Robbie Strazynski

Get to know World Series of Poker Tournament Director and Caesars’ Vice President of International Poker Operations Jack Effel a little better in this in-depth video interview about his storied career as well as his personal life.

A transcript is also provided for your convenience. Enjoy!

Poker writer Eileen Sutton had already had a distinguished career prior to her “landmark article” that was published on Salon.com, entitled “Poker for Girls: In New York’s male-dominated world of underground poker, I found my true strength.”

That article went viral, however, catapulting Eileen to near-instant fame. My Top Pair Home Game Poker Podcast co-host, Bruce Briggs, and I were delighted to have Eileen join us in episode #287 for an interview.

Sometimes poker can be the conduit for some of the best, most heartwarming stories. Last night, after deciding on the spur of the moment to head out to the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, I had the good fortune of bumping into a long lost friend and mentor who I hadn’t seen for over a dozen years.

This is the incredible story of how a poker room was the setting for me reconnecting by pure chance with someone who helped shape my life, Coach Paul Young.

Poker fans already know of Joey Ingram’s long love affair with the great game of Pot Limit Omaha (PLO), but it’s a special privilege to actually sit at a live poker table and mix it up with the grand papi himself.

I had the good fortune of being able to do just that. Let’s just say it was an extremely GTO move. The laughs and memories will stick with me forever. Join me as I fill you in on all the details of what went down.

For far too long melancholy has prevailed with regard to the state of the game of poker. We’ve become so used to pining for the glory days of old that we’re forgetting to take a step back and see that things aren’t so bad anymore.

In fact, as far as we can tell, poker seems to be booming once again. At the outset of the 2017 World Series of Poker, it’s time to take stock, appreciate the buzz surrounding our game, and enjoy the ride!

Arthur Crowson, of PokerListings, is a longtime industry veteran whose work poker fans the world over are surely familiar with. But what of the man behind the byline?

Arthur was kind enough to agree to be the latest interviewee in our ongoing “Get to Know the Poker Media” series.

We hope you enjoy his story.

Even if online poker isn’t legal and regulated in your jurisdiction, you can still enjoy playing your favorite variants of the game online without money at stake. If you’ve always stuck to Texas Hold’em, perhaps it’s time to broaden your horizons a bit.

Here’s a primer on a number of other popular poker games you might wish to try next time you visit a land-based poker room or play online.

It is with tremendous joy that I’m happy to announce that I’ll be returning to attend the World Series of Poker for the second year in a row.

In this post, I reflect upon my experiences last summer during my first WSOP, including a memorable dinner with some poker legends, as well as upon the year that has transpired since that time.

I’ll be in attendance at the Rio and around Las Vegas meeting great people in poker and scouring for some of the best stories our game has to offer.

Hope to see you there!

Back in August of 2016, together with my Top Pair Home Game Poker Podcast co-host Bruce Briggs, I had the opportunity to interview George Chao.

Longtime poker media member Bernard Lee is proudly celebrating the 10th anniversary of his eponymous poker radio show. He absolutely SHOULD be proud, having delivered a decade of awesome poker radio content to legions of fans all over the world.

To celebrate, Bernard will be doing bunches of giveaways over the next 10 months as well as have numerous special guests in his show, including poker legends and WSOP Main Event Champions.

Read on for more details, as well as for our words of tribute to a great poker lifer, Bernard Lee.

Just ahead of the release of his long-awaited autobioigraphy entitled Poker Brat: The Story of the World’s Greatest Poker Player, legendary Poker Hall of Famer Phil Hellmuth was kind enough to grant us an interview.

In this feature-length piece, Phil answered an immense variety of questions about everything from his early family life to how he handles his fame, and of course told over some fascinating poker stories as well.

Enjoy this in-depth look into the life of one of poker’s greatest champions.

While I was recently doing media coverage at the World Poker Tour Tournament of Champions in Florida, I got to meet a man named Tony Burns, Tournament Director at the Seminole Hard Rock poker room in Hollywood, Florida. Everyone—players, fellow poker media members—they only had kind words to say about him. He was always walking around with a smile on his face, he was really friendly, and at the time I said to him, “Hey, maybe we can collaborate together in the future?” and he was like, “Sure!”

Together with my Top Pair Home Game Poker Podcast co-host Bruce Briggs, I recently had the opportunity to interview him.

Listen to the interview, which starts at the 10:48-minute mark. A transcript is also available.