Kirk Kerkorian, who controls MGM Mirage, the second largest casino company in the world (Harrahs is first), is one of Nevada’s best poker players.

Actually, I don’t know if he ever plays poker with cards today. But when it comes to trading multi-hundred million dollar casino properties, Kerkorian usually comes out a winner.

He started in 1962 by buying 80 empty acres on the Las Vegas Strip for $960,000... [read more]

“The price of poker is going up!” as Mike Sexton would say.

Just when you thought that action at the nosebleed tables was already ridiculously high, the stakes have been elevated. Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies engaged in several $3,000-$9,000 heads-up pot-limit Omaha matches. The two normally played with $500-$1,000 blinds, but they agreed to make it at least $9,000 to see the flop... [read more]

Mike is presenting six seminars at the Rio during the World Series of Poker and playing in some of the events.

Poker personality, columnist, and WSOP Media director Nolan Dalla has been introducing Mike and regaled the audience with a tale about Mike from 15 years ago.

Mike was giving a seminar at a restaurant, and as occasionally befalls such events, the audio equipment went on the blink.

Mike usually manages to discover a way to make the most of a bad situation... [read more]

The old Beach Boy song “I Get Around” comes to mind when describing my job as a columnist and sales representative for Poker Player Newspaper. Much of my time is spent on the road traveling to countless poker rooms throughout the United States. Navigating new cities and states is always an adventure and oftentimes a challenge.

Luckily, my technology toolbox, stocked with a GPS, Blackberry and laptop, help me find any destination with a minimum of time spent on getting lost! Recently I acquired a great new tool, a website called USPokerDirectory... [read more]

Tournament Highlights:

Event Headlines –

1. David “Gunslinger” Bach Wins First WSOP Gold Bracelet

2. 2009 H.O... [read more]

If you have watched any of ESPN’s coverage of the World Series of Poker you have heard the voice of Davin Anderson, the 25th place finisher at the 2004 Main Event, shouting, “This is the greatest tournament in the world!” As the WSOP celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, there is no one who could dispute that claim. But why is it that the WSOP holds such a lofty position among poker tournaments?

In terms of sheer numbers, no other poker event comes close. Last year’s WSOP attracted 58,720 players from 118 different countries vying for a prize pool of almost $200 million, roughly the gross domestic product of the Cook Islands. The WSOP is responsible for making 129 millionaires and dozens of poker celebrities... [read more]

Tournament Killer Poker By The Numbers: The Keys to No-Limit Hold ‘em Success
by Tony Guerrera
Lyle Stuart (2008), 276 pp ISBN 978-0818407239, $14.95

Tony Guerrera’s latest work, Tournament Killer Poker By The Numbers: The Keys to No-Limit Hold ‘em Success puts forth a text that aims at the use of numbers for those who need that extra something to make their hold ’em game work. His approach is keyed to reading and adapting to opponents with specific information on why it’s vital to understand the blind and payout structure. He discusses hand distribution and probability, including permutations, factorials, combinations, the binomial distribution, approximations, independence and clumping... [read more]