blonde poker forum

Ok, so I'm in my final year at uni atm studying Journalism. One of my "assignments" is to do a magazine on a chosen subject. Have been ... to do it on something original so the lecturer doesn't have to read 50 identical magazines..

So obv I have chosen poker as believe I can get some good content. The magazine can be anywhere between 7-20 pages and the word count really isn't that important. Looking for thoughts on a structure/idea. At the moment I have pencilled in


FRONT PAGE - (standard front page)

2ND PAGE (??)
3RD PAGE (contents)

4TH PAGE (nvg)
5TH PAGE (nvg cont)

6TH PAGE (q+a)
7th PAGE (q+a cont)

8TH PAGE (basic strat)
9TH PAGE (basic strat cont)

10TH PAGE (basic strat cont2)
11TH PAGE (questions related to strat)

12TH PAGE (history of wsop)
13TH PAGE (summary of this years wsop m/e - ivey/youngest winner/nov 9 etc)

14TH PAGE (??)
15TH PAGE (answers to q on strat)

Thoughts/suggestions/help pls.

One of the pages could be a quiz? Like a hand is played out, where you give options on what the player should do on every street. Then you get awarded points in the end for each answer depending on how good the action taken is.

A similar thing is currently done in one of the other magazines, can't remember which one. Maybe WPT or PokerProEurope.

2nd page full page spread advert for blondepoker obv

interview with poker player and tv celeb tony kendall

that's what page 11 is and the final page is the answers.

lol i thought about an advert but then thought no point, maybe a page full of important links and poker lingo.

Page 14 could be information about the poker society at my uni too actually.

pic of naked woman holding aces or something

If you haven't already i'd suggest getting hold of a selection of poker mags and see what they do.

Not sure what your brief is but offf the top of my head perhaps include a 'Poker Icons profile - Doyle Brunson or Phill Hellmiuth or Devilfish perhaps. I'm not sure where you're studying but if it'd help with the grade perhaps do something with a local theme, so for example if you're studying in Cardiff then do a half page on Poker in Cardiff.

If you want feel free to PM me or email your brief and i might be able to be of more help, I studied journalism and have worked on the odd poker mag in my time.

This would be awesome.

If you have any sense mate, you will do this right now.

GL with it. Id do a page featuring one of the UK tours, probably APAT if I'm aiming at a uni poker society level.

you could do stuff that the poker mags are too scared to do. the aces poker story, where does sammy george get his money? poker cheat stories like that guy who tried to set up erik123 etc in his parents hotel with a video camera installed in the ceiling. nippers and grimmers. tons of interesting stuff that gets swept under the carpet.

A list of local poker tournaments for the month might be an idea?

maybe something about isildur?


could also discuss the issue of poker and tax in different countries.

kind offer, u should jump down his throat pleno, gl with this.

Have emailed Dino. Tyvm.

Any other suggestions, creative/different ideas still all very welcome.

dino will be a lot of help as he has worked on every poker mag in existence! I was a journalist for a good ten years before giving up a proper career to be a wannabe poker player....lookin at your basic format a couple of things stick out, firstly you've forgotten you'll have a back page....like page 2 in reality this would always be an advertising page in any magazine but for a project you probably can't get away with that so take a look at what newspapers do, the back page is the second most important after the front, but maybe get away with full page pic and small box out of Ivey Brunson etc as suggested earlier or maybe an 'And Finally...' type lighter hearted stories page.

EDIT: I'm confused myself now, is 15 the back page, or is there a back cover? Either way the back page will need to be more interesting, attention grabbing, as below

The front cover should link to your big story, probably the Q&A section, ie pic of Ivey on front, double page interview with him, probaby in the centre pages on a mag this size.

A full page of quiz answers on the inside back cover is both zzzz and impracticle, answers never take the same space as the questions....maybe stick them at the bottom of the questions page or the bottom of this one but u need another idea for say three quarters of the page. Also a full page of contents is too much for a small mag so stick half a page of editorial by the editor (ie you) talking about the mag and/or the current issues in poker (can't remember the proper word for this even tho I used to write them, been a while). Again most mags have these so can copy style.

With Blonde's permission u might be able to take some content from here, maybe turning some of the 'In the Well' stuff into features or Q &As, I think Moorman and Pab have done good ones if you're looking for younger players and top online guys.

Good luck....

wow the perfect response I was looking for, busy travelling/doing my bollocks on betfair today, but will post up after the weekend what I'm deciding on.

I think you are trying to write a poker mag for us lot here, but is your audience not different and more your general public. I imagine your tutor or whoever is marking it is not going to be too interested in the merits and dangers of continuation betting on a co-ordinated flop etc.

I would go for more issues that are more dramatic showing the glamour and excitement of poker.

Some examples might be:

*Your WSOP history idea.
*Poker Venues around the world
*Big stories/games/hands form poker folklore
*Feature on the lavish lifestyle of a top pro

What about an article on the legality of poker in different countries. Recent examples in US and Norway might be a good start.
Could maybe link this in with the tax idea above.

Yea I agree with this. I wouldn't go too much into strategy and how to play hands etc cause that's gunna bore the tits of someone who doesn't give a shit about poker. And to be honest, even people who like poker recreationally can't be arsed reading heaps of hand strategy pish.

An interview with someone would be a good addition aswell. Maybe you could use one of the 'In the well' threads as a basis for an interview article - with the person's permission obv. just read the rest of the thread. Good idea JaffaCake.

Do a "poker speak" dictionary.

Hearty round of applause if you manage to include... "done it on Larry" which translates as "Standard trip report from DTD by Constantine Papertits"

lol

yeah I'm going to limit the strat to a double page spread.

Almost true i'm yet to do a stint on Flush (RIP) or CardPlayer, but there's still time. Who's tight with the Shulman's?

Page 2 = Editor's notes and summary

Page 14 = Poker lingo , hand rankings that sort of schnizzle

right page 15 (very last inside page) is going to be a 3/4 spread about Ungar/ 1/4 of page with answers from strat questions. The whole mag is pretty much done for first hand in which is mainly a template. I am really struggling for a page 14 though, got hand rankings already included so cant do that, thoughts please.

A review of a selection of online cardrooms?

lol.