Post Archives Tag: humor
Walter Tine Gets Stoned
In the latest installment of my poker serial, our hero finds himself in a Seven-Card Stud game, among other new experiences:
… Read full post“First time?” Mike laughed good naturedly at his hesitation. “It’s already lit, just suck it a little, like a straw. There you go. Wait, wait, don’t blow it
Oliver Plays Poker
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I’ve mentioned my cousin’s family a few times, here and on the podcast. I believe their first blog appearance was at the start of my road trip to Las Vegas in 2013, with the most notable being the 2014 Las … Read full post
Volume 7 of The Thinking Poker Diaries Now Available!
Just in time for Christmas, the latest volume in The Thinking Poker Diaries is here. Whether you’re looking for a last-minute gift or an escape from the family, this mix of trip reports and strategy essays from the 2012 WSOP Main Event is just the ticket! It’s an honest and … Read full post
Episode 145: Clayton Fletcher Runs Deep
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Clayton Fletcher, who first appeared on Episode 74, is back to discuss his 96th place finish in the 2015 WSOP Main Event. Hear how he celebrated, how he dealt with a sudden reversal of fortune, and how his other career in stand-up … Read full post
Just Released! The Thinking Poker Diaries Volume 6
My sixth e-book tells the story of my 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event, in which I finished 53rd. Like the other volumes, it features an entertaining trip report from the tournament interspersed with essays discussing strategic concepts that play an important role in each day’s success.
Pick up … Read full post
Thinking Poker Diaries, Volume 5
Depending on your definition of exciting, you might be interested to hear that my latest book has hit the digital shelves! The fifth volume of The Thinking Poker Diaries chronicles my 87th place finish the 2010 WSOP Main Event. Day by day, it introduces the situations and opponents I encountered … Read full post
WSOP $1K Turbo
Delightful little tournament. As in the Millionaire Maker the day before, I found plenty of good spots in a short amount of time and finished with time left over to play cash.
The table was, perhaps not quite as good as the previous day’s, but pretty spectacular. I made good … Read full post
The Thinking Poker Diaries, Volume 4
Hot off the virtual presses, my latest e-book chronicling the 2009 WSOP Main Event is now available in the Amazon Kindle Store or from www.nitcast.com.
2009 wasn’t my best year in the Main Event – in fact it was one of my worst – but understanding the agony of … Read full post
Not Much More
Game is $3/$5, though we’ve been playing intermittently with a $10 straddle (which I actually don’t like because the maximum buy-in is $500 and the weakest players are already having no trouble finding ways to get their stacks so the straddle really just forces us to play pretty shallow). CO … Read full post
Thinking Poker Diaries Volume 3 On Sale Now!
The latest and greatest volume in my Thinking Poker Diaries is now available at nitcast.com or in the Amazon Kindle Store. This third volume in the series follows the same format as the first two, interspersing anecdotes from the tournament with strategy essays that discuss topics that came up … Read full post
Best of the Thinking Poker Podcast 2014
Nate and I are grateful to those of you who have listened to The Thinking Poker Podcast this year, whether you’re a regular follower, a sporadic listener, or just now discovering the show. I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite episodes of the year, in case you missed … Read full post
Twenty-Five Games, Two Great Hosts
As you may remember from his latest appearance on the podcast, Gareth Chantler is now in charge of the Full Tilt Poker Blog. He’s done a bang-up job on the content, including an interview with me and a collaboration with Carlos Welch. Nate’s first appearance there was commenting, … Read full post
The Thinking Poker Diaries, Volume 1
I’m excited to announce, to those who missed the news on Twitter and the podcast, that I’ve finally published a book! It’s based on my 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event, and it’s actually the first in a series of e-books compiling updated and revised versions of my most … Read full post
Episode 88: Andrew vs Nate
On Episode #88 of the Thinking Poker Podcast Andrew Brokos andNate Meyvis break down two hands that were submitted from the audience. One is a cash game hand from an underground joint in New York with a favorable preflop rake, and the other comes from a tournament.
