Low Limit Lowdown | Limit hold’em is a “big-card” game, so unless you flop a set – your chances of doing that are 7.5 to 1 – your little pocket pair (8-8 or lower) usually suffers the agony of defeat by a face-card foe.

If you crave the ecstasy of playing a tournament at the World Series of Poker but can’t afford the agony of plunking down a big buy-in, Binion’s Gambling Hall & Hotel in historic Downtown Las Vegas has the perfect solution. 

Gambler's Edge | S.L.A.C.K. is the acronym for skill, luck, attitude, concentration and knowledge, five ingredients in gaining “The Gamblers Edge.” This column covers luck and attitude. 

Poker by George | She made the right decision in calling me to see the river. Still, with a set of aces, I had 10 outs and was much more likely to fill up or make quad aces on the river, but it didn’t work out that way for me.

The 17th and final World Series of Poker Circuit stop of the 2011-2012 season concluded Monday night at Harrah’s New Orleans, conveniently located right next to the famous French Quarter.

The Gambler's Edge | Part one of three. Next time you’re at the end of your rope in poker – losing, going on tilt, opponents outplaying you – cut yourself some slack. You can turn things around by following five simple guidelines.

Poker by George | Loose players will stay in the pot, which is likely to yield high pot odds. Being passive, with few if any preflop raises, I can see the flop at the lowest price. That’s the optimum situation when you hold a drawing hand preflop.

Low Limit Low Down |  “The most expensive hand you’ll ever play in a limit hold’em tournament is the one you get for free in the big blind, or the one that costs only half a bet more in the small blind,” Tom McEvoy wrote in Championship Hold’em.

Low Limit Lowdown | Many low-limit players chase the money pot at the end of the rainbow by pursuing jackpots and kill pots, not realizing they risk bankrupting their bankrolls in their quest for payouts. 

On the Mark |  “The Palms book is one I have been dreaming about for a long time,” Amaitis said at the opening. “A fantastic location in town with a reputation of always being known as a really good book. When it first opened it was one of the premier books in Nevada.”

Looking Back | During the 1999 World Series of Poker, the late “Amarillo Slim” Preston and I met in the sports book at the Horseshoe. Preston is credited with bringing poker out of the back rooms and into the living rooms of millions.

Gambler's Edge | All good decisions are based on information. The more accurate they are, the better your conclusions. But several snags can tie your decisions in knots. In Confident Decision Making, Roger Dawson calls them “information drifts.”

Winning Strategies |  Perseverance can be a positive trait when you are trying to invent a new table game. Unfortunately, it can also be a negative one, which can all but kill your chances of ever having a game reach the casino floor.

“Having a poker room built next to the sports book is an absolute no brainer,”   Brad Thomte said. “Poker players are sports bettors and sports bettors are poker players. Easy to be both at the same time.

Poker by George | It’s a multi-way pot, so you bet or raise for value to maximize your wins. The pot odds are much in your favor. I don’t have to tell you the rest of the story. Another losing hand.

Poker by George | Certainly, as poker grows in popularity, there may be even more references to poker terms – such as “tells” – in our lives. As a matter of fact, we have been using “tells” for years without referring to them as such.

This Friday, Cantor Gaming officially opens the new and improved sports book at the Palms just in time for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby. The Palms book is the latest in Cantor’s ever increasing family of books.

Low Limit Low Down | Bluffs may be exciting to watch, but they work far better in no-limit hold’em games than they do in limit. This is especially true in low-limit games.

Gaming Insider | Attendance at this year’s World Series of Poker may benefit from a pending sale of Full Tilt Poker to PokerStars, a deal that would see thousands of players get their share of the reported $300 million the former online giant owes players.

He died at age 83, but Thomas Austin Preston Jr., was known throughout the poker world as Amarillo Slim. Amarillo was a professional gambler who won the 1972 World Series of Poker Main Event and was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1992.