The Hard-Boiled Poker Radio Show, Episode 3: Duffy’s Tavern

The third episode went up yesterday afternoon. Should appear over in iTunes sometime today, I’d imagine. (Subscribe in iTunes by clicking here.) Keeping up a pace of producing a show every three weeks or so. That will likely remain the schedule for now, then perhaps after the WSOP I might be able to come out with episodes a little more frequently.

For those who haven’t heard the Hard-Boiled Poker Radio Show yet, let me fill you in. The subtitle over on the show’s blog describes the show as “Old time radio shows & other storytellers bringing you tales about poker and/or gambling.” So it’s a poker podcast, but not a “talk show”-type podcast dealing with current news, strategy and theory, and the like. Rather, each show includes various short segments concerning poker and/or gambling, then culminates with a “feature presentation” -- a complete old time radio show that also has poker and/or gambling as a central theme.

Episode 1: Dead Man’s Deal featured Tim Peters (CardPlayer, The Literature of Poker) reviewing The Biggest Game in Town by Al Alvarez, an old song from 1914 by Bert Williams called “The Darktown Poker Club,” a segment by Bob “The Poker Grump” Woolley on players’ unsanitary habits at the poker table, and an episode of Inner Sanctum Mysteries in which two poker players play a hand of five-card draw for the highest stakes possible.

Episode 2: The Killer Cards also featured Tim Peters, this time reviewing Jesse May’s poker novel, Shut Up and Deal, another old 78 RPM from 1919 by Fanny Watson called “Who Played Poker With Pocahontas When John Smith Went Away?”, the Poker Grump discussing stupid things said at the table, and an episode of The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe in which the corpulent detective solves a murder that resulted from a hand of poker.

The new episode switches things up and presents some poker-related comedy. There’s a short bit from a British radio show called Stop Messing About!, a six-and-a-half minute excerpt from The Jack Benny Program in which Benny takes a trip to Vegas, and a full episode of an old show called Duffy’s Tavern that includes a lot of poker. Funny stuff.

The plan right now is to try to pull together a couple more episodes in the next week or two, then “publish” them in June while I’m in Vegas.

If you give the show a listen, I’d love to hear your feedback. You can comment here or over on the show’s blog. You can email me at shamus at hardboiledpoker dot com. You can also leave a review over in iTunes, if yr so inclined.