Poker Alice and Calamity Jane

After doing much research on the women of the old west I will have to say that Poker Alice is my favorite. Although Calamity Jane was a firecracker and was born exactly 100 years before myself, I would have to say that I identify more with Alice. They say she was born in either 1851 or 1853, I was born 1952! I'll carry on for you sister. She looked more like a man in her later years with the cigar always in her mouth. I suspect that a woman in that time and place would be more comfortable in many ways wearing men's' clothing, than wearing feminine attire. She was widowed 3 times and carried a gun (.38) at all times while in public. She was a great poker player although it is documented that the best part of her life was when she spent time raising her 4 children on the farm. After her first husband died she went on dealing faro and poker where she met her second husband. Faro was a game I remember watching at The Aladdin in Las Vegas 1972. Alice outlived her husbands and had to support herself in a very rough world. She shot 2 men and killed another (it was needed). She was a bootlegger and a madam but not a prostitute. Through it all she was a good mother and wife and had the respect of men at the poker table. She may have been the first woman poker dealer in South Dakota but not in Vegas...Her famous quote was " I'd rather play poker with five or six experts than to eat". courtesy sangres.com

WSOP the sport

There are SPORTS and then there are sports like poker. Don't you think you should at least be winded after a sport? Curling, shuffleboard, POKER?

Money Talks

So you think life is fair & everyone is treated equally. Not if you have lived your life in this world! When you go into a restaurant and have a reservation, do you expect to be seated on time? If you request that a game be put on t.v. while you are playing cards in a poker room, do you expect your request to be honored? Do you also expect that the president that you vote for to be a man of his word and your vote to be counted? I say No to all of the above. We wont get into the political aspect of this because you already know the results. However you have to know that in this world the guy that tips big or brings notoriety to a place of business is going in before a regular guy. I was told that there was a no cell phone rule at the tables in Vegas. That is true UNLESS you are a high profile player. If you don't believe it ask anyone who viewed The WSOP. Many of the name players used their phones while at the table. A player that I know personally had requested a t.v. brought into the tournament room for a sporting event. He was firmly told that this cannot happen. Ten minutes later Phil Ivey asked for the game to be on and a wide screen t.v. was brought into the room almost immediately. Is this fair? If you were a high profile player wouldn't you expect a little more than average treatment. Treatment is fine BUT please don't change the obvious rules for just a handful of players. Are these players above reproach when they are on their cell phones. I know many of these players and c'mon they are just card players. Some have just been lucky and others work hard at their craft BUT are no better than the rest of the PLAYERS. Maybe they have more money but they are not any better people. Entitlement has always been given to high profile people and that is the American Way. It isn't always deserved but it is the way it is. You know that if you're waiting in line and Monica Lewinsky comes in, she is going to be seated before you. Excuse me...and what is her claim to fame?

Des Wilson's new book

I am waiting for a very interesting book to arrive called "Ghosts at the Table". It is a well written account of the phases of poker and the people who brought it to Vegas. How the World Series grew from just an idea of a game that only the best gamblers could afford. Excerpts from this book can be found reading Poker Pro magazine an excellent poker rag. I was dealing to the likes of Johhny Moss, Doyle, Slim, Puggy and several others that the book mentions. I was enlightened by some things that certainly rang true to me. The author takes a real, tell it like it is, approach and Poker Pro lays it out uncensored. From the excerpts I have read I would have to say it is in a class of its own. Not since "Casino" have I read anything as real about the poker business. It is a must read for every poker player who wants to know how it really got started. These old timers had it goin' on before ESPN & The Travel Channel where even heard of. Des Wilson has done some great investigative reporting. You will find the book very easy to read and well written. Enjoy!

Cell Phones & Rude Table Behavior

Showing cards & playing out of turn or indicating ur action is certainly bad poker etiquette but how can u really stop it? One of the worst changes in poker; 10 yrs. ago vs now, is the electronic nuisance called a cell phone. It is bad enough in public or standing in line where u cannot get away, BUT AT THE POKER TABLE? Most casinos don't allow people to play cards while talking on the phone. If your phone rings u must get up or if in a hand u may finish it out. Independent card rooms all have a varied set of rules about it. U should find out what the rules r before u play in a new place. It doesn't hurt to ask the floorman a few basic questions such as , where is the rest room located? U can also ask the dealer about cell phone rules & short buys or even what time they close.You can't assume 24 hr. service because that is what u r used to.
Bad poker behavior comes on the backs of many different players.
If many annoying things that slow down the game and give edges to particular players, usually means that you are in a lower limit game. The higher or no limit games have players who do not put up with players disrupting the order of the game. The smaller games attract the newer players with little or no knowledge about poker attitudes and rules. They have to b schooled by the others players and hopefully the dealer. So you have the advantage of winning against a novice player although you may have to school them a little in the process. I surely don't mean to say that the higher limit players all obey the rules and respect the players and dealer as well. Or am I saying the lower limit players are all without talent or finesse. The point is that when u play bigger not only can u expect the players to stay in line but you need to b a good enough player who is comfortable gambling among other players with possibly a greater degree of skill and experience. U should always play the limit that u can afford to lose in and where u r comfortable with ur own skill level. My advice to anyone who believes they can actually make money and stay ahead of the game of poker is to know when to fold 'em. Money & time management is even more important then playing well. Everyone gets lucky sometime and some more than others but getting up is the whole trick. U will hear this about gamblers but the hard thing is to apply the theory of beating the game and going home with the money. It seems ez when ur running hot & ur havin' fun BUT the luck bug jumps around and will eventually land in the lap of ur opponent . Get up with the money & have fun somewhere else. Then come back & do it again.