Troy's earliest poker memory is from the eighth grade when he lost a $30 pot to some high school kids in an unfortunate Acey-Deucey incident. He didn't have the cash to pay the pot, but was thankfully fronted by a friend who didn't charge any juice. He has since learned about the skill games and has played on-line Hold 'Em since the times when 12,000 players on Party Poker was considered a really busy night. Troy mostly plays Sit-n-Go tournaments and Multi-table events, but lurks daily in the limit discussions on ITH as he hopes to improve that side of his game.
My favorite scene it Matt Damon’s other movie (Good Will Hunting) occurs in the Cambridge bar typically occupied by mostly Harvard students. His buddy had been trying to impress some women when he was interrupted by another bar patron whose main goal was to make these townies feel inadequate and embarrassed. Damon’s character, who happens to be an unassuming genius, steps in and disarms the situation by unmasking the protagonist as the plagiarizing bully that he truly is. Just after the Harvard student takes one more jab by reminding Damon that he’ll never have the degree to accompany his supreme knowledge base, our hero closes the scene by stating that he’ll, at least, never be unoriginal.
Hearts was one of the first card games I was taught. My older brother, I, and our parents would play it while on camping trips. With my two younger brothers put to bed, we felt like grown-ups as we navigated the art of trumping my dad’s last needed trick. I can remember salivating as I learned that I could stick it to my family for 26 points if I could shoot the moon and take all of the tricks. From then on, I would always start each hand with giving the shot some serious consideration. I entered each hand thinking I could take them all. I just needed to get control and not lose it. No big deal.
The other night, while playing poker and chatting it up with some of the regular ITHers of the IRC chat room, a few of us had a brief conversation about the strategies during the first hour of a re-buy/add-on multi table tournament (R&A tournament). If you search for the topic within the ITH forum, you’ll find a lot of discussion on that very same topic. Nonetheless, I’d like to offer the approach I typically take when playing such a tournament.
Last night I played a small $15 no limit multi-table satellite tournament. Of the seventy-three participants, nine would gain a seat for a $100 tournament to be played later in the week. Thirty minutes into the start of this tournament I also joined a $24 satellite for a $200 buy-in event. For the second tournament, three seats would be given. I was playing the tournaments on the same site and became struck at how differently the two tournaments played.
I am one of those fathers who has taught his daughters how to play poker.I fast forward to the day when my precious little girls (now ages 9 and 11) hand Josh Hilger a valuable lesson at the final table of the 2025 WSOP only to hear his railbird dad complaining about “those unbeatable Headrick girls”. Poker offers transferable lessons that can sharpen the mind and teach what I feel to be important and transferable life skills.
Troy Headrick, aka Bernard Dogs from the Forum, gives us a nostalgic look at his home game
About two years ago I put a personal ad in the local paper announcing that I was looking to put together a regular home poker game. I hadn't had a regular home poker game for about 6 years and was hoping to find a group of guys that connected quickly and enjoyed the social aspects of tossing chips every other week.
Among a few others, Nick responded and left me a message indicating that I could call him at the shop. This was good. There's just something about a home poker game that meets in the back of some shop - underneath the canopy of an industrial sized garage, surrounded by the smells of grease and labor. Yeah, this was going to be a good score. We don't need to be sitting in some Law School Professor's stuffy office as the Judges miss the three of spades that was folded with all the gateway cards.
Troy Headrick, aka BernardDogs in the Forum, gives some tips in how to avoid online habits that are not conducive to live play
When I ran Cross-Country in High School, our coach would video tape us as we ran so that we could then view the tape and critique our form. Despite posting decent times, I’ve always been an awkward runner. My legs kick out to the side in such an extreme manner that you’d swear Lawrence Taylor had gotten to them just as he did for Joe Theisman that memorable Monday night. I’ve always hated watching myself run, but my form really does improve when I pay deliberate attention to my physical mechanics.
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My favorite scene it Matt Damon’s other movie (Good Will Hunting) occurs in the Cambridge bar typically occupied by mostly Harvard students. His buddy had been trying to impress some women when he was interrupted by another bar patron whose main goal was to make these townies feel inadequate and embarrassed. Damon’s character, who happens to be an unassuming genius, steps in and disarms the situation by unmasking the protagonist as the plagiarizing bully that he truly is. Just after the Harvard student takes one more jab by reminding Damon that he’ll never have the degree to accompany his supreme knowledge base, our hero closes the scene by stating that he’ll, at least, never be unoriginal. 
