Poker Stories: The Buffalo
I've met many poker players who will always put chips into a pot with a certain hand. I'm not talking about pocket aces or kings, but some odd combination of cards that they've decided is their "favorite hand." It means something to them because they won a tournament...
The Uber Disruption
I had my first experience with Uber last month in New York. I was visiting my daughter at her apartment, and we were headed to my hotel, but the rain was pouring down. Not only would we get soaked while walking a couple of blocks to a street where we could hail a cab,...
Poker Stories: Stella
Another in my occasional series of poker stories... When I started playing poker in St. Louis in 1999, I played in middle-limit stud games, but was quickly drawn to the most popular variant in town -- limit hold'em. There were games practically every night, with the...
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, “Mississippi Grind”
Here's my conversation with Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, writer/directors of "Mississippi Grind," the gamblers-on-the-road movie that I appear in, along with stars Ryan Reynolds, Ben Mendelsohn, and Sienna Miller. We talked about: why they used me in the film; how I...
My Mississippi Grind, Part Three
This is Part 3 of the notes I took in February, 2014, while filming a scene in "Mississippi Grind," a movie about two gamblers (Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn) on the road, written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. It opens tomorrow in St. Louis. Read Part...
My Mississippi Grind, Part Two
That's Ben Mendelsohn trying to get a read on me as we play a poker hand in "Mississippi Grind," a movie about two gamblers on the road which opens this Friday. This is Part Two of the notes I took during a long night of shooting that scene. You can read Part One...
My Mississippi Grind, Part One
There's a movie coming out this weekend and I'm in it! It's called "Mississippi Grind," starring Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn as gamblers who meet in Iowa and then head south through St. Louis and Memphis on their way to New Orleans for a high-stakes poker game....
Poker Stories: Paying Attention
In response to my column about poker players who mucked the winning hand because they weren't paying attention, Stuart Snyder emails: In addition to protecting your cards and not mucking prematurely, even commenting out of turn can cost you. This happened on my last...