blog and take their suggestions to heart.

3) Publish an RSS/Atom/XML feed. If you’re using Blogger, you can turn on RSS feed by clicking on settings in your dashboard and then clicking on site feed and make sure that your settings are set to yes.

4) Carefully choose your subject titles, taking into consideration what other internet users may be searching for.

Use keywords in your title. I suggest subscribing to Word Tracker. Their report of the most popular searches is published each Tuesday and distributed to over 30,000 subscribers.

Technorati.com , is a blog search engine that also lists the top search words. The more targeted your keywords are, the greater your return in search engines will be.

5) Involve yourself in commenting on other blogs. You can gain a loyal readership just by offering feedback to your fellow bloggers. The comment feature allows you to add a link back to your blog as well.

6) Be sure to include your blog address in forum signatures and in your email signature.

7) Submit your blog to directories.

Submit your blog’s url to Technorati, Daypop, Blogdex and Popdex.

8) Write articles. Include a resource box in your article and submit it to article directories such as http://iSnare.com

9) If you’re using blogging software such as Blogger, there is an option to notify the central blog update services (such as http://weblogs.com) whenever you’ve made a new entry to your blog. Make sure that this option is turned on! In blogger, click on publish in your dashboard and make sure that your settings are set to yes under notify weblogs. Alternatively, you can go to http://pingoat.com and send out a ping each time you update your blog. This lets everyone know that you’ve just updated your blog.

10) Link to other blogs. Use services like blogrolling, which is similar to linking. Blogrolling allows you to maintain an updated list of your favorite blogs. But, don’t build a long blog roll of sites that you have no intention of returning to. There is nothing more annoying then visiting a blog that has a humongous blogroll.

Be patient, traffic doesn’t happen overnight. The best way that I’ve found to increase traffic is by getting to know people. Spend what free time that you have, reading blogs, leaving feedback and building friendships. Try to leave comments on the blogs that you visit as often as you can. While you are waiting for the traffic to come, just enjoy blogging. You’ll be improving your writing in the process.

Eventually you’ll build a network of not just readers, but friends and loyal supporters. Blogging is not just about marketing; it’s about creating lasting relationships.

About the Author

Rose DesRochers is the founder of Blogger Talk Blog Community http://www.bloggertalk.net, a friendly fast growing blogging portal, offering bloggers support, advice, tools, tips and information about blogs and blogging.

Mistake 1 – Playing Short-Handed with Little Experience – First of all, short-handed play requires more skill. You don’t have the luxury of simply being patient, which forces you to play weaker hands. You’ll be playing more hands per game, and this will put you at a distinct disadvantage when competing against more experienced players. Beginning players also may not have the bankroll needed to weather the high fluctuations of such a game. These fluctuations can lead players to go on tilt, which is always a huge mistake. Playing short-handed requires a whole different mindset. Start by playing in regular games and gain experience. Only then should you start branching out into the deeper water of short-handed games.

Mistake 2 – Bluffing Too Much – Bluffing an opponent is a great feeling, but if you do it too much you’re bound to get called. Betting with a weak hand is a surefire way to decrease your chip total. Be careful and don’t get too cute. Feel free to bluff, but do it in moderation.

Mistake 3 – Playing Position Wrong – You want to play as many hands as possible from a late position, and these are hands that you’ll want to play aggressively. Going later allows you to see what your opponents are doing. If you’re in the early position, you want to play fewer hands.

Mistake 4 – Getting Too Emotional – When players get too emotional, they are bound to make mistakes. At all times, try and remain detached from the game. Stay calm. Bet with your brains, not with your heart.

Mistake 5 – Focusing Too Much on the Cards – Play the player, not the cards. Learn the tendencies of your opponents and try to make sure that few hands ever make it to the final card. Instead, you want to use the knowledge of your opponent to force them to fold long before then.

Mistake 6 – Thinking You’re the Best – Despite what you think, you are not the best player out there. In any given game, anyone has a chance to beat anyone else. There’s only so much you can do about this. What you can do is realize that you’re going to lose a lot of the time. Practice, however, will ensure that you lose far less than those around you.

Mistake 7 – Not Asking for Help – Whether you learn by watching others or asking for advice, you must get help from time to time to improve. And, of course, there’s simply no substitute for actual game experience.

Mistake 8 – Playing the Wrong Stakes – The difference between a $5 and $10 game can be huge. It’s always important to play in a game with stakes which you can afford. The higher the stakes, the higher the level of competition. Start small and slowly move up as your skills and bankroll improve.

Mistake 9 – Being Predictable – Be aware of your betting patterns. Mix things up. Remember, while you’re studying your opponents, they are studying you.

Mistake 10 – Not Knowing When to Quit – Knowing when to quit, either after a big win or big loss, is absolutely vital to poker success. Being hardheaded will only get you deeper in the hole or ensure that your winning streak comes to an eventual halt. Get out while you’re ahead (or at least while you’re not too far behind).

About the Author

The Best Place to Talk About Gambling

The points gap between the top two drivers heading into Homestead-Miami Speedway (the last appearance in the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup season) next week is the largest of any Chase since the new format has been adopted. It would seemingly appear that this year’s Chase is Jimmie Johnson’s to lose. Jimmie possesses a 63 point lead over 2nd place driver, Matt Kenseth.

However, if you rewind to the previous two seasons, the Chase was Johnson’s to win heading into Homestead. And win, Johnson did not; the Nextel Cup Trophy to date does not bear Johnson’s name. All Johnson needs is a 12th place finish or higher in the Ford 400, and that could all change.

