A good poker face used to be one of the most coveted traits that a casino poker player could develop. This was among the most powerful poker tools in any player’s bag of tricks when it came to making it difficult for an opponent to put them on a hand. Without the ability to pick up on various physical poker tells, the rest of the table would have to try to determine what the “poker face” had in their hand simply by how they bet. Somebody who counted deceptive betting practices as one of their advanced poker tools as well would have been hard to crack. Of course now “poker face” is a hit song by Lady GaGa, and some of us have just about enough of it.
Okay, we get it, it’s cute. All the Texas Hold’em imagery in that song appeals to poker fans in much the same manner as a band screaming out the name of the city during a concert (provided you get the name of the city correct, right Bruce?). And, of course, Lady GaGa has the sort of looks that affects a man’s breeding instinct in much the same way that jumper cables and a V8 engine affects an old Ford with a weak battery, but that song is everywhere now.
You see pundits writing about it on poker news sites, Eric Cartman from the cartoon “South Park” was singing it, an all male A Capella group did a cover it, the Palms is using it in advertisements now, and pretty soon that priest who was on the PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge will probably be busting a move to “Poker Face” on GoDaddy.com commercials. It’s too much.
In my opinion the song has jumped the shark, and the whole thing is making me just want her to go away, which is very confusing for my hormones. The term “poker face” needs to go back to being something casino poker players do while playing Texas Hold’em, not something we listen to. Of course this may be just my solitary Christmas wish. Chances are when Alvin and Chipmunks come out with their version of the song, poker news sites will be leading with that story. I wonder if my head exploding next time I have to hear that song in a casino will qualify as a poker tell? Ms. Gaga could probably win me back if her next song is entitled “Flash Poker”, and the video has an MA rating. Hmmmm…Lady Gaga, Flash Poker…that could work.