Nate and … Read full post
Bad Beat Post
To supplement yesterday’s So Tilting moment, another sort of “bad beat” that irks me is when you make a good play that’s going to work against your primary target and then it turns out someone who will generally be a non-factor in the hand caught some unlikely hand and jacks … Read full post
So Tilting
The thing that tilts me the most these days is when terrible-for-the-game sour-faced nits get way more action than they “deserve” with their monster hands. I posted a few weeks ago a hand where I stacked off with QQ against the KK of a guy I suspected of being a … Read full post
Episode 76: “Doctor” Pauly McGuire
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You might know Pauly Maguire from his Tao of Poker blog. Or his Tao of Pauly blog. Or the Dope Stories podcast that he co-hosts with Shane Schleger (our interviews with Shane here and here). Or from his book Lost … Read full post
Bonus Podcast Plus New Bluffing Series on Tournament Poker Edge
If one podcast a week isn’t enough to make you sick of me, you can get an extra two hours this week. I joined RonFezBuddy and Killingbird on the Tournament Poker Edge Strategy Podcast. We talked about my background in poker plus a ton of strategy topics, from hand … Read full post
Overshadowed Again
I finally got around to writing my first article for Martin Harris‘ new project, Learn.PokerNews. It’s called Play Your Cards Close to Your Chest, and it deals with a common beginner’s mistake:
… Read full postOne of your first goals at the poker table should be to ensure that your opponents
Episode 59: Borgata Trip Report with Carlos Welch and Sean Lango
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Andrew, Carlos, and Sean share stories from their recent trip to Atlantic City. There’s plenty of strategy, from small-stakes cash game hands to big decisions in a six-handed bounty tournament and the $2700 Fall Poker Open Main Event. Plus the Nitcast … Read full post
Best of the Thinking Poker Podcast
Nate and I were flattered to be nominated for Best Podcast in the 2014 Bluff Reader’s Choice Awards. Hopefully this will prompt some new listeners to come check out the show, and with nearly 100 hours of content out there, it might be hard to know where to start.
In … Read full post
He Has to Have Something
My latest poker strategy article, He Has to Have Something, is now appearing in the November 2013 edition of Two Plus Two Magazine. It deals with a bit of sloppiness to which even otherwise good hand readers often fall prey:
… Read full post” The bottom line is that you need to
New Poker Strategy Articles
Just wanted to let you know about some recently published stuff you might be interested in:
WSOP 2013 Trip Report, Part 4: The Main Event – Unfortunately this is a lot shorter than it’s been in past years, but I did get to play a pretty famous player: “Usually, tough … Read full post
PLO8: Rested and Ready
I’m about a week behind on my WSOP trip reports, but I just want to interject with some exciting real-time news:
Today is the $1500 PLO8, the last WSOP event I’m going to play before the main. Although the series hasn’t been kind to me so far, I’m optimistic about … Read full post
Episode 21: Tubby Boots
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Something different today: Andrew interviews his grandmother about her brother, a 400-pound cross-dressing stand-up comedian with a love for all things gambling. The result is a moving, inspiring portrait of a life well-, if strangely, lived. Plus, some exciting announcements!
Tubby Boots … Read full post
The Wild Side
Just as I take my seat in the $1/$3/$6 game, I see a player curse, hurl his cards angrily into the muck, leap out of his chair, curse again, and kick the wall. Naturally curious, I look to the board to see what has happened and am surprised to find … Read full post
One of the Strangest Things I’ve Seen at the Poker Table
I’m at the card room sitting in a $1/$3 game while I wait for a seat in the $1/$3/$6 when the player on my left mutters, “What the fuck?” and turns to stare at the entrance to the poker room, where a slander Asian man clad all in black and … Read full post
Extraordinary Poker Writing
Gareth Chantler is back in South America, and he’s chronicled the start of his journey, in Cartagena, Colombia, for the PokerStars blog. I can’t recommend it highly enough, it’s literally the best poker narrative I’ve read in years. In a few hundred words, the author tells you a lot … Read full post
Lucerne
Nate and my recent conversation with Gareth Chantler inspired me to continue chronicling here my travels in Europe earlier this year. When last we left off, Emily and I were in Paris. Our next destination was Munich, but I think we both liked that the least of all the … Read full post
Thinking Poker Podcast Episode 6 Featuring Gareth Chantler
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Gareth Chantler will be a familiar name if you’re a regular “What’s Your Play?” participant. He’s the guy whose comments always knock it out of the ballpark and make you feel like an ass for posting anything different. If that’s … Read full post
Happy Halloween!
I think my jack-o-lantern looks cool, but not quite like the image I was going for. I did a better job of that last year. Try to figure it out, but if you’re still uncertain, you can click here.
Emily’s jack-o-lantern is a tribute to our Europe trip:… Read full post
WCOOP Main Event, Day 2
In my essay Gray Friday, I talked about how online poker has contributed to my increasingly heavy reliance on the internet:
… Read full post“The more time I spend on the internet, the more disdainful I become of the physical world. I work online, I play online, I shop online, and I
WCOOP Main Event, Day 1
If you’ve been following my WCOOP posts, then you know that there were definitely times when I got impatient and tried to force things: questionable bluffs, ambitious value bets, spazzy shoves, excessively heroic calls, I made every mistake in the book at some point in the … Read full post
$200 Rebuy and the Dépanneur
Unfortunately there’s been a delay with the next episode of the Thinking Poker Podcast, which was scheduled to be the subject of today’s blog post. I’m not sure when that will be available, so until it is, I’ll continue my chronicle of the WCOOP.
