Poker Stories

I have had a few chuckles at the poker tables recently and thought I would share some of them with you.

This story was reported to me as being true. At the $200,000 WPT Invitational at Commerce Casino recently, there was a party prior to the tournament starting. All players were required to check in outside of the party area. Phil Ivey proceeded to the check-in area and was asked, "Are you a celebrity guest or a poker player?" He replied, "I am a celebrity." Then, he was asked, "What is your name?" His reply: "Tiger Woods." Everyone got a good laugh out of that one.

At the same party, the following exchange took place between Mickey Rooney and "Amarillo Slim" Preston. Slim went up to Mickey Rooney, who was seated at a table, extended his hand, and said, "Hi, Mickey. Nice to see you. My name is Amarillo Slim."

Rooney shook his hand and said, "Nice to meet you. Are you a poker player?"

My starting table in the Invitational was made up of many great players. The only one who actually had a job was the celebrity Norm McDonald of Saturday Night Live fame. Norm told us that he was not an experienced player. In fact, after receiving his cards, he looked up and said, "Does anyone have any sixes? I guess I'd better go fish."

I was relieved when this table was broken up and we were sent to our new tables. Mickey Rooney and Connie Stevens were the celebrities at my table. I was very impressed to learn that Connie had taken the time to learn the names of all of the players at the table. She was very low on chips when I got there, and was soon down to $50. She decided she had had enough, and tried to give the chips to the player on her left. After learning that she could not do this, she went all in, won the pot, and actually built her chips back up to more than $1,000 before going broke. I went out shortly after Connie, but must say that this tournament was one of the most exciting I have ever played in.

I have been at the Reno Hilton for two weeks for its World Poker Challenge. I always enjoy playing poker in this nonsmoking venue. The locals are very friendly and the players observe the no-abuse policy. The Hilton offers players a great room rate and even sets up a temporary food stand (called the Four Aces), where patrons can buy soup, salads, and sandwiches at reduced prices. I highly recommend the sushi at Asiana, and the strawberry shortcake at Lindy's. The Imperial Circus was playing in the Hilton's showroom, and was an incredible display of nonstop entertainment and amazing acrobatic feats.

I played in lots of one-table satellites and heard several amusing comments. During one of the satellites, a player who had left his money to play in it was being blinded off. He arrived 30 minutes late and said, "Wow, this is the longest I have lasted yet."

The best quote of the year so far goes to Chuck Thompson, who was playing in one of the satellites with me. He looked around and said, "I don't want to complain about running bad in satellites, but you can see that there are four satellites currently in progress - and I played in all four of them."

Thanks for the laughs.

Change of subject: The schedule of seminars and speakers for the third annual World Poker Players Conference has been finalized. Regardless of your skill level, you should plan to attend this event, as it will increase your poker knowledge, and thus your poker bankroll. Mike Caro will be the emcee for this special day of education.

Now, let's play poker!

Editor's note: Linda is currently working on the Card Player Cruises trip to Alaska, and invites anyone who is interested in taking this incredible cruise to contact her at [email protected].