Published in Women’s Poker Magazine.

Read what happened when a reporter from The Glass Hammer learned how to play poker from POKERprimaDIVAS.

AskMelissa hosted a contest to win a free poker lesson and a free copy of Poker Woman. Visit AskMelissa’s Facebook Page

” Tears, Texts, Tweets and Texas Hold’em” along with a night of telephone calls, I was able to see my 21 year old step-daughter through a rite of passage . She moved into her first rat-hole NYC apt with her boyfriend when his buddy shows up , duffel-bag in tow and moves in too. Boy-friend didn’t tell her the buddy was coming to STAY for the whole summer. It was her first day at her new job, her bf isn’t around and I’m the parent -on-call. An inconsolable 21 year old is formidable. So, I take out the cards and start putting out hands. With great patience and position ( i know she needs me), she eventually comes around. When there are cold cards i tell her how to make a good fold before getting to invested. When there are middle cars , I show her how to bet for information . When 2 Jacks show up in the hold , I show her how it may look good but to procede with caution. When pocket aces come up , it’s time to be happy and watch what the others do because trip deuces can indeed ‘trip’ you up.
The whole game become allegory for the night. It was wonderful !!

When you’re in a public place, it’s inevitable that you’ll rub elbows
with various loud and obnoxious characters.
And of course it always seems that these characters will sit at your
poker table, frequently right next to you.
Add money and booze to the equation, and the number of people with
questionable behavior will inevitably increase.
 
So, what’s to do? 
A. Do you leave the table?
B. Do you engage this person in conversation?
C. Do you call over the floor person?
All of the above could be done.
 
However, just as the game of Poker itself is one of patience and
waiting for the right opportunities, the art of working a table is
also one of patience.
 
I have found that there is a direct correllation between how loud and
obnoxious a player is, and how soon they’ll “Flame out” at the table.
 You can be assured that although this loud person might win a hand
or two, over time their over-confidence will spell their demise just
as surely as it will for any player.  The only difference is that
these players will blame everyone but themselves for their downfall.
 
So, just bide your time, be more choosy about the hands you go in on
with this person, and also try to take advantage of how they’ll
frequently raise the pot with less than optimum hands.
In the worst case scenario, you can either move your position on the
table, or take a break for a round or two while waiting for this
person to bust-out.
 
When I was playing recently, a person who goes by the name of “Loud
Al” was complaining about how quickly the dealer happened to pick up
discards.  The person to my left was discussing this issue with him. 
This guy was pretty big himself.  However, (to myself) I questioned
his judgment.  I find that it works best if you never get yourself
involved in any table dispute with either an obnoxious player and the
dealer.  Chances are that nothing will happen to you.  However, you
don’t want to take the chance that they’ll eject both Mr. Loud and
yourself.  Certainly you should answer any questions if the floor
person gets involved.  However, like stated above, eventually the
problem will go away.
 
In the meantime, sit tight, learn what NOT to do, and if there are
fireworks, just lay back and enjoy a little bit of human drama played
out in front of you.  After all, nothing says that although it’s
“Real Life”, it doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy the show.

The big debate in poker is how much of winning is luck and how much is skill. Well both matter. Skill will win out over time but no matter how good you are if someone is on a lucky streak you better be cautious. Keep getting rivered by the same person? Does your boat get beaten by quads. Time for a dinner break. Yes sometimes  luck trumps  skill. Just as it does in life.

 Among the frequently debated topics at the poker table, is whether or not to show your cards at the end of the hand. Read the rest of this entry »

I was excited, because I just saw Kd, Jh, and I was the Dealer.
I figured that I could increase the pot and knock out some marginal hands or players by raising the maximum $ 3. Little did I know what this would turn into.

Read the rest of this entry »

After much debating I , decided to play in a WSOP no limit event. I had always wanted to play but something held me back. I’m not sure if it was fear or money or a combination of the 2 . But it turns out I was going to be in Vegas for business during the event so i thought it was an omen. Read the rest of this entry »

Hey, I Play Poker 

Once you get started into a new hobby, it seems like it follows you everywhere. Read the rest of this entry »