* David Spanier; Journalist, Expert on Poker, Chess

David Spanier, 67, British journalist who became an authority on poker and chess and was best-known for his 1977 book, “Total Poker.” Spanier was a reporter and editor for the Times of London for many years, focusing on economics and British diplomacy, before writing the book that brought him his greatest fame. “Total Poker” not only provided tables of odds but discussed how the game applies to life in general, at one point drawing parallels between the game and the way President John F. Kennedy handled the Cuban missile crisis. “There is really no such thing as a good hand at poker, only good situations,” Spanier wrote, adding that the art of bluffing “lies in recognizing when the situation gives you the chance to . . . exploit your hand.” Poker was not just an academic interest to Spanier, whose large eyeglasses and baseball cap pulled low made him an easily recognized figure in the casinos of Europe and Las Vegas. He was what poker players call a “rock,” so unflappable that he never bet unless he was certain he had a winning hand. He wrote several other books about gambling, including “All Right, Okay, You Win: Inside Las Vegas,” “The Gambler’s Pocket Book” and “Total Chess.” He was married to Suzy Menkes, fashion editor of the International Herald Tribune. Spanier, who once wrote that “Sex is good but poker lasts longer,” died April 18 in a London casino after a stroke.