Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Deal Me In 2-17

Here's the column for this week. Major pimpage to 100,000+ newspaper subscribers for five poker blogs, so if any of you in this column haven't linked to my blog, feel free to do so. :)

(Yes, my linkage is woefully inadequate. Maybe I'll correct that one of these days.)

DEAL ME IN

By Johnny Kampis

I gave you a link recently to one of the best poker blogs, Guinness and Poker (guinnessandpoker.blogspot.com), where the proprietor, who goes by Iggy, really drinks lots of Guinness and plays lots of poker. In between guzzles, he finds the time to provide one of the most informative poker Web logs on the Internet. And taking time from his writing, Iggy helped me pick out his top five poker blogs. Below is the list, with additional comments by him. Follow the links and enjoy.

Poker Works (http://table-tango.pokerworks.com/)

Linda, a long-time dealer at the Bellagio, provides perhaps the best inside information on the Web for the poker aficionado. Anyone who plays any serious poker in Las Vegas darkens the doors of the Bellagio poker room, so Linda finds many great stories to share. She recently blogged some on the big game between the top pros and Texas billionaire banker Andy Beal.

Iggy says, “This veteran high-limit dealer at the Bellagio has seen and heard it all. She is the blogmother.”

Tao Poker (http://taopoker.blogspot.com)

Paul McGrupp, a novelist from New York City, decided to combine his love of writing and playing poker into what has become among the best read blogs on the Internet. He spent most of last summer at the World Series of Poker live blogging the action there and his became the go-to site for the latest tournament information. He now travels the tournament circuit, blogging and churning out freelance articles, while also sharing his personal successes and failures.

Iggy says, “Hunter S. Thompson meets Hemingway. Pauly is living the fantasy life. People should pay money to live life like Pauly.”

Up For Poker (http://www.upforanything.net/poker)

An irreverent look at poker and life, this blog is co-written by three journalists from South Carolina and is as likely to discuss the whereabouts of Steve Guttenberg as the merits of going all-in preflop with ace-king.

Iggy says, “Three gifted writers, um, telling their tales.”

Cards Speak (http://cardsspeak.servebeer.com/)

Known online as HDouble, this writer named Hank provides one of the best blogs that could help you improve your game. Deep into philosophy, Hank writes often about how having the right attitude will help you improve your play. Where else can you read about the poker wisdom contained within the movie The Good, the Bad and the Ugly?

Iggy says, “He doesn’t write often but when he does, Jesus. He’s our Abdul Jalib, best praise I can give.”

Double As (http://doubleas.blogspot.com/)

Doubleas shares his personals poker development on his blog. For the last couple of years, he’s written about how his game has developed and what lessons he’s learned, his struggles and successes in an attempt at poker mastery.

Iggy says, “Hank is to limit as doubleas is to NL.”

Reach Johnny Kampis at jkampis@hotmail.com.

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