At the California Poker Players Conference held Oct. 20-21 at Hollywood Park Casino, a young man called Tom engaged me in conversation. He was familiar with my hold'em algorithm that I had discussed during the Conference. "Based on your algorithm," he asked, "how often should a good player in an early position stay to see the flop?" He caught me unprepared. I responded: "I'd guess one out of four or five hands, depending on whether there have been or are likely to be raises, how many are staying in, and the texture of the table."

A great concern the poker world had a quarter of a century ago was not falling prey to poker cheats, people were afraid that even casino employees and management were putting one over on them. Doyle Brunson even discusses how cheap poker chips can be a costly mistake at a home game because it may increase the chance of cheating. Mike Caro had a Cheater Monitoring Service that clubs were using, but the Los Angeles Times reporters were not aware of it when reporting on Southern California card rooms.

It was Sunday at noon at the Gilpin Poker Room in Blackhawk Colorado. I signed up for the $70 no-limit hold'em tournament that was just starting with 47 players at four tables. Everybody started with $7,000 in tournament chips. The payout would be to the final five players I was sitting in the No. 10 seat and started in the small blind. There was little action the first time around the table. However, then I picked up A-Q of diamonds in the cut-off position.

When I got to my local cardroom it was clear that the $5-$5 blinds $300-$500 buy-in no-limit game had gone all night. At least five of the players' eyes and facial expressions showed that they had been in the game for hours. It was 9:30 a.m., and that might offer me an advantage-I was wide awake.

Money and chips are not the currency of success in poker. It's true, you can't play- except in Free rolls-without money. Yet, the currency of success in poker remains your willingness and the wisdom you use to risk. For example, Mimi Rodgers was recently playing in a Bay 101 event in San Jose. She was being taunted by the legendary brat of all times-Phil Hellmuth. After all, Ms. Rodgers was up against a WSOP champion. So, did he really need to put her on tilt to beat her? If so, it didn't work.

Whenever you hold a drawing hand in a community card game such as hold'em or Omaha, the process of calculating your outs gets complicated. Since the cards in the middle of the table are shared by everyone, a card that makes your hand could also make an even better hand for one of your opponents. These are commonly referred to as tainted, or contaminated, outs.

The most obvious thing we have in common as human beings is that we're going to die. We don't know what that's going to be like. And we don't know when it's going to be. So we seldom dwell on it, otherwise everything we did in life-the parades, the parties, and the poker- would seem overwhelmed by that one event. Our date with death.

You Play They Win. The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Holiday Toy Drive will be held at Casino Arizona on Saturday, December 15 at 9:00 a.m. Bring a new unwrapped ($10 value) toy plus $25 for an entry into a $12,500 guaranteed payout no-limit tournament. Players will receive $1,000 in tournament chips. The event is limited to 400 players and the top 40 places will make the money. For more information see their ad in this issue of Poker Player.

"Joe, I've been invited to a high stakes game at Harrah's Rincon, down in San Diego County. Want to come along for the ride?"

"Well, I surely don't want to go for the game. If you say its high stakes it's way out of my league, but I'd like to see the casino. Count me in. When are you going?"

"Saturday morning, the game starts at seven that night."

We went south on I-405 and across the I-91 to connect with I-15 south; it's an easy drive on Saturday morning.

The first year of the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) is drawing to a close. So far there have been ten £1,000 ($2,000) events in ten different Grosvenor casinos throughout the UK. Every leg has been recorded for television and over £3 million ($6 million) in prize money has been won.