News Category: Poker Player Newspaper 1983-2016

“Why are you asking?” and “What do you mean?”

These questions are powerful probes – and asking productive questions is a key element of my negotiating strategy in business, politics, and poker parlors. At the poker table your earning power is determined in large measure by your proficiency in the use of the PEP Principle.

Put the PEP Principle to Work

Probe, evaluate, and perform accordingly – PEP – combines the use of appropriate questions for specific situations, with analysis of answers from different vantage points. PEP calls for logic and common sense, both in the development of information, and the use of practical strategies to gauge the relevance and credibility of responses.

In the face of an inquisitive opponent at the poker table, one who asks you needling questions in the midst of the hand, it is well worth considering my childhood practice of lobbing back a query of your own rather than answering the question that was asked. This often allows you to glean more facts about his hand as well as his mindset in engaging you. It also helps you to avoid acting precipitously.

But like most strategies at the poker table, you must be flexible and able to adjust to the particulars of the game at hand.

Long before I arrived at a poker table, I learned that the heart of a winning deal resides in your ability to get the other side to respond usefully to you as you proceed through a negotiation. As a kid, my parents had viewed my rapid fire challenges as cute and as indicators of “smarts.” However, as a young adult, in a common law marriage with three children in tow, my knee-jerk questions frequently led to the dreaded “silent treatment” in the family room. From time to time I tried to dislodge such dismissal by asking my husband, “Am I talking to myself?” The usual answer was “No, I hear you. I don’t want to talk about it.” Then, one night, after a heated debate that I was not anxious to let go, I asked this question and got a different answer: “No, you are not talking to yourself, but you should be!” That incident served as powerful instruction for the poker table: pause long enough to take the pulse of another person’s receptivity, before diving head first into a quiz during a poker hand.

Pause, Reflect, and Evaluate Receptivity

I ask myself: “How would I feel about coffee housing, ‘trash talk’ or just some friendly banter if I were in the other player’s shoes?” I consider the personalities, the complexity of the decisions to be made in the hand, the emotional content of the questions I am inclined to ask, the sensitivity of the opponent to “in your face” tactics, and the pressure of the environment, be it a friendly low level cash game or a final table at the World Series of Poker.

These considerations are critical underpinnings of my PEP Principle in a card room. They can be adapted and/or be applied equally to personnel shuffles in the office, family budget cuts during a recession, and card room deals where worldly pros are more prone to stare in space than bare their soul.

PEP Reflections at the Poker Table

If you take the time to consider another person’s receptivity and ask yourself questions before plunging into a probe you subscribe to my “Slow-it-Down Gambit.” Nowhere is it more necessary to control the flow than in a fast-paced high stakes poker game. Here your adversary is invariably anxious to persuade you to respond without thinking things through carefully. The Slow-it-Down Gambit is a well placed pause that buys time to consider your adversary’s actions and words, and/or to consider and analyze your judgments, reflectively.

At the poker table this component of PEP has turned tough calls into some of my most profitable decisions. Rarely, however, has my Slow-it-Down Gambit gotten as much applause as I got at the 1986 World Series of Poker (“WSOP”).

Ten months after I took down my first pot in a serious No Limit Hold’em game, I jumped into the grand finale of the WSOP, which had a purse larger than the three golf majors combined. At my table everyone was acting relaxed and friendly, that is until I picked up a solid pair of jacks as my hole cards and made a substantial raise.

The good ole Texan across the table called quickly, saying, “Ya’ think ya’ got somethin’ babe?” Since I had a very respectable pair, and my opponent just called, I was pretty sure I had the best hand. I smiled, weakly. I wasn’t about to help him out. Previously slack-jawed and slumped comfortably in his chair, the Texan cowboy pulled himself up short.

Suddenly he was eyeing me as if I was about to become chopped liver. The dealer flipped up 9-7-2 on the flop. My opponent leaned way back, again, as he considered his next move. I followed his lead, allowing myself plenty of time to ponder a bunch of relevant questions (in no particular order):

An Introspective PEP Talk before I Acted at the Poker Table

The questions I ask myself at the poker table are adaptable for negotiations at any other competitive table – including even the round table in my family room!

1. What relevant background information do I have about him?

2. Can I beat him at his own game of banter?

3. Do I have a good baseline reading of his credibility?

4. Does he have specific expectations as to how I will act in this situation?

5. How quickly should I react to his moves?

6. Am I clear-minded in my decision-making process?

7. Is my physical appearance and demeanor an asset here?

8. How important is it for me to be engaged in this matter?

9. If events take an unexpected turn, can I remain centered?

10. How do I think he thinks this exchange is going?

By giving myself a PEP talk while the good ole Texan pondered his next move, I was primed for his cocksure demand: “Honey, how much mo’ money you got?”

An earlier confrontation at the table between him and Betty Carey suddenly flashed before my eyes.

Betty was widely regarded as the most courageous female poker player of all time. The good ole Texan had leaned back right before he made his move against her, calling her a transparent liar as he “came over the top” with a big raise. Betty read him for nothing more than a hand full of perspiration. She made the call, exposing his stone cold bluff. She hauled in a nice chunk of change.

In my case the Texan’s aggression was more playful. I suspected that he had better holdings than he had with Betty. Still, I saw the obvious parallel.

I asked myself, “Is there any other reason he might be trying to intimidate me?”

Sorting through the alternative ways I might solidify my read, I settled on a strategy of understated confidence. If the Texan put his foot on the bully accelerator pedal, I’d give his bravura credit for a bad act.

“Can the dealer just count me down?” I asked the cowboy coyly. “Alrighty,” he replied, waving his hand in disgust. “Dealer, count her down.”

Then as I stacked my chips neatly in front of me, my swaggering opponent said, “Honey, I’m puttin’ it all-in,” as he shoved his stacks toward the center of the table. Smirking, he teased, “Trust me, it feels better in.”

I took a moment to ask myself, “Is he thinking that I am just some sugar daddy’s honey who has no business in this game?” Again I leaned back slowly in my chair, this time pretty confident that I had him pegged, but not ready to go for the kill just yet. I deadpanned, “Should I call?” Then, to test him one more time, I added deliberately, “You are all in, aren’t you?” “Yeah, baby, I already told you, it feels better in.”

That second little lasso of crude innuendo cemented my strategy. My two jacks had to be good. The cowboy definitely wanted me to fold. This was the perfect reason to make the call.

Forced to show me his hand before I had to show mine, he turned over pocket tens. My jacks won. I did better than the Great Betty Carey!

