Chip Chat

It takes all kinds

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 14:33:41 -0800

You meet all kinds of players in card rooms and casino.

Most people are afraid of The Shark -- the player who is skilled at counting outs, check-raising and calculating pot odds. He's the one that if you allow him to accumulate a large chip stack, he becomes The Bully and pushes all of the shorter stacks around.

You might also run into The Mouse. The Mouse is the kind of player who very seldom plays a hand, but when they do it's because it's a big one.

To tell the truth ...

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 08:30:50 -0800

Telling the truth is sometimes the best policy, but only sometimes. Of course, I'm talking about poker, not real life. In real life, telling the truth IS the best policy ... sometimes. No, truthfully, it is.

Little known World Series of Poker fact: Did you know it is illegal to tell others at the table what cards you are holding while the hand is in play? BUT, it is perfectly legal to lie about your hand. In other words, it is ILLEGAL to tell the truth, but lying is encouraged.

Looking for the right combination

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 17:29:55 -0800

It the "Seinfeld" episode "The Frogger," George and Jerry hear that one of their old haunts, a pizza pub, is closing down so they decide to visit one last time for old times sake. While waiting on the surly owner to make their pizza slices, Jerry notices that GLC stills holds the highest score on the Frogger machine. GLC, of course, is George Louis Costanza. George reflects on the night he hit that high score, "It was just the right combination of pepperoni and Mountain Dew. Just the right amount of grease on the joystick."

Now, I'm not a very superstitious person, but I, too, am looking for the right combination of "pepperoni" and "Mountain Dew," only my game is poker.

Chat it up!

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 16:00:02 -0800

Chat it up! That's right. That's my advice to you this week -- Chat ... it ... up.

I was reading a section written by "The Mad Genius of Poker," Mike Caro in Doyle Brunson's new book, Super System 2. The section is entitled "43 Exclusive Super/System 2 Tips From Mike Caro Univeristy." The "exclusive" tip No. 5 is: Tables with laughter are the most profitable. Avoid silence!

Actually, I don't know how "exclusive" that tip really is because I'm pretty sure I've read it before in one of Caro's books, but it is good advice. Let me put some personal experiences behind it for you.

Be tricky but don't do tricks

Wed, 30 May 2007 08:31:01 -0800

Sometimes it's not easy doing what I do.

I am a professional stand-up comedian, a published author, a radio talk show host, a singer/songwriter and a close-up magician. Sometimes I wish I were a juggler so it would be easier to keep all of those balls in the air.

I was fortunate, however, to have a father who gave me good life advice. Never was I more thankful for his wise guidance than I was on Sunday night.

My dad told me once: "Never do card tricks for people you play poker with."

Believe in the rush

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 10:09:24 -0800

If you listened to Poker Room Radio last Saturday, you know that we were broadcasting live from Artichoke Joe's in San Bruno. It was a great time and we had a lot of fun giving away prizes and talking with the great staff there. You also know that we had a special call from THE premiere tournament director, Matt Savage, who was calling from poker star Howard Lederer's house in Las Vegas.

If you were listening you also know that I was late getting to the show. I got there about three minutes after the show had begun. What was the cause of my delay? The fact that Californians cannot drive in the rain! I pulled into the parking lot just as the show began and ran through the rain and straight to the microphone. I had had a long day and it wasn't ending well.

Shifting gears can be profitable

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 17:13:46 -0800

Last Saturday night on the radio show I had the pleasure to interview Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi and J.C. Tran. The Grinder was Card Player Magazine's Player of the Year in 2006 and Tran is leading the pack so far this year. It was a great time talking to two of the best poker players in the world and if you missed the interview, go to www.pokerroomradio.com and listen to the archived file.

One of the things that The Grinder said that I want to pass along in this blog is that he believes buying books and watching "how to" DVDs on poker is good, but unless you get out and play, you'll never improve your game. He likened it to golf, saying that you can buy books to improve your game, but you'll never get better if you don't actually do it. Good advice. Take it to heart.

Beauty of the bounty

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 09:10:47 -0800

Sorry, I haven't written in a while, but the radio show has gone gangbusters and I couldn't be happier.

