Texas hold’em has a specific reason for a dealer button. Like just about any Houston poker room (or for that matter at all, any casino poker room anywhere) there is a designated dealer provided who actually does the dealing. Since there are forced blinds, the dealer button creates a “pretend” dealer so that who is forced to make those forced blinds rotates every hand and everyone participates. That’s not what created the dealer button, though. In the Old West (and isn’t it am

You hope against hope your hands aren’t shaking as you toss in the chips. It’s been a hard night. You’re a good player but that doesn’t change that everyone else at the table has a bankroll that makes yours look laughable. Now, you’ve got a good hand… a good hand. It’s not a great hand but you’re hoping to at least recover some of your losses. Things start out okay but there’s one guy that just won’t fold. He matches you chip for chip and your gut begins to send tremors over

We might meet a lot of colorful people playing poker in Houston but there was a time when things would be very surprising indeed if you were to sit at a table and find a lady ready with chips. There was one, though, and she not only played poker, supporting herself despite the tricksters out there, but she also came ready with a sharp knife and occasionally a six-shooter just in case. Alice Ivers was born in Devonshire, England, in 1951 but moved to the United States at a you