East Bay's Friedman takes WPT title
By Arnold Warner

With a few exceptions, Prahlad Friedman has generally avoided poker’s spotlight. Many of his biggest successes have occurred in the relative obscurity of live games played online. However, now that he’s added a World Poker Tour title to a resume that includes a WSOP bracelet and two deep runs in the Main Event, he’s finding the attention isn’t so bad after all.

On Aug. 26 Friedman was the last contestant remaining in the WPT’s Legends of Poker tournament at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, Calif. There were 279 entries creating a prize pool of $2,650,500 with Friedman taking the winner’s share of $1,009,000. This happened only a few weeks after he took 64th place (and $90,344) out of the 6,494 entries in the WSOP Main Event.. click here to read the whole article!

POY contest nears final day
By Barbara Engler

As The Cardroom’s annual NorCal Poker Tournament Player of the Year contest heads for the homestretch (the last day of the contest is Nov. 30), it seemed like a good time to point out how much this endeavor has grown in just two years. We’ve had over 900 tournaments to compile points from and the number of players participating has more than doubled from last year.

It’s not always smooth sailing though. There have been questions about how and when points were awarded and we welcome these inquiries as a sign that there is enthusiasm out there about the competition and who will eventually be named the champion. We work as closely as we can with the cardrooms submitting results to ensure that the information we receive is as accurate and inclusive as possible. click here to read the whole article!

Poker Ambassador
Nothing beats a good grand opening
By Randall Rapp

Two casinos in Northern California have opened new poker rooms recently, and in both cases they have plenty to feel grand about. It’s not that they didn’t have poker rooms before, it’s just that the new ones are bigger and better than their previous digs.

But first, to other business….  click here to read the whole article!

Tales from the Floor
Poker Counseling 101
By Johnny Coldeck

“I can’t beat this game!” This is the most common mantra among the regulars at our little club, especially from players who routinely can and do beat the game.

Big Ed, a former WWF wrestler turned poker player is a solid player who has made his living off the weaker players at our room for over a year, grinding out profits nearly every session. After a runner-runner beat in our $5/10 game this week, he stormed out, cell phone in one hand, text-messaging everyone who might read it that he will never play in our room again … again. click here to read the whole article!

Virtual Roundtable
How superstitious are poker players?

Editor’s note: We actually sent this questionnaire out several months ago, but our pages have been so jam packed with editorial we haven’t had space for it the last several issues. Fortunately, we have room for it now!

With the possible exception of baseball players, poker enthusiasts seem to be some of the most superstitious people on the planet. With this edition of our Virtual Roundtable, we’re hoping that you’ll take a few minutes to share with us some of your own superstitions and those you’ve come across while sitting at the tables.

1) How do feel about superstitions in general and whether they can affect the luck factor while playing poker?

2) Do you have any superstitions or specific routines you follow to enhance either your play or your enjoyment of the game?

3) Do you have any good poker stories involving superstitious behavior that you can share, either as a principal in the story or merely as an observer? click here to read the whole article!

Tells-n-Lies
Coming out as a poker player
By Victor Shaw

I have been playing poker most of my adult life. I played the game before playing poker was acceptable or fashionable. People looked down on me when they heard I played poker professionally, assuming that I have a gambling problem. For the last 15 years I have played poker and tried to keep a low profile while doing it.

I enjoy the challenge that poker presents. I really love the fact that you keep score with real money. I was a professional poker player for almost five years. All of my income was generated playing poker with a few other casino activities thrown in to supplement the income. I was always telling some sort of lie or half truth about what I did for a living. click here to read the whole article!

Book Review
New poker autobiographies "tell all"
By Raymond T. Akers

Not every poker book is filled with instruction on how to become the next Doyle Brunson or Mike Matusow. In the case of two new volumes, they show what it’s like to be Brunson and Matusow.

In “Check-Raising the Devil” by Mike Matusow with Amy Calistri and Tim Lavalli (Cardoza Publishing) you get to see “The Mouth” in all his messed up glory. It starts with him living in a trailer park in Las Vegas, working at his parents’ furniture store and chasing away quarters at night playing video poker.

One fortuitous day someone told him about Texas Hold’em poker and showed him the basics. “As I sat there and watched, it was like someone was showing me a jigsaw puzzle piece by piece. I had to learn more about the pieces, but I could already see the big picture.” click here to read the whole article!