The New York Daily News has assigned a writer, Rick Pienciak, to cover the world of poker every week. His latest column has some interesting insights in it about the high stakes poker world, including a revelation, based upon the word spreading in the Vegas poker rooms, that Annie Duke won ESPN's Tournament of Champions. That event has taken place, but won't air until next week, and the participants, 10 of the top players in the world, are sworn to secrecy. If that report is correct, it would be a big feather in Duke's cap.
The article also discusses an occasional game that has gone on at the Bellagio over the last 3 years, whenever billionaire banker Andy Beal is in town. He comes into town and plays heads up, in rotation, against the likes of Jennifer Harmon, Todd Brunson, Howard Lederer and Johnny Chan, for stakes that range from $20,000-$40,000 to $100,000-$200,000. Beal is a mathematical genius, having invented his own math problem, the Beal conundrum, and an incredibly successful businessman, but he has reportedly lost something in the range of $40 million playing against the sharks.
On a related note, tonight is the finale of this year's World Series of Poker on ESPN. I got chided for revealing the winner a few weeks ago, so I won't mention it again, but it should be interesting to watch. I'll probably catch it on reruns later this week. After last week's performance, a lot of people will likely be tuning in hoping to see Josh Arieh get his comeuppance. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen for a while. Arieh is a very good player; one can only hope that he learns to win or lose with some grace and dignity as he grows up.
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Hey Ed,
I've been interested for some time in getting more into this fascinating game. Any books you could recommend for a quick-learning newbie? I know Hellmuth can be a pain, but is his book any good?
How about software. Does it help to hone one's skills by playing against those silicon beasties?
Thanks.
Dave-
I've never really been one for reading books on poker. Doyle Brunson's Super System is generally considered the bible of poker, and he has a new version of it out. It really depends on what game you wanna play, what the limits are, whether you wanna play in cash games or tournaments, and so forth. There are books for each type of game and level, but as I said I haven't really read them. I recently saw Howard Lederer's video on holdem and it's really, really beginner level. There's nothing in it any reasonably bright person doesn't know after an hour in a poker room.
I'm told that Wilson's Turbo Texas Hold Em is a very useful program, but I've never used it. A simple odds calculator is always useful, but they're available all over the net. You can probably find some decent tutorials on the net on some of the basic poker concepts like pot odds and implied odds. You might wanna peruse Two Plus Two, which publishes a lot of poker books and has a poker strategy forum.
I've always enjoyed playing, but I think they should outlaw hats and dark glasses for the pros. Everyone has "tells", but I fully expect somebody to show up soon in full clown makeup or a suit of armor if they don't put the brakes on some of these guys. It also hurts a bit when someone raises more than I made in the last two years of hard work trying for an inside straight.
Once in 1959 chess master Pal Benko decided to bring a pair of sunglasses to wear in his game against Mikail Tal. Tal was known for his intimidating stare, and Benko wanted to hide from it. But Tal also had a keen sense of humour, and when Benko pulled his glasses out, Tal reached in a bag beside him and pulled out this huge pair of novelty sunglasses and put those on. Benko went on to lose.
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Thanks a lot for the info Ed. It seems in this case experience is the best teacher.
I love your site and all - but man, I was just writing on my blog about how I was bummed when you spoiled the ending of the WSOP a few weeks ago and then I came here to read your site and lo and behold! You print a spoiler about the Tournament of Champions without warning! Come on!
Still, love your site. Keep up the good work - just no more poker spoilers!