Tao of Poker

New Issue of Card Player Magazine...

The new issue of Card Player Magazine is out in card rooms, and posted up on the web. Here are a couple of good articles that I just read.

1. Volume Hands: Small Pairs and Small Suited Connectors is written by Roy Cooke. Here's a bit: "Small pairs (sixes and smaller) and small suited connectors (smaller than 10-9) generally play best when there are opponents available to give you action after you make your hand. When drawing slim or dead, your opponents will contribute big edge to you after you make your hand. Opponents putting in bets against your hand when drawing slim or dead has much more value to you than opponents putting in bets when drawing to a hand that is live and likely to come. If your opponent is correct in drawing due to the price the pot is laying his draw, over the course of time you will be better off if he folds rather than draws. These volume hands, played in correct situations, can create a lot of positive expectation..."

2. Mr. Move All In is written by Phil Hellmuth. Here's a bit: "I'll tell you the truth, right here and right now: I'm not sleeping well these days. I keep having nightmares about a guy who raised me or reraised me 14 times on the second day of the championship event of the World Poker Finals at Foxwoods, and won them all. What happened to the "three strikes, you're out" rule? Of course, I continued to smoothly run my stack up to $840,000 and second place in chips, and knew that I would get my opponent soon for a big number. Hoyt Corkins was acting out the role of "Mr. Move All In" during this tournament, and he was doing it rather well."

3. Movie Review: The Big Blind is written by Lou Krieger. Here's a bit: "When a million-dollar movie is financed by the writer-director's poker winnings, when he writes the script between hands at the poker table, when he bets everything he has to make an independent film, you know two things for sure: The poker scenes in David James' The Big Blind will be realistic and authentic, and the surrounding poker community will be realistically depicted... The Big Blind is a realistic series of stories about lives centered on poker and the struggles that ensue around it. It's a comedy, to be sure, as well as an almost anthropological overview of poker players and a sociological look at the milieu in which they abide. It is also a film about struggle, hope, perseverance, survival, love, and redemption. And although much of it is dark, it is always humorous, and ultimately an optimistic series of stories about love, tenacity, and the triumph of the human spirit."

4. Florida Raises Poker Stakes (A Little) is written by I. Nelson Rose. Here's a sample: "It is difficult to get a state to legalize a new form of gambling. But it is nearly impossible to get the stakes raised once the cards have been dealt. Florida is the latest example of this political rule. Racetracks in Florida, like racetracks everywhere, have been searching for years for a way to bring in more gambling dollars. Consistently denied the right to operate slot machines and video lottery terminals, the tracks turned to card games."