COLUMNISTS

February 2011

Oswald Jacoby: The Smartest Card Player of All TimeOswald Jacoby: The Smartest Card Player of All Time

By Johnny Hughes.


Oswald Jacoby (1902-1984) was one of America's best all-round card players. He wrote books on poker, gin rummy, contract bridge, backgammon, canasta, gambling and probability. He started winning at poker at the age of eight, playing with older boys. At 15, he lied about his age to join the army in the First World War for the last two months of the war. He spent all his time playing poker and saved $2,000 in winnings.

January 2011

Texas Poker: The Early Days Part II by Johnny HughesTexas Poker: The Early Days Part II by Johnny Hughes

By Johnny Hughes, author of Texas Poker Wisdom, available on all Amazons.


"We didn't ask a man his last name, where he was from or how he made his living. We didn't care."

November 2010

Texas Poker: The Early Days by Johnny HughesTexas Poker: The Early Days by Johnny Hughes

By Johnny Hughes, author of Texas Poker Wisdom


Gambling and cards seemed to always be a big part of my life. Great uncles, uncles and cousins were gamblers. We played poker and gin rummy around the house. My mother always had a bridge game going and my brother's first words were "I pass”. At Christmas, the family would have a poker game. The children would always lose their savings.

The man who knew Jack Ruby The man who knew Jack Ruby

A short story by Johnny Hughes


In 1963 I formed a strange friendship with this old gambler named Soft Shoe O' Shea, or just Shoes. He was a regular fixture around the lobby of the Adolphus Hotel, the fanciest hotel in all of Texas.

October 2010

Minnesota FatsMinnesota Fats

By Johnny Hughes


“I am the most intelligent man I know ... I know everything that anybody knows, and nobody knows what I know.” Minnesota Fats.

September 2010

Road Gambler - The Hughes StrategyRoad Gambler - The Hughes Strategy

By Johnny Hughes


When I entered the United States Army in 1962 at age 22, I listed my occupation as “card player: poker, gin rummy and bridge tournaments”. They made my speciality code-breaking and cryptography. Several expert poker and bridge players, including game book authors Herbert O. Yardley, Harry Fishbein, and Oswald Jacoby had been code breakers during World War II.

July 2010

Poker Game Robberies Then and Now  Poker Game Robberies Then and Now

When asked if he had ever killed a man, Johnny Moss said he didn't know, as he had shot a robber and didn't know the outcome.

The Murder of Iron Drawers Shaw The Murder of Iron Drawers Shaw

With his Cadillac and colourful stories, he was what central casting would think a Texas gambler looks like, and he loved it.

June 2010

My Beloved Gambling Teachers:  Moody Young, Sherman "Stinky" Davis, and Ray "Reverend" PruittMy Beloved Gambling Teachers: Moody Young, Sherman "Stinky" Davis, and Ray "Reverend" Pruitt

By Johnny Hughes


"A sucker out of Lubbock can beat a slick from any where else...” – Old West Texas saying.

May 2010

The Mysterious Death of Austin Squatty The Mysterious Death of Austin Squatty

By Johnny Hughes


"Jenkins was a high-stakes gambler at poker and golf. After his death, there were rumours of large gambling losses and debts. The hand J-7 is named for him."