I met Gaylord Schanilec about ten years ago in downtown Stockholm, Wisconsin at the Jenny Lind Bakery and Cafe. We did not get off to a good start. It was early in the morning, and Gaylord was hunting his first cup of coffee. Upon being introduced by Mary (who knows everybody) I immediately made an obscure and not particularly funny joke the gist of which, thankfully, has been lost in the mists of time. I do, however, remember with terrible clarity the look that Gaylord gave me--something between "what an jerk" and "uh-oh, here comes another LSD flashback."

Some months later, after it became apparent that in a town the size of Stockholm (pop. 83) we would be unable to avoid each other, Gaylord and I discovered a common interest in poker and we have been good friends ever since.

When he is not playing poker, Gaylord can be found in his printing studio just outside the village of Stockholm. This is not an Insty-Prints franchise. Gaylord makes books. Beautiful books. By hand. In small editions that are invariably gobbled up by discriminating book collectors and patrons of the arts.

In 1997, Gaylord told me he had an idea for a book that would have the look of a deck of playing cards. He asked me if I had any poker-related short stories. I was beyond delighted to say that I did.

The result, Bad Beat, was completed in the fall of 1998. Each of the 200 slip-cased copies has been hand-set, printed, bound, signed and numbered by master printer Schanilec. The book contains my short story "Bad Beat," as well as the complete "Joe Crow's Rules for Poker and Life." It includes several small multi-color woodblock prints in the text.

Most of the edition has sold, but I have a few copies left. The cost is $135 each. Let me know if you want one.

If you are interested in other books by Gaylord Schanilec, click here.

For you non-poker players out there, the term "bad beat" describes a situation in which you have an excellent hand that should win a nice pot, but the bozo across the table, in defiance of the odds, draws the one card that can help him. You are beat. It is called a BAD beat because that is how you feel when it happens.