Shirley Williams   January 16th, 2010 at 2:08 am

Great article Linda. Things have come a long way, for the good!

Shirley Williams

Ruth Hall   January 16th, 2010 at 10:52 am

Another interesting article from the First Lady of Poker. I miss the good old days too!

Matt Savage   January 16th, 2010 at 12:10 pm

I am glad many of those changes were made Linda and happy to see th impact that you have had on the game.

How about getting Linda Johnson in the Hall of Fame?

Matt

David Lamb   January 16th, 2010 at 12:36 pm

I enjoyed the very accurate summary of changes Linda identifies in this article. I like her writing style, it is if I am seated at the poker table as she talks about events and circumstances that touch us all.

Cheryl Logsdon   January 16th, 2010 at 1:43 pm

Wow! I am glad I got a late start in the game. Sounds like the Wild West back then. Fun read!

Juli Sobka   January 16th, 2010 at 2:34 pm

Linda, as always I enjoyed your article. But I really have to ask. Do you really miss those good old days? I know the older we get, we seem to think things were better in the old days, when we ran in and out of our friends houses, kids played outside all day, etc. etc. but really, even though I am old enough to clearly remember the 80′s (although I was playing cards since the 50′s, it was in home games), I don’t think I would remember smoke in my lungs and a lot of men yelling at me with fond memories.

No, I want to Thank you and all the players like you who have given us all the GOOD changes.

Randi Levenbaum   January 16th, 2010 at 3:34 pm

I wonder what you’ll say about today’s tournaments in 30 years?

Linda Johnson   January 16th, 2010 at 6:24 pm

Juli,
You asked if I really missed the good old days. I certainly don’t miss the smoke and the abuse, but what I do miss is the feeling of community where everyone knew everyone else.
Linda Johnson

Janice   January 16th, 2010 at 7:31 pm

Thanks for the article Linda. I guess for once I’m glad I wasn’t around for the good old days. I also appreciate the people like you and Jan who participated in Poker’s cleanup.

Kellie Costa   January 16th, 2010 at 10:06 pm

I love the articile and also did not know such changes that were made in the poker world. I love the game and thank you for paving the road for us. It is woman like you Linda who have inspired me to love the game of poker.

thank you for all the hard work you do…

Nancy R.   January 17th, 2010 at 10:05 am

Linda, you have done more for poker fairness by creating some of the best rules ever!! Many of us ladies and I’m sure men too would never play poker today if the OLD DAYS still existed. Thank you for another great article. I too miss my poker friends from the past.

Russ Scott   January 17th, 2010 at 1:59 pm

As always, Linda, an excellent piece of storytelling! Thank you for the trip down memory lane.

After 50 years of playing, I’ve noticed that another big change is the acceptance of the game generally and, in particular, the improved status of poker players in society. Oh sure, plenty of political and religious extremists still consider us lowlifes and try to change us in their image. But, way back when, the general atmosphere caused us to feel as if we were breaking every rule in the book when we secretly gathered for home games. We were, of course, breaking written law but I like to think of us as trendsetters for the nation’s best (well, second best) indoor pastime.

Keep up the good work and best of luck in 2010!

Gerry Klawitter   January 17th, 2010 at 6:10 pm

Having played in some tournaments back in the late 70′s. I can say Linda is right on as usual.