With the explosion of poker in the US, it probably isn't too hard to find new games for anyone with a bit of initiative. I've previously mentioned meetup as a pretty good option.

One of the downsides to meetup is that it is fairly labor-intensive; meetups are only once a month, at which you go out to some bar or restaurant to meet folks, and hopefully find some games you can play in at a later date.

To get a sense of meetup's success in aggregating poker players, the Austin meetup is now #3 in the nation, with 530 members. That's way up from the 10 members it had in July 2003, to the 70 it had in August 2003, to 250 in December 2004.

A lower-effort option that has also exploded is Yahoo! Groups -- I hadn't searched around for a while and found that now just about any city in the US has at least one, reasonably-sized Yahoo! Group around poker. So, if you are looking to find games, Yahoo! Groups may be a good low-rent alternative to meetup for your city. Just do a search for "boston poker" or whatever city you are looking for. Link

The advice I give to anybody linking up with strangers to play poker is: ask questions up front about structure, etiquette, buyins, etc. Make sure you're specific, and that you understand what you are looking for in a game. If you haven't played in person before, ask the host if it's OK for you to come by and check out the game before you buy in, if that makes you more comfortable. If you don't like the vibe of the host or the game, just don't play -- there are TONS of games in any city in the US these days so you have plenty of choice.

Another thing to bear in mind is that open forums for poker games like meetup and Yahoo! Groups tend to have an overrepresentation of folks who are running raked games -- many people do it for a living or semi-living. So decide if you are willing to play in a raked game (besides the obvious consideration that money is being taken from the game, raked games are illegal in many states). Ask the host about the rake, and if they don't give you a straight answer that's also probably a red flag.

Games have wildly different character depending on the personalities of the host and the players, so the most important thing is to find a group that's compatible with what you want out of a game.

I'm pretty sure being a marketing exec for Virgin Atlantic is either the best or worst job in the world...

Gyms, beauty parlors, private double beds and an in-flight casino will be featured on Virgin Atlantic's giant Airbus A380 planes when it starts flying them in three years' time, the airline's half-owner Richard Branson said.

"Since you have gaming and you have private double beds maybe there are two ways of getting lucky on a Virgin plane," entrepreneur Branson told reporters in France.

Link

I'm sure there are some interesting cases where these flights will become the most viable casino option for residents of a particular city and you've got people flying on miles just to get some casino action...

Slate has a very negative, but funny and well-written, review of Tilt, written by someone who appears to have at least a strong interest in poker and a great cynical sense of humor. Link

There are a lot of good little nuggets in the review, but this one most caught my eye:

Anyone who's watched professional poker knows it's filled with nothing but fascinating, superintelligent weirdos. These folks are blessed with the sort of mind that could calculate Wall Street futures, but are cursed with the sort of soul that longs for late-night Las Vegas card rooms.

My challenge to you for this week: re-write the above quote, but write it about 1-5 seven card stud players. Copy and paste into the comments section to start yours:

Anyone who's watched 1-5 seven card stud knows it's filled with nothing but _____, _____ _____s. These folks are blessed with the sort of _____ that could _____, but are cursed with the sort of _____ that _____.

I guess it's kind of a poker mad lib. If you happen to enjoy 1-5 seven card stud, feel free to write it about your own pet hate game.

I'm back from a vacation to Australia. The big personal news from the hiatus is that I'm engaged... congratulations are welcome although I doubt they'll get much better than this: "May your marriage be pocket A's, and your honeymoon be narrated by Vince Van Patten." Thanks, Jules! Although I can say without a doubt that Vince Van Patten will not be welcome on our honeymoon. Since I'm sure someone is thinking it, neither will Shana Hiatt.

The big poker news appears to be that WSOP champ Greg Raymer got attacked in a casino -- and scared off the attackers by yelling for security?!

Raymer was returning to his room about 2 a.m. when two men approached, the report said. As he opened the door to the room, they tried to push him in.

But the heavyset Raymer resisted and began struggling with the men, the report said. As he was fighting, one of the men pulled out a gun and said: "We just want the money."

But Raymer didn't give up, and yelled for security, causing the men to flee.

Link (thanks, Marc!) As anyone who knows of my time spent in West Philadelphia can attest, I'm a fan of running away from gun-wielding attackers, but I'm not sure if I'd be able to hold back two guys trying to barge into my hotel room and be able to call security at the same time. If Raymer didn't have most poker players' respect before, I hope he has it now.

