It was Megan and Danny's first morning of a seven day Atlantic cruise to the Portuguese island of Funchal-the gateway to the Mediterranean. The trip was part of the first place prize Danny won at an invitationa Texas hold 'em tournament at the Mirage.

They were having breakfast when Danny noticed an announcement in the ship's daily newspaper.

Listen to this, Danny said, "Poker tournament. Learn how to play Texas Hold 'em on our new electronic poker table. Sign-up begins at 10:30 a.m. in the casino. Entry fee $50. Sounds like something to do."

Poker action returned to MGM Mirage's Beau Rivage in Biloxi with the Spring Break Poker Classic, which ran from March 27 - April 13. Twenty-two tournament events were held over eighteen days with buy-ins from $200 up to $2,500 for the Spring Break Poker Classic Championship Event on April 8.

In addition, daily no-limit hold 'em tournaments, $270 + $30 mega satellites and single table satellites, with buy-ins ranging from $45-$450, were held every day, along with $175 buy-in + $25 nightly tournaments.

Part one appeared in my last column. Now for part two, the conclusion.

Talk to me, baby; whisper in my ear. Forums have existed on the internet since its beginnings. It is wonderful to have others who can comment on your play from a knowledgeable perspective, and gather input from your advice too. You can get together with other poker players to share ideas in discussion groups such as the one that's been meeting weekly in Las Vegas for years, or you can do it online, at one of a number of poker forums where ideas are passed around and hand histories discussed and reviewed.

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. -"To A Mouse," Robert Burns

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

The term bandit evokes images of the old west and a masked man on horseback, six-shooter in hand, riding away from the bank he just robbed. In poker a bandit is defined a little differently but takes your money just the same.

A bandit is a starting hand containing a 7, 8, or 9 and will usually result in the loss of money. They are trap hands, often appearing to be profitable, but in the long run, will cost you money.

Bill Boston portrayed the Ac-2d-9h-Ks as a bandit. Let's take a look at it.

Poker players already know it. Others who have studied the game, even from an outside perspective as game theory experts or statistics professors, know it. But some within the poker community understood that something needed to be done to prove that skill dominates the luck factor in poker.

When Las Vegas' Venetian debuted their deep stack concept a few years ago, it was an instant success-and why not? The simple act of offering competitors more chips for their buy-in along with slowly escalating blinds-and therefore more play for their money-struck a responsive chord with players.

The Venetian now runs deep-stack events four times annually, including a deep stack event that runs during the World Series of Poker, and takes advantage of the hordes of poker players who descend on Las Vegas during the early summer.

With thirteen events spread over a two week period and the majority of buy-ins at the $215 level, the Wildhorse Poker Room's 2009 Spring Round-Up is a popular stop on the tournament trail. Many players are fond of this event for its ambiance and high degree of player-friendliness.

Its thirteen tournaments include a nice mix of games-we admittedly have a bias towards tournaments offering variety, and are not just all hold 'em, all the time-including hold 'em, HORSE, and Omaha/8. Affordable buy-ins range from $215 to $515 for the championship event.

There are days when all of us need a laugh. We're working hard, trying to make it through to the end of the day, and it's just one fire after another. That's what early April is like for a tax accountant.

Luckily for me my good friend Aaron was able to relay one of Mrs. Goldman's latest adventures. Mrs. Goldman doesn't need any rhyme or reason for her actions. And this one was a doozy.

Our local poker room pays a hold 'em bad-beat jackpot whenever aces-full-of-jacks or better loses to a higher hand, providing both players' hole cards play. During every hand the players always look at the tableau for a possible bad-beat jackpot. Yesterday, our dealer laid out the tableau shown which stimulated vigorous controversy.

3h-4h-5h-6h-8c

Our dealer opined that a bad beat would occur if someone held Ah 2h and someone else held 7h 8h. She erred. You see why, don't you?