This was just posted over on 2+2. If you’re an american, do your part: pick up the phone and make the call. It will take 15 seconds and you’ll have done what you can do.

Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com

FROM THE PPA PRESIDENT:

This is going to our members ASAP

The U.S. Congress is Trying to Ban Online Poker TODAY!!!
THIS IS NOT A TEST — Call Your Senator Now

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is attaching the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act to a bill that is expected to be approved by the Congress early this evening. PLEASE call your Senators today and tell them that they should oppose the Internet gambling bill being part of Port Security legislation.

If the Port Security bill passes, with the Internet gambling language included, your ability to enjoy poker online will be at serious risk.

Each member of the Poker Players Alliance has two Senators which are listed below. They need to hear from you RIGHT NOW! Let them know that you care about your rights to play poker.

Please Call!!! Tell your Senators to oppose attaching Internet gambling to Port Security!

First Name Last Name State Phone Number
Ted Stevens AK (202) 224-3004
Lisa Murkowski AK (202) 224-6665
Richard Shelby AL (202) 224-5744
Jeff Sessions AL (202) 224-4124
Mark Pryor AR (202) 224-2353
Blanche Lincoln AR (202) 224-4843
John McCain AZ (202) 224-2235
Jon Kyl AZ (202) 224-4521
Barbara Boxer CA (202) 224-3553
Dianne Feinstein CA (202) 224-3841
Wayne Allard CO (202) 224-5941
Ken Salazar CO (202) 224-5852
Joseph Lieberman CT (202) 224-4041
Christopher Dodd CT (202) 224-2823
Joseph Biden DE (202) 224-5042
Thomas Carper DE (202) 224-2441
Mel Martinez FL (202)224-3041
Bill Nelson FL (202) 224-5274
Johnny Isakson GA (202) 224-3643
Saxby Chambliss GA (202) 224-3521
Daniel Akaka HI (202) 224-6361
Daniel Inouye HI (202) 224-3934
Tom Harkin IA (202) 224-3254
Charles Grassley IA (202) 224-3744
Michael Crapo ID (202) 224-6142
Larry Craig ID (202) 224-2752
Barack Obama IL (202) 224-2854
Richard Durbin IL (202) 224-2152
Richard Lugar IN (202) 224-4814
Evan Bayh IN (202) 224-5623
Pat Roberts KS (202) 224-4774
Sam Brownback KS (202) 224-6521
Mitch McConnell KY (202) 224-2541
Jim Bunning KY (202) 224-4343
David Vitter LA (202) 224-4623
Mary Landrieu LA (202) 224-5824
Edward Kennedy MA (202) 224-4543
John Kerry MA (202) 224-2742
Barbara Mikulski MD (202) 224-4654
Paul Sarbanes MD (202) 224-4524
Olympia Snowe ME (202) 224-5344
Susan Collins ME (202) 224-2523
Carl Levin MI (202) 224-6221
Debbie Stabenow MI (202) 224-4822
Norm Coleman MN (202) 224-5641
Mark Dayton MN (202) 224-3244
Christopher Bond MO (202) 224-5721
James Talent MO (202) 224-6154
Thad Cochran MS (202) 224-5054
Trent Lott MS (202) 224-6253
Conrad Burns MT (202) 224-2644
Max Baucus MT (202) 224-2651
Richard Burr NC (202) 224-3154
Elizabeth Dole NC (202) 224-6342
Kent Conrad ND (202) 224-2043
Byron Dorgan ND (202) 224-2551
Chuck Hagel NE (202) 224-4224
Ben Nelson NE (202) 224-6551
John Sununu NH (202) 224-2841
Judd Gregg NH (202) 224-3324
Robert Menendez NJ (202) 224-4744
Frank Lautenberg NJ (202) 224-3224
Jeff Bingaman NM (202) 224-5521
Pete Domenici NM (202) 224-6621
John Ensign NV (202) 224-6244
Harry Reid NV (202) 224-3542
Charles Schumer NY (202) 224-6542
Hillary Clinton NY (202) 224-4451
George Voinovich OH (202) 224-3353
Mike DeWine OH (202) 224-2315
James Inhofe OK (202) 224-4721
Tom Coburn OK (202) 224-5754
Gordon Smith OR (202) 224-3753
Ron Wyden OR (202) 224-5244
Arlen Specter PA (202) 224-4254
Rick Santorum PA (202) 224-6324
Lincoln Chafee RI (202) 224-2921
Jack Reed RI (202) 224-4642
Jim DeMint SC (202) 224-6121
Lindsey Graham SC (202) 224-5972
Tim Johnson SD (202) 224-5842
John Thune SD (202) 224-2321
Bill Frist TN (202) 224-3344
Lamar Alexander TN (202) 224-4944
Kay Hutchison TX (202) 224-5922
John Cornyn TX (202) 224-2934
Robert Bennett UT (202) 224-5444
Orrin Hatch UT (202) 224-5251
George Allen VA (202) 224-4024
John Warner VA (202) 224-2023
James Jeffords VT (202) 224-5141
Patrick Leahy VT (202) 224-4242
Maria Cantwell WA (202) 224-3441
Patty Murray WA (202) 224-2621
Russell Feingold WI (202) 224-5323
Herb Kohl WI (202) 224-5653
Robert Byrd WV (202) 224-3954
John Rockefeller WV (202) 224-6472
Michael Enzi WY (202) 224-3424
Craig Thomas WY (202) 224-6441

