Qualify for the $100,000 Freeroll at Southpoint. Play 99 hours of live poker from March thru May to qualify. The top 40 places will receive cash with first place taking home $30,000 and 40th place receiving $300.

Sunday nights at 6 p.m. on March 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29 is reserved for a "Ladies Only" limit hold 'em tournament. The ladies will receive $2,000 in starting chips for a $45 buy-in and an extra $500 in chips with a $5 donation for the staff.

The explosion of poker has been much greater in no-limit Hold 'em than in any other game. It is easy to say this is due primarily to television exposure. But what keeps new players continuing to play no-limit is that luck is a bigger factor than it is in fixed-limit hold 'em, and that's compounded by the fact that new players are too loose.

Hobby had gone to his Palm Springs villa a week ago. I had a script rewrite to do which kept me busy. The studio was satisfied enough to give me a nice check; I was once again footloose and fancy-free. I was cruising at 75 mph on the I-10 freeway just outside Beaumont when I called Hobby. "What's up, old buddy?"

"Joe, I hope you're coming soon. I've got my hands full with this remodel. I've got a hole in my house you could driver a semi through and I just fired the contractor."

"What the hell are you doing? No, don't tell me. I'll be there in a half-hour."

Day one of the Oklahoma State Championship of Poker featured the popular Jack & Jill event where two players-one male and one female-alternate play. The no-limit hold 'em event attracted 157 players and a $100 + $20 buy-in, generated a $14,130 prize pool.

This concludes all of the rules developed for Omaha/8 starting hands. A guide for applying and learning these rules follows Rule 64.

RULE 47. Eliminate any hand containing an A-4 when combined with a pair of fives through queens when non-suited, or a pair of fives through jacks when low suited, or a pair of sixes through nines when back suited, or a pair of sevens through nines when high suited.

Linda Mae strode into our local poker room, signed up for a few games, sat next to me and asked why, when she had a suited hand at hold 'em, the probability that the dealer would lay a trump next on the turn was 9/47.

Stunned that she would ask about probabilities, (you may recall that she's hopeless at mathematics) I sat there like a lump until I recovered enough to ask what troubled her.

"Well," she said, "you know there must be some hearts in the hands of my opponents. So there can't be 9 hearts left in the deck. So the probability can't be 9/47."

The 2008 calendar year was a tough one for UltimateBet, not to mention the players who fought tirelessly to uncover one of the biggest online poker scandals in the industry's history. Once the company, along with parent Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG, admitted to the problems and began the long process of investigations, penalties, and player reimbursements, it seemed that they were on the way to rebuilding the brand.

An astonishing new place to visit is Mike's forum, called simply Mike Caro Poker, at www.doylebrunson.com/forum. It hasn't been officially announced or advertised yet, so consider this an exclusive! Mike has already contributed 70 posts explaining strategy and participating in worldwide poker discussions.

The topic of borderline hands was recently raised on the forum, so I thought you might find that discussion helpful.

About this series: The following column is part of a series of self-interviews in which I ask my own questions and then answer them.

About the numbering: Don't worry if you haven't read any previous columns in the series. Each one is independent. The questions continue with number 156, but you can subtract 155 and start fresh, if that makes you happier.

About today's word, "Hands": The questions and answers focus on selected hold 'em hands and some related concepts.

Question 156: In Hold 'em, what is more important-which hands you choose to play or how you play them?

I quickly walked across the freezing linoleum to the scale. Only then did my feet not feel the cold floor. Instead, I focused on how disgusted I would be when I stepped on the scale and saw what a fatso I'd become. I saw all the red flags, all year but ignored them. I felt my clothes tighten, and how my t-shirt had now become a belly shirt because of my new pot belly.