The only WCOOP that I … Read full post
An Autumnal WCOOP Sunday
Saturday’s storm brought on a precipitous drop in temperature that was immediately noticeable on Sunday morning. I like mornings, especially Sunday mornings, and I like Autumn, especially when the air is crisp and just a little chilly. I made coffee and took a walk.
Though it was nearly 8:00, the … Read full post
Book Review: A Rubber Band Story and Other Poker Tales
Tommy Angelo’s second book, A Rubber Band Story and Other Poker Tales, is an eclectic collection poker writing from one of the game’s most beloved authors. Because A Rubber Band Story spans more than a decade of Angelo’s career and runs the gamut from fiction to advice to memoir, … Read full post
The Shark’s Dilemma
When I was in Las Vegas, I had the opportunity to get breakfast with an old poker friend I hadn’t seen in a few years. We used to run into each other at Foxwoods from time to time and get together during the WSOP each summer, but he hadn’t been … Read full post
NoHo Fo’ Sho: Travels With Tzen
I enjoyed meeting all of the other Team Online members at the PCA this year, but Richard “Tzen1” Veenman was one of my favorites. As you might imagine, these grinders were not the most extroverted bunch. It generally fell either to Adrienne “talonchick” Rowsome, the only woman among us, … Read full post
NoHo Fo’ Sho: Queen’s Day
This is another photo dump/trip report from my travels in Europe. If you didn’t like the last one, you’ll probably want to skip this one too.
Emily and I were already planning to be in Amsterdam for the entirety of the SCOOP because of the sweet apartment we were … Read full post
Breaking the Language Barrier
Part of the impetus for Emily’s and my Europe trip is a friend’s wedding, to be held this June in a small town in Germany called Diez. Since we needed to bring formal wear for that anyway, we decided to dress up for the opera in Prague as well (there’s … Read full post
Who’s Your Daddy?
My girlfriend and I went to a farm today with our friend Sukaina and her two sons, Zain and Kyrus. Sukaina, as you might guess, is of South Asian ancestry, but her husband is a pasty white guy not unlike myself, so their boys have a mixed complexion. Their father … Read full post
On Luck
While on the train to the BDL tournament last weekend, I shared a car with a small group of middle-school students and their teacher. One of the boys in the class had found some used scratch-off tickets on the floor and was playing with them. “I’m gonna win $100!” he … Read full post
Reading Comprehension FTL
I had a bit of a rude surprise when checking out of my room this morning. Apparently my hotel package did not actually include the $1000 non-refundable folio that I thought it did, and on which basis I purchased a $300 massage. At first I thought this was an … Read full post
I Am the Anti-Baller
Ballin’: I’m current on my way to the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, where I’ll be staying for eight nights and playing in the $10,000 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event.
Anti-Ballin’: I’m bringing a small pantry with me, because it kills me to pay $20 for a … Read full post
Louis CK on the Joy of Giving to Charity
Earlier this month, I posted about an organization that’s particularly important to me. I want to make clear, though, that whether you give to the Boston Debate League or to a cause that’s important to you, you really should consider giving. Not only can you do a lot of … Read full post
On Not Being an Asshole
I don’t play pit games, I don’t go to strip clubs, and I don’t get table service at Las Vegas nightclubs. Whole Foods is my leak.
Last night I was there for the second time in two days. My girlfriend has been cramming for the GRE and just had her … Read full post
My Last Day in Europe
After a low-key Friday night, Nico and I resolved to live it up on my last night in Madrid. We started off having dinner and watching the Barcelona-Seville game at a restaurant/bar across the street from his apartment. It was a bit of a dive but had surprisingly good food … Read full post
WSOP Europe Trip Report Part 1
After all the hassle, the money did successfully make it to Cannes, so I am all bought in and ready to go! Play starts in a little over two hours, but I´m already having a great trip and have the beginnings of a trip report to share with you. … Read full post
Ode to the WCOOP
Three weeks gone by and thousands spent,
I fled my homeland for this event,
matched wits with the pros and the keyboard droolers,
but fell to a series of beats and coolers.
Pay attention, friends! Don’t let those eyelids droop,
as I sing to you of my WCOOP.
