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ORAC – The World’s First Poker Bot

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ORAC – The World’s First Poker Bot

Anyone who is into poker bots will probably know exactly what I’m talking about here, because ORAC was the first ever attempt at a poker bot. Created by Mike “Mad Genius” Caro in 1984, this poker bot could actually be dubbed as the father of all poker bots. So who is Mike Caro? Well, his Wikipedia entry reads: “In 1978 he contributed 50 statistical tables to Doyle Brunson’s Super System and wrote that book’s chapter on draw poker. He acts as a consultant to many casinos, providing odds, and he helped develop the Poker Probe, the first serious commercial PC...

My Baddest Poker Beat Ever!

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My Baddest Poker Beat Ever!

We’ve all been there – having that one hand that you’re sure you’re going to win with so you say the three words every person at the table chasing hates to hear, “I’M ALL IN!”. Well I’m sure you all know what happens next so I am not going to dwell on that part. I was sitting at a low stakes table at the Daytona Beach Dog Track Poker Room and I got a Queen of hearts and a Ten of hearts. So I call and here comes the flop. Now I don’t remember what the suit of the flop...

The Life Of Stu Ungar (Part 3)

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The Life Of Stu Ungar (Part 3)

Stu Ungar was a gambling prodigy: breaking records, defeating champions, and becoming the best at every card game he ever played. However, his private life was in shambles. His father died when he was a young boy, he grew up mean and tough on the streets, and in 1986, even his marriage to long-time love Madeline crumbled. It was not the end of a string of personal losses and debilitating mistakes. His adopted son committed suicide after a high school prom. His drug problem escalated from “social” drugs to celebrate a big win, to an almost fatal overdose during the...

The Life Of Stu Ungar (Part 2)

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The Life Of Stu Ungar (Part 2)

Stuey the Kid (also called Stu Ungar) was one of the best poker players in history. However, his interest in poker was actually prompted by his genius in gin rummy. He was so good that casinos banned him from playing, because nobody wanted to join a table where he was seated. This led him to start playing poker. He was an excellent poker player, who dominated the tables and left those older and more experienced than him in a sweat. He enjoyed seeing the panic on their faces – the hope, the sudden realization that they would lose, the desperation....

The Life Of Stu Ungar (Part 1)

Articles / History / Insights / Players / Stories

The Life Of Stu Ungar (Part 1)

He was called “Stuey the Kid”, and was one of the best poker and gin rummy players in history. Unfortunately, his skill at the tables was matched only by a string of poor personal decisions that left him in debt. When he was found dead in 1998, at just 45 years old, he had lost all of the $33 million he had accumulated over the years. Stuart Errol Ungar was born on September 8, 1953. His father, Ido Ungar, was a bookie, and the young Stu learned the game at an age when most boys were playing baseball in their...

Could You Play Online Poker For A Living?

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Could You Play Online Poker For A Living?

If you’re that much of a poker enthusiast, you have to admit it, one of your lifelong dreams is surely to play poker for a living. Come to think of it, almost everyone in this entire world has a similar dream. Find a job that will pay you for doing the thing that you love most and have fun while doing it. It’s not that much different, wanting to play poker for a living. Is it really possible to live off poker, though? More specifically, would it be possible to earn a living playing online poker? If we were to...

I Bet My Wife in a Poker Game and Lost!

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I Bet My Wife in a Poker Game and Lost!

I’m sure you’ll have heard poker stories like this before… A gambler is so much into a game but ends up having a bad streak. He loses his cool and is desperate to make a comeback, convinced that the next hand will be THE hand to make him. So there he is, with no more money to put on the table. What does he do? He bets something else of value. Remember the latest James Bond flick, which I actually labeled a poker movie in an article just recently? Remember that poker game between that Greek guy and Agent 007?...

Poker Movies: Rounders

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Poker Movies: Rounders

Released in 1998, Rounders is perhaps the best poker movie in the last 20 years. With Matt Damon and Edward Norton as the protagonists and John Malkovich as the antagonist, you cannot go wrong. If you are an avid poker player, there is really no need to explain what a rounder is. However, for the benefit of those who are in the dark as to the term, a rounder is a person who plays cards for a living. In fact, a rounder plays cards as his only means of living. In the movie, Matt Damon plays a former rounder, Mike...

Poker Movies: Maverick

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Poker Movies: Maverick

Though not exactly about tips on playing poker, Maverick shows the whole picture of the adventurous life of a gambler in the old days in the West. This movie was released in the mid 90s, 1994 to be exact. As opposed to the past two movies we have featured, this one is not all that serious. In fact, Maverick is a comedy and Western movie combined. It has Mel Gibson in it as the lead guy. Mel Gibson plays Bret Maverick (of course). His goal is to somehow come up with $25,000 so that he can enter a five-card draw...

Poker Movies: The Cincinnati Kid

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Poker Movies: The Cincinnati Kid

Though movies are not exactly an accurate reflection of reality, we have to admit that we can pick up a thing or two from them. More so, we can have a good time while we are it. The same thing goes for poker movies. We see the exceptional highs and lows of a poker game in these movies. We see brilliant moves that may not ever happen in real life. Yet that does not discount the fact that we can have a great time and maybe learn something from these movies. So here is the first part of a poker...

Phil Ivey – The Tiger Woods Of Poker

Articles / Insights / Players / Stories / WSOP

Phil Ivey – The Tiger Woods Of Poker

If Taylor Caby is the Harry Potter of Poker, then Phil Ivey is the Tiger Woods of this game. This young man earned this moniker because of the classy way he plays. At a very young age of 8, Phil Ivey learned the basics of poker from his grandfather who would deal him hands of penny-ante Five-Card Stud. Ivey’s grandpa wanted to teach the young child the dangers of gambling but ended up encouraging him to learn more about the game. Young kids and teenagers often profess what they want to be in the future when they grow up. The...

