Ensnarled in crippling New York City traffic, I decided to use the opportunity to question Victor Ramdin about what I had gotten myself into. Ramdin had invited me, a reporter, to help with his annual medical outreach program, Guyana Watch. I was not invited because I was a journalist, but ...
Poker Players Alliance Changing Both Leader and Location John Pappas is New Executive Director By Bob Pajich As it approaches its third year of existence, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) has recently undergone changes in leadership and location in ...continued
Took hold of my sweetheart and away we did drive, Straight for the hills, the black hills of Dakota, Sure was glad to get out of there alive. - Bob Dylan, "Day of the Locusts" While the overwhelming majority of 19th-century players were men, ...continued
After an August lull, the tournament circuit was back in full swing in late August with the World Poker Tour Legends of Poker tournament. The event attracted 485 players and awarded a healthy $1.6 million to the victor. In the end, Legends ended in an ...continued
Lately, ESPN has been airing a show in which I went for bracelet No. 12 at a final table at the World Series of Poker. While watching the very entertaining show, a few things came to mind. First, I should have folded the hand with which I went broke. ...continued
I was recently in Los Angeles for a couple of days prior to a marathon trip that will see me travel to Manila, Philippines, Barcelona, Spain, London, England, for two events, and then back to Las Vegas. My purpose for being in L.A. was to shoot some ...continued
Sam Grizzle was born in Greer, South Carolina (not North Carolina, as I stated in Part I of this column), around 1906. (He wouldn't tell me the exact date, so I'm just estimating the actual year.) Sam had two twin brothers whom he ate at ...continued
With the slowdown of Internet poker, brick-and-mortar poker rooms are enjoying something of a boom; so, too, are home games, of the sort described in great detail in my newest book with John Bond, The Home Poker Handbook. I was on vacation in Florida, ...continued
Poker fiction and poker movies contain a lot of unusual hands. Even most of the real poker shown on TV consists of a few very exciting hands. The ordinary hands are edited out. (Poker After Dark is the one of the few exceptions. There, almost every ...continued
"MUB" stands for "Monsters Under the Bed," and relates to the childhood fear that when alone in the dark, somehow there may be monsters hiding under the bed. In poker, it refers to players who constantly give their opponents credit ...continued
Great heads-up matches aren't scheduled on the tournament circuit; the perfect storm has to develop for them to happen. That is exactly what happened during the 2007 World Poker Tour Legends of Poker championship. It was an event that featured ...continued
My friend and student, Dr. Paul Fischman of Sarasota, Florida, recently won more than $13,000 in a $120 buy-in no-limit hold'em event at the Orleans Open. There were 174 entrants and 289 rebuys, for a prize pool of $44,450. In 2005, Paul finished ...continued
For years, people in my home country of the Netherlands have been talking about the big issue: Who would be the first-ever Dutchman to capture a bracelet? After all, despite having at least three world-class tournament players (Steve Wong, Marcel ...continued
Tournament poker is a funny business. Last year I had an incredible year on the circuit, and this year has treated me very badly, as I've made very few final tables and had zero cashes for six figures. Conversely, some other players have emerged ...continued
"Your success at poker depends not on how well you play, but on how well you play in relation to your opponents. … This presents a significant problem … almost all players put themselves closer to the front of the pack than they ...continued
Hi, Everyone: I'm pleased to be returning to Card Player after taking four months off from writing. I've decided to have my new column focus on women in poker. In future columns, I will be writing interviews with women who have won poker ...continued
I have some comments to make about poker tournaments in general and the world championship in particular. I like retaining the traditional $10,000 buy-in amount for the World Series of Poker main event. I do not see why this wonderful event should aim ...continued
With the explosion of interest in poker, many players are coming into brick-and-mortar (B&M) cardrooms for the first time. They know how to play - and often very well - on the Internet, but they don't know the rules and conventions of live ...continued