"I want to blow people out and take December off." Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi made that statement - an answer, really - at the 2006 Festa al Lago tournament. He was responding to the question, "Would you rather have a close finish to the Card Player Player of the ...
An Aussie Millionaire: Erick Lindgren Wins $100,000 Event By Alex Henriquez Erick Lindgren did his best Men "The Master" Nguyen imitation and ordered 31 beers with three players left in the $100,000 buy-in pot-limit/no-limit hold'em ...continued
My interview with Dewey Tomko has been scheduled and rescheduled three times over the course of a Wednesday morning. He's in Las Vegas, officially, to play in the Five-Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio (and he quickly manages to win $15,000 ...continued
Whether playing cards were the work of yawning courtesans, frostbitten prognosticators, or the Devil himself, wood-block printing of standardized decks gradually made them affordable to the common folk of nearly every country and religious persuasion. ...continued
A busy January, full of a number of huge tournaments, is winding down as we go to press. And there's tons of exciting news to report, as some big names have tallied big results. The Aussie Millions just wrapped up, and Full Tilt, a title sponsor ...continued
Having just watched myself on television (Wednesday, Jan. 3), I'm compelled to say that I'm embarrassed by my "Poker Brat" conduct. In the first-ever Poker After Dark television show - aired on NBC six days a week, all year long, at ...continued
Going into day two, I was satisfied with my chip count. I had set a target goal of $80,000 and came up just short at $71,850. On day two, I set another modest goal, hoping to end the day with $200,000. The Bellagio tournament structure and setup is ...continued
Chau Giang has probably been the biggest winner in the Big Game over the past 10 years or so. He lives in a mansion next door to my father with his wife of 12 years and his three small children. You might say Chau leads a charmed life, but it ...continued
It was nearing the end of tournament time at Bellagio in Las Vegas. The Five-Diamond World Poker Classic was winding down toward the main event. As is the case with most tournaments, the action early is fast and furious when the money first hits town. ...continued
As anyone who followed this year's World Series of Poker knows, the rotation game of H.O.R.S.E. has become immensely popular. The largest buy-in tournament of the Series was the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, won by poker luminary Chip Reese. It should ...continued
Have you ever wondered what exactly someone could possibly be thinking about when it's taking him seemingly forever to make a decision during a hand? As much as some of us pros would like you to believe we're simply "looking into your ...continued
A philosopher named George Santayana once said, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." If this were a political column, I'd launch into a discussion of the fact that George Bush was so busy avoiding personal ...continued
Over the course of a tournament, you will run into bets that may confuse you. Whether they are from an unexpected player or an unexpected position, or for an unexpected amount, something just doesn't seem right. The standard preflop raises of ...continued
Part I stated that when making the transition from limit to no-limit hold'em (NLH), "The critical task is changing your mindset, the way you think about poker." It recommended several steps: Don't expect too much, play only no-lmit ...continued
This column concludes my look at betting the turn from out of position. This area of the game is one of the most difficult, and I took a systematic approach to deciding whether to bet or check if you were first to act on the turn. In Part I through ...continued
The term "Doubting Thomas," a person who does not believe something until shown unquestionable evidence, comes from the biblical story of St. Thomas, the apostle. According to the gospel of John, Jesus returned after his crucifixion and ...continued
The life of a tournament poker player can be very, very exciting. We get to travel all over the world, eat at some of the finest restaurants, experience the best entertainment, and enjoy it all the while. I spent my first full year on the tournament ...continued
In December of 2006, I experienced adventures in Florida that I wrote about in a previous column. After departing beautiful Fort Lauderdale, I headed to the Crystal Palace Resort, where I was scheduled to play in the WPT Boot Camp tournament. It was ...continued
Back in 2005, I wrote about the often debated "F-Bomb" rule. As I stated then, and still believe, a rule to help clean up the language in poker tournaments is good. In that column, I said: "Many high-profile players have questioned the ...continued
In my last column, I related details of my trip to the Philippines to participate in the Pan Asia Poker Tour. The poker tournament was great, but now it was time for two days of sightseeing before we returned to the United States. Being the ultimate ...continued
"The debt is uncollectible. It's a gambling debt." - From Raymond Chandler's "Trouble Is My Business" It was a quiet evening, the table had just broken, and most of the players had gone in search of new games. As the dealer ...continued