THE OLD BLUFFER! You have to hand it to Amarillo Slim! It turns out the armed hold-up of poker’s wiliest legend, in which three bullets punctured the bodywork of his old Chevrolet as he sped away from his attacker, may have had more to do with the fact that Hollywood mega star Nicholas Cage has just signed to play the poker guru’s life story. Nobody has been caught or charged and despite the bullet holes, the police have no firm leads and there were no witnesses at the scene. This has the hallmark of Amarillo’s biggest bluff ever. Wouldn’t surprise me if Slim has landed himself a Celluloid City pot of gold with the publicity he has already generated for the cost of three pieces of lead. The old master just gets better.
DON’T BE A “LOAN” RANGER The brilliant young Finnish professional Patrik Antonius has demonstrated a lot of wisdom for a 25 year old. He has moved permanently to Las Vegas so that the tournaments come to him, rather than the other way round. However his main focus remains playing online in $200-$400 up to $500-$1,000 Limit Hold’em games. He confesses to having made much more money from limit games than from no-limit. Putting his natural talent and his impressive annual income aside, it’s his wordly advice that I most admire for a player of his youth, “Never borrow money to play poker and never lend money to anyone to play poker!” His point is that a player never feels comfortable or fully confident when he or she is playing with borrowed money. It almost always ends with regret on both sides and the wrecking of friendships. We come back to “comfort zones”. If you play within your means you can play aggressively when you need to and cautiously when appropriate, with only yourself to answer to. You can’t win with the kind of emotional baggage loans carry with them. Patrik has obviously learned that early on, and prospered.
FREQUENTLY ASKED POKER QUESTIONS Q: What does it mean if a game of poker is “capped”? A: It’s a game where there are a maximum number of permitted raises. It’s a term directly applied to pot-limit or fixed-limit poker. The game is described as capped when the pre-agreed maximum number of raises has been reached.
Q: Have any of your readers been accosted in the street and challenged to a game of poker in a doorway? A: I’ve seen news photos of it happening, so I’m guessing the answer is a likely “yes” given the size of our readership. Not the most secure of venues. I recommend declining politely and heading home to your PC.
