Hi, everyone. I haven't posted a challenge for months.. So far, we have managed to give away $300 (there was a double prize due to a technicality on contest #2). This one will be far less technical than the previous two and will allow anyone to enter.

Rules:

1. In twenty-five words or fewer, give me your best poker tip for beginners. This tip should consist of easy-to-understand, simply worded advice that will save money if followed by most novices.

2. There is a maximum of three entries per e-mail address.

3. Entries will be judged on the practical value of the tip, the skill of the wording, and the ease with which it can be comprehended.

4. I will be the sole judge of who wins and my decisions cannot be disputed. (We have used other respected r.g.p. judges for past Challenges.)

5. I reserve the right to add rules or to clarify rules throughout the course of the contest.

6. All entries must be posted to r.g.p. no later than 11 p.m. PST, September 1, 1998.

7. If there is a borderline decision in my mind about who wins, I will award the $100 prize to the earliest entry.

8. By entering you are sharing your words with r.g.p., and anyone (including me) is free to incorporate them into their published works or commentary with or without attribution. In other words, you are simply providing your opinions and ideas and are not claiming any proprietary rights to them.

9. Entries may be based on something you have read or learned from others, so long as you use your own wording.

10. Entries may cover the same ground as those already posted, so long as the wording is unique. However, I will, of course, give more credit to the original poster of the idea in awarding the prize. Therefore, a winning entry covering the same topic as an earlier post would need to be original in wording and better presented to win.

11. All entries must be publicly posted on r.g.p - news:rec.gambling.poker

12. The tips and entries are intended to stimulate discussion on r.g.p. Therefore, it is perfectly proper to support or disagree with posted tips, even while this contest is ongoing. However, I personally will not comment on any entries until the contest expires

13. Mike Caro's employees and his immediate family members are ineligible.

14 An entry cannot be ammended after it is publicly posted, although a contestant can use a second or third entry to modify or correct a previous one.

15. Hyphenated words that do not appear as single entries in the Microsoft Bookshelf 98 CD version of The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition will be counted as multiple words, unless they are common poker specific terms, accepted as a single word by the judge.

Good luck with the contest.

Straight Flushes,
Mike Caro

Questions regarding the Challenge should be directed to Mike Caro at caro@caro.com (Mike Caro)