The Rivera Resort located on the fabled Las Vegas Strip has been welcoming guest to enjoy the fun and excitement of the world's number 1 entertainment destination. The hotel celebrated fifty years of service last year and was Nevada's first casino/hotel that moved ahead of the current time period standards offering guest top flight accommodations, big name entertainment and world class restaurants.

When I picked up my cell phone, at first I didn't recognize the caller.

"It's me, Joe. Bill Eaton. You met me at our poker club with Hobby."

"Yeah. I remember you, Bill. What's up?"

"Did you know that next Friday is Hobby's 50th birthday."

"I guess I should, but no, I wasn't thinking about it. Do you have something in mind?"

"I do. See what you think of it. At the Indian casino they have this decade birthday poker party for the 30th, 40th, 50th and up, I guess.

Here's a little item I recently spotted in that bastion of hard news in America, USA Today:

PREDATORS PREFER DIMWITTED PREY Chimps and large predatory cats are more likely to target dimwitted prey less capable of escaping attack, a new study reports.

The researchers focused on predators from Africa and South America such as chimpanzees, jaguars, leopards and pumas.

To determine whether these hunters were biased towards certain types of prey, the scientists compared how often a prey species appeared in the wild with how often it turned up in the diets of the predators.

What a great setting for a poker room, just off the Boardwalk in Atlantic City and right next to valet parking! That's where you will find Tom Gitto, the Director of Poker for the Trump Taj Mahal. Gitto is a 26-year veteran of the Atlantic City casinos. He got his start where it all began: Resorts International, where he served 10 years. Then when the Taj Mahal opened, he walked across the street, supervising all games until 1993.

Who do you THINK you are? Did someone ever angrily say that to you when you were growing up? I heard it a lot.

Let's face it. Thinking too much is high on the list of our most destructive addictions. If we stop thinking many of us are afraid we would feel lost. We meditate to help us stop thinking so that we can achieve a state of peacefulness, be in the zone. An idea can be the result of thinking, but before we can begin to act on it and create, we need to stop thinking.

In carpentry, it's hard to think of a nail without thinking of a hammer. Similarly, when you see a screw you naturally think about the screwdriver that goes with it. Will it take a small, large, regular, or a Phillip's tool to fit the screw? However, what comes to mind when you think of poker tools. Sure, betting, checking, raising, and bluffing are such tools. Yet, is there a common denominator that is the "sine qua non" tool of successful poker players? The answer is a deviate one. Something all successful players do whether they know they are doing it or not.

It's no secret that we poker players are an aggressive lot. We like to play. We want to win. We are eager. Given a chance to play a poker hand, most of us leap to the challenge. The good news is that most poker players seldom let opportunity pass them by. The bad news is that we frequently play too many hands, and play far too deeply into many of the hands we play.

Someone once said, "Poker is a game of money played with cards." And it's true. Poker is all about money; the cards are only a means to an end. Sometimes they're even incidental.

As a lecture, it was one of my shortest. It was also one of my most passionate. I believed every word from deep within my heart. I still do. And I'd be honored if you paid particularly close attention today. Maybe you've heard me talk about the shaking-hand tell. You see, there are two types of tells: Acted and involuntary. When opponents act, they're trying to fool you. And they usually do so by acting in the exact opposite of what their hands would suggest.

If their hands are strong, they try to convey weakness; if their hands are weak, they try to convey strength.

Today I will attempt to answer a couple of questions from readers regarding the A-2.

Paul a reader from Australia reminded me that I said I would discuss the un-suited A-2 at some point. Let's tackle this one first. There are 722 possible A-2 hands. Using Wilson's software and running 100,000 simulations on each of those combinations the following facts are clear. The average net win for the entire group is $11.61. The net win ranges from a negative $1.52, for the A-2-2-2 non-suited to a positive $44.06, for the double suited A-A-2- 3. 12 of the possible hands produce a negative net win.

The start of gambling in Denmark predates even Columbus" fabled (and mostly mythical) voyage.

King Hans, who ruled from 1481 to 1513, was a gambling addict long before Gamblers Anonymous, and frequently took money from the royal treasury to pay his gambling debts. The 1700s saw the first deck of cards printed in Denmark; up until then, decks had to be imported from Belgium and France. In fact, the word "poker" may trace its roots to the Danish word pokker, meaning devil. Now, there's a comforting thought!