Author Archives: java

Nov
26
2010

Show One, Show All: Or Why it’s “Game Over” Without Information Regulation in Poker and Investing

Before Stuey Ungar went on to win three World Series of Poker Championships, he was a world class gin player – maybe the best that ever lived. Ungar was so good he had trouble getting action, which is why he eventually took on a suspected cheat. During the match, Ungar’s bodyguard informed him that his […]

Posted in Investment, Online Poker | Comments Off on Show One, Show All: Or Why it’s “Game Over” Without Information Regulation in Poker and Investing
Nov
14
2010

The Salad Days of Poker

Reading Dr, Pauly’s Lost Vegas: The Redneck Riviera, Existentialist Conversations with Strippers and the World Series of Poker was a guilty pleasure. I had always been an avid reader. But when I was freelancing, so much of my effort had to be concentrated on outflow versus inflow. Starting sometime last year, however, my reading drought […]

Posted in Poker Bloggers | Comments (6)
Nov
06
2010

Uncovering the Biggest Error in the World’s Largest Sporting Event: Part I

Tim Lavalli and I were hardly the only reporters who noticed. The entire media room was buzzing when the final chip counts on Day Seven of the 2006 World Series of Poker were announced. The fact that the count was two million too high escaped almost no one. Yet Tim and I were the only […]

Posted in WSOP | Comments Off on Uncovering the Biggest Error in the World’s Largest Sporting Event: Part I
Nov
06
2010

Uncovering the Biggest Error in the World’s Largest Sporting Event: Part II

The second article in the series went into excruciating detail to refute the “race-off” explanation for the introduction of two million extra chips into the 2006 World Series of Poker. At the time of its publication, Harrah’s was still publicly affirming this explanation. We subsequently learned, however, that by the time these articles were published, […]

Posted in WSOP | Comments Off on Uncovering the Biggest Error in the World’s Largest Sporting Event: Part II
Nov
06
2010

Uncovering the Biggest Error in the World’s Largest Sporting Event: Part III

Two Million Questions: Will Poker Answer (Part III) by Amy Calistri and Tim Lavalli, originally published September 8, 2006 In Part II, we dismissed the possibility that two million extra chips found their way into the 2006 WSOP Championship Event through the normal processes of blinding off dead stacks and chip race-offs. We also noted […]

Posted in WSOP | Comments Off on Uncovering the Biggest Error in the World’s Largest Sporting Event: Part III
Oct
23
2010

The Off-Grid Experiment

I never had a problem being productive as a freelance writer. My home office is big and well appointed. I had cats, which make great writing partners. I had music for every mood at my fingertips. Flexible hours worked well for me. I’m wired to write in the earliest hours of the day. When I […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (5)
Aug
22
2010

Vegas in July

The pokerboyz and I went on our annual July pilgrimage to Vegas. It’s generally hot, cheap and a bit slow that time of year. But the poker scene was a lot slower than it has been in years. We tried to play as many tournaments as possible. But one day Planet Hollywood cancelled its tourney […]

Posted in Las Vegas, Poker Bloggers | Comments (3)
Jul
11
2010

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 […]

Posted in Online Poker, Poker Media | Comments (6)
Jul
04
2010

Last Longer

I thought I played in the longest running regular home game in Austin. The gang has been getting together almost every week for more than 15 years. But in Friday’s paper, I learned that Austinite Emma Long has been running hers for over 60 years. Emma was the first woman elected to the Austin City […]

Posted in Las Vegas, Professional Poker Players | Comments (4)
May
30
2010

Investing and Poker a la Fargis

The Pokershrink took this picture of Chris Fargis in January 2006. Fargis was on his way to winning the Triple Draw Lowball event at the WSOP Circuit at the Grand in Tunica. For the win, he pocketed $22 grand. Through 2006, Fargis amassed over $137K in recorded live tournament events. As mostly an online player, […]

Posted in Investment, Online Poker | Comments (2)