The Worst Winner

With major live poker events returning across the globe, it seems that we have finally put the global COVID pandemic behind us. Whether or not it is finished with us is debatable but at the very least we seem to have got bored of it and are moving on regardless.   After 18 months of lockdowns, living like a high tech hyper connected hermit, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the lessons I’ve learned in lockdown:   Government Policy Before dealing with poker, just putting this out there, I was surprised by the Government’s disregard for the health and well-being of its people. There’s been some kind of ‘lets-try-pleasing-everyone-while-actually-pleasing-no-one’ approach to the pandemic, punctuated with jarring levels of corruption and incompetence.   Live Player Let Loose Online The initial lockdowns closed casinos and with no other options, forced casual and regular poker players alike to compete online, creating a surge of players battling it out on the virt...

Like many others, I have recently been watching ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ on Netflix, if you are unfamiliar with the show, the story follows the ups and downs of an unlikely chess prodigy. As a result of the popularity of the series, interest in chess has surged, and as a result of that, the poker community at large has been asking “where’s the poker equivalent?”. Well actually, I think there is a poker equivalent, it’s just that it’s 20 years old and any influence it may have has faded over time. Rounders, follows a not dissimilar path as an unlikely hero battles the established masters for dominance. While the poker community claim they want more of this kind of thing, even Rounders writer, Brian Koppelman, isn’t even sure we will embrace it. D o we really want this? No wonder we don’t get to have nice things! Following on from this, a few big name players and streamers dipped their toes in the chess waters as recreational fish and haven’t fared as well as they would normally in the...