Hey guys,

I don't actively post on RIO, but I recently sold some poker articles to PartTimePoker.com, and I wanted you all to read them if you had time. For a little back story on me, I'll paste the sign-off that they include on each of my articles: "Keith Woernle is a writer, comedian, and semi-pro poker player based out of New Jersey. He was a producer for season 10 of the World Poker Tour. He won a WSOP circuit ring in 2011. He likes poker a lot. Follow or contact him on twitter @WoernlePoker."

So, that is me more or less. I was basically an online pro from 2008-2011 and have been essentially a semi-pro live since then. But I've been hanging around the poker world a lot for essentially the past decade. And now I guess I'm a writer for PartTimePoker. I'm hoping that linking to my articles here will get some more eyes on them and trigger more discussions.

Also, the comments section on PTP doesn't seem to post every comment, so posting here allows me to actually talk to anyone who happens to want to comment (which may be no one). Anyway, that's all guys. Tweet or comment here, or e-mail me ([email protected]) and let me know what you think. I will also likely be writing several more articles for the site as well as possibly doing some other work, so let me know what else you'd like to see. Thanks and good luck. I'll post the links to the articles as they come out.

Keith

PS - Originally, I wrote this intro for the site, but I don't think it's ever going to run, so I'll just paste it here to give you guys more cheesy backstory.

"If you’re a poker player, you usually have your core group of friends and fellow players that you compete with, discuss strategy amongst, and complain to about bad beats. I’m no different.
But one afternoon as my friends and I sat around reminiscing about our favorite Main Event final tables, we began discussing why poker has lost some of its allure. We called our friends who used to play with us and asked why they don’t play anymore. We theorized. We speculated. And we argued.
As a writer I wanted to put some of those ideas to paper - pieces outlining why I feel poker has lost some of its global appeal and certainly national appeal. And what we, as players, can do to bring back some of its luster. For the last two years, the six or so people in my group have been discussing the concepts I am about to lay out, concepts that I expanded into several articles.
They’re called “Thoughts on Poker: How to Grow Poker’s Popularity and Global Appeal.”
In total I wrote ten articles covering an array of topics from table talk and sunglasses to script seating and HUDs.
So who am I to voice these ideas? Just a writer and semi-pro who has been passionate about the game for quite some time. I have worked in front of and behind the camera promoting poker. I’ve played for low to medium stakes my whole life. I’ve never played for high stakes. I’m a winning player at No Limit Hold 'em and probably a break-even or losing player at the other poker variants.
So will anyone read any of these? I’m sure a few will. Will people forward and share these articles amongst their friends? I certainly hope so. Will people disagree with some of these concepts? I have no doubt.
But know that I, probably like you, for better or worse, absolutely love the game of poker. And for reasons I don’t even fully understand, it fascinates me. I want poker to grow and blossom and become the national and global craze it once was. I want it to be accepted, respected, and appreciated the way so many sports are.
I want poker to become one of America’s pastimes again.
And while I readily admit that I may be mistaken with a lot of these viewpoints, the sole intention of these articles is to achieve what the title says: to spread poker far and wide so that as many people can get as much enjoyment out of it as I have.
Some of the topics are simple to tackle and easy to agree upon - like how a return of online poker in America would strengthen the poker economy. Others are more complex - like the nuances of tournament poker’s virtuous cycle. And some topics will just be flat out disagreed with - like how I think some online third party software could have a long term negative effect on the game. But all of the topics are about aspects of poker that I feel have overarching themes. As such, I leave out current hot topics. I certainly have my own opinions about re-entry events, the Main Event payout structure, online rake increases, and the like, but I won’t address those here. These topics, I feel, are more important.
So if you have the time (and it will take some time), please read and think over some of these ideas. It was a pleasure writing them. Thanks and good luck out there.

Keith