In a couple of days I will be boarding an airplane to fly west for a gathering of folk that's been happening for seven years now. I reckon most of you reading this will be there as well. As always, I'm looking forward to the trip - especially since I missed last year's.

Seven years.

Such a short time to have experienced the rise and fall of the poker boom and, with it, the poker blogging boom. I truly miss those days... (cue the creaky rocking chair and the old dog asleep on the front porch). The good that's come out of it, though, remains the community of unlikely comrades who found each other through the common bond of that little game of cards we call poker.

Okay. I've started and deleted about four different paragraphs in the last fifteen minutes. It's hard to avoid the maudlin - so I'm not going to go there. I'm just going to say once again that I'm grateful for the friendships I've made and for being welcomed into the club so robustly.

So - I invite you to click through some of the archives, click through to the blogs on the right (I believe most are still there, if not still updating) re-visit a time when that hand-history was oh-so-important and we cared about that three-bet on the turn. Some of what I wrote ain't half bad, and some is, certainly, pure crap, but it's a chronicle of a time we won't see again.

Or just enjoy what I believe is the best comment thread ever - let this be the legacy fer now, especially if it brings a smile to your face. The set-up - March, 2006 - I mentioned in a post following a "Wheatie" tourney (i.e.: organized by Wil Wheaton - and I'm proud to say I coined that