Binion's All New Poker Room Opened November 1.
The old race and sports book is now a new, 10-table poker room with availability for five more poker tables. This new room is in addition to the existing two rooms near located near the front desk and valet. The room is everything players asked for and more. A $3 max rake, tableside food service, and $2 comps per hour are provided for all live poker play.

Win a Seat in the $50,000 Monthly Freeroll at Binions.

It's the honky, honky-tonk woman
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues.
-The Rolling Stones, 1969

[This is a work of poker fiction set ten thousand hands in the future. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental.]

Long ago the people native to the Southwest's high desert carved out a tortuous twisted dirt path across their land. They called it "The Serpent's Trail."

As everyone knows, Las Vegas is the undisputed poker capital of the world, hosting many of the world's biggest and most prestigious poker tournaments, but for a few weeks in September and October the eyes of the poker world were fully focused on the UK's capital city. The Empire casino in Leicester Square at the heart of London hosted the second annual WSOP in Europe.

Over the past several columns, I've written about things I'm just tired of at the poker table. Maybe I am getting old and grouchy, but reader response has been so good I will give you more. If nothing else, perhaps it will help you feel less alone or less intolerant?

How often at the poker table have you heard "Ship it" said to the dealer after a player wins the pot? Is this a UPS or FedEx office and we are now mailing packages? Not only is it stupid, but it generally is said with flair and gusto by the winner who utters it in a demeaning manner to the loser.

52 Ways to Cheat at Poker
by Allan Zola Kronzek
Plume (2008), 192 pp, $13.00
ISBN 978-0-452-28911-6

Before reviewing rule 64, the final rule, I want to thank Wilson Software, Inc. Without their Turbo Omaha High-Low Split software, this would not have been possible.

The starting hand rules were developed by comparing each starting hand's net win-the amount of money you should win or lose, on average, when playing each of the starting hands, from each position, under the same conditions as my test.

Halloween often brings an enjoyable celebration for kids and adults. No matter your age, dashing around in a mask and costume produces a certain emotional excitement. Getting a chance to temporarily dress up and act out the persona of a clown, witch, superhero, or monster, is an appealing, enjoyable exercise remarkably different from the usual daily grind of work and school.

My friend Brian called me yesterday complaining about his bad luck. He had been playing some super-satellites at his local cardroom, trying to win an entry into the cardroom's big tournament in a couple of weeks. Based on the prize pool, five players would receive tournament entries; the sixth place finisher would receive just $100.

Pre-flop, AA is the best hand in hold 'em. But it's not an easy hand to play-especially if you're playing deeply stacked no-limit hold 'em. Big pocket pairs (A-A, K-K, Q-Q, and perhaps J-J) are some of the toughest hands to play.

Some players think these big hole cards entitle them to a big pot. This is the type of player you always hear complaining, "You're going to lose a lot of money in the long run if you keep calling pre-flop raises with 5-4 suited." In reality, the complainer is the donkey because of the huge implied odds he coughs up post-flop.

It's hard these days for me to write about poker strategies. Compared to the state of our great nation and our fellow citizen's hardships I felt compelled to write something less trivial.

Los Angeles, California-California County Coroners remove one of six bodies found at a home in a gated community at Porter Ranch in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles on Monday, Oct. 6, 2008. An unemployed accounting industry worker who was despondent over financial problems shot and killed his wife, three children, and mother-in-law, and then himself in an upscale home in a gated community.