• Greg Plueger and Rick Nebiolo - The Bicycle Casino's New High-Limit Hosts

  New yet familiar faces are bringing life into the Plaza and Royal sections of The Bicycle Casino. In the Plaza, a tall, professional-looking man greets customers with zest and a huge smile. Make no mistake, Greg Plueger, The Bicycle Casino's …continued

• Folding at the River

  by Jim Brier

  There are many famous sayings regarding poker, such as, "Never draw to an inside straight," and so forth. One of my all-time favorites, which may not be so famous, was stated by a prominent Internet poster, and I strongly agree with it. He …continued

• Bad-Beat School

  by Vince Burgio

  There are some players who cannot talk to you for more than a minute or two before they tell you a bad-beat story. They are nice people, but they almost have a compulsion to make you listen to a bunch of "he had this and I had that" and …continued

• The 'Doomsday Bet'

  by Michael Cappelletti

  While playing in the middle stages of a pot-limit Omaha high-low tournament, I was in the small blind and picked up a 2-4-6-8 ("who do we appreciate"), the 2 4 6 8. With six players calling, it was clear to call the extra $25 (half a bet). …continued

• More TDA Rules

  by Bob Ciaffone

  I happily read in Linda Johnson's Sept. 27 Card Player column that the Tournament Directors Association is gaining strength, and has come out with 23 new rules in the interest of standardization. As a person with a deep passion for good poker …continued

• The Railbird Hustle

  by Roy Cooke

  "Neither a borrower nor a lender be; for loan oft loses both itself and friend … " - The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act I, Scene 3 In William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, a father (Polonius) gives the above advice about …continued

• A Star is Born

  by Diego Cordovez

  "Where legends are born and heroes are made" is the World Series of Poker's motto, and this year proved no exception as several new stars took center stage: Robert Varkonyi, an unknown who claimed the world championship, and Phil Ivey, a …continued

• Viejas Casino - A Great Place to Play Cards in San Diego

  by Cover Story

  Off Interstate 8 East at Willows Road in Alpine, just a few miles outside of San Diego, you'll find the area's first and biggest casino, Viejas Casino. It's easy to reach, and a great place to play cards. Along with all the slots and table …continued

• Book Review: Telling Lies and Getting Paid

  by Greg Dinkin

  "With this magnificent work, Konik cements his role as dean of the world's gambling writers," writes Andy Glazer on the back jacket of Telling Lies and Getting Paid, Michael Konik's second book of gambling stories. It sounded pretty …continued

• The Road Warrior Thunders Back at Mad Max's Dome

  by Andrew N.S. Glazer

  Ever since my dear friend (and no matter what you read from here on out, that characterization is accurate) Max Shapiro dissembled a bit (a polite phrase for "lied his ass off") in his official report for The Bicycle Casino's Legends of …continued

• 'Boys, Let's Play Some Poker!'

  by Phil Hellmuth

  At the $5,000 buy-in Hall of Fame championship event recently, my starting table had Erik Seidel, Howard Lederer, Daniel Negreanu, and Chris Bjorin. Of course, the whole tournament field was tough with only 54 players, most of whom are top-notch …continued

• Hit and Run

  by Jeff Shulman

  A hit and run in poker occurs when you make a quick score and decide to leave before you give some of the money back. When I first moved to Las Vegas, I used to be what Daniel Negreanu refers to as a "Hit and Run Specialist." After playing …continued

• Let's Go to the Videotape

  by Warren Karp

  When I was in my 20s and living in New York, I could not get enough sports on television. This was very early in the life of cable television and ESPN. Many places didn't have cable available, and SportsCenter in those days was a microcosm of what …continued

• Point-Counterpoint

  by Linda Johnson

  Mark Gregorich and I often play in the same game. Although we generally agree on most issues, we disagree on how the must-move policy should work. I asked Mark to write his thoughts on this topic for a point-counterpoint column with me. Mark …continued

• Playing Those Pesky Suited Connectors in Tournaments

  by Tom McEvoy

  This column is an excerpt from the new book that T. J. Cloutier and I are currently completing, titled Championship Tournament Hands. One of the hands that we discuss is 8 7. A lot has been written about playing medium suited connectors in cash games, …continued

• Does Youth Equal Luck?

  by Daniel Negreanu

  "The harder you work, the luckier you get." - McAlexander It amazes me how often I hear things like, "I used to hold lots of hands when I was young," or, "I used to hit every flush draw when I was young." I've heard …continued

• Taking Stock

  by Adam Schoenfeld

  OK, it's now mid-October, and time to get ready for the year-end push to glory. Foxwoods and other major tournaments loom on the horizon. I've been slumping since June, when I tore up the Costa Rica tournament. If I want to end the year …continued

• The Waiter From Hell

  by Max Shapiro

  It took me a lot longer than usual to drive out to Big Denny's Card Casino because the city of Barstow, in a major revitalization project, had closed off most of their surface streets while they upgraded all the cow crossings (your tax dollars at …continued

• Bye Weeks in the NFL: Be Careful!

  by Chuck Sippl

  For the past several years, the NFL has scheduled at least one off-week per team each season. Among other things, the long July-through-December schedule of training camp and the regular season takes an enormous physical toll on the players in such a …continued

• What to Look for in Starting Hands Pot-Limit Omaha - Part I

  by Rolf Slotboom

  Lots of hold'em players who are new to Omaha have trouble adjusting to the game. This is partly because playing Omaha requires a different mindset than playing hold'em (because Omaha is a drawing game, and therefore, there isn't …continued

• Stake-horsing: Why it has a Bad Name

  by Grant Strauss

  I'll start this column with a rather direct and concise statement: The practice of stake-horsing has a bad name. It does, and I don't make any attempts here to say otherwise. The question at hand is whether or not its bad name is entirely …continued

• Don't Get Married to Aces

  by Roy West

  Hi. Come on in. I picked up a large bucket of buffalo wings. Bib up and dip in. I see it several times a week. It's not really unusual. I call it "The-Aces-are-Coated-With-Glue Syndrome." Anyone who has played seven-card stud for more …continued

• Square Deal

  by Michael Wiesenberg

  Many terms that started out being associated with poker have passed into general usage. Often, those who use the terms are not even aware of these derivations. Such terms include pass the buck, ace in the hole, ace up one's sleeve, and square …continued

• 'Treetop' and the Ponies

  by Byron 'Cowboy' Wolford

  Jack "Treetop" Straus stood about 6 feet 7 inches tall and he loved to gamble. I played poker with him for 40 years in Fort Worth, San Antone, and Dallas, and in Las Vegas at quite a few World Series of Poker tournaments. He was one of the …continued

• Play a Tournament With A.J.

  by Rick Young

  A.J. Brock is a poker dealer at Bellagio in Las Vegas. He has been dealing poker there since Bellagio opened in October 1998. Recently, he finished second out of a 50-player field at the weekly no-limit hold'em tournament at Bellagio. This $540 …continued

Archive