On … Read full post
My Win-Rate with Quads is -10000 BB/100
…since moving to Canada. All because of this hand:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (6 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Button ($468.50)
SB ($584.05)
BB ($400)
Hero (UTG) ($487)
MP ($400)
CO ($420)
Preflop: Hero is UTG with 2♣, 2♦
Hero bets $16, 3 folds, … Read full post
2011 WSOP Main Event Trip Report, Part 1
Part 1 of my trip report from the 2011 WSOP Main Event is now appearing in the August edition of 2+2 Magazine. This covers my first two days and includes everything you could want from the WSOP: big calls, big bluffs, scared money, fearsome Russians, surly Frenchmen, bad beats, and … Read full post
Classic Story: Can’t Put Him on a Hand
Whenever we get a lot of new visitors at Thinking Poker, and probably a lot of people who haven’t read my more monolithic trip reports (understandable), I reprint select stories that are buried in much longer narratives but that I consider among my best. This article is part of that … Read full post
Tales From a 7-11: Customers
One of my co-workers introduced me to the workplace cliche that “this job wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the customers,” which in my naivete I believed to be both original and uniquely applicable to my job. Today, instead of a single story, I’m going to share a … Read full post
Tales from Madrid: Trouble is His Middle Name
This is one of those stories that, though amusing, doesn’t have much of a point to it and so didn’t make the cut for “Three Days in Madrid“. I think you’ll get more out of reading this if you’ve already ready that article.
Mitesh and I were leaving … Read full post
Three Days in Madrid
Part trip report, part sequel to “Gray Friday“, “Three Days in Madrid” is my latest article for the Two Plus Two Poker Magazine:
… Read full postMy heart beat eagerly as my eyes scanned the waiting crowd at Madrid-Barajas Airport. It’s nice to know that, after nine hours of
Tales From a Summer Camp: The New England Seashore
One summer during college I worked at a day camp for kids from Cambridge. Most people know the city for Harvard and MIT, but actually a good chunk of it is projects and other low-income housing. The camp consisted mostly of minority youth from low-income backgrounds, but there were a … Read full post
Tales From a Summer Camp: Bad Idea
(Sorry for all the low-content posts lately, I do plan on getting some more poker-related stuff going soon. For now, enjoy the filler!)
One summer during college I worked at a day camp for kids from Cambridge. Most people know the city for Harvard and MIT, but actually a good … Read full post
Cheque-Raising For Charity, Celebrity Edition
At the end of 2010, I urged poker players to send me write-ups about their favorite charities in order to encourage year-end giving and paint a broader picture of just what the non-profit sector looks like and how many diverse opportunities there are for charitable giving. Quite a few well-known … Read full post
Massive Technical Difficulties in the Triple Stud Home Game
Edit: Support tells me that they are “experiencing some delays” but that points should be awarded appropriately within 24 hours.
My thanks and apologies to everyone who played in last night’s Triple Stud event. I’ll start on a positive note: I had a great time, and it seemed like many … Read full post
Tales From a Summer Camp: Jonah
I’m all out of Tales from a 7-11, but I’ve had a few requests for more stories, so I’m going to reach back to another job that I once held for a new series called “Tales From a Summer Camp.”
One summer during college I worked at a day … Read full post
Home (Game) Invasion Robbery
Thanks to everyone who played in the inaugural Thinking Poker cash game last night. We had our share of technical difficulties:
1. When I set the stakes at $.10/$.25 and 100-250BB buy-in, I somehow thought that would mean a $2.50-$6.25 buy-in range. Of course it’s actually 10x that, so we … Read full post
UB Hall of Frauds
A Hungarian poker site picked up on my recent post about money disappearing from my old UB account. Curious to see what they said, our Esteemed Webmistress ran it through Google Translate. Playing around with GT is always fun, and I especially like seeing what happens when you translate … Read full post
More Stinginess?
I was in Dallas recently and rode their light rail, which is one of those “honor system” arrangements where there is no one taking your ticket but you are supposed to have one anyway. Fare patrol officers will randomly board cars and ask for tickets, and if you caught without … Read full post
Stinginess
I am totally addicted to this 2+2 thread “Stingiest Thing You’ve Seen Someone Do“. In between some stupid arguments about tipping and such, there are some truly jaw-dropping stories:
… Read full postmy ex gf’s mother finds overripe fruit at the store, takes it home and removes all the good parts,
Another World Series of Poker Champion is Crowned (Spoiler, Obviously)
…and it isn’t me. Or you. Unless Jonathan Duhamel is reading this, in which case, congratulations, bro!
In honor of the event’s conclusion, we’ve now got up a page with links to my 2010 WSOP trip report plus interviews and ESPN appearances.
Maybe next year…… Read full post