Behind World Series of Poker

It is indeed the busy months once again for both ESPN and poker fans as the WSOP continues to air every Tuesday nights at the said cable network.  The show will continue to run each week until the final table showdown on November 10, and poker fans are given the chance to learn strategies and poker lessons.

Until then, players are given clips of the WSOP with players playing exciting poker hands with big piles of chips in front of them, but there are some things that viewers do not know.

It's Being Edited.

What you probably do not know is that the WSOP tournament also gets edited.  Of course, ESPN will not want to bore its viewers out of their wits by showing dull and boring hands or poker games that end much too quickly.  What they want to show its viewers are exciting hands and rounds of poker that resulted in an exchange of huge amounts of money, thus, the editing. [Read][more...]

A Genuine Story Inside of the NBC National Heads-Up Championship

NBC National Heads-Up Championship starts this weekend (5th thru 8th) and places some of Professional Pokers top players in a Heads-Up elimination situation.  The 64 players can be broken down into Pro Players, Celebrities and winners of Satellite tournaments.   The Poker Pros is a list of well known players who have won many of the most prestigious poker tournaments between them.   There are three online satellite winners with one of them being a great story that proves the idea of «Only in America»

Blandino Gines, a 52 year old out of work handy man, won entry by playing in a free satellite tournament at Poker Stars.  He outlasted a huge field, by moving up over again in elimination tournaments, until he finally beat the last other survivor in the tournament.  This win was worth $1000, a flight to Las Vegas and four nights at Caesars for a party of two.  The best part of the win was the entry into the tournament, which amounted to $20,000. [Read][more...]

Is Poker Addictive Like Other Forms of Gambling

The answer is it can be for some people who are compulsive and have little will power or just crave the action.  Gamblers Anonymous has a twenty-question form that will help a person realize that they are addicted or becoming addicted.  Some of the key questions are items like have you missed work or school due to gambling?  Have you borrowed money to play? The second part of this question is and the only way you could pay it back was by winning.  Has your gambling or playing caused family problems or caused you to lie?  Many of the questions are so general that many people will answer yes to some of them, but they are not really addicted.  Gambling and drinking have one thing in common to the non-addicted person.  They can really take it or leave it alone at their will and do not have or feel the need to gamble.

One of the addictive traits of a person with this compulsion is that they do not feel alive unless they are in action.  If this becomes an overpowering feeling then the person needs help from people who understand the problem and have found ways to beat the desire to play. [Read][more...]