Here it is, Deal Me In

OK, I'm finally going to start posting my newspaper columns on here. These run weekly in papers in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Houma and Thibodaux, La. and Lakeland, Fla. And for these I am richly compensated -- not. It gets my name out there, anyway.

DEAL ME IN

By Johnny Kampis

It shouldn’t be too surprising considering poker’s popularity these days that there are a number of Web sits with rich and helpful content. Let’s look at some of the best.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/ubbthreads.php

Started by poker theorists David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth, this is the best discussion group for poker theory, and various categories are broken down by subject, making it easy to find what you are seeking. If you want to debate the merits of pushing all in with Ace-King in no limit Texas hold’em with Daniel Negreanu or Greg Raymer, this is the place to be.

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.gambling.poker

This is the best site on which to view the Usenet discussion group rec.gambling.poker, known as RGP for short. RGP’s best days are behind it. Several of today’s pros, like Chris Ferguson and Paul Phillips, used to post here, but now it’s filled with spam and political discussion. It’s a very popular and cluttered site, but if you wade through the muck, there’s still plenty of useful strategy discussion and general poker discussion within. RGP can also be viewed at recpoker.com. And if you see FellKnight, tell him TuscaloosaJohnny sent you.

www.cardplayer.com

This home site for the popular poker magazine is a variable cornucopia of useful information. Not only can you read all of the magazine’s current and past articles here, but you can check the upcoming tournament schedule, get daily tournament updates, play poker for fun and prizes and read about any other poker news. This site has the poker odds calculator I mentioned in an earlier column and also has its own discussion forum.

www.pokerpages.com

Though not as clean looking as the Card Player Web site, Poker Pages has much of the same content, with tournament reports and strategy columns galore. This site also features a section on the history of the World Series of Poker for poker nostalgia buffs. There’s no shortage of online poker site ads either, which clutters the pages.

http://guinnessandpoker.blogspot.com/

A hub for poker content, this is probably the best of the poker blogs. Started a couple of years ago by a player named Tom in Cincinnati who goes by Iggy, this site quickly became popular among the recreational set. Rich in both entertaining general poker content and personal stories of win and woe, it’s a fascinating read. Tom also has links to hundreds of other poker blogs, some more worthwhile than others. I’ll discuss some of the better ones in next week’s column.

Reach Johnny Kampis at jkampis@hotmail.com.