Johnny Quads, after years playing “underground,” has “gone public” and revealed (some of) his strategies and tactics for the first time. After decades of successfully plying his card trade in the shadows, Quads says the overlays now are just too great to stay hidden.

Quads (real name John Wenzel) has increased his profile lately by writing three books on the game and by taking a job as editor-in-chief of Poker Pro Magazine, as well as its sister publications, Poker Pro Europe, Online Poker Pro and Online Poker Pro Scandinavia. Poker Pro is known for offbeat articles, solid strategic advice and for telling it like it is.

Critics say his first two books, The Everything Poker Strategy Book and Everything Hold’em, are among the best books on the market for newer players. JQ was chosen to write the books not just because he knew how to write (he is a former newspaper and tabloid editor and reporter), but because of his reputation as a highly successful competitor in some of the toughest underground games in the U.S. for more than fifteen years.

The poker world isn’t all sweetness and light, as the TV hype would have you believe, and this site isn’t just about tournament poker, where all you risk is an entry fee. What you will discover here is wisdom forged in the crucible of hard-knocks poker in the smoky backrooms and tough pool halls where you played whatever variation your opponent wanted, and you bluffed while staring down the barrel of a gun. A bevy of beauties didn’t deliver your winnings, you took them, if you could, and then fought your way out of town. You took it to the limit, and “no limit” meant you put it all on the line, including your life.

When there’s big money at stake, you must keep both eyes open, cover your butt and watch your back, but in today’s TV climate, most players aren’t savvy enough to know that, or are blinded by the light reflecting off the bling and the sweetness of fleeting fame.