I quietly pulled in all of his chips to a grand round of applause from the ladies in the stands.

The next guy who came to the table to take the good ole Texan’s seat gave the dealer a big “hello there” and cast me a wink. Seeing that I had just taken over as the table leader, he glanced at his racks of chips and added, “Honey, do I have enough to bust you?”

Last month it was the galloping poker economy, rather than a disaster in the making, that sent me scurrying off on a trip overseas. The itinerary was London, Barcelona and Vienna.

I was trying to keep up with Thomas Kremser, the immensely popular European tournament director who has established TK Poker Event Consulting, GmbH to serve the international poker community.

I had barely completed my visits when Thomas was hopping on another plane for Cardiff to oversee the televised Late Night Poker Series. Next he would be in Birmingham and then on to Stockholm where he had just scored a coveted speaking engagement at the inaugural World Poker Congress.

No trip to London is complete without a visit to the bustling Grosvenor Victoria Casino, where no limit hold’em has taken off like wildfire. The Brits used to be far keener on Omaha Pot Limit Hold’em, but these days everyone who is anyone seems to be sauntering over to the No Limit tables where big bankrolls reign in many of the small blinds games.

As luck would have it, I promptly bumped into European Poker Tour CEO, John Duthie. Duthie is a serious force on the European poker scene. In 2000, Duthie made international headlines as the winner of the Poker Million, on the Isle of Man. An experienced television producer, Duthie watched the fledgling World Poker Tour unfold in 2002. There and then he believed the time was ripe to create a European Poker Tour. The hotter the WPT became, the more excited Duthie was about making one of his own across the pond. In 2003, with the support of PokerStars, and tournament director extraordinaire Thomas Kremser as his chief consultant on tournament organization and rules, Duthie’s EPT opened with a bang. Earlier this year, Thomas and John had begun discussions about a third season of collaboration. But by the time I arrived in Europe, the poker scene was so hot that there were conflicting events all across the continent and it was beginning to look like Thomas would not be able to keep up with the growing market, or even figure out who might be the best clients. He says “I had to begin to think in new ways about my tournament consulting activities if I wanted to stay on top of my game.”

In addition to the call from the prestigious EPT, Thomas was mulling queries from both established and upstart companies every day. And then there was Betfair, a most serious gaming force in the UK, that had decided to gamble it up in South Asia.

Betfair was in the process of obtaining a license in Singapore to do a special tournament event (primarily to express gratitude to its online players). Betfair was scouring the continent and reaching across the ocean in search of the right tournament consultant for their project. And at the same moment, POKER4EVER, Ltd., another European poker site, headquartered in Malta, was also in hot pursuit of a poker consultant with impeccable credentials.

Thomas seemed to be on everyone’s radar screen, but overwhelmed and unsure of how he wanted to proceed in this incredibly bustling poker scene. He put aside all of the proposals that were floating through his fingertips, determined to focus on the business at hand in Barcelona. He was on duty there as the overseer of the jam-packed tournament in progress at Casino de Barcelona.

Besides you can only wine and dine so many suitors at once!

Why is the tall, handsome Versace-suited Kremser such a magnet for all manner of poker businessmen? In talking with Thomas over many days, it became clear that his knowledge of the tournament business, his reputation for fairness at the tables, and his proven expertise in dealing with customer needs might be unparalleled anywhere in the world. (Yes I am an unabashed Kremser fan and have been, since I first met him while covering the European poker landscape for another story.) At that time, Thomas was managing the Concord Cardroom Casino in Vienna, but he would soon have a taste for a more entrepreneurial career.

Thomas founded the IPF with top European player Marcel Luske and media maven Nic Szeremeta, the CEO of Poker Europa. Together they organized tournaments in St. Maarten. Thomas ran the show at the tables, recruiting and training the dealers, supervising floor staff, making the rules and watching the transactions. Thomas’ stock continued to grow as a tournament director, nabbing plumb assignments with Late Night Poker and an expanding number of impressive tournaments.

One thing led to another – and then came Duthie’s invitation to be part of the EPT, which surely enlarged Thomas’ “sandbox.”

So while in London last month, I chatted up Duthie during the poker game at the Vic, knowing there would be earnest negotiations coming up for the EPT3. “See you in Barcelona,” I said, leaving him with food for thought.

It was time to hook up with Ben Fried, head of Betfair Poker. A savvy executive, he told me there were plenty of tournament directors eager to go to Singapore and more than one that could probably do the job. But within a few minutes of discussion, he admitted that he fancied Thomas over the rest. Less than four weeks later, Thomas had signed a deal that could pave the way for big time poker tournaments in South Asia – where none have been held before.

The rendezvous with Ben Fried behind me, I packed my bags and hit the road, touching down in Barcelona for a three day visit with Thomas. The entrance to the portside casino in Barcelona is manned by police and security that check everyone’s identification. The registration process gave me time to familiarize myself with the surroundings and meet a few of the locals that know their way around a tournament table.

They proved that in the main event. The locals took home the lion’s share of the prize money, leaving the pros as well as other unsung hotshots behind. Downstairs in the poker tournament room, music summons players back to their tournament seats.

I could see the towering Thomas conferring with his staff in the center of the room. His wife, Marina, a savvy tournament executive in her own right, was dashing toward a film crew to assist as a commentator. Marina is an integral part of Thomas’ team on the poker trail. With the players snugly ensconced in their seats, again, Thomas welcomed me to Barcelona, suggesting dinner in the casino’s fancier restaurant rather than at the buffet that most players favor for fast grub during the tournaments.

Thomas talks excitedly about the biggest poker challenge that has ever come his way. The principles of POKER4EVER are now courting him seriously.

He tells me that it looks like he has a chance to use his expertise, and to work closely with the management of the online poker room, which would allow him to learn a new part of the poker business. P4E honchos tell him they have nothing short of excellence in their plans. It is music to Thomas’ ears.

As is Thomas’ wont, he undersells his formidable skills, warning the suits behind POKER4EVER that he knows what he knows, and that they need to know what he doesn’t yet know. The principles are undeterred.

The senior business executive later tells me that what he likes so much about Thomas is his total candor. “Let’s make a contract,” says the senior suit.

Thomas and I leave Barcelona, headed for Vienna to talk about his creating a new business venture. The time has come for Thomas to open his very own TK Poker Event Consulting, GmbH. “I want it to be special,” Thomas tells me. “It must serve an international marketplace, with a qualified team of professionals to man each station. And it must set the best example for player integrity at the felt.” With contracts all but completed with three “big players” and inquiries from others continuing to roll in, Thomas took the leap, opening TK Poker Event Consulting, GmbH, July 1, 2006. In a matter of days, he assembled a small contingent of highly experienced tournament managers and supervisors that are ready to roll at scheduled tournaments in Europe, Asia and the Caribbean this fall-winter season.

