A couple of links

I'm not going to create a long blogroll here, but I've added a few links in the left column to poker sites you might find useful or interesting.

The World Series of Poker is the tournament's official site, with updates on the action, photos, background and information about the previous events in this six-week long series.

Tao of Poker is my favorite poker blog, written by a lovable degenerate and former Seattleite named Paul McGuire, known to the poker world as Dr. Pauly. He could use an editor (he's a bit of an overwriter and not the world's best speller), but he has an excellent reporter's eye for detail and can spin a pretty good drug-addled story. He captures Vegas in all its sordid glory.

Bigger Deal is a new group blog written partly to promote the new book of the same name by Anthony Holden. The bloggers include Holden and his buddies, all expert poker players and many good writers. My take on the new book, by the way, is mixed: some good anecdotes and a nicely captured feel for how the explosion of Internet and televised poker has affected the old-fashioned game played in "brick and mortar" cardrooms; but it somehow lacks the romance of Holden's original, "Big Deal," from 1990, still one of my favorite poker books. Holden will no doubt be at the Rio to play in the Main Event.