Poker Blogs and Trip Report Sites

For those of you who don't already know, a blog is a weBLOG of an individual's thoughts; similar to an online diary. People have been posting their ideas online since the inception of the internet and I'm glad that poker players have started to catch on. Poker blog's are a great resource to get insight on players, poker rooms (both virtual and concrete) and get a feel for news from a players point of view. You can also find trip reports on these sites or on group posting boards. Not only are these sites informative, but they're fun to read too.

 

Not only is the writing on this site great, but the guy (Jeremy who is formerly from Australia, but now living in Austin, Texas) is hilarious and the site is impeccably organized. He also has one of the best explanation pages about bad beats that I've ever seen. As one would expect from a poker blog, there is a lot of commentary about tournaments, legal matters, poker news and US casinos. Jeremy is actively interested in having legal gambling more widespread in the States. He updates frequently, so make sure to stop by often and get all details.

 

A quote from the site says it all, "In the tradition of Anthony Holden and Al Alvarez, our hero records his trials and tribulations through the world of poker." And he does so very thoroughly, at great length, while still maintaining wit and poise. Not to mention throwing in some bizarre poker player actions converted to programming code. The judges give him a 9.5 and a standing ovation.

 

As a professional writer, you can expect Pauly to be both entertaining and have excellent punctuation. Also, he seems to know poker which is a bonus on this side of the web. He is primarily a brick and mortar player, so you won't find any reviews of online poker rooms in his blogs. We didn't hold that against him in our ranking though. The Tao of Poker is a great spot to check out trip reports and general poker opinions.

 

Although his blog has not be up that long, I really enjoy reading Gene's posts. He's not mean so much as brutally honest and very opinionated. There is a great post in January 2004 about the psychology of a particular fish he played against that I re-read a couple of times and actually giggled.

 

Organized by location, largely in the United States, this trip report page is great for people who are interested in going to a new tournament or casino for the first time. The bulk of the reports are written by 'Tiger', a former NYC lawyer, about his poker travels and are definitely worth checking out. One of my favorite stories on the site was written by an officer about playing poker in Vietnam during the war.

 

When I first started writing this list, I thought the Tiltboys would be my #1. However, I've been very impressed by the insight and humor in the blogs I've read which demotes the Tiltboys to #6. Mind you, they're still hilarious and a force to be reckoned with. Six Stanford graduates who can play a mean hand of poker decided to start a site about their adventures throughout the tournament circuit. It started as a bit of alcohol fueled text and wound up with photos of them dressed in drag crashing a ladies only tournament. Worth a gawk if not a read.

 

While not exclusively a poker blog, this site is a must read. So far as I can tell the Fat Guy has issues with almost everything and his posts are actually quite insightful if you can make it past the slang. If someone makes a Fat Guy to English dictionary list, I'll post it. :)

 

Up for Poker is a borderline blog. It is comprised of seven contributors, all but two have their own blogs, which makes it more of a news site in reality. It does host a lot of trip reports from the writers that are both entertaining and cautionary examples.

 

This blog conveys a lot of the trials one goes through as an online, non-professional player (although Decker does play brick and mortar too). This is why I like it. I imagine Decker as half of the people I've played against. His views on maintaining a good online profile AND a life at the same time are very true and I'm sure others will empathize with his plight.

 

This is an excellent site for players who are actively trying to move up the ranks from low limit to high limit. He even has a comic started about his adventures and his bank roll numbers posted. He plays both online and brick and mortar so you can read his opinions on gaining skills in the different playing fields.