Next week at Homestead, expect the points gap between first and fifth place to close. The top 2 drivers in the Chase, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth, have had the least success at the 1 1/2 mile speedway.

The top 5 drivers in the Chase average the following at Homestead:

Kevin Harvick – Average Finish 9th Jeff Gordon – Average Finish 10th Jimmie Johnson – Average Finish 16th Dale Earnhardt Jr – Average Finish 20th Matt Kenseth – Average Finish 26th

Next Week’s Schedule:

Nextel Cup: @ Homestead-Miami Speedway 11/19/06 – 02:30pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Ford 400

Busch Series: @ Homestead-Miami Speedway 11/18/06 – 07:00pm NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Ford 300

Craftsman Truck Series: @ Homestead-Miami Speedway 11/17/06 – 08:00pm NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Ford 200

Kevin Harvick Sweeps Phoenix!

Nobody in the field of 43 cars had anything for Kevin Harvick in yesterday’s Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. The #29 car powered around the track in lead for over 252 of the 312 scheduled laps. The win was the fourth Nextel Cup victory of the year for Kevin Harvick, and his second at Phoenix International Raceway.

By winning yesterday, Harvick left the door open on his chances to win the Nextel Cup Championship. He currently sits 90 points out from championship leader Jimmie Johnson. The reality of it is, Harvick will have to race like he did yesterday, and Johnson will have to suffer some kind of setback for Harvick to clinch the title.

Nonetheless, the 2006 season has marked a resurgence in Kevin Harvick’s career. After inheriting the ride of the late Dale Earnhardt in 2001, Harvick experienced much success. However, the succes was short lived as he failed to finish in the top ten in driver’s points since. This year, Harvick has made the most of his talent and his team by winning the Busch Series Champsionship, and being a legitimate contender for the Nextel Cup Championship. Could Harvick be the first to win both the Busch Series and Nextel Cup Series in the same year? We’ll see next week at the Ford 400.

Jimmie Johnson Widens His Lead at Phoenix

Jimmie Johnson has been nothing short of dominant over the last five races of the Chase. His average finish over that time has been 1.8. That’s incredible considering the odds Johnson has had to overcome through the final 10 races of the Chase.

As you remember, the Chase started out with Johnson in the lead. However, he quickly relinquished that lead at New Hampshire in the Sylvania 300 where he finished in 39th position. With a 13th place finish at Dover, a 14th place finish at Kansas, and a 24th place finish at Talladega, it seemed unlikely that Johnson would climb out of the large crater he dug for himself in the first 4 races of the Chase.

However, looking like a sherpa on Mt Everest, Johnson scaled his way back up the points standings by rattling off five consecutive top 2 finishes. Those top 2 finishes were anything but easy. Take yesterday’s Checker Auto Parts 500 for example. Johnson started in 29th position and spent the first half of the race picking his way towards the front.

In these last 5 races, Johnson has shown us that he has the desire and courage, qualities that seemingly eluded him in the previous two Nextel Cup Champsionships, to compete for this year’s Nextel Cup Championship.

Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway Recap

Kevin Harvick spent most of his afternoon at Phoenix staring at the rest of the field of drivers through his rear-view mirror. Kevin was simply that good yesterday, plus the glare wasn’t quite as bad looking out the back window.

While Harvick stole the show at Phoenix, the remainging championship contenders also faired well with all but Kyle Busch finishing in the top 13.

The other championship drivers faired as follows:

1. (leader) Jimmie Johnson left nothing on the table yesterday. The championship leader battle from 29th all the way to the front. He gave up the lead on a misfortunate pitstop, but didn’t shy away from challenging Harvick for the win in the final 3 laps. He finished 2nd.

2. (- 63 points) Matt Kenseth fought adversity for most of the day. His car handled poorly all race, but he battled to finish in 13th place. Kenseth is saying that his doesn’t have what it takes to compete with Johnson next week, but I would not count the former champion out!

3. (-90 points) Kevin Harvick did exactly what he needed to do to keep his championship hopes alive, and that was win. Kevin did that in impressive fashion by leading 252 of the 312 laps.

4. (-90 points) Denny Hamlin is still in the picture for the championship after finishing 3rd at Phoenix. The rookie is showing alot of poise, and looks like he will be a contender for years to come.

5. (-115 points) Dale Earnhardt Jr’s chamionship are alive, but barely. After finishing 9th at Phoenix, Jr will need help from Johnson if he expects to win his first championship.

6. (-167 points) Jeff Gordon is mathematically eliminated from the Chase despite finishing 4th at Phoenix. However, don’t expect the 4 time champion to roll-over next week at Homestead.

7. (-225 points) Jeff Burton tried to correct his championship drive that has somehow fallen off course over the last 4 races with a 10th place finish at Phoenix. However, it’s too late, and the damage is done. Burton is cannot make up 225 in one race.

8. (-273 points) The wiley veteran, Mark Martin, took a gamble on a late pit-stop that helped him pickup a 6th place finish. Otherwise, the fan favorite would have ended up around 15th place.

9. (-319 points) Kasey Kahne made the most of Phoenix by finishing in 9th. The finish moved him in front of Kyle Busch for 9th place and a seat closer to the head of the table at the NASCAR Awards Banquet.

10. (-359 points) Kyle Busch was on the wrong end of a Tony Stewart screw up. Late in the race on a restart, Stewart spun out Jamie McMurray which sent him spiralling out of control and colliding with Kyle Busch. Kyle finished in 38th.

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