What do I mean by Usual Poker?

I am an author first, poker enthusiast second. Which is not to say I do not enjoy the psychological uncertainties, the constant shivers of  adrenalin on the felt. I am consumed with a dread fascination whenever I play live poker, a sense of psycho-social immersion. Enjoying the chess-like ambiance as I read into souls and try to make my own soul a little murkier than usual. As a “usual” player I respect those who, like me, play with passion rather than fear. Who love the game for itself and are lifetime students. The narrow way of poker - tuition variable, lessons infinite. 

Unobtrusive - Kevin Spacey in Usual Suspects.

The “usual” bit also relates to every poker player’s third-favorite movie, Usual Suspects. Who can forget the way in which Kevin Spacey created a whole world populated by figments of his imagination (and the artifacts around him) in a police station? The on-the-fly, fifth level thinking that got him, the mastermind of mayhem, out of the house of detention free. I am often in the Spacey mode on the felt, seeking the story behind the story, storing artifacts of past behavior for strands from which to spin a convincing narrative of my own. 


The “usual” part also relates to life as an endurance writer -  just an ordinary person, able to travel light, observing. Carefully sifting through unfiltered experiences and spinning them into compelling stories. The only thing unusual about the blog Usual Poker is its quality. I stand behind that.