poker

It’s not just a cheesy painting anymore. Via Ed Miller’s blog:

Like the first commenter at Ed’s post, I can’t agree with Jilli-dog’s choices to call down this hand with an inferior flush draw. At the same time, her success in this hand makes me wonder if Yorkies could be responsible for some of the horrendous bad beats I’ve taken on PokerStars lately.

This has huge implications. All the poker world whining about amateurs and internet players seems a little silly now, doesn’t it? I predict that within five years, a dog will win the WSOP. You heard it here first.

You know that poker movie Lucky You that came out a few weeks ago? I was all but certain it was going to suck based solely on its preview, although as a poker enthusiast I genuinely wanted to be wrong. Apparently I wasn’t. The always-insightful critic Mike D’Angelo not only explains why, but describes the overall problem with dramatizing poker on film.

I’ve been a fan of Mike’s writing since I first encountered him on the now-defunct Cinemarati.org about six years ago, when I believe he was writing reviews for Time Out New York. Unsurprisingly to me, he has since progressed to become regular columnist for Esquire, as well as a contributor to Nerve.com and the Las Vegas Weekly. At least, that’s as much of his resume as I can discern from his web site, which is where I go to keep up with his latest output.