I’m all behind poker and casino nights to raise money for charities or other worthwhile causes. In fact, if I had to raise money, gambling is the first place I’d look. Everybody loves to touch that green casino felt and if they do good, they take home some donated prizes.
I watched my first Ante Up For Africa on YouTube – about 30 minutes worth – and despite the celebs its not really a great watch. I do think it would be pretty fun to play in such an event, but the coverage isn’t as exciting because some …read more

It came down to Duke and Joan Rivers and ultimately Donald Trump gave the nod to Joan Rivers. I’m not a big fan of prime time tv so I didn’t pay close attention to the show, but I did catch a few snippets of a couple of three separate shows because of Annie Duke’s presence.
I’ve never been a fan of Annie, but her abrasive personality on the show ended any hopes of me ever pulling for her. She came across as a control freak and just an all around unpleasant person. I remember one point in particular, …read more

I love Gavin Smith.  He has such the laidback, I’ll play anything at anytime approach to Texas Hold’em that so few do that I’ve become a huge fan.  In this video, some of the FullTilt crew give a handful of tips on bluffing.  Phil Gordon started things off very awkwardly when he said don’t bluff when you have a hand… ok moving right along.  David Williams made his appearance on the show curious when he proclaimed that he really doesn’t bluff anymore.  And why, David, are you on this program?
I’m not a fan of Annie Duke so I’ll skip right …read more

So, now that they’ve got Annie Duke on board at Ultimate Bet, they’ve asked her to fix up their tournament schedule (that’s the story anyway) to make it more lucrative for players. Here are some of the recent changes under my least favorite poker player’s reign:

Sniper tournaments with guarantees (essentially bounty tournaments)
$1.2 million in weekly guarantees in all tourneys
Nightly deep-stack tournaments wherein players start with 5,000 in chips (for tourneys with buy-ins of $109 and higher) or 3,000 in starting chips (for tourneys with buy-ins low than that)
Short-, super short-, and mega short-stack satellites give players more options to qualify …read more

Somehow ended up watching a current episode of ‘Best Damn Poker Show’ last night late while trying to fall asleep. God this show is absolutely ridiculous.  And not in the way they want to be, where you’re getting all caught up in the ‘drama’.
This show couldn’t be much more lame. Random clips of dudes named ‘Hollywood’ and the dork from Godsmack playing cards, interspersed with incessant commentary from Annie and Phil, each doing their best to one up another in who is more histrionic.
In the one I saw, Annie actually takes a timeout so she can shout at “Hollywood” for …read more

Oh god, they’ve let the two most annoying players in poker have their own show.

Yeah, they’re calling it the Best Damn Poker Show and it’s on Monday nights on FSN. I caught the second episode tonight. This is hardly a poker show. This is a venting booth for two of the biggest promotional sluts in poker to air their loins.
I mean really, I trudged through more than half of this episode and I definitely saw more talk between Hellmuth and Duke than I did card playing. The premise of the show is that there is a pool of 36 …read more