As you might imagine emotions run the gamut at a poker table. Today a young fellow at my table was in the big blind with 2/6 off suit. By the turn he had two pair and by the river he was beat by a flush. He rolled over his cards and thinking he had won the hand jumped up and started doing a happy dance until the dealer drew his attention to the fact that he had lost. He sheepishly sat back down and went on to the next hand. He was dealt a pair of queens. By the river there was a potential straight on the board. I rolled over my hand and he thought I had the straight, so he slams his pocket queens down on the table, jumps up and storms off. The dealer calls him back to claim his pot. The fool and his money were soon parted!

I played some Hold’em at Canterbury Card Club yesterday with a great deal of success. People were giving money away at my table and of course I was obliged to take it. I got a few good hands but mostly good flops and I was on occasion the despised River Rat. One of the dealers asked us what’s the difference between a guy praying in a casino and a guy praying at church. The guy at the casino really means it. Speaking of casinos check out a fun blog MaryQueenofSlots.com

Today I drove out to the new Running Aces Harness Park in Columbus, MN. I am really impressed with their card room. They have about 25 tables and spread limit Hold’em and Omaha games, 2/4 to 30/60. The harness racing is done for the season but the table games and poker are going strong. They currently have a big celebrity type tournament coming up on Sept 11 and are running satellites for it today. One of the Minnesota Timberwolves was there promoting the tournament. I actually won a little money in a juicy 3/6 hold’em game. It was worth the drive.

Sometimes you just have to think of poker as an expensive hobby. At least my last two outings have fallen into that category. When you think it just has to get better, it may just be more of the same. Charles Lamb says “Cards are war, in disguise of a sport.” Today I lost the battle….Do you hear violins?

Hey! Just got back from Las Vegas. They’re tearing down the old and putting up the new. There’s so much construction on the Strip it looks like a war zone. I was there for a family wedding event so there were more important things to do than play cards. But, I did play for a while at the Mirage. I love playing with the tourists. They play lots of hands and build up the pots chasing their straights and flushes. Just an FYI, those who chase straights and flushes go home in buses! I did see Brad Garrett perform at the Mirage. He plays the older brother Robert on “Everybody Loves Raymond”. His brand of comedy is raw but very, very funny. If you ever go to his show don’t sit toward the front unless you are thick skinned.

The Legends of Poker tournament is currently being played at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, CA. The LIPS (Ladies International Poker Series) event #5 was held last Sunday and poker pro Barbara Enright was triumphant. But, what was even more interesting was who finished in seventh place, John Vorhaus. He is a renowned poker journalist and is writing an article for Card Player Magazine about men playing in women only tournaments. Besides being the only guy, he was dressed in drag. I bet that might have rubbed a few people the wrong way.

You know how some times it seems if you didn’t have bad luck you wouldn’t have any at all. I’m in late position with a beautiful hand KJ of spades. The flop comes down rainbow 567 with one spade. The turn and river are runner runner spades. I raise and get reraised and lose to the AQ of spades. What are the odds?

The 2008 WSOP is over, sort of. The final nine players will be coming back November 9th to determine the winner. None of the nine are familiar names, one is Russian, one Dane, two Canadians and five Americans. They’ll be dividing up $32 million with the winner getting $9.1 million. Waiting 4 months seems anti- climactic but having the final table coincide with the tournament TV coverage should generate more interest. The current leader is Dennis Phillips a salesman from Cottage Hills , IL.

I had a good run at a 2/4 table last night at Canterbury Card Club. It was a roller coaster session until I finally strung together 5 pots. I was sorry to see that dealer leave the table, sure enough the magic was gone. Anyway I left a winner for a change and had some fun too.

Today is day six of the Main Event. According to the WSOP website there are 3225 players left out of 6844. Ray Romano took a big hit about an hour ago. His pocket Kings were crushed by Christopher Bonita’s pocket Aces. Romano only has about 10,000 chips left. Phil Hellmuth made a grand entrance to the tournament Main Event on Sunday. Dressed as an eleven star Army General, he arrived in a military jeep flanked by eleven lovely ladies dressed in army fatigues. Of course the significance of the number eleven is his eleven WSOP bracelets. What an ego!