I’ve been having a lot of trouble writing over the past few days. Maybe its withdrawal from Atlantic City (I usually have a slight down period after trips), I don’t know, but I sit here and stare at the page and I’m stuck for inspiration.

Before I wrote about poker, writing was purely a pursuit of inspiration for me. When there was something worth writing, I’d write it, no time pressure, no installment demands. Of course, it didn’t quite pay the bills in an optimal fashion, but hey, that was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

Now, every day brings a new kind of inspiration; promises to fulfill, employees counting on me for this company to be successful…to not do what needs to be done would leave them up shit’s creek and bring my credibility into question. There’s no choice in the matter; I HAVE to write, which often means putting pen to paper even when it doesn’t feel right.

So that’s where I’ve been the last few days. Sorry I’ve been reposting the old Wise Hands, but squeezing out the other articles I have to write each day has been a real struggle and piling one more on would have been pretty damn tough. There’ll be a new one going up in about an hour, and hopefully each day for a while now. Hope everyone’s having a good night,

Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com

I just got back from hanging out with a poker playing friend who is a huge Philadelphia Eagles fan. When news came in that Terrel Owens may have overdosed, he said: “I hope he dies… seriously.” Nice.

Apparently Eagle fans’ bitterness towards everything doesn’t wane, even if they live a thousand miles from Philly. After the TO newsflash, a show called “Sports Disasters” came on tv. It basically involves obscene boat and car crashes and bulls maiming cowboys and Mexicans. Not surprisingly, Eagle fan LOVED it. Back to poker.

According to poker guru Mike Caro, most players who act strong are weak and vice versa. However, if you’re playing against beginners at a home game, you should throw this advice right out the window. Inexperienced players will not put on an act in a feeble attempt to fool their opponent. A moderately experienced player may reach for his chips out of turn in a pathetic attempt to intimidate you from betting, but if a new player reaches for chips out of turn, you can be sure he’s about to bet. Have a quick look to your left when the cards are dealt and before you’re about act.

I was supposed to have a big homegame last weekend, but apparently a bunch of the guys had to pray to their god or something, because only 5 showed up. Anyway, here’s the Harbourfront Poker Tour Misplay of the Week from two weeks ago - one of the worst misplays I’ve ever seen at any homegame.

Players in the Hand:

“No Class” Eagles Fan - tight but very aggressive
Toronto Speculator - somewhat loose and aggressive
The Probe - tight and weak

FIRST HAND OF THE TOURNEY - all players have 1000 chips and blinds are 5/10

No Class raises to 35 from the button
Toronto Speculator re-raises to 100 from the SB
The Probe calls 100 - action back to initial raiser
No Class re-raises all-in
OUT OF TURN, The Probe declares “I call - all in”
Toronto Speculator pauses for a minute, then folds.

