I had hoped to bring you an update from the William Hill Grand Prix here in Cardiff (capitol of Wales) - however, it seems that we all have to stay hush until the program has been aired in December. But one thing that they can't stop me from disclosing, is William Hill's generosity and incredible commitment to poker and to the poker player.

"I'm sorry," she said, "really sorry," as she racked up the mountain of chips she had just scooped in. I smiled back, understanding her meaning, and replied, "And I am even more sorry."

She was a solid poker player and a pleasant person. It was an exciting $4-$8 hold'em game at the Normandie Casino in Gardena, Calif. The hand she won wasn't a bad beat by any stretch of the imagination; it was just one of those things that is bound to happen if you play much poker.

This 21-table, non-smoking poker room overlooks Lake Michigan from the top deck of the Trump Indiana Casino river boat. A convenient open-air deck for smoke breaks is half a dozen paces from the room. The Casino is located in Buffington Harbor, in Gary, Indiana, a short, half hour's drive from downtown Chicago.

If you've read this column before, or read my book Winning 7-card Stud, or read just about any serious poker literature, then you've certainly learned about the importance of record keeping. I won't go into much detail here, but the bottom line is that you want to keep track, carefully, of how well you do overall and in different game situations so you can see, at a glance, whether you are winning or losing.

Joseph McCarthy was one of those self-made Americans. He worked and willed his way from ignorance and anonymity to the United States Senate. Senator McCarthy fulfilled the American dream... then turned it into a national nightmare.

Born on a small Wisconsin farm in 1908, Joe was one of nine children. At 14, he went to work on a chicken farm. Determined to succeed, he eventually completed high school and attended Marquette University.

Recently a friend and I were having a conversation about various "moves" in No-Limit Hold'em Tournaments. In my previous two articles, I discussed several moves. In this article we will take a look at one last move, breaking it down to understand not only this move but the conditions for any move to work.

In a recent Thursday $330 no limit tournament I limped in UTG with a pocket pair of 3's from seat 10. A weak player was in seat 1 and had been limping in a lot preflop, even from early position. This player had been getting very lucky in the tournament. He was playing hands like k-j off suit and then catching his hand when another player had a better hand preflop. He even avoided being unlucky when he caught his kicker when he was dominated. If he had A_J vs., A_Q he would hit the jack.

It's rare that a state so massive will only have one casino, but the Kickapoo Indians have luck - and a favorable legislation - on their side. Texas is home to only a single casino, the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino, which was replaced in October 2004 by a massive $15 million building next door to the old location. In June 2005, state lawmakers did not expand gambling in the state, ensuring that the Lucky Eagle will be the only casino in the state for at least two years.

How many of you are fans of the Twilight Zone Show? For those who are not familiar with the old TV Twilight Zone from back in the 60's, it was mostly half hour science fiction TV plays. It is still shown frequently on TV today because it carries deep universal messages that touches very deep issues in us, and wakes us up. It is more real than life, and it scares and shocks us.

In tournament poker the question often arises, "What is a standard raise?" Conventional wisdom suggests as standard a raise of three times the big blind or, if there are antes involved, the exact sum of the antes and blinds. Rather than yield to conventional wisdom (a product of conventional minds) I would instead ask two questions: "What are you trying to do with your raise?" and "What bet gets that job done?"