Desert Dollar Casino : Game : Lou Krieger Biography

Lou Krieger is the co-author of Poker For Dummies, and the Host of Royal Vegas Poker.

Lou Krieger learned poker at the tender age of seven, while standing at his father's side during the weekly Thursday night games held at the Krieger kitchen table in the blue-collar Brooklyn neighborhood where they resided. Always adept at sports and games, Lou's natural abilities enabled him to keep his head above water during the high school and college poker games he frequently played in.

But it wasn't until his first visit to Las Vegas that Lou took poker seriously. "I didn't like Las Vegas at first. Blackjack was boring, and I knew the odds were against the players shooting dice or playing any of the other table games. Then I discovered the poker table tucked into a small corner of the Desert Inn where they were staying. I bought into a low-limit seven-card stud game and managed - with a good deal of luck - to break even. While playing stud, I noticed out of the corner of my eye another game that looked to be a lot more fun. It was Texas hold'em.

"I left the stud game, watched the hold'em game for about thirty minutes, and sat down to play. One hour and $100 later, I was hooked. I didn't mind losing. It was the first time I played the game. I expected to lose. But I didn't like feeling like a dummy, so I bought every book on poker I could find.

"I studied. I played. I studied and played some more. Before long I was playing and winning regularly, and I haven't had a losing year since I began keeping records."

In the early '90s Lou Krieger began writing a column called On Strategy for Card Player. Aimed squarely at hold'em players, the column is chock full of advice for beginners, low-limit, and even experienced mid-limit hold'em players.

When not writing about poker, Lou - who resides in Long Beach - can be found playing $15-$30 or $20-$40 Texas hold'em in the card casinos of Southern California.