Given their described images, what do you think the players had??

No Class showed AK
The Probe showed KK
(Speculator folded QQ)

KK held up, but instead of tripling up, the Probe only doubled up and wound up busting out in 5th out of 9. Ouch.

It takes… a lot to anger me. First of all, if it’s poker related, nothing at the table angers me. I don’t tilt. My frustrations last for a few seconds, and it’s back to business. The things AWAY from the table are the ones that make me see red. Things like unreliable people, screwed up events, misinformation, and the like.

The thing that angered me recently involved a major poker room, an Irish headhunter, moving 11 thousand miles, and an utter lack of communication.

Three months ago, I started talks with a major poker room to fill a role that I was not only highly qualified for, but perfectly suited for. The headhunter kept saying ‘you have the job, you just have to be patient’. The contact at the major poker room said ‘We need to talk, I like what I see, it’s just so busy here’. I was moving to the U.K either way, but not knowing when I started this ’sure thing’ job was throwing wrenches into the works left and right.

This went on for three months. one prior to the move, one during the move, and one after. Then, the HR department makes their move over to Green Isle, and suddenly… the position doesn’t exist. The backup position doesn’t exist. No position for me exists. Three months of negotiation, phone interviews, resumes, and effort flushed down the drain.

Now I have friends at this major poker room, so I’m not going to bad mouth them. I’m not going to be unprofessional. I’m simply going to express that right now, I feel a measure of seething anger hotter than a dozen suns. Luckily, this is anger at my situation, not at any individual. Nobody is to blame, it was a group-effort failure. I’ll even take a little blame… but not much. I bent over backwards for this supposedly life changing opportunity, make no mistake.

Life handed me a bad beat on the grand scale. I’ll recover, I’ll find something else to do that is grand and meaningful. Maybe I’ll start another company. But this has been a reminder that the poker world can be dark, misleading, and frightening, even in the era of ESPN and Bravo.

This week over at pokerlistings.com, in need of a quick week-long topic that would be easy enough to write about, I finally settled on poker’s great non-strategic literary efforts. I’ve read all of the candidates, often more than once, so it should have made for some easy research and writing. Right?

Thing is, its tough to pick just seven. There were a few that were easy enough: The Biggest Game in Town by A. Alvarez and Big Deal by Tony Holden are the ideals to which all other poker writers are held, so they were automatic. Positively Fifth Street gave the medium new scope, giving us the personal tournament experience in the big-picture backdrop. It had to be mentioned.

Still, with so many books one can write about, it was tough picking a final seven. Here’s what I came up with;

The Biggest Game in Town – A. Alvarez
Big Deal – Tony Holden
Positively Fifth Street – James McManus
All In – Jonathon Grotenstein and Storms Reback
One of a Kind – Nolan Dala and Peter Alson
The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King – Michael Craig
Shut Up and Deal – Jessie May

There are others. Aces and Kings by Michael Kaplan comes to mind, as do some more recent ‘personal poker experience’ books like Jay Greenspan’s Hunting Fish and Alson’s Take Me to the River. Right now I’m reading ‘Swimming With the Devilfish’, which delves into the English poker world in an informative and entertaining way. Hell, let’s face it; poker’s going to make these books fun regardless.

If you want to expand your horizons to the point where you can start getting involved with those table-side conversations about non-table happenings, the above seven titles are the best place to start. I know most of you have never been to one, but try heading to a local library to get a look at a few of the best.

Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com

The World Series of Poker Main Event broadcast is now over. I still wish Allen Cunningham would have won. For some reason I always want the pro to win the major tournaments. I still don’t know what to think about Jamie Gold. He played well and got the cards. You can’t question his game. He did have success before the Main Event. I thought the way they ended the show was great. It was nice to see the sensitive side of Gold. Instead of his continual talk to his opponents after a big bet, it was him tearing up while on the phone with his father.

I’ve had the attitude that there is no crying in poker. However, I cannot blame a man for crying after huge win. If I won the Main Event I would either burst into tears immediately after the last card or be way too happy and excited to even think about crying. I think winning more money in a poker tournament than most people do in their lifetime allows you to cry.