I want to tell everyone that there is still time to sign up for a poker seminar that I will be involved in at the Doubletree Hotel in Sacramento. It will be held on March 25 and the entry fee is only $39 if you sign up before March 18. After March 18, the fee jumps to a whopping $49.

Think about it, for $39 you get to sit at the feet of several professional poker players and me. OK, you get to hear me crack jokes and make the seminar fun while the professionals actually do the teaching, but, come on, it's only $39. I hope to see you there. If you want to sign up, go to Pokerroomradio.com and you can do it all online.

A bit about bluffing ...

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:15:12 -0800

There's nothing like entering a tournament and having someone tell you before it starts: "Hey SpiritWalker, I just read all of your poker blogs on The Reporter Web site." At least I know someone's reading it.

It's not such a good thing when that person is the one to knock you out of the tournament and collect a $115 bounty the casino put on your head! Yep, that's what happened last Tuesday night at The Lucky Derby in Citrus Heights.

Thanks for reading, Pat Lanius! Pat's a lawyer, so it figures. I'm always getting screwed by lawyers. I'm kidding, he's a great guy and a good player and I should have NEVER shown down that hand, but I thought he was bluffing. (Just call me the master of transitions.)

Not much stock in Bond

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 17:03:47 -0800

Well, here it is the first day of December and the weather is turning cold - even in California. It's so cold down in Los Angeles that several female "actresses" have been spotted wearing underwear. Amazing! But, this is a poker blog, let us remember.

So, I was cajoled into going to see the newest release of "Casino Royale."

"It's a great movie about Texas Hold 'Em," I was told. "They talk a lot about 'tells,' " someone else chimed in. "Daniel Craig may be the best Bond ever," yet another person proclaimed.

Don't be timid at the table

Fri, 24 Nov 2006 08:05:38 -0800

So, it's late Thursday night (early Friday morning actually) and I've eaten a nice Thanksgiving dinner (obviously resisting the effects of tryptophan) and what better thing can I find to do than watch some poker on television?

I've chosen to watch the final table of the 2006 Poker Championship at Red Rock. The final table is now down to three players -- Phil Gordon, Alfredo "Toto" Leonidas and Roland de Wolfe. Gordon is the chip leader and I'm dubbing him "The Bully of Red Rock."

Tournament can save your marriage

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 13:43:57 -0800

For a few weeks now I've been trying to get a friend of mine to go with me to a $65 buy-in Texas Hold 'Em tournament in Sacramento. So far I haven't had any luck, so I thought I'd try reaching out to you.

Would you like to go? Let me tell you, there are plenty of good reasons to enter tournaments vs. playing in live games (games that never end until you're finally afraid if you stay any longer you'll lose half of everything you own ... in the divorce settlement).

Online players turn to card rooms

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 16:01:09 -0800

One of my co-hosts on Poker Room Radio (1140-AM, Saturdays) is the manager of a brick-and-mortar card room in Sacramento. Lately, he's been coming in exhausted, straight from work, to do the radio show. He said things are hopping and they're busier than ever at the card room. The influx of living, breathing poker players, he says, is probably due to the new legislation against online gambling.

That could be true. I was there last Tuesday and the place was packed. According to my friend, he's seeing so many new faces that they're having to remodel to accommodate the influx. So, the new legislation is good for brick-and-mortar card rooms? Not necessarily.

Rock-paper-scissors theory

Fri, 27 Oct 2006 16:01:31 -0800

Heard an interesting theory the other day and just thought I would pass it along to the readers here at "Chip Chat."

I read this theory in a book by Arnold Snyder, but he claims he read it in a book by David Sklansky. Both books are on tournament play, so let me caution you that this may not always apply to live games, in which the blinds never go up, someone can always buy more chips and you have a lot longer to "work over" your opponents.

How will the law impact poker players?

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 16:30:58 -0800

The signing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 last week by President Bush has a lot of people up in arms. Of course it was piggybacked on a port security bill so everyone knew it would be signed into law and a lot of people were ready for it.

Let me just straighten one thing out: This law does not make it illegal to play online poker for real money. All this law does, and they still have to figure out how to enforce it let me remind you, is to make it illegal for banks to transfer money to online gambling sites. That's it. However, there has been a knee-jerk reaction on many poker sites.