I am running so bad, it is tantamount to a crime. Now, I may be one of the few poker players left on earth who actually believes there is no such thing as bad luck. The math may be streaking against you, but there is no such thing as bad luck. Period. If you are running bad, I promise you, without no peradventure of a doubt, it is not a matter of bad luck. It is a matter of poor play and nothing else. And the sooner you figure out the truth in that statement, the sooner you are back on the road to victory. Every time I am running bad, I do one simple thing, and every single time... read more On Bad Luck

While math is master in poker, psychology is its devoted handmaiden. The turning point for me first day of The World Poker Tour Championship at the Bellagio was all about bad math and good thinking. The player two seats behind me had taken two big shots at pots that weren't meant to be his. In his second play, our guy fires big bullets at an obvious flush board. Evidently the guy is some WSOP big shot, one of the youngest bracelet winners ever, and he expects people to lay down before him like the Red Sea to Moses. Unfortunately for him, the player immediately to his left reads him like the... read more Bellagio WPT Championship, Pt 2.

I awaken on my birthday to the prospect of competing against the toughest poker players on earth at the Bellagio WPT Championship. Oddly calm in the face of this peril, I dress like Johnny Cash (black slacks, black Ralph Lauren Black Label jacket, Paul Smith Oliver Peoples shades and my starkly contrasting all-white iPod Shuffle). I turn fifty-nine today and no longer feel compelled to apologize for my choice of music. I am an unrepentant baby boomer and my iTunes library has its fair share of Stones, Dylan, Neil Young, Seger, Lou Reed and the like. I have just broken up wi... read more Bellagio WPT Championship

I am on the bubble and the chip leader has just put me all in. All the other players in the Commerce tournament room are on their feet and crowding around our table. Fellow Hollywood Poker player Jon Kelley is sitting to my left. I hear him make an audible sigh and, quite frankly, let out a little groan myself.  Ladies and Gentlemen, the L. A. Poker Classic just got interesting. So what do I do in a moment like this? In retrospect it was the turning point in an incredib... read more World Poker Tour LA Poker Classic