• Controversial Hands - Part II

  by Bob Ciaffone

  In my last column, I explained that my co-author Jim Brier and I are doing a reprint of our book, Middle Limit Holdem Poker, and thus have the opportunity to change some of our answers to the many poker problems in it, if we wish. The problems in last …continued

• Edge: Know it When You See It

  by Roy Cooke

  It's the edge; net edge; edge after all adjustments; edge that has an impact on future hands. When you get right down to it, you can't quantify edge, because the number of variables, in all their situation-specific permutations, is so huge …continued

• Bellagio Reaches for the Stars and Hosts World Poker Tour Championship

  by Cover Story

  Soon, thousands of poker faces will reach for the stars at Bellagio's Five-Star World Poker Classic, April 2-18. This time, however, players will take home more than cash. At stake, in addition to the more than $3 million in total prize money, is …continued

• Books, Books, Books

  by Greg Dinkin

  Over the past two years, it seems like I have read every book on poker that's ever been written. If I had to choose a favorite, it would be Anthony Holden's Big Deal. A British author, Holden spends a year traveling around the world as a …continued

• Loss of Confidence and Ways to Reclaim It

  by Jan Fisher

  Recently, I received a letter from a middle-limit hold'em player, in which he asked how to regain his confidence once he had lost it. He wrote, "I can't stand it. I am running so badly that it is making me crazy, and I have lost all …continued

• What Were They Thinking?

  by Andrew N.S. Glazer

  I've just returned home from another of those "almost could have been but wasn't" tournaments, the $540 buy-in no-limit hold'em event at Commerce Casino's L.A. Poker Classic, and my eyes grew so wide a few times, I thought I …continued

• Where is the 'Big Game'?

  by Phil Hellmuth

  The following game exists, just as I describe it below, in the Bay Area. I was dealt the 9u 6u and 2-2-2, and the wild card turned up was a deuce! I now had one of the best-possible hands that could be dealt! I could play the 9u 6u, and then use my …continued

• Gus Wins Again!

  by Jeff Shulman

  Prior to the $10,000 no-limit hold'em championship at Commerce Casino's L.A. Poker Classic, I predicted that Gus Hanson would win. OK, I didn't. However, I was talking to Steve Lipscomb (the World Poker Tour's head honcho) about what …continued

• Decisions Down Under

  by Warren Karp

  I was reading the rec.gambling.poker newsgroup recently and ran across the following post, which I thought was very thought-provoking. Dan Goldman, who is the VP of marketing for PokerStars.com, experienced it and wrote about it. There is a lot to be …continued

• Betting Patterns

  by Lou Krieger

  Are there identifiable betting patterns you can spot in a poker game, and can you use this knowledge to gain an edge on the opposition as well as to improve your own game? There hasn't been all that much written about betting patterns, but …continued

• Paul Darden: A Man With Gamble

  by Linda Johnson

  I knew Paul Darden had a lot of gamble to him when I first met him. He had just learned how to play Chinese poker, and within a few hours, he had kicked up the stakes from $10 a point to $200 a point. I caught up with Paul and his fiancée, …continued

• All it Takes is One Mistake

  by Tom McEvoy

  Tournaments are easy to enter but hard to win. All it takes to play is a buy-in, and all it takes to lose is one mistake. Here's a hand that I played several years ago at the Peppermill tournament in Reno in which three of us were involved - and …continued

• My Biggest Pet Peeve: The Dry Side Pot Bluff - Part II

  by Daniel Negreanu

  Many of my friends are often bothered by my sharing certain tournament "secrets." Well, they are going to have to suffer through this one, because the dry side pot bluff is driving me crazy! If you want to succeed in tournament poker, there …continued

• PokerStars and Crown Casino Team Up for Australasian Poker Championship

  By Dan Goldman It was a combination made in heaven for poker players. First, imagine a picturesque locale far south of the equator, where summer begins on Dec. 22. Then, picture a casino with 24-hour gaming action, a five-star hotel, 50 (that's …continued

• Listen to the Voice

  by Adam Schoenfeld

  Midway through a hellish tournament at the Jack Binion World Poker Open in Tunica, I decided to get the hell out of Dodge. The urge came strongly and suddenly. I had lost about a fourth of my nominal $50,000 bankroll in the first two weeks of the …continued

• Behind the Scenes of the World Poker Tour

  by Mike Sexton

  The World Poker Tour will make its prime time television debut in just a few weeks. The WPT will air on the Travel Channel. It will premiere on Sunday, March 30, and can be seen every Wednesday thereafter beginning April 2 (check your local listings …continued

• The Etiquette of Poker

  Poker is a unique enterprise, which gives rise to special questions of etiquette, none of which have ever been adequately addressed by Emily Post. To rectify this situation, I will now describe some perplexing situations that all of us face from time …continued

• Recognizing a Good Coach for the Postseason

  by Chuck Sippl

  With postseason play now under way in the colleges, there are likely to be many teams that are guided by coaches with whom you are not completely familiar. The majority of games on TV during the regular season feature teams in the top 50 in the …continued

• Playing the Player

  by Rolf Slotboom

  Most poker literature is aimed at limit play, and how to play a specific hand in a specific situation. In pot-limit, it is not so much the hand you play that is important - it is much more how you play the hand from the flop onward (note the …continued

• Is it a Value Bet or a Bluff? Why, It's Both

  by Grant Strauss

  In the classic definition of a "value bet," it is generally considered to take place on the river when one has a hand that he thinks is slightly better than his opponent's hand. Value betting is a topic that does not seem to get a whole …continued

• Starting-Hand Probabilities Again - This Time, for Hold'em

  by Roy West

  Hi. Come on in. I've heated up some chili, hot dogs, buns, and cheese. Help yourself. "Where are my big pairs? And I haven't seen A-K since forever. Shouldn't I be getting better cards, according to probability? Or, has probability …continued

• Murphy Plays an Entry Blind in Lowball

  by Michael Wiesenberg

  Murphy usually plays hold'em, $6-$12 and higher. Sometimes while waiting for a hold'em seat, he plays lowball. He plays better than average - much better, actually, given how poorly the average lowball enthusiast plays - and he's getting …continued

• The Biggest Bluff I've Ever Made

  by Byron 'Cowboy' Wolford

  I've already told you the story about the big bluff I put on Jesse Alto at the World Series of Poker in '84. Now, I'm gonna tell you about the biggest bluff I ever pulled off - and a lot more was at stake than a poker game. In around 1976, …continued

• I'll Show You Mine, If You Show Me Yours

  by Steve Zolotow

  For some reason, which I don't really understand, the issue of showing cards at the end of a hand creates a great deal of controversy. First, I think the basic rule that is both the most simple and most sensible is: 1. If there has been action on …continued

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