Andy Glazer

Andy Glazer, poker's premier writer, passed away on July 4, 2004. This news shocked the industry in which he spent his last several years writing about. Even though Andy wrote about strategy, his main passion was covering big poker tournaments.

A few years ago, I was having a discussion with another great poker author, Lee Munzer. Lee and I were talking about Andy, and he gave me the inside scoop on why Andy was the best. He first stated that Andy was funny. Lots of people attempt to cover final tables at poker events, but Andy's tournament reports were interesting from start to finish even though the subject matter really wasn't too thrilling to read about. Many times, one would catch himself laughing out loud when reading his material. We at Card Player loved his tournament reports so much that we ran them sometimes up to a year after an event was held.

Munzer also stated how accurate his reports were, especially considering that they were up on the Internet by the next morning. This was amazing, considering that some events ended in the wee hours of the morning, and he typically wrote at least 4,500 words on each. His writing was thorough and detailed. He never left anything out. Those who had any e-mail correspondence with Andy certainly knew this, because any e-mail from Andy was at least three pages when printed.

When I think of Andy, I think about his integrity. Before the poker industry boomed, it was common for poker writers to be comped free nights at casino hotels. Andy always wanted to pay for his own room, because he didn't want anything to interfere with his journalistic integrity.

Most importantly in my reminiscing about Andy Glazer was how good he made poker players look. Andy was friends with almost every high-profile poker player. We all loved Andy for making us more interesting than we really are in his writing, but we enjoyed Andy the most for who he was. He was bright, witty, and blessed with knowledge of pop culture and history that enabled readers to enjoy his stories even more.

Andy, you took your professional writing skills and shared them with us for several years. On behalf of your readers, players, and everyone else in the industry, we will miss you, your humor, and everything you stood for.

Be sure to read Nolan Dalla's tribute to Andy Glazer and Max Shapiro's humorous column that was written with Andy shortly before his passing.