2012 March 26th

Paul ‘Dr. Pauly’ McGuire
I’m an avid reader of both fiction and non-fiction books. In my previous column, I discussed four non-poker books that influenced my poker game: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert Pirsig), The Gambler (Fyodor Dostoevsky), The Art of War (Sun Tzu), and The Warrior Within (Bruce Lee). In this column, I’m going to share three more non-poker books that radically helped me think outside of the box: Blink (Malcolm Gladwell), Switch (Chip Heath and Dan Heath), and Hamlet (William Shakespeare).

by Tom “Time” Leonard

If you play tournament poker, whether live, on the internet, multi-table or just single table shoot-outs, you are familiar with the moment of truth. Your stack is such that your only option is to go all-in. Of course it’s always more fun to use a huge stack to bully smaller stacks by going all-in but I’m talking about those times when your tournament life is on the line. You elect to go all-in and if you prevail you’ll still be alive and doubled up, but if you don’t, you’re next stop is the rail.

by Ashley Adams
 
 I learned something about the dangers of momentum both in football and in poker—during a Super Bowl Sunday trip to Illinois.

 The winning Super Bowl touchdown by the Giants was actually an unsuccessful attempt by Ahmad Bradshaw not to score. Bradshaw tried to stop himself from scoring—but could not halt his forward momentum and scored anyway—leaving enough time on the clock for the Patriots to try to score. (As it turned out, of course, the Patriots failed to score.) Even so, Bradshaw’s failure to stop his goal line momentum was an interesting side note to the Giants’ Super Bowl victory.

by Roger Rodd
 
“The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it” —Lou Holtz

 If I would’ve bet my house on New England in Super Bowl 46, and if I could’ve chosen any NFL receiver playing today, only Larry Fitzgerald would’ve been my choice over Wes Welker, when Brady launched that pass. That’s an undisputed fact for three reasons:

 My years and knowledge from playing wideout, I have never owned a house, and you’ve got to have crap in your head to bet on football games.

 Welker shaved off his mustache after the game. At the post game interview he spoke faintly through eyes that clearly were welling with tears. That precipitates two more solid facts:

 Welker is superstitious. In America, only a football player can cry and still be considered a man. Try crying to a few of your pals the next time your woman dumps you. They’ll be casting you for the lead in “Brokeback Mountain 2.

by  Diane McHaffie

 
This morning Mike crashed into my office, frazzled and upset that someone slipped unnoticed into his office, brewed a pot of coffee and then had the audacity to steal his cup and the warmer it was sitting upon!

 I shook my head, sighing. I’m quite acquainted with Mike’s forgetfulness, frequently having to search for items he misplaced. It was a given that he absentmindedly rearranged the cup and warmer to make room for something else.

By Tricia Tequida
 
Winning a hand makes any poker player happy, but when does happiness cross the line into excessive celebration? The WSOP instituted some very severe consequences following the 2007 antics of Hevad Khan. So severe, in fact, that an excessively celebrating player may even be disqualified. Additional behavioral sanctions were added the following year as a result of Scotty Nguyen’s actions in the players championship, and Phil Hellmuth’s repeated insults directed at fellow table mates that same year.

by Russ Fox

 
Epic Poker: A Tournament Too Far One of my favorite books is Cornelius Ryan’s A Bridge Too Far. It details the World War II Battle of Arnhem, a failed Allied offensive. With the announcement of Federated Sports + Gaming filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy we have a poker equivalent of Operation Market Garden.

By Patrick Labriola

As casino operators work to attract guests in a still struggling economy, it is critical for them to ensure that customers will arrive at their casino safely. Stakes are higher than ever when transporting customers, as was brought to national attention early last year when a bus returning from an overnight trip to the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut crashed, killing 15 of its 31 passengers.

 The Mohegan Sun accident resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in lawsuits, and outcomes in similar cases are becoming increasingly common.

by Richard Burke

Maryland allows charities to conduct hold’em tournaments to raise funds for their good works. A Poker Player Newspaper reader e-mailed that he heard rumors of collusion rife in those tournaments and asked how he could detect anyone cheating.

By Barbara Rogers

Foxwoods’ Poker Classic begins March 17 and runs through April 1, with plenty of deep stack tournaments in its schedule that includes a deep stack bounty event, stud, Omaha/8, HOSE, and a six-man no-limit hold’em event that’s limited to 300 players.

On March 30 at 11a.m., the $2,500 Foxwoods Poker Classic No-Limit Hold’em Championship begins. For $2,325 + $175 a player receives 40,000 in chips and play comprises 60-minute rounds before the blinds escalate. If you saved your last issue of Poker Player you will see this schedule in its entirety. But don’t dismay. You can go online to Poker Player Newspaper back issues to view that issue in PDF format.