Until recently, poker fans who wanted to follow the latest tournament action had to depend on the various poker news sites for chip counts, eliminations and bad beat stories.  With the creation of the web site Twitter, players have been able to post their own updates, often just minutes after the hand, by using their own cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). 

In fact, several major poker tournament sites, including the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour, have their own Twitter accounts to keep fans abreast of the tournament activity and chip counts.  The sites also link to the players’ individual accounts, where they often give more details about each hand and how they fared.

Barry “Robin Hood” Greenstein: “All in with Ac3c on Qc7h2c vs. QhJd of Sorel Mizzi. Turn 4d. River 7s. Out of High Roller. Next tournament: SCOOP.”

Adam Junglen: “Doubled, squeeed AJo > KQo on KT35Q. 305k.”

Justin “BoostedJ” Smith: “Just lost with flopped two pair against flush draw for 80k pot...back down to about 50k starting stack”

Shannon Shorr: “Chipleader now with 24 left. Spiked a pretty magic 8 when I got it in with 8c8d vs gboro's KsKh vs a guy's KQcc when it came Tc5s3c8d9h.”

One of the best sources for “bad beat” stories is Jean-Robert Bellande, who “tweets” under the name “BrokeLivingJRB”.  Bellande is a veteran of the Las Vegas poker scene and has made several televised appearances during World Series of Poker broadcasts.  Here are some of his “tweets”:

“Can't believe (poker pro Mike Matusow) rivered that 10 on you. How many 2-outers can one man suffer?”

“(To Greg Nemes) man you run bad on (TV show Poker After Dark). A 1 outer on the river. Ouchhhhhhhhhhh. That hurt.”

“Just drunk dropped 2k in the Bellagio 10-20 nlh mostly to Eric Liu. That + $1500 hit at Lavo brings br down to 42k.”