I’m a writer currently working on a book about learning to play poker on a tight budget. I’ve been playing/learning poker for less than four months, using play-money sites to learn the mechanics of the game, the eventual aim is to graduate to low stakes live tables.
I’d be really interested in hearing from other members of the Replay Poker community, and learn about their reasons and motivations for playing poker, cash or play-money. I’d like to hear your stories; how you got into play, do you use play-money sites for practice/learning or just for fun, do you have any specific ambitions for your poker playing?
Hi Julie. Welcome to Replay Poker. If your writing a book I would visit this persons thread. He is a so called authority on poker and is very colorful. Perhaps he could co - author with you. Here is a link to one of his questions and answers thread.
Best of luck
Craig
I am the “so called” professional that craig mentioned.
Let’s see, I started dealing poker and Blackjack in 1973 on the Strip in Las Vegas. I worked in three different Mob controlled casinos on the Strip. I then worked for Tom Bowling at the Bingo Palace later to become the Palace Station, when he practically invented daily poker tournaments in the 1980s.
Card Player Magazine started poker cruises in the late 1980s and I was dealing on Poker Cruise number one out of Miami.
I then had a thought and created my own Nitch in the casino industry. New casinos were popping up all over the place and they were stripping Las Vegas bare of people in the industry with experience. Just then, the Landmark casino in Vegas wanted to expand, put in more tables and add weekly poker tournaments. I was the round peg in the round hole. About two years later, Tom bowling was given the job of Poker room Manager at the just being built Las Vegas Hilton Poker Room.
Round Hole. A few years later the Hilton was running just fine, and I heard that the Spotlight 29 Casino was opening up at Palm Springs, California and needed help big time. Round Hole.
I eventually became the Table Games Manager myself there when my Boss got a better offer elsewhere. After a few years that place was shipshape so I started looking for someplace new that could use me. (Mind you, all this time I was still taking working vacations to do Poker cruises. Free cruises and get paid for going about 3 cruises a year for about 15 years). I then found out that the Chumash Casino outside of Santa Barbara was expanding their number of table games and wanted someone with experience to start up poker tournaments, starting with writing the booklets on how to run a poker tournament. Oh yeah, and then they needed someone to train their dealers on how to deal a poker tournament. After 3 years there, things stated to get routine, so I started looking around again. To tell you the truth, I had kind of over worked myself, starting up all these places from day one for the last 10 years, so I was just looking for a nice easy dealing job to hide out in for a couple of years to catch my breath, so to speak, with no responsibilities. Just deal poker for 8 hours during the day, go play a poker tournament at another casino about every other evening, and just chill. Then the fickle finger of fate showed up and Arizona changed its compact with the tribes and added Blackjack. I looked around, and could not decide if I wanted to work at Casino Arizona in Scottsdale or at Fort McDowell, both just on the edge of Phoenix, Az. I knew both of the Card Room Managers from Las Vegas years ago. Casino AZ was just Poker and Fort Mcdowell had one Manager running both Poker and Blackjack. I walked into the training area at Fort McDowell for the new blackjack dealers and saw the Card Room Manager, Mike Burns, standing in the middle of the room talking on his cell phone. I walked over and he put his hand over the phone and looked at me. I said, “I heard you might need some help with your new expanded room?” He did not say a word. While still looking at me, into his phone he said, " You will never guess who I just Hired? David Rogers from Las Vegas!. Yeah, really!" I guess that was my audition for the job. I retired out of that job a few years later.
Oh, I forgot to mention. I dropped out of working for almost three years and played poker in Vegas for a living. Bought a Corvette and took up scuba diving while still dealing on Poker Cruises. That was just before I was called and asked to come work in Palm springs.
So yeah, I guess you could call me a “so called authority” on the subject of Poker and Blackjack.
That story was really for anyone who wondered if I really knew what I was talking about.
Well you haven’t written your book yet so I thought that was appropriate and I also thought it was nice of me to give you a plug to that girl who needs someone with expertise in the field and perhaps get you off your behind and actually get that book going.
I’m working my way through your thread. Craig’s right, you should write a book. I’m trying to manufacture something to write about but you’ve got it right there.
I’m sure I’ll be pestering you with questions in the near future.
I’m more than happy to offer advice/help with writing matters, although my experience is with fiction rather than biography (I’ve just had my 4th novel published). If you want to talk books and writing we should probably move to the Off Topic section of the forum.
I myself read a lot of Historical Fiction, plus Sci/fic, Detective, pure escapism stuff.
I have an author for you.
His Name is, “James Swain”.
One of his books, just to name one, is “Deadman’s Poker”
His books might give you some off the wall ideas.
He has about a half dozen books with the same lead character.
Picture an Atlantic City Detective who specializes in casino crime. This happens in real life. He retires and moves to Florida and starts his own detective agency specializing in casino crimes wherever they may happen around the world.
This type of private detective happens in real life. Tell you what, I will Write on Replay Poker a real story of this actually happening in California a few years back when the local Tribal Police were stumped on how casinos were losing money steadily by an elderly Chinese couple all up and down the state. Look for it when I post it in the next couple of days. A true story.
I already have a plot for the book I wish to write.
Have you ever read any books by “Clive Cussler”
He put a new spin on his books (I think that I have about 20 written by him). He wrote what I call historical fiction.
He took a major piece of history and wrote a fictional story surrounding it. “Raise the Titanic” would be a perfect example. He took the sinking of the Titanic, made up a fictional story that happened before the sinking that had nothing to do with the ship, put his characters on board and they went down with the ship. He then fasts forwards to the present and invents a reason to raise the titanic to recover the items that went down with the ship. He incorporates the far past, the past and the present be blend the three together into a darn good book.
Hi Julie - the play is typically very poor here - I play here to crush the fish for fun (hence my username). This site is a good training tool on how to punish calling stations because most of the players on here have that play style.
