Michael Wiesenberg

Michael Wiesenberg’s puzzling experience includes a stint as the constructor of the crossword puzzle that appeared every weekday in Metro, Canada’s largest independent newspaper, as well as puzzles for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Sun and Random House Casual Crosswords.

Wiesenberg also constructed 20 puzzles for The Everything Crossword Challenge Book, and constructs a poker-themed puzzle every other issue for Poker Player, a biweekly newspaper distributed in cardrooms all over North America and with many subscribers.

For three years he was the crossword puzzle constructor for LA Direct, a glossy magazine aimed at a Southern California audience, with themed puzzles specifically designed for that market. For two years he was the crossword puzzle constructor for Advance for Nurses. For five years he did the online puzzles for PokerPages.com. He has been a columnist for Card Player magazine, the best-known poker publication and online poker portal, since its inception in 1988.

Wiesenberg made his living playing poker for 10 years before turning to a career as technical writer in the computer field. His books reflect those two careers: Ultimate Casino Guide, The Official Dictionary of Poker, Poker Talk: The Language of Poker, Puzzled Programmers (a collection of short stories, each of which introduces a mathematical puzzle best solved by computer, with solutions presented in three programming languages), and Free Money: How to Win in the Cardrooms of California. He coauthored Desktop Publishing, a pioneering text in the field. He was a columnist for years for Pan Player+ and the original run of Poker Player. He contributed dozens of articles and stories to Gambling Times. He wrote scores of articles for InfoWorld and had regular columns in A+ (an early Apple computer magazine) and Dr. Dobb’s Journal. He has edited several books about poker by well-known authors. The noted poker authority and author Mike Caro (“The Mad Genius of Poker”) wrote: “Wiesenberg ranks among today’s most prolific and respected poker authorities.”

The photo above was taken in Ulverston, in England’s Lake District, the home of Stan Laurel. The statues are near the Laurel and Hardy Museum.