The other big news, also already known to anybody who follows poker news, or has watched at least one commercial break on ESPN in the last two months, is the debut of Tilt, the ESPN poker drama, this Thursday at 9P/8C. One pre-debut review pans it as over-cliched:

But every character is practically a caricature, Madsen's included. Cibrian and Williams have a particularly juicy exchange, after (again) challenging each other, even as they're working together to bring down the Matador.

Williams' character, Clark, stares Cibrian's Eddie down and says, "When this is all done I can't wait to go head to head with you like Creed and Rocky at the end of III."

"Ding, ding," Eddie replies.

Whew. Rocky III references. You don't hear those every day. With good reason.

Link

I don't care if every reviewer this week calls Tilt the worst television since The Brady Brides or that weird guy with the toilet seat around his head on Austin public access, it's on my TiVO.

And I'm not so sure criticizing Rocky III is really solid ground. In recent memory, I've heard friends and poker players quote far more dubious sources, including High Anxiety, The Sandlot Kids, and Gargamel. I am a little skeptical of Michael Madsen's ability to play a lead in a TV series, but there are plenty of washed up movie actors who found moderate success in lead TV roles. Besides which, Madsen to me seems kinda like a cross between a 30-years-younger John Bonetti and Mike Matusow so I find him more buyable as a poker pro than John Corbett was.

Will anyone ever convince Ben Affleck to play the lead in a poker movie/series? He could pull it off, and be a pretty decent advisor on which lines in the script would never be heard at a poker table, something most poker entertainment apparently lacks.

This post is beginning to rival Iggy for length:point ratio, but I have one more item to share. A story from my great friend and long-time poker rival, JZ.

Over the break, JZ was in Vegas for a boys' weekend of hard-partying and gambling. As often happens after one too many jack and cokes, he found himself at the casino war table. You may remember casino war as the worst game in the casino, or alternatively the best poker blog on the internet. Depends how hazy your memory is.

OK, the game was actually pai gow poker, but trust me, any Vegas table story is much better if you pretend the game is casino war.

Anyway, as also often happens after one too many jack and cokes, JZ struck up a conversation with some of his fellow players which walked the thin line between cordial ebullience and blatant insult. One player in particular apparently thought JZ was all about cordial ebullience and not blatant insult, and even was trash-talking back, so JZ apparently decided to up the ante and see how much trash this jouster could take.

JZ described the guy as "a big guy, with this massive godawful gold ring on his hand." Apparently this guy was in Vegas for the big rodeo, and was all done up in a cowboy-type getup, belt buckle and hat and all. JZ had been successfully trashtalking his outfit but began to notice how huge the ring was. So, naturally, he thought he had a winner. "Hey that's a nice ring... how much you think they'd give you for that thing at a pawn shop?" was the line, which elicited several sniggers from the players, and apparently just a loud laugh but no other response from the player in question. If such a response seems normal to you, you haven't trash-talked enough gaudy Vegas jewelry -- the wearer always has an overly sensitive comeback.

JZ doesn't think much of it, and keeps playing hands and sucking down the jack and cokes. A while later, a new player comes to the table and looks directly over at JZ's ring-wearing friend.

"Hey, I think I know you!" A lightbulb flickers in JZ's head.

"You're a baseball player, right??" Lightbulb comes on briefly.

"Yep," ring-man says.

"Josh Beckett, right?"

"Yep," and now the lightbulb explodes.

Josh Beckett. As in Josh Beckett, the Florida Marlin pitcher. As in Josh Beckett, the Florida Marlin pitcher who pitched a five-hit shutout of the Yankees. In the 2003 World Series (of baseball :). Which the Marlins won. And received championship rings for.

JZ didn't remember his response to this, but I'm pretty certain it was along the lines of "Ah." Followed by perhaps a few quiet hands before his trash-talking started up again.

For those of you who don't know what a World Series ring looks like, here is the Marlins 2003 ring:

Yowza! In JZ's defense, that is one massive, godawful gold ring. In Beckett's defense, how could you not read the huge "MARLINS" and "WORLD SERIES" on that ring?? In JZ's defense, jack and coke has been shown in clinical trials to cause temporary fuzziness of vision. In Beckett's defense, he won the World Series and so has the right to wear whatever gaudy championship jewelry the league chooses to dispense. And he's a multi-millionaire sports star, so gaudy gold is a statutory requirement.

As a side note for folks who would recognize Josh Beckett at a casino war table, apparently the Marlins have been considering a move to Las Vegas which may also explain Beckett's presence there.

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