Article 1: Treatments for keeping your “Poker Face”

1997 -- In 1995 News of the Weird reported that some New York City dermatologists were offering a treatment to reduce facial wrinkles by injections of the bacteria that causes often-fatal botulism, in order to deaden the tissue. The New York Observer reported in May 1997 that some of those dermatologists now tout a side-effect of the $800 treatment: that it so deadens the forehead that it prevents scowling, which some patients say is a benefit to keeping a "poker face.”

Article 2: Poker, Playboy style
By Joe Carswald | Orlando CityBeat Writer
Posted February 9, 2005

Yes, I'm a poker dork. I knew that before I picked up a copy of Playboy, quickly flipping through it until I found what I was looking for - a feature on David Williams, one of poker's rising stars.

Turns out Williams, who won $3.5 million by taking second place in last year's World Series of Poker, is a bigger dork than I am.

At least that's what I gather from the article, which describes Williams playing online poker while his girlfriend whines incessantly in the background.

But what really caught my attention was an ad near the front of the magazine. There, nestled between the Jenny McCarthy pictorial and the Glenfiddich scotch ad, was a picture of a young lady under the headline, "A Perfect Pair."

She's apparently naked, though you can't tell because playing cards -- aces over kings - are covering the good parts. She stares seductively from the page, oblivious to the tacky pun scrawled next to her head: "Play poker doggie style."

Turns out it's an ad for Derby Lane, St. Petersburg's venerable greyhound track and home to one of the area's better poker rooms.

It's pretty tame, almost G-rated, by Playboy standards.

But in St. Pete -- a place that still hasn't shaken its reputation as "God's waiting room" because of all of the retirees -- the ad is downright scandalous.

The track's regular crowd of old geezers, many who have been placing bets at Derby Lane since the Truman administration, weren't amused.

"That was a little controversial," said Fran Williamson, the track's marketing director. "That's not how they viewed Derby Lane."

But Williamson and others in Florida's pari-mutuel industry realize that if they're going to survive, they have to expand their clientele beyond the Geritol set.

Poker may be their savior.

Before the poker craze, it wasn't unusual to see old folks pushing walkers and dragging oxygen tanks into Derby Lane. These days you're just as likely to see scruffy dudes in baggy pants and baseball caps pushing their way through the turnstiles.

Legions of poker dorks have found their way to Derby Lane for the daily Hold 'em tournaments. For a $45 buy-in, you can compete against 150 other players for a payout of a couple grand.

It's not the money, as much as the competition, that brings out the players, said Jeff Gamber, Derby Lane's poker manager.

Gamber, who runs some of the tightest tournaments I've seen, can relate to the younger players. He's only 25. He started working at the track as a dealer when he was 18.

"They like it because it's a challenge," Gamber said.

That's true. Home games can get a tad boring when you're playing against the same 12 guys every week.

If you go to Derby Lane on a weekend, show up early because the 1 p.m. tournaments always sell out. The line starts forming at 11 a.m., about a half-hour before the doors open.

For now, Derby Lane, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary, has found the fountain of youth.

"We're certainly enjoying poker's wave of popularity," Williamson said. "It certainly has put blood back into the blood bank."

We had to dig deep  to find these videos…

(Thanks YouTube.com)

(NOTE: These video clips will open in a separate window. Close it, to return here)

The Life of a Professional Internet Poker Player
How is this guy not famous? Hilarious… 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Xr9hgQBGsfs

Rodeo Bull Poker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=f6lhON7ZCNM&mode=related&search=

Family Feud Topic: Strip Poker
-The host is hilarious… “I swear I’d give a years salary to see the underwear go off first.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=AW1bLdZOS0U

Poker playing Monkey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=2zRKi19ocXw 

Criss Angel Poker Trick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=5T4clwOHq_M&mode=related&search=

Trinity: Old Cowboy Movie
Long clip, but worth it, of old cowboy kicking ass and taking names in poker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=qwiScdPiRW4

Strip poker: Wife Comes home
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=ZpLyPnHxqoE

Swimming Pool Poker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=zMeG3Te-fVU

A Gift from us to you… Random Facts

The actual word poker comes from the French word pocher – which means bluff. Some say it comes from the German word pochen – which means to brag or boast. The component of bluff was the essence of the game from the very start.

All flops that do not have three of a kind or a pair will have possible straight draws. An exception to this would be a flop of Q-7-2, K-8-3, K-8-2, and K-7-2.

A fifth suit was added in 1937 but never caught on because people had to buy all new decks.

Due to French Influence, Spades represent Royalty, Diamonds represent Merchants, Clubs represent the peasants, and hearts represent the clergy.

Groucho Marx got his name from carrying his poker money in a "grouch bag."

When Columbus landed in 1492 in North America, his men plucked wide leaves from trees, drew pictures on them and played cards.