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Monday, December 13, 2010

Cowboys Full


Cowboys Full:  The Story of Poker
James McManus
Picador, Softcover, $18.00

Let's cut right to the chase.  You have 12 shopping days until Christmas.  If there is a poker fan on your gift list, this right here is the answer to your gift giving questions.

The folks at Picador were kind enough to send me a copy of Cowboys Full to review.  I have been working my way through it, slowly, and it's been a very enjoyable read.  You may know Jim McManus for his book Positively Fifth Street, his account of a trip to cover the World Series of Poker and the murder trial of the killer of casino heir Ted Binion.  McManus knows poker. 

Cowboys Full covers huge swaths of poker history, from riverboat gamblers to today's internet whiz kids.  It's like having an encyclopedia of the history of the game at your finger tips, with many of the great moments and characters covered in brilliant detail.  It's just a good read.

If you enjoy poker, get this book.

Lifetime Supply of Runbad

I didn't feel like doing much this weekend so I played a fair amount of poker.  Lord only knows why.

As I am short on dollars to dish out I will spare you most bad beat stories.  I have found myself wondering, though, how it is possible to run this bad.  I lose to a dazzling array of rivered two outers, four outers, you name it.  It's just disgusting.  Sure I play bad sometimes but it's the brutalizations after I get big chunks of money in good that stick and sting.

Alright.  One.

Right at the end of my session last night I had snared an idiot perfectly, holding the nut flush on the turn.  His action could not have screamed "I HAS A BIG POCKET PAIR" any louder.  Donktard wasn't getting away from it.  The board was paired but I had a dead perfect read.  A king hit the river and I said out loud (to nobody, obviously) "when he has KK I'm gonna be mad."

Sure enough, the crumbs left in the villain's stack go in, I make the crying call and am shown king f&*(ing king.

I mad.