Zynga Poker for Stamina Refills

If your not playing Zynga Texas HoldEm, you should look into it.  You can get a Stamina Refill or 5 Reward Points just for winning 3 hands.  It doesn't take long to do and if you have a large stamina pool, it's well worth the time investment.  If your not sure how to play, review my article titled Zynga Texas HoldEm Basics.  I haven't played in a while and was a little frustrated when I won my third poker hand and nothing happened.  I tried again and got the same results.  I decided to bug Bossy Don of Top Mafia.Info because she knows everything and I got my answer. You must enter the game through Mafia Wars to get the bonus.  Using a bookmark to get there won't work.  This is a pain because you need to wait to see the Poker Icon on the top of your game or look for a message on your home page.  I managed to find one of these after traveling to different cities to refresh the icons and messages.

When click on the icon or "Play Poker Now!", you will get the following message

Click on "Play Poker" and you will be directed to the game.  If you don't go to the game via this route then you will not get a bonus.  When you arrive, you will get this message and you need to click on "Play Poker Now!" again.

As soon as you win your third hand, the Mafia Wars guy will come back and ask you if you want to claim your prize now or later.  I suggest you claim it now.  Many report not getting it if they wait. 

When you click on "Claim Prize" you will be directed back to Mafia Wars and will get the following message.

I double checked and my Stamina was now full.  Not bad for something that didn't take much time at all.

Another benefit to playing Zynga Poker is that there are two Achievement Badges for it.  I noticed that Zynga added the links to get to there to these.  When I clicked on them, I was directed back to my Mafia Wars home page.  This may be because I already have them.  In addition to getting the achievements, you also get a loot item.  These were a big deal at the time they were introduced but since then Fighting High End Loot and Super Loot have been introduced and the stats don't seem as impressive.  For more details, visit the Mafia Wars Wiki Zynga Poker Page

(images from the Mafia Wars Wiki)