But back to poker. I have been writing some mini bios on players for the site. I am not sure when those will be up, but you should be seeing them in the future. Keep coming back to the site to see what is new.

Writing, writing and more writing. It’s 5 AM and I still have two more articles to do, so I won’t be sleeping too much tonight. My recent hot run has come to an end, concluding with my losing a $1200 pot tonight when I coaxed a bad call out of my opponent on the turn only to have them hit their flush on the river (I bet $370 into a $502 pot and he called on twelve outs) to bookend a couple of days of truly bad play on my part. It’s all good though; my duties here needed to wean me off the table time anyways.

Hope everyone’s having a good week. Remember to sign up at our affiliate sites when you’ve worked off your old bonuses. No point on paying for nothing when you can be opening new accounts and getting something instead. Have a good night.

Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com

Hey guys, it’s been a busy weekend, so I’m keeping this short. We can use a few sign ups on our sponsor sites. Thanks everyone for reading and your feedback, its always appreciated. Hope it’s been a good weekend,

Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com

I just got done watching Poker Superstars III. There was a pretty sick hand in this week’s episode. Freddy Deeb picked up AA while Johnny Chan had KK. Playing only three-handed they got all of their chips in the middle. Chan had Deeb covered but was in rough shape. That is until he flopped quad kings. Deeb needed to catch the last to aces on the turn and river. He didn’t and he was sent packing. Instead of steaming about how the hand turned out, Deeb walked away as if nothing happened. When you have been playing as long as people like Deeb, they have seen it all. I suppose when you combine that with the fact that he could not have folded that hand, he has no reason to be mad.

If you are wondering how things went down in the first quarterfinal match, here is how everyone ended up. Carlos Mortenson took fourth. Deeb calmly walked away in third after the hand i listed above. Chan couldn’t finish it up though; he lost to Antonio Esfandiari. Esfandiari advanced to the semifinals with the win. The other three have one more chance to advance on next weeks show.

I’m watching Shine, the bio-pic about prodigy pianist David Helfgott. It’s a complex film, but its re-watchability for me stems from the beautiful musical score. Makes for some good background noise while finding the muse, you know?

Helfgott’s character is a marvel in his talent and his ability to put that before all else, though its not a conscious choice. It reminds me of the top poker players in the world, a group of people who, unlike me, are able to place action before security. You could go broke on this bet? Who cares. As long as it’s a good bet.

The sad truth is that with such talent comes a burden. I was speaking with Liz lieu yesterday, discussing the burdens that fame has brought with it. Liz is a fantastic player who has received a good portion of the spotlight thanks to her combination of skill and beauty. That in turn has brought the spotlight’s suitors to their knees, taking it out more than once on the poker diva.

Some of the rumors that have surrounded Lieu are unfair and unfounded. She funded herself in her now-famous heads up match against Erik Sundstrom, contrary to speculation that the cash was put up by martinspoker.com. She’s far too successful a cash game player to have gone broke as some have suggested. Certain members of the professional community have attacked her publicly, with their accusations proving unfounded.

All the drama takes its toll. Liz hurt when she returned from two months abroad to find people who once trusted her no longer doing so on her nay-sayers’ say-so. The looks were daggers, the inherent message loud and clear. It’s a vicious thing, jealousy. It’s also something she needs to learn to accommodate, because it isn’t going away; as long as she’s on top, some other diva-be will want to unseat her.

Not all is drama. She’s very happy in her present deal with martinspoker.com, calling her teammates amongst her best friends in the world. That includes John Pham, who’d be her right-hand man regardless of affiliation. Her friendship with Barry Greenstein is still very strong (Barry is a strategic confidant, offering councel when needed.) and she’s recently taken up his gauntlet, adding to the growing number of poker players who spend time and money on charity.

In addition to her travels to Vietnam, Liz is now selling posters whose proceeds will go to assorted charities. You can find the posters in Liz’s store and in the lockers of horny teenage poker players all over the world. Not that I blame them.

Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com