I first met Paul Phillips a few years ago in Atlantic City. We immediately became friends after we told each other how poorly we played poker. Paul always cracked jokes, and I always told him he wasn't funny. He eventually moved to Los Angeles to play beach volleyball and pursue a film …
...continuedPoker on TV - There is so much poker on television lately that it is hard to keep track of it all. Therefore, in order to help all die-hards to do so, CardPlayer.com has added another new feature. Now you can go to CardPlayer.com to find out what …continued
I caught up with my buddy Robert Williamson III at The Bicycle Casino during the recent World Poker Tour championship event. Robert and his three sisters were born and raised in Houston, Texas. He got a B.B.A. degree in finance from Angelo State …continued
Most poker players play by set standards. They utilize a strategy that enables them to play on autopilot without putting much thought into their hand-selection decisions. As a general rule, the majority of the plays made pursuant to the prevailing …continued
My younger brother Alan is well-known as the author of several academic books, but far more important than his literary achievements is the fact that he is a recreational poker player who takes his online poker performance seriously. True student that …continued
In tournament poker, as you near the money or approach a difference in the prize money payout, a procedure known as dealing "hand-for-hand" is utilized to ensure as much fairness as possible when more than one table is still in play. It …continued
I have a lot of respect for the way Amir Vahedi plays poker. In fact, for a while, I was taking a piece of his tournament play, and I ended up winning money while I backed him. Unfortunately for me, I stopped backing Amir immediately before he won a …continued
As promised in my last column, I'd like to go into detail about a key hand I played against Mike Laing on day two of the championship event at the Four Queens Classic. I started the day near the bottom of the pack, 33rd out of a remaining 42 …continued
Opportunities for learning more about poker via watching "holecard exposed" TV have been appearing in Europe ever since the British Late Night Poker show and the Poker Million, and much more recently in the United States via the World Poker …continued
Author's note: Table Talk is intended to be an in-depth discussion of the most important issues in poker. My column will feature a wide range of perspectives designed to encourage debate and decisions on current topics within the poker industry. …continued
Editor's note: Meet Brian Balsbaugh, who recently was recruited to lead World Poker Tour Management (WPTM). Brian is a 14-year veteran of player management and sponsorship sales in the golf industry. He earned his undergraduate degree in marketing …continued
One of the joys of spending the holidays with my brother Andy in Charlotte, North Carolina, is that we can still play golf in December. When we arrived at the driving range, Andy and I bought a bucket of balls and were on our way. Neither of us is …continued
We all love seeing pocket aces, kings, queens, and jacks. They are premium hands, but for every A-A, K-K, Q-Q, or J-J, we also get 5-5, 4-4, 3-3, and 2-2. These holdings may make us uneasy. They seem too good to throw away, but not nearly good enough …continued
As my rental car rounded a curve on rural Connecticut Route 2, a great fairy-tale castle loomed majestically over the distant horizon of trees. I was on a tight schedule, managing to sandwich only one day of tournament poker here at Foxwoods between …continued
Lights! Cameras! Poker action! While the rest of the world is finally figuring out why poker remains one of the most enduring and exciting gaming mainstays, those who already eat, sleep, and play poker regard this time of year with a particular …continued
A few months ago we wrote about successful poker players who have "leaks," and tried to provide insight into how some astonishingly skilled players can make substantial scores in tournaments and cash games, and just flat-out throw that …continued
Men and women differ in a lot more than physical appearance. Their brains are slightly different. And, of course, there are enormous cultural differences. In this column, I would like to write a little bit about how approach and performance in poker …continued
As readers of this column might now, I am known as a very tight player. In fact, I play a bit tighter than even most experts suggest, and usually need a very good hand and a potentially profitable situation to enter a pot. Having said that, I …continued
What an ending we witnessed in 2003! Going into the last qualifying event of the year - Bellagio's Five-Diamond Poker Classic $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em championship (a World Poker Tour event) - a total of 13 players could have won the …continued
When beginning players ask me what game they should learn, I usually suggest seven-card stud eight-or-better (stud/8). Does that surprise you? I've always found stud/8 to be a great combination of profitability and fun. One of the first secrets I …continued
"Oh, wad some power the giftie gie us To see ourselves as others see us! These famous lines were penned by the great Scottish poet Robert Burns. Bobby would have gotten a lot of material at the poker table, because it's the rare player who …continued
Hi. Come on in. I have a couple of pounds of those little smoked link sausages, done in a sharp barbecue sauce. Spear them with these toothpicks and munch away while we explore the dark corners of your poker mind. Are you keeping "a book" on …continued
Just remember that the goal is to capture all we want. One of the most frustrating things for me in college was attending the first science and math classes. It's where I learned that we'd been lied to for much of our high school careers. …continued
Every year, shortly before Christmas, I have thought about telling this little story. The reason this thought always enters my mind during this particular time of the year is because it's the only time the of year that I hear a certain Christmas …continued
The across-the-board slate of conference play in college basketball is always an interesting and revealing time for fans of the cage sport. There's often a big difference between pre-conference games and those games that take place after teams …continued
For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of a rider the battle was lost. For want of a battle the kingdom was lost. And all for the want of a horseshoe nail. Not …continued
The holiday tournaments and school and job vacations are over, and reality sets in. What are you going to do with all of your time? Getting back to the poker tables is always a good choice. The winter holidays for many of us are times we spend with …continued