I remember when LED guitar tuners came out. Life became so much better for musicians, especially on stage. The readout was three little lights in a row. The middle light was green and that was the target. Green meant “in tune.” The other two LEDs were red. They let you know if you were flat
I just got off the phone with a mouse smasher. Let’s call him Humphrey. The topic was Should he hire me to coach him? Humphrey asked some questions I had heard before: Q: Did you really fold pocket aces before the flop just for the hell of it? A: Yes. Can you think of a
I’m not saying I’m unsympathetic or anything, like when we went double or nothing on the last hole and it came down to where all you had to do was make a three-foot putt to get even. I was rooting for you to make it, but then again I wasn’t. If you make it, I’ll
“What do you do for a living?” It was a polite question, in the setting I was in, at a neighbor’s annual soup party. I had no reason to be rude to the person I had just met named Julia. But I’d been working on this poker article all day, so my thoughts kept drifting
I got my first byline in 1999 when I sent an article to June Field at Poker Digest Magazine and she said Yes, I will buy this. And do send more. After that, whenever I got a check in the mail from June, I’d look at it, and I’d hold it in my hands, and I’d
It was 1997. I had just moved from Ohio, where 98% of my opponents were white, to Northern California, where 80% of my opponents were Asian. Right away I made buddies with a few Chinese guys, let’s call them Moe, Joe, and Larry. One night all four of us are playing in the same 9-handed
I was sitting there at the poker table like I had a million times before. I was tired. I was frustrated. I was anxious. I wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere else, doing anything else. But I could not leave. I was stuck. I was stuck to my chair. I was stuck to my suffering.
My life began at age 14 in Bobby Taylor’s basement: “Sit down, you pansy.” “I don’t gamble.” “We’re only playing for pennies and nickels, you wuss.” “Sounds steep.” “Not for someone who just sold a nickel bag. Now quit being a baby and sit down.” I sat down. I put some of my precious money
If you are going to Vegas for the WSOP, and you’re super stoked, and you want some advice on what to do and not do, here’s mine: Check out Hoover Dam. And if that’s too ambitious, then drive out to Red Rock Canyon and walk around. As to food, my favorite restaurant in Vegas
