The Poker Authority

It’s amazing to me what some people will consider a “sport”. Lately, it seems as though every time I flip on one of the ESPN channels, I am treated to the spectacle of watching people play poker. Poker! On television! I mean, c’mon, isn’t there any baseball or football, or even curling, for that matter? Watching people sit around playing cards just doesn’t seem to be very interesting to me. It’s barely one step up from watching people playing Bingo.

Apparently, I am in the minority on this. The fact is, the game of “Texas Hold’em” has become one of the hottest sensations in recent years. Everywhere you go, there are tournaments popping up like weeds. So it’s no surprise that these games are starting to make their way onto sports television. But the game has been around much longer than recent trends would indicate. Games of chance are as old as civilization itself. The difference here, however, is that a few years ago, interest in this “sport” was basically confined to high-rolling, Las Vegas casino denizens and their ilk.

The magazine Card Player has been around for quite some time. Devoted to the pastime of poker (in all its forms), it has established itself as the leading publication for poker enthusiasts. It is published biweekly, and has a cover price of $4.95 ($5.95 Canadian). A subscription can offer more of a discount, running at a $49.95 for 1 year (26 issues), or $99.95 for 2 years (52 issue). Canadian and international subscriptions are available, but at much higher prices. Each magazine runs in the neighborhood of 150 pages, and is chalk full of short articles, longer features, photos, and, yes, lots of ads. The intended reader is the amatuer player and fans of the poker tournament circuit. I have two recent issues in hand for review: the June 28th and the July 12th , 2005 editions.

The July 12th issue could probably be considered a special issue, as it is entirely devoted to the annual “World Series of Poker” (WSOP). In this issue, one can learn just about anything one might be interested in knowing about the event. It takes a walk down memory lane, highlighting every tournament winner from the Johnny Moss’s victory in the first event in 1970, though this year’s event (which had Joe Hachem taking home the championship this past weekend, along with a cool $7.5 million). It gives information on historical stats, like the 2004 winners in each different poker style, and a breakdown of the greatest winners in the history of the organized game. Looking forward to this year’s WSOP, the issue lists the top 100 players (in no particular order) to watch. Of course, no article of this sort would be complete without some predictions, which the author provides for the finals. (Of course, in hindsight, he didn’t even get one right, nor was Hachem and the rest of the final table listed in the top 100 to watch. Oh well, predicting outcomes is half the fun of competitive events.)

On a regular basis, the magazine is useful in other ways. Regular columns include strategy tips, analysis of situational odds, and common mistakes made by players. These articles are also helpful for people who are attempting to understand various games a little better. Sometimes, it is hard to follow various games, attempting to understand why various players do what they do. Reading some of these articles shed some light on the intricacies of poker, and helped increase my appreciation of the finer points of the game.

However, most of the articles, whether features or regular columns, discuss news and events in the organized game. For instance, the June 28th issue features an expose with one leading player, John Phan, who has been at the final table in five large tournaments this year. Other articles look at organized poke events in places like Lake Tahoe, and other tournament circuit locales. For this reason, I found the magazine as whole to be not really by bag of chips, so to speak, as I am not really a dedicated follower of the game.

Overall:
Card Player is a great magazine for die-hard poker fans. Recreational players probably would not be served by spending their money on a subscription, instead opting to read a friend’s copy or perusing one at the library. It has very useful information for recreational players, but as most of the content covers the organized game, those readers who are loyal fans will be the ones who get the most enjoyment from this publication. It is a bit pricey, and I had to wonder why this was biweekly, instead of monthly. Certainly, the magazine’s publication frequency might be considered a drawback, economically speaking. All in all, I give this three and one-third stars, and marginal “yes” recommendation.