Trials of a Poker Apprentice: A good show and more good news for Mac users

I don't know about the rest of you, but I truly enjoyed the World Poker Tour last night. With some exceptions, it seemed that smart play was rewarded and dumb play was punished. It also seemed there was quite a bit more gamesmanship in the play last night.

Watching Gavin Smith kind of gave me hope for my own game. It didn't seem to me that he did anything I wouldn't do when I'm playing, including his almost-blunder in moving all-in with AJ and getting lucky. If he can play that way and be successful, then maybe there's hope for me. However, one difference was his propensity to limp with pocket queens. I did not like that move either time he pulled it.

And watching Kido Pham implode was like watching myself on tilt. Oh, I've been there so many times -- feeling like you're on your way to taking over the table, losing a big pot and then trying too hard too fast to make the money back, and finally doing something stupid like calling all-in with KQ. I really need to get a copy of this show and watch his meltdown, so that I can more easily recognize the same things in my own game.

Moving on, there is more good news for Mac users. Of course, Full Tilt Poker released a Mac version of their software a little while back, making them the first major site to do so (other than, of course, the no-download version from Poker Room). Now another site is getting ready to launch, and they plan to have Mac support from day one.

The site is called Spades Lounge and, while details are a little hard to come by, what is known looks interesting. For one, as noted above, they are supposed to open with support for Macs and PCs on April 1. Secondly, their opening special is looking pretty good. If you pre-register now, you can get into a series of freerolls worth $40,000. The first 10 days they are open they are supposed to have a $3,000 freeroll each day. Then, for the top 10 finishers from each of the $3,000 freerolls will get to play in a $10,000 freeroll that pays the top three. But in order to be eligible for the freerolls, you've got to pre-register now.

Well, I need to cut things short today. Jury duty has me running behind. But, as always, here's a look at poker news: