Poker News

Byron Liggett

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, a poker player, has been a principal force behind the worldwide popularity of poker. His accomplishments in programming and computer software helped facilitate the PC Revolution. Gates dealt everybody into The Game.

Whether you’re gambling on stocks, ‘playing’ for a profit on E-Bay, or trying to win an online seat at the World Series of Poker, Bill Gates gets a share of the tokes.

The Internet means you’re only a click away from a poker game, a tournament, books on strategy, or a forum where you can seek answers to questions or sympathy for your bad-beats.

A notable new website that’ll make you laugh is HoldemHumor.com It’s dedicated to funny poker jokes, stories, and anecdotes. If you’ve got a poker chuckle, you can enter the joke contest and, if you don’t flop, you could win $100 and a choice of three excellent poker books or a handsome 300-piece set of chips in a carrying case. Bring your funny-bone for good luck.

If you want to be safe not silly, there’s a new website for you’re type, too. SafePokerOnline.com Upon entering the site, the first thing you’re told is that “Priority #1 is keeping your money and computer safe”. It’s designed and dedicated to all who’ve been interested but reluctant to risk playing online.

A sophisticated website, it was developed by Glenn Fair, a 20-year veteran of gaming and computer technology. He’s also a career poker player and accomplished tournament winner.

Glenn emphasizes that the site is free. “We just ask that, if you decide to play poker online, you use the links we provide on our site. In turn, this rewards those poker sites who’ve made the effort to provide games that are honest, secure and protect the integrity of the game and the industry.”

In addition to facilitating Internet play, SafePokerOnline.com offers a learning section where the basics of Hold’em are taught and there’s a forum to discuss strategies, offer tips, and leave announcements.

Ben Tracy, of Poker Productions, a professional television and movie producer with a passion for poker, has a couple of collector items out on DVD. One features a seminar by Poker Guru David Sklansky given to players attending the World Series of Poker a few years ago. You’ll notice a lot of successful poker stars in the audience.

Also available on DVD is another invaluable production called How to Beat Winning Hold’em Players, in which the professionals reveal secrets and strategies of Hold’em happiness. The knowledge, strategies, tips, and exercises presented in these DVDs are priceless.

Benstarted out in show business as a young musician playing Las Vegas. An accordion player. “I wanted to be the Lawrence Welk of Sin City”, he recalls.

Of course, accordion music never really grabbed gamblers (or anyone else). But Ben wasn’t beaten. He went into radio and promotions, eventually building a little known tire company, Les Schwab, into one of the most successful such companies in the country.

Ben now does the marketing for The New Phoenix and Last Frontier Casinos in La Center, WA (about 45 minutes north of Portland off I-5). Both properties are generally considered among the most successful and well-run clubs in the Evergreen State.

Clearly, poker has entered the New Millennium. Computers, software, television, DVDs, digital-this and digital-that. Still, after you’ve downloaded everything — ya still gotta play the game. Today, new players are discovering that it’s a lot more interesting, challenging and thrilling to shoot real chips at your opponents than virtual ones. Bet on it.

Filed under: Poker News