Bigger Deal

“If you start me up, I’ll never stop” Ever wonder why Mick Jagger is still touring with Keith, Ronnie, and Charlie, dancing across stages around the world, and certainly stressing his 60+ year old bones? Remember, this guy is a legendary businessman – he probably has the money to buy W1 if he wanted to. I thought […]

“In Poland there’s an inn, in Poland there’s an inn” You get in the elevator (“lift” to the Brits) at the Warsaw Hyatt, and right there, engraved into the door jamb, is the name “Schindler”. I have a confession to make: I’ve never seen the movie Schindler’s List. Whenever I’ve seen a movie (or play) like […]

“It was red and yellow and green and brown and blue” When we’re at a European Poker Tour  event, it’s all too easy to spend the entire time inside the hotel. Your room is there, the tournament is there, the restaurant(s) and bar are there. After the long (and odd) hours, you find yourself thinking that a […]

“Send in the clowns” Sitting in the press room at the EPT Dortmund , looking out the huge windows at the rain coming down on the forest that surrounds us. The trees are late-January bare, and a Smokey Mountain mist hangs in the air. Who knows – Mount Mitchell could be right across the valley below us. A […]

“It’s snowin’ on Raton. Come morning, I’ll be through them hills and gone.” Fresh back from the Prague EPT. Snowflakes fell on us as we were eating sausages with sauerkraut and mustard at the Christmas market in Wenceslas Square. With a scene like that, the poker was an added bonus. Truth to tell, the poker started out […]

London rocks. The welcome party for the London EPT  was on a Thames cruise boat and former EPT champion Brandon Schaefer and I were discussing the town as we passed the Tower of London. Brandon shook his head in disbelief: “I’ve been to 35 countries and this is my first time in London. What was […]

Lee McCreery of The News Of The World writes I’VE just returned from Barcelona. Turns out it’s a lovely city but this was no sightseeing holiday - I’d won a seat to the opening event of Season Four on the European Poker Tour. The prize came courtesy of PokerStars, who generously put up the $13,000 package […]

No main courses today – just little dishes from the past few days of the European Poker Tour and rambling the streets of Barcelona. The Parrots of Barcelona Pass this plate to Lisa, John, Claudia, Michael, and Connie – the people in my life who most love parrots. In two separate parks today, I heard a noise […]

Soundtrack: “Gimme a Stone”. There are a few recordings, but check out Little Feat’s version, and the Levon Helm/Chieftains version from the “Largo” project album.   Casino Barcelona, the site of the European Poker Tour’s first stop, doesn’t open until 3:00 PM, both good and bad news. The good news is that we have most of the […]

The end of August. For parents, a bit of peace and quiet around the house. For school kids, definitely a mixed blessing. Part of you dreads the return of pencils, books, and teachers’ dirty looks. [1] The rest of your being looks forward to getting out of the house, being with your friends, school events, […]