San Diegan Tony Sandstrom is circulating a statewide initiative that would create a California owned and operated internet poker site. The profits from this site would go to the State of California as well as to counties, cities, and towns, to repair highways, roads, and streets. Some profits would also be earmarked for to the California Gambling Addiction Fund to treat those with gambling problems.

"The politicians will not be permitted to divert these funds," said Sandstrom.

You peek down to find that you've finally been dealt that monster hand that you've been patiently anticipating. You cap your hole cards and then you decide to make a sneaky play. You limp in and pray for someone to bump the pot for a nice-sized raise. You are looking to set a trap and spring it with a re-raise of sizable proportion. After all, you want solid value for this long-awaited hand. You simply are not willing to risk putting in the initial raise, only to see all of your opponents fold. You are questing for much more than the blind money. You want to build a nice pot.

Ask poker players how mathematics can be applied to poker, and they are likely to talk about odds and outs. Perhaps more sophisticated poker players will know about mathematical terms such as equity and expected value. However, there is a branch of mathematics called game theory that deals with creating a complete formulation of how to perfectly play a given game. Because poker games are so complex, we cannot fi nd complete solutions for the games we play today.

If you are a poker professional, then making money should be your main goal. But for me and many other amateurs, poker is not solely about winning money. Other benefits are important at the poker table.

First, the development or improvement of a number of traits and skills can make the amateur more successful in his or her personal and business lives. These include:

• an enhanced ability to be patient and more selective,
• improved observation and listening habits,
• a better ability for honest self-evaluation, increased self-discipline,

While the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act has devastated internet poker, separate, quiet battles are being fought and won to make poker legal in bars under state laws. The fight over the rights of bars to run Texas hold'em tournaments does have some significant differences with the better known prohibition on alcohol. Legally, Prohibition was a federal issue. It involved an actual amendment to the U.S. Constitution, a rare and difficult feat to accomplish, and a federal statute, the Volstead Act, named after its author, Andrew Volstead, U.S. Senator from Minnesota.

Choosing Your Starting Hands. Choosing the right starting hands is just as important in no-limit hold'em as it is in a fixed-limit game, but there are significant differences in the kind of hands you should consider playing. The trick is to push every small edge in a fixed-limit game, because your profit comes from small, repetitive edges, played time after time. In a fixed-limit game, you have to base your choice of starting hands accordingly.

Each of us who plays poker has similarly minded friends who live, breathe, and eat poker. We can't get enough. Same thing with the casino games players, it seems. While I don't really understand the allure of a craps table, obviously it is a hugely popular pastime. It is the long hours that gamers put in that help the casinos build beautiful establishments, meet their bottom line, and pay the bills.

I know a guy who opened a local restaurant in my section of Boston. The week he opened he took out expensive full-page ads in the major daily papers in the region. He bought television commercials on all the major stations during prime time. He even went so far as to hire a plane to trail a banner with the name of his restaurant during a New England Patriots game.

For the past few issues I've been writing about cheating, which I call the red games of poker.

It's a controversial subject-so I won't accuse anyone-or make specific references to any casino, card room, or internet site.

I do think that poker is an honorable game-more honorable than golf, football, horse racing, baseball, wrestling, tennis, or basketball!

Have you seen the recent scandal about an NBA referee betting on games that he officiated in? There are also allegations of a betting scandal in tennis that involves players betting on matches they played.

Tons of cash and a very cool toy are on the horizon for players at the Comanche Red River Casino. Poker players will have the opportunity to compete for the coveted Comanche Custom Chopper pictured above in addition to cash prizes in the upcoming Falls Fest Poker Tournament, scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 15 at 2:00 pm. The $1,000 + $100 buyin event has the potential of a $90,000 prize with the participation of 100 players.