It's a shame there's no IMWAN equivalent for poker. Every big poker forum out there is full of sick, misogynistic assholes. Like the old DC Boards times twelve. If you thought comics were a man's world, poker is way, way worse.

Anyhow, I thought I'd start this thread here so we could talk a little poker, since there are a few poker fans here.

Let me tell you about this poker gig I picked up. I'm a reporter-blogger-photographer for Tropical Poker, a tiny poker site based in Puerto Rico. Here's the blog: http://www.tropicalpokerblog.com

They cover all my expenses and pay me a modest fee, and I travel to all the major poker events, reporting on what I see. My blog has sort of carved out a "color commentary" niche. I tend to stay away from running chipcounts and other boring technical stuff and try to hit the human side. I look for funny conversations between pros, outbursts, off the wall behavior, drunkenness, really bad beats, and stuff. I've been doing more interviews as I get rid of these stars in my eyes, being around these TV superstars.

One of my posts, about a pro with serious (but funny) behavior issues, got passed around the poker interweb and got me a nice traffic spike.

Anyhow, that's what I've been doing. I'll be in Mississippi in January, then L.A. in February, then Reno in March.

Let's talk some poker!

Hey, cool, Steve. I love poker. I'd love to get into a big tournament and try my luck, but so far I've only played in a few small local events and taken bad beats early.

Hi Dave!

Everyone wants to enter the big poker events - the last one I covered was over 700 players and was a new record for that event. Doyle Brunson keeps telling people that they need to start small and work their way up! Sure, you can play with the best in the world if you want, but these newbies win so rarely. Most of the time they end up out $10,000 or $15,000 for the buy in.

That said, the guy who took second in Vegas was a one-season former defensive end/nose tackle for the Saints and had no previous tournament credits.

Me, I'm playing 25 cent/50 cent. Actually I did play some small buy in ($50) No Limit at the Luxor for several hours before my plane left last week. I made $42, which is good for me!

I'd be up for a free weekly IMWAN game if one could be arranged.

I think it can. I can set up a private table on Full Tilt or somewhere with no stakes. Who's in?

Well, me obviously.