As part of his commitment to the integrity of tournament poker, Thomas promises clients that TK tournament directors do not participate in any manner or form so as to benefit from the results of any player’s performance in the competition. And this is a promise that is offered as part of the contract.

A day before the TK logo became official (July 1, 2006), Thomas mounted the stage of the World Poker Congress to discuss the ABC’s of tournament poker (with the likes of keynote speakers Steve Lipscomb and Jeffrey Pollack in the building). At the conclusion of the meeting, he returned to Vienna to begin signing contracts on behalf of TK and put the finishing touches on TK’s “Recommended Rules for Tournament Competition.”

TK will offer its “Recommended Rules” to all clients and plans to make them available in printed form at all venues for players, throughout the tournament. Thomas says he is grateful for the work that others have done to elevate the professionalism and sportsmanship of the game. TK Rules, he says, reflect the considerable efforts by multiple casinos, poker associations, colleagues and players.

TK tournament rules are organized and presented in clear simple English! In an ever increasingly sophisticated poker world, Thomas Kremser is a trailblazer. This week, Thomas is coming to town, visiting Las Vegas for a close up of the World Series of Poker in this new hotsy totsy American poker world.

With an estimated fifteen hundred poker players on board, the M.S. Westerdam departed from the Fort Lauderdale, Florida pier.

A blasting horn signified the official start of the Party Poker Million V, featuring the most prestigious annual Limit Hold’em tournament on the planet. The biggest poker room in the world moved seamlessly from cyberspace to the elegantly appointed digs of the cruise ship to host the most diverse poker festivities of the season.

The five day battle for supremacy in the big event included a three-handed ping-pong contest for the chip lead at the final table, and as players were eliminated, they still had a second chance in two consolation tournaments that were planned for later in the week, or could simply opt for the non-stop action in the cash games down the hall. There were also plenty of magical moments beyond the felt, with revelers rushing up the famous Ocho Rios waterfalls and swimming with stingrays off the beaches of Grand Cayman Island. A good time was had by all at our ports of call.

The tournament arena was surrounded with bay windows that drew a constantly ogling crowd, as the five hundred twenty-eight runners were whittled down one by one. By the time there were only three men standing, the pros were the odds on favorites to win. But after a ping-pong contest for the chip lead among Kenna James, a popular California pro with Hollywood good looks and a black cowboy hat, veteran player Scott Buller, a railway conductor from Nebraska with three prior cashes at the PPM, and Michael Schneider, a twenty two year old journalism student at the University of Minnesota, it was the amateur, Michael Schneider who turned up as the last man standing. An exuberant, well-mannered kid with scores of cheering friends in the crowd, Schneider withstood the pressure to take down the top million dollar prize. James scored as first runner-up for $700,000 and Scott, the only player to make it to the PPM annual tournament’s final table twice left with $500,000 for his third place finish. In addition to tournament competition, there were all manner of poker games in the card room, including one newly created Hold’em game that had the animated winners laughing it up all night long. The hotshot 5/10 and 10/20 No Limit punters at nearby tables were seen salivating for seats in the game next door, as pots worth thousands of dollars were built nightly from their thirty dollars worth of blinds at the beginning of the hand. When not glued to the card room’s chock-a-block cash games or making a run for the million dollar prize in the PPM V tournament, PPM voyagers were free to feast on gourmet treats from around the world, then encouraged to get rid of the calories with stints on state of the art gym equipment, or a few laps around the ship, preferably during a glorious sunrise or sunset.

The M.S. Westerdam’s gourmet dining room offered high style for guests with discerning palates who seek top-notch ambiance.

On day one, I made a beeline to the gourmet restaurant and booked a table for every night of the cruise.

My first night dinner date was with my good friends (and incredibly gracious hosts when I am in their neck of the woods), the very youthful Card Player Cruises honchos Mark and Lisa Tenner, who with partners Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher, did the hosting chores for the PPM V.

Dressed to the nines but with her mind on business, Lisa worked the gourmet room nightly, and then moved on, while hubby Mark watched over casino transactions throughout the evenings. Jan coordinated all of the tournament details and Linda devoted herself to every cruiser’s good and welfare.

Two days into our trip, Party Gaming welcomed twenty journalists for a dinner party; it was gourmet dinner number three for me. Mike Sexton, one of the best-known poker faces from televised poker shows held court at our table as the hard-working scribes jotted notes discretely as they looked for story hooks between bites.

Tournament poker/movie star Matt Savage made a trip to the gourmet dining room too, hosting a few hardworking staffers for gourmet fare. He invited me to join in the fun. In an after dinner tête à tête, Matt talked about his next poker show for the YES channel, and plans for the new International Poker Association Tour, which is scheduled to open at Hollywood Park Casino in April.

The ship’s dining rooms were filled with poker celebrities every night. Casey Kastle, one of poker’s greatest advocates for enforcement of top shelf ethics in tournament competition enlightened me on the new World Poker Association while chowing down on porterhouse. The WPA is a not-for-profit organization that seeks to unite poker players around the world and upgrade professional ethics and standards in tournament competition; Casey, Barry Greenstein and Kenna James are among the founding members of this organization created by Jesse Jones.

Poker pro Dan Alspach and fiance JoAnn Liu – both poker champs – were regular dinner companions during my trip as were Mike Carson and Steve Metzger, friends of mine for more than fifteen years. To my surprise they both suited up for formal dinners. Mike recently arrived at the final table of a WPT event as the chip leader, and Steve came in second last year at the Party Poker Million IV No Limit Hold’em consolation tournament.

The Party Poker Million offered unending choices for rendezvous. I sipped sparkling water with longtime friend and highly accomplished poker pro Marsha Waggoner at a hideaway at one end of the ship, and met up with WSOP bracelet holder Steven Zolotow, one of my earliest friends from the “big game” at the Mayfair in New York during the 80s, in a lively cocktail lounge a quarter of a mile away.

By week’s end I had dined, drank and danced with, or at least chatted up, most every “seasoned” poker player on board, including the residents of the Presidents’ suites, which were occupied by energetic WPA founder Jesse Jones and the Shulmans. I speak of Barry and Allyn Shulman who hardly need an introduction to anyone in the poker world! Rumor had it that poker prince Phil Ivey had his eye on a presidential suite for this trip, but not before Jesse and the Shulmans had snapped up the fanciest digs on the ship. According to one well-placed source, Ivey had offered to “buy out” a presidential suite from the CardPlayer Magazine honcho, but my mole said, “Ivey was told he might have a chance of getting Barry to consider playing ball, but that he was never going to get his brainy, gorgeous, poker-wise bride, Allyn out of that fabulous room!”

There were many high points on the Party Poker Million V – especially for poker’s newest millionaire, Michael Schneider, who plans to finish his university studies and invest his windfall winnings with care. And there was another magical moment at the awards ceremony. Players were given a glimpse into the character of another poker winner, Brian Saltus, who, as every seasoned poker tournament pro will recall, is the lawyer from Boise, Idaho who won the innovative grand finale event of the 2001 Tournament of Champions. The “TOC” was founded by Mike Sexton and Chuck Humphrey. Brian’s victory speech at that event left everyone spellbound, especially TOC co-founder Mike Sexton, as well as Linda Johnson and Yours Truly, who were handling the commentary chores. Brian Saltus took over the microphone from us to extend his humble thanks for the opportunity to compete against poker greats TJ Cloutier, Scott Nguyen and “Miami” John Cernuto at the final table, and for the chance to share his win with an adoring family as well as an appreciative audience. He added that winning the event had cast an everlasting glow over the sunset of his life, noting his ongoing cancer battle. A few months later, in the spring of 2002, Linda Johnson of Card Player Cruises and Mike Sexton of Party Poker joined together to honor Saltus aboard the annual PPM Cruise. They lauded his heart and courage at the table and his strength beyond the baize. And so was born the Brian Saltus Award. Recipients have since included Maureen Feduniak, Robert Williamson III and Barry Greenstein. This year, the powers that be turned the tables on Linda, leaving her out of the loop in the selection process. Linda Johnson was this year’s recipient of the Brian Saltus award – “for her long and tireless contributions to the industry and her unwavering commitment to do all she can for the good of poker.” The surprise presentation was made by her eloquent business partner and good friend, Mark Tenner. With the awards ceremonies complete, it was time to party again! A talented group of poker players mounted the stage, one after another, to strut their stuff. My buddy Kenna James sang lovingly to his wife, Marsha, and my longtime friend Michael Carson made those piano keys sing before we took off for a last supper and a joyous end to the Party Poker Million festivities.

Ms Eolis was elected to the inaugural Professional Poker Tour, and has received a corporate sponsorship at the 2006 World Series of Poker. She also has recently been filmed for a planned poker-related movie. By day, Ms. Eolis is the CEO of EOLIS, a legal management consultancy. She devotes significant time to public service as Task Force Commander of Hope’s Champion and has served as first assistant senior advisor to Governor Pataki and previously as an advisor to Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

When Matt Savage, premiere tournament director and current co-star in the highly anticipated Lucky You movie, calls, poker players listen! Matt has more connections than the ubiquitous poker gods when it comes to putting players center stage on television.

With Matt’s pull and my moxie, I was confident that lightning was about to strike, and that I would soon soar into the galaxy of the most au courant poker stars. So I dashed out to the 2005 WSOP, the obvious hotbed of activity.

The top pros were preening while the second tier and understudies were cavorting about, like one arm paper hangers with a collective itch, attempting to curry favor with ESPN interviewers. And everyone was jockeying for position and stature, comparing their various invitations to red carpet parties.

With no headline-making tournament victories (playing only two of the forty-five tournaments did little to enhance the probabilities), I chatted animatedly about my biggest splash of the day. It was a jackknife dive at a local swimming pool.

And then I bumped into Matt Savage, manning his booth at the WSOP Lifestyles Trade Show. “Hey, Wendeen, there is someone I want you to meet,” he cooed. Pinning his cell phone to his ear and turning toward the wall, Matt excused himself, to make the pitch on my behalf.

“She’s here,” he said. “You want to meet her?” That is how I met The Man. Every savvy tournament player wants to meet him. This guy is paying players to come to the table, and he is putting more money on the felt for those who excel. His GSN televised Poker Royale shows paint not only the story of tournament contests, but also paints vivid portraits of every participant. This is accomplished with footage that shines on their feats at home as well as at the baize, and often in unexpected interactions with their fellow players – from the dance floor to the ping pong table.

Jeff Mirkin, president of Mirkin Productions is The Man. He is the centrifugal force behind Poker Royale.

I was mighty pleased to have the introduction, even if my hair looked like I just exited the pool. Jeff began my “casting interview” for Poker Royale’s upcoming “Battle of the Ages” (which will be seen throughout November and into December) with appropriate incredulity that I was old enough to qualify as one of the six “60+ seniors,” on the team of “Seasoned Pros,” (Matt had informed him that I had just squeaked into the qualifying pit).

The other team would consist of three men and three women under thirty- the “Young Pros”. After promising me that the seniors contingent would not be dubbed the ‘Over the Hill Gang” and that grande poker dames would not be portrayed as “Old Battleaxes,” I tossed my hat into the ring. I also threatened to use my untested tai chi training, if there were any slip-ups by the younger set.

After a couple of minutes of discourse, Jeff said, “I want you.” And then, the interview was over- just like that. He said I would hear from him. Could he be serious? I wasn’t sure if I had aced the interview, or if I had just been given a smooth brush-off. In a call from the Poker Royale offices, A few days later, I was assured the invitation, complete with an all-expense trip and appearance fee, was real. I also learned there would be another $50,000 on the table for the winner. I wanted to think this good fortune had come my way because a group of top pros had enlightened Mirkin that I was among the top six senior poker players on the planet (as the show bills us), but I really think that Mirkin was more overcome by the two ringing cell phones that I answered, simultaneously during our interview, and then replaced and secured, one on each side, close to the vest.

A highly successful television game show producer, Jeff Mirkin (“Greed,” “Card Sharks”) has worked with his sharp-as-a-tack partner Maureen Fitzpatrick for more than two decades. John Faratzis (Olympic Diving Competition, “The American Poker Championship”) rounds out a triumvirate that operates seamlessly. But it is Jeff that stands out as the guy who has been bitten by the poker bug.

Jeff likes to say he “was born a poor black sharecropper” who has sort of made good. While confident about his capabilities, he has a genuine humility about his considerable accomplishments.