Kirill Gerasimov – Russia’s Top Poker Player

Articles / Info / Insights / Players / Stories / WSOP

Kirill Gerasimov – Russia’s Top Poker Player

At a young age of 35, Kirill Gerasimov has reached a level of popularity that many aspiring poker players have dreamed of. This young poker player was born in Moscow and used to be an insurance salesman. Whether or not that day job had any bearings on his poker skills, it is clear that Gerasimov is one of the more well known members of the poker world. Gerasimov’s success as a poker player is nothing short of phenomenal. In his own country, poker is not the popular game it is in the US. However, he became interested in poker and...

Doyle Brunson – Texas Dolly

Articles / History / Insights / Players / Stories / WSOP

Doyle Brunson – Texas Dolly

One of the members of the Texas Rounders, Doyle Brunson is a name legendary in the world of poker. Anyone who is really into the game will certainly know who he is. Also known as Texas Dolly, Doyle Brunson was born on August 10, 1933 in Longworth, Texas. It seemed at first that Doyle Brunson would live a “normal” life – with a 9 to 5 job with a sales company. However, he was invited to play a seven stud game on his first day at work and he realized he could earn more than a month’s wages in a...

Amarillo Slim – The First Poker TV Star

Articles / History / Insights / Players / Stories / WSOP

Amarillo Slim – The First Poker TV Star

Amarillo Slim wasn’t always known by this name. Born Thomas Austin Preston, Jr. in December 21, 1938 in Johnson, Arkansas, the first time he won the Main Event of the World Series of Poker was in 1972. Yet before he became famous for his tournament poker skills, Amarillo Slim was already quite well known in the poker world as a rounder. Together with his buddies Doyle Brunson and Sailor Roberts, he would go all over the United States, looking for some gambling action. Prior to the creation of the World Series of Poker, the game of poker didn’t really have...

Stu Ungar – Gambler, Addict, Loser, Legend

Articles / History / Insights / Players / Stories / WSOP

Stu Ungar – Gambler, Addict, Loser, Legend

If you chance upon a cluster of people at a party chitchatting about great poker players, there would be no doubt that you would hear the name Stu Ungar come up at least once. There are a lot of people in the poker world who actually consider Stu Ungar the greatest poker player of all time – second to none. Of course there would be those who would contest that but the greater majority would agree that Stu Ungar was one of a kind. Born in September 8, 1953 as Stuart Errol Ungar, he was nicknamed “The Kid.” He was...

Scotty Nguyen – A Poker Legend

Articles / Insights / Players / Stories / WSOP

Scotty Nguyen – A Poker Legend

Born as Thuan Nguyen in October 28, 1962 in Nha Trang Vietnam, Scotty’s life is reminiscent of thousands of other young children in the 70s. This was the time when the communists had a firm foothold on Vietnam and refugees from this country were spread all over the world – from other Asian countries to the United States. Scotty was one of the more fortunate ones as when he was 14, he had the chance to flee his native country for the United States. He initially lived in Chicago but soon moved to California and spent his growing up years...

Jamie Gold – Poker “Talent” Wins $12 million

Articles / Players / Stories / WSOP

Jamie Gold – Poker “Talent” Wins $12 million

Jamie Gold, former Hollywood talent agent, pulled an Oscar-worthy acting job and bluffed his way to winning the World Series of Poker in the 2006 event. He won $12 million. Gold was a sterling example of good psychological warfare. By convincing Paul Wasicka—a former restaurant manager—he had a weaker hand, he convinced him to push all his chips in the pot. Then, the moment of truth: Wasicka’s pocket 10s versus his pair of queens. Gold spontaneously screamed for joy. Gold was a master of bluffing during the entire tournament, and it literally paid off at the World Series of Poker...

Poker Alice – The First Great Female Poker Player

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Poker Alice – The First Great Female Poker Player

Poker was a popular pastime in the days of the Wild West, and Hollywood pays homage to this sport in many films that either revolve around poker or feature it in one of its scenes. What Hollywood doesn’t tell you is that not all the poker players were men. Sure, it was a macho society where gambling was almost a “man’s job”, but there were a few women ahead of their time who actually played it professionally. One of the most famous female poker players in the 1880s was Poker Alice. She was a smart, independent, and colorful woman who...

Poker Goes To Hollywood (Part 2)

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Poker Goes To Hollywood (Part 2)

Hollywood tends to distort poker with stereotypes and really stupid moves and tricks described by scriptwriters who obviously know nothing about the game. But once in a while, you come across a movie that does a decent job of bringing the excitement of poker to the big screen. Here are a few films to rent, enjoy, and be inspired by. One of the oldest poker movies in the history of Hollywood is the 1922 classic, Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler. It’s a bit kitschy, as you would expect from a movie this old. The premise is that psychic/arch criminal/madman Dr. Mabuse...

Poker Goes To Hollywood (Part 1)

Articles / History / Info / Insights / Stories

Poker Goes To Hollywood (Part 1)

Many movies incorporate the high-stakes, fast-action world of poker — hoping, perhaps, to spice up their plot and add edgy glamour to their characters. Unfortunately, many of those gambling scenes border on the ridiculous. Think of the downright ludicrous House of Games, the painfully stilted Honeymoon in Vegas, and the kitschy Maverick—all of which can make a serious gambler’s skin crawl, if only because of the way they completely dishonor the game and making it as tacky as the film themselves. Others, on the other hand, are very well done, and should be on any poker aficionado’s list of Movies...