By the time you are reading this, the 2004 World Series of Poker will have commenced, and I'll be playing in the first event, the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em Championship. That may well be the only event I have time for between then and the $10,000 World Championship event itself, which doesn't begin until May 22.

Televised poker has become quite a story in the United States, and I once again expect to see a number of Michigan residents at the final tables. For the first time in poker history, the sports network ESPN will be covering not just a championship event, but other major tournaments. Like almost all poker broadcasts, though, ESPN's won't be live. It will be edited down into something much shorter and more exciting.

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This is one reason why, when you try your hand at poker at a local casino like Greektown, you shouldn't necessarily play the way you see players going at it during a televised final table. Professionals know how each other play, and by the time the final table arrives, they know how the amateurs play, too. You often will see plays that seem crazy, and indeed would be crazy in your local games. Use the televised poker as entertainment and as training in how to play final tables if you have tournament aspirations, but don't let it affect your day-to-day game very much.

The poker world series has gone through many changes this year. The host casino, Binion's Horseshoe, went bankrupt, but the assets were all bought up by Harrah's, which, for this year at least, is continuing to hold the event at Binion's. Whether it stays there or moves to one of Harrah's other properties like the Rio remains to be seen.

Because I love poker so much, I'm having a bit of a crisis of conscience. I tell you, quite correctly, that poker is one of the few casino games that can be beaten over the long term. Yet I would be remiss if I did not tell you that the mere fact that it can be beaten and is beaten by some players does not mean that you will beat it. In fact, quite the opposite is much more likely.

By the time you have removed the rake (the house's cut, a fee charged for providing tables and a dealer and security and for making sure a game is available), you must be a much better player than average just to break even.

If there are more talented players in the game, you are fighting a significant uphill battle. Playing winning poker takes tremendous skill and experience, and the average casino visitor has no more chance of beating such a game as he does of winning at any other game. Skill can make you a winner, but the absence of anything but professional level skill can often make you a very big loser.

Source: Andrew N.S. Glazer, Detroit Free Press