Born in Queens, New York in 1958, Jeff was graduated from Richmond Hill High School in 1976. He got interested in poker as a kid, and in television during junior high school, when the teacher brought in a porta-pak. Jeff reports, “It was neither portable nor in a pack”. It was clunky equipment; a black and white camera with a one inch reel to a tape recorder and monitor. He recalls, “The kids were breaking their necks to get on the screen.”

The son of a lawyer/accountant who had many game show clients, including the mega successful duo of Goodson and Todman, (Goodson-Todman Productions), Jeff was immediately hooked up in the television business after graduating from Temple University, making his entry into “reality TV” long before we called it that.

He went off to California in 1981 to work for the People’s Court. Still on the air, this syndicated show connected him to production honchos extraordinaire, Ralph Edwards (This is Your Life), and Stu Billett. Stu became Jeff’s mentor, teaching him the inner workings of the television business.

When not glued to his work, Jeff often repaired either to a poker game or a blackjack table. Jeff started playing poker as a kid. He added blackjack to his arsenal of gaming skills after college but preferred poker, believing that the game of bets and bluffs is less dependent on luck. But while Jeff was intent on moving up the ladder of television, poker was limited to spare time fare.

It was while at Fremantle Media, where he was the executive in charge of development of programming, when American Idol was sold to Fox. And Jeff adds, “We sold a bunch of other stuff which included other game shows, including revivals of To Tell the Truth, Beat the Clock, Card Sharks and Press Your Luck.” No matter what he was working on, however, Jeff was also drawn to poker for its potential on television.

Before the concept of the World Poker Tour was even inked into a proposed business plan, Jeff and Vince Van Patten (commentator for the WPT, joined in an effort to sell a celebrity poker show after seeing some celebrities playing cards at the Bel Air Country Club. Jeff explains, “People looked at us like we were from Mars.”

Intrigued and seemingly forever fascinated by poker Jeff was destined to take an influential spot in the poker world. During his stint at Fremantlle, Jeff says, “We sold Whammy, an update of Press Your Luck- 130 shows.” Rich Cronin, the President of Freemantle loved Whammy. He got to know Jeff and picked up on the idea of a poker show right after the WPT came on the air. But a management change at Freemantle scotched the idea. Soon thereafter, however, Jeff was approached by an entrepreneur representing Louis Asmo, the self-appointed Commissioner Pro Tem of the nascent World Poker Player Association. Asmo had single-handedly founded a poker player association with a multi-pronged mission: to find television opportunities, sponsorships, and added monies to tournament prize pools for a wider selection of longtime experienced players, as well as current hot shots than were reaching center stage on the WPT, and at recent WSOP events.

Albeit feisty and too fiery for the taste of the poker community as a whole, Louis Asmo still must be given his due. He attracted the attention of GSN and Jeff Mirkin. A new collaboration was on course.

Mirkin found Matt Savage (or vice versa) to create a GSN tournament show that included 72 players. Mirkin nods to Savage’s considerable marketing prowess and relationships with poker players in making this initial foray into poker tournaments a respectable affair.

With one poker tournament under his belt, Mirkin thirsted for more. With Maureen at his side and John Faratzis, a nine time Emmy winner who has produced Super bowls and Olympics on the executive team, Poker Royale has already proven a winning gambit. John handles production matters and while Jeff handles creative and administrative matters.

For the next poker venture, Jeff Mirkin Productions tapped into a stellar final table with WSOP champion Carlos Mortenson and Party Poker Million winner Kathy Liebert among the contenders. With good critical and audience response Jeff was ready to push the envelope.

One thing was clear to the team: if the players were paid to participate, the producers could reasonably exert more control over the production values, and turn whines of poker player exploitation into exuberant cooperation. Jeff says that he has learned the benefits of putting up the money, explaining that you can steer the ship a lot better. Mirkin Productions offers the entire cast of a televised poker tournament airfare, hotel, hairdressing, make up and wardrobe assistance, and an appearance fee. While each show has some variations in the way, additional monies are distributed, the base fee is equal for all, and going out early does not banish you from the set. Every player’s story is highlighted in the course of his/her series.

The casts thus far have included movie stars the likes of Jennifer Tilly, James Woods and Patrick Warburton (a Seinfeld cast member) and champion players like Kenna James, Paul Darden, and Cyndy Violette, among scores of pros that have appeared thus far. Mirkin is always on the lookout for up and comers, as well as unique personalities fully committed to showing the full gorgeous mosaic of proven poker talent.

Rightly proud of his Poker Royale shows, Mirkin says that he and his partners share an unshakable position about how to treat people who come on their shows. To put it simply, Maureen said over breakfast one day, “Everyone on our team is primed to treat them like gold.” Jeff sums up their philosophy: “What differentiates what we do from other poker shows is that our stock in trade is really taking care of the people who come on our show.”

He concludes, “Game shows are reality shows by another name. When we did these shows in the 80’s and 90’s, we saw ourselves as owing them for being willing to do it.” Mirkin Productions is music to our ears.

Wendeen Eolis has put in four record-setting performances for a woman in major poker tournaments in the past 2 years and will be seen in four shows of Poker Royale’s Battle of the Ages this fall. By day, she CEO of EOLIS International Group and currently task force commander of Hope’s Champion, a disaster counseling program that is currently assisting Katrina survivors from the Gulf Coast. You may reach Ms Eolis at wheolis@aol.com.

Super System was quickly revered as the definitive poker text book, and Al Alvarez’s riveting narrative about the players and the action at the World Series of Poker taught and entertained all who populated the poker scene circa 1980.

In those days, I was not yet schooled in poker strategies and emerging theories that authors such as Mike Caro and David Sklansky were bringing to the tables. I also had no inkling that Alvarez’s acclaimed Biggest Game in Town would serve as inspiration for James McManus’ bestseller, Positively Fifth Street, some fifteen years later.

Doyle, Mike, David, and my friends Tom Mc Evoy and TJ Cloutier have been the major authors in my 200 plus book poker library of the last several years. They have stood the test of time, as has Alvarez and James McManus. McManus has sold the movie rights to his tale of murder, Cheetahs and the 2000 World Series of Poker.

At the 2005 World Series of Poker Lifestyles Show, a plethora of biographies, autobiographies, and other poker adventure stories were offered up for sale along with scores of classic and newer “how to ” poker books, of variable merit.

These days, all manner of poker books are happily making their way onto the bookshelves of both mainstream bookstores and specialty distribution outlets.

Among the scores of “how to” tomes, three certain winners are on display. Doyle Brunson’s Super System 2 is a winner of the first order, in no small measure due to the collaborators he chose for the sequel to his original definitive poker textbook.

