Category Archives: Poker Media

Missing Lou Krieger

On December 3, the noted poker author and my friend Lou Krieger died of cancer. There are so many things to be said about Lou’s contributions to the poker world and how he nurtured a new generation of poker writers. But this is what I said on Hold’em Radio’s tribute show to Lou. I want […]

Home = A Place You Can Scratch What Itches

It’s like going home again. And by home, I don’t mean to invoke a Rockwellian ideal, baked in nostalgic fantasy. On the scale of dysfunction, it’s probably closer to Shameless than it is to Ozzie and Harriet. But by every measure, Dan Michalski and Pokerati are family. This January, I started contributing to Pokerati, providing […]

Poker Alienation (and the Perfect Dress)

The World Poker Tour hit it out of the park when they hired one of the best tournament directors in the business. Matt Savage is a poker player’s TD. He’s known for his consistency, accuracy and fabulous structures. But the WPT lost it in extra innings for me with the “Royal Flush Girls.” The question […]

Bye Bye Birdie and PokerPages

I sat on the steps of my back deck, talking on the phone to Michael Casselli in the UK. He was part of the effort to start up a new poker magazine. It was 2004 and the post-Moneymaker poker boom was in full swing. They were looking for a “gossip” column — sigh. Lou Krieger […]

I Think Bob Stupak is Dead

The news used to be a public service; now it’s mostly a thinly veiled ratings grab where octamoms and brainless starlets get more air time than messy issues like war and unemployment. Empty soundbites, rehashed talking points and emails from uninformed listeners rule. There’s more hard news in a half hour of The Daily Show […]

William’s Hammer, Vicki’s Book, and More…

I thought you’d all enjoy the latest tattoo from my home game. That’s William’s arm sporting a brand new hammer. He didn’t name names (Torres), but it was apparently in honor of the “any two” strategy successfully employed by some of our members. You might think I take the moral high ground when I’m behind […]

Poker’s Old School Still Rules

“Dear Amy, thanks for the kind words and I will see you at the Rio, Tom.” Well actually Tom McEvoy probably won’t see me at the Rio – at least not this month. Like last year, I’m feeling the double-edged sword of not covering the WSOP. I’m glad I’m not the one putting in 14 […]

Nominate Andy Glazer for The Poker Hall of Fame

I will be nominating Andy Glazer for the Poker Hall of Fame. Public nominations open today and will remain open until July 2nd. If you are in the poker media and were inspired by his work, I ask you to join me. If you lived for his tournament reports as a fan of poker, as […]

The First Rule of Fight Club

You don’t talk about fight club Chris Moneymaker’s win was always a double-edged sword for the poker media. It began the Cinderella model of coverage with the requisite fairy tale ending — where the winner was not only the most skillful, but the most worthy of taking home the glass slipper. And the money that […]

Gavin Grins, BJ Spins, and Writer’s Block-aids

By now, the poker world has realized that Gavin Griffin has become our first Triple Crown winner; winning events in each of the three major poker tours. In 2004, he won his World Series of Poker bracelet in the $3K PLH event. In 2007, he won the European Poker Tour’s Grand Final in Monte Carlo. […]