Once again, he turned to Caro and Bobby Baldwin (the latter is the WSOP champion who turned in his poker jacket to become a top suit), but he also looked to an expanded group of top-notch pros, as collaborators , this time around. The next generation of super stars came on board to join the poker king – his son Todd Brunson and young poker tigers Jennifer Harmon and Daniel Negreanu, among them. Doyle’s latest book is filled with sophisticated poker lessons, but it does not stand alone. The additional standouts this year in the “how to” category, include two formidable players that have mounted the stage as poker teachers extraordinaire.

Dan Harrington’s Harrington on Holdem is a two-volume work that lays out his winning ways in clear and detailed prose. Harrington, in his book, and Barry Greenstein in Ace on the River both underscore the increasingly sophisticated concepts that must be mastered to excel in a modern-day poker world, and they show how important it is to continuously review and refine both technical expertise and individual game plans.

Harrington’s first strategy book was a smash hit among experienced players, and anyone who seriously seeks first place prizes cannot afford to miss his second one either. Co-authored by Bill Robertie, an expert games player, Harrington on Hold’em offers a superb guide for advanced play, but is not beyond the comprehension of lesser skilled players. If you use his words of wisdom, diligently, your game cannot help but improve.

Beyond the world of poker instruction, for which millions of players seem to have an unquenchable thirst, there are three poker adventure books that I suspect will knock your socks off as they did mine. They are as follows: Aces and Kings by Michael Kaplan and Brad Reagan, One of a Kind by Peter Alson and Nolan Dalla, and Michael Craig’s The Banker, The Professor and the Suicide King.

Ace on the River by Barry Greenstein, is, as one might expect, a horse of a totally different color from any other teaching manual.

The unique presentation of complicated material in simple terms and a beautiful assortment of accompanying photographs that are relevant to the text is typical of Barry’s independent and uniquely brilliant perspective about poker, not only in card rooms but far beyond the felt.

In Aces and Kings, you’ll be enlightened about the struggles as well as the brighter side of the most notable stars on the poker planet. Kaplan and Reagan are both gifted writers that bring their subjects to life instantly, and there is something new (and significant) to learn in this book for even the most well informed poker journalists and seasoned players of all ages.

In One of a Kind, Nolan Dalla, who had done a ton of interviews with Stu Unger during the later years of his life, teamed up with Harvard educated writer Peter Alson. Peter transposed the goods that Nolan acquired into a compelling portrait of Unger’s life and tragic death. One of a Kind will challenge you to soak up the pain and learn from it.

In Michael Craig’s in-depth account of the Big Game in which a wealthy Texas banker pits his skills against a “corporation,” brings the reader to the table that saw the highest stakes poker games ever hosted in a public card room. You will be awed by the access and the details he obtained about the assembled players, and the wild games they played. You’ll also learn about the failed plans for the “ultimate poker battle.”

No matter how far and wide you have roamed around the poker world, and no matter how well schooled you may be, the poker books I’ve highlighted here should keep your rapt attention from the first page to the last. Every one of them offers valuable insight into the mind-sets of icons of the poker world, and striking strategy tips for winning at the toughest tables.

Wendeen Eolis is CEO of EOLIS International Group a legal/business consultancy. A longtime confidante and advisor to Rudy Giuliani, she also served as first assistant to Governor George E. Pataki. She is consulted by law firms, companies, and governments around the world. In her spare time Wendeen became a poker ace; she was elected to the WPT’s Inaugural Professional Poker Tour and has cashed in five WSOP events. She has written articles for various law journals as well as the poker industry. Visit eolis.com for info on her book, and availability as a speaker

No sooner than the plane touched down on the tarmac at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, my mobile phone is afire with messages from players at the 2005 World Series of Poker.

Record fields of tournament entrants are daily occurrences. High-profile poker players are fixated on tournaments that will be televised, and three more poker player associations have been hatched in the WSOP corridors.

Mike Caro, the “Mad Genius of Poker” and long-time friend whisks me away from the airport with further updates on the exhilarating madness that awaits me at the 2005 World Series of Poker. A full mile away from the main entrance of the Rio suites hotel, site of the World Series of Poker, a jam-packed parking lot hails the arrival of players from across the country and as far away as all four corners of the globe.

I enter the convention center and make a right hand turn into a grand hallway fit for a red carpet affair. Two hundred feet further, a big sign beckons new arrivals: “Register here.” Having been warned that the final event of the 2005 WSOP may be sold out, I have already anted up for the Big Dance through the WSOP online registration program. I have gotten a jump on my procrastinating friends, not only by ensuring that I cannot be shut out, but also by getting my starting day, table, and seat number in advance.

Yesterday’s rumor was that Harrah’s might open the number of available seats for the main event past the previously announced 6,600 places. Could the starting number of punters swell past 8,000? Silently, I note that with more than $700 a head in entrance fees taken off the top of the prize pool for the House, the mega-resort has good reason to figure out how to accommodate every last poker player on the face of the earth who wants to be here!

Journalist that I am, I insist on checking out the rumor with a reliable source. So I tag Ken Lambert, Harrah’s Director of Tournament Poker. He says “no dice” to such chatter, informing me that higher-ups have assured him that there will be no expanded finale. The 6,600 number is firm and to make sure that players will have an opportunity to win seats in satellites at the Rio Suites property right up to the last day, Harrah’s is currently holding out an estimated 1,000 seats, according to Lambert. “From this point on, your best bet for a seat in the Championship Event is a satellite or a super-satellite at the Rio or by using the old-fashioned method of “buying in” for 10 dimes-sooner than later. As of June 23rd, online registration for tournament events has been closed. Going forward, if you plan on playing in a satellite elsewhere between now and July 7th, beware: you could find yourself a winner, but standing on the rail.

Worry-free about such matters, I take a spin through the Rio poker room. It is a ‘never been seen before’ vision: two hundred poker tables under bright lights glisten before my eyes. They stand above plush carpeting with ample space to navigate between tables. The room is immaculately clean. Beyond the sea of faces already at the tables for the $2,500 No Limit Hold’em competition today, I spot TJ Cloutier, the towering ex-football player and long-time player who is still at the top of his game in his sixties. He’s already shown the zillion young studs in attendance here that maturity and experience are valued assets and that it is staying power that brings genuine respect for your game.

In a widening loop around the tables, I note that old-timers seem scarce against the throngs of twenty-something newly minted wannabees. The road-gamblin’ Texans of yore are outnumbered by thousands of recreational players with full-time jobs that only dream of turning pro.

No matter the debates surrounding each and every event until the very last minute, as to the number of players that will sidle up to the table, nothing matches the frenzied private bets among players and tournament staff on the size of first-place prize money for the main event. I push Lambert to make a prediction. He tells me that the optimists are hoping it will hit 10 million. He smiles broadly, but says nothing when I ask if the odds makers are in trouble with the over at 8 million.

Sitting in the middle of the poker room, I eye the tables, the dealers, the crowd, and the ESPN crew that is moving about like a synchronized cast of characters in a play. Ken Lambert and his trusted right hand Johnny Grooms talked to me about this historical moment in the poker world. They give me answers to the right questions even before I pose them.

Rooms at the Rio Suites are still available. As of late, they are selling like hotcakes even though they are double the price of the old Binion’s Horseshoe rate. Ken adds that the $109 tariff on weekday nights and $179 charge for weekends are true bargains compared to the hotel’s year-round rates. Next, Ken schools me about the rules for player sponsorships during this year’s tournaments. He cautions that there will be no repeat of last year’s efforts by certain poker companies to “buy the final table,” offering players the chance to wear their logos for big bucks once they’ve proven their mettle in the event- trying their darndest to make the finalists look like a billboard for their corporate entities.

This time around at the WSOP, players must obtain sponsors prior to the beginning of the tournament in order to wear their logo apparel for televised poker shows. Then they must meet Harrah’s requirements which allow a maximum of a three inch square patch on one visible garment. If you dare to come with more, the excess logos will be taped.

Talking about televised poker action, tournament staff chuckle that the players’ are totally smitten by the chance to play poker on the tube. One dealer mocked the rush of reporters by poker pros, saying, “You’d think that the opportunities to mug for the camera would guarantee a future fortune. “Don’t assume that.” There are a lot of one-stunt wonders out there who get found out pretty quick.” For the time being, however, the press seems as anxious for interviews with players- pros and unknowns alike-as players are for the attention. Everyone is lapping up the current poker madness that reigns here.

Poker players and poker dollars are flying into town at lightning speed, with unknown 21-29 year old males frequently accounting for nearly a third of the field in major events. I can’t help but yearn for the good old days of poker when Jack Binion announced the name of each and every player in the main event as they strolled to their seats, greeting their fellow gladiators by name as they took their places. The poker gods read my thoughts; the elite of the poker world and longtime friends are gathered here this evening for a roast of John Bonetti. The gravelly voiced, tough-talking original from New York has made his mark on the tournament trail, having started down that path at age 65. Bonetti is no quitter. Neither bad streaks at the felt nor a rare and frightening form of cancer could keep this man down. He keeps on cashing. The three-time WSOP bracelet winner has added to his stash another $175,215 with a third place finish in a $5000 No Limit Hold’em event here at the 2005 WSOP.

The belly-laughs at the Bonetti roast come fast and furious with Mike Sexton’s rapid patter setting the tone. Sexton tells the crowd that John Bonetti’s passion for the game has earned him a record number of penalties for uttering the F-bomb word. Sexton doesn’t let up. He points out that Bonetti has the lone distinction of a penalty for use of the f-word during a tournament break, moments after a hand that didn’t please him. And Sexton finishes him off with a claim that dealers keep a dart board on hand in the break room in a lame effort to make mincemeat of the killer poker player.

At the end of the day, however, John Bonetti’s foibles pale in comparison to his heart for the game, his courage in facing life’s trials, and his faithful friendships throughout the poker world. Here, here to the 2005 World Series of Poker and John Bonetti, an old world poker hero, with talent to handle the modern game.

Wendeen Eolis has cashed four times with record-setting performances at the WSOP, including twice in the main event. She has appeared on the WPT televised Ladies Night II event and was elected to the inaugural of the WPT’s Professional Poker Tour. Her accomplishments in business, politics, and poker have been profiled by major print and broadcast media including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, A & E’s Biography and most recently on the Travel Channel.

I was part of the crowd, counting the blessing of yet a third tony poker invitation in one week.

A few days earlier, Jay Colombo, the CEO and Managing Director of the Poker Institute, had called me. Colombo had been tapped to oversee one of the city’s rapidly growing posh poker events- another charity tournament, this time hosted by Brooks Brothers and sponsored by the New Yorker Magazine. My assignment, along with WSOP 2002 Champion Robert Varkonyi, was to meet and greet the guests and to offer up my top ten tips for business executives at the felt tables.

At the appointed hour, I dressed to kill, complete with a new engraved Cartier bracelet that proclaimed my membership on the 2004/2005 Professional Poker Tour (let no one forget that election!). Both Rob and I made it to the final table.

Returning home with a fifth place tournament finish (my proceeds were donated to the Irvington Institute), and two new gigs to teach corporate CEOs the finer points of No Limit Texas Hold’em, I turned my attention to booking flights and rooms for Memorial Day weekend in New Orleans. I planned to make my mark in the Big Easy at the final stop on the World Series of Poker Circuit before it circled back to Las Vegas for the Big Dance at the WSOP.

The game plan was to nail down my seat for the WSOP/ESPN upcoming $2,000,000 freeroll. All I had to do was barrel through the field down to eighteenth place in the final event.

No sooner than I had plunked down the airfare and secured my room, well-known tournament director and West Coast-based poker consultant Matt Savage rang me up with an irresistible but conflicting invitation.

“How would you like to come out to Hollywood, to the set of Lucky You, for an interview with the producer?” Matt asked. Does this mean that you have a role in a movie for me?” I queried.

“Well,” he said, “I am not sure about that, but I can get you a one-on-one with the producer as a member of the press, and you can take it from there.” Whoa, what a story this could be!

Early that afternoon, I dashed off to my hair colorist, to begin putting myself together for the big event. I left instructions at the office to change my travel plans. I was en route to Hollywood… I’d hit New Orleans in due course.

“Cover every bit of the gray, and chunky highlights, please,” I pleaded with Anna, explaining that this poker movie was my once in a lifetime chance of being seen on the silver screen. Noticing that the lady in the next chair was making no effort to hide her interest in our conversation, Anna introduced me to her as a woman with a head for business, politics and poker. I obliged Betsy’s rapid fire questions about every detail of my poker “hobby,” until she stopped in mid-sentence to take a phone call.

Dripping with red hairdye around her ears, Betsy nearly yelled into her cell phone, “I have met the poker player you are looking for! Here, talk to her.”

Betsy turned over the call, after whispering that her brother is an Oscar-winning screenwriter. Five minutes later, I scored my third poker invitation for the week-to meet up in Hollywood with Betsy’s brother for a confab about his next planned screenplay.

I promised to call, but secretly, I hoped that I would be too busy as an actor in Lucky You. The next morning, I was on my way to the Hollywood set of Lucky You. On arrival at “The Lot,” I was immediately ushered to Stage 4 site of the Binion’s WSOP set. I had heard in advance that stunning replicas of the Bellagio and Binion’s Horseshoe poker rooms set the stage for a poker movie with serious intentions. Indeed, the sets were surreal-I yearned for the return of the WSOP at the old Shoe.

The cameras were rolling and Matt Savage was center stage-selected to act the part of a tournament director. Amanda, the film’s publicist, soon gave me an inkling of what was, and was not to come: a few minutes with the producer between takes, and nothing else. Apparently, I was invited here strictly to get a feel for the movie to help me in writing a story.

Using the back corner of the set as our interview office, Producer Carol Fenelon cooed about how lovely it was that I had decided to make the trip all the way from New York, just to do a story about her movie. She then launched into a two-minute vague overview about the film.

When I got my first chance to respond, I explained that I was motivated to make the visit because I believed I might also be included among the pack of players that were invited as “talent.” Carol promptly burst that bubble, explaining that the poker player shoots were already winding down, and that my role would be limited to the opportunity of an up-close and personal look at real life moviemaking, presumably for the purpose of writing of a story. Carol Fenelon is my kind of executive-one who plays it straight, from the get go, even if you don’t cotton to the news.

Carol and her longtime friend and production company partner, Curtis Hansen (who is the director of the movie), have created this confection as a labor of love, with a commitment to turn out an authentic representation of the poker scene circa 2003. The storyline revolves around the relationship between a father and son- both of whom are poker players headed for the World Series of Poker. The cast includes Robert Duval as the father, Eric Bena as his son, and Drew Barrymore as an aspiring singer and the son’s girlfriend. The movie will depict the trials and triumphs in their personal relationships as focused on the resolution of differences within a family. Poker is used as a metaphor to dramatize complex interactions and negotiations among people. The movie will undoubtedly highlight the thesis that poker is a mind-bending game of bets, raises, bluffs and folds that only sometimes is played with cards.

It is a familiar thesis, and the central theme in my own slowly progressing book, Raising the Stakes: Story of a Power Poker Dame. But Carol and Curtis are about to bring this thesis to life now, in all its proven glory, on the big screen. And they are sprinkling into the drama an array of talented poker players as actors, as well as hundreds of actors that form the gorgeous mosaic of poker players that currently mesmerize millions of teenagers as well as adults on televised poker tournaments around the world.

After learning that I had done some homework before meeting with her in our makeshift office- where rehearsals and live takes continued to swirl all around us- Carol switched from surface platitudes about the film to a deeper discussion about its underpinnings. Carol and Curtis have been poker aficionados for more than twenty years, she says. But they became hooked on this project thanks to a chance meeting with Doyle that led to their scoring a quiet invite to watch the “Big Game” at the Bellagio, that pitted Texas banker Andy Beal against Doyle and several compatriots who pooled their financial resources to take on the billionaire businessman. Beal and the Brunson-founded “corporation” became locked in a poker combat of unprecedented proportions; Curtis and Carol held coveted front row seats. The outcome of the Big Game: a moviemaking duo’s fully blossomed passion to make a throw-the-ball-out-of-the-park, full feature, big budget poker movie. Lucky you and me!

For more than two years, Doyle has served as technical advisor for the movie, reviewing the hands, the commentary and the player styles to insure that it all rings absolutely lifelike. Carol says pointedly that this movie is not about gimmicks; no one gets whacked, nor is sex the drawing card. In fact if all goes as planned, the movie will get a PG13 rating, catering to the millions of teenagers as well as adults that thrill to be part of the clattering chip action.

Director Curtis Hansen has spared no effort to create the real McCoy, using more than a score of poker personalities as players in the poker games that are attached to the heart of the movie. In addition to Matt Savage, who has enough speaking lines to make professional actors salivate for the part, Jennifer Harmon, Maureen Feduniak, and Sammy Farha are also reportedly slated for speaking roles. But only the living poker legends Jack Binion and Doyle Brunson have been cast as themselves in the film.

Additional poker players that have been invited to the set, either as consultants, talent, or press, include among others: Kenna James, Dan Harrington, Barry Greenstein, Erik Seidel, Cyndy Violette, Chau Giang, John Juanda, Johnny Chan, Karina Jett, Jason Lester and Marsha Waggoner. Waggoner summed up the general euphoria: “It was a wonderful experience,” adding that she had been given her own private dressing room and was treated like royalty during her four days on the set.

As for Yours Truly, though aspirations to become a character actress in Lucky You were summarily squelched, the silver lining of the visit was clear: I, too, had participated in a piece of modern poker history. In the process, I gained a very personal insight into the creative minds behind the movie. While there is still too little known about the intricacies of the plot to tout the story line as riveting, the hour and a half interview with producer Carol Fenelon left me a believer that the cast, the passion, and the authenticity could spell a blockbuster hit.

Departing from the set of Lucky You, I peered into my handbag and found the telephone number for the screenwriter that had jumped into my life at the hairdresser the week before. Just as I was about to give up, he answered on the fifth ring. I reintroduced myself as the Poker Dame.

“Hi Wendeen, he said. I can’t wait to meet up with you, but I’m on my way to the airport, so let’s talk next week,in New York.”

I’ll be all ears, but once burned, twice shy, so I plan to play coy and let him woo me. There will be no unabashed enthusiasm this time around! And no disappointment if a pipedream goes awry, either.

In the meantime, I’ve given up box office delusions in favor of a ticket for New Orleans. I arrive too late to get into the final event at the last WSOP Circuit event before the 2005 World Series of Poker, but I’ll be on hand in the Big Easy to report about the proceedings.

Next on my poker-playing dance card is the main event of the WSOP, and a chance to fulfill another pipedream,winning the World Series of Poker Championship. Let the poker gods shine down on me, leaving the circuit pros to shriek, “Lucky you!”

Wendeen Eolis has appeared on the WPT televised Ladies Night II event and was elected to the PPT for 2004/2005. She recently appeared as a special guest at the Brooks Brothers/New Yorker Magazine poker evening, ticking off her top ten tips for executives at the tables. Her accomplishments in business, politics, and poker have been extensively profiled by major print and broadcast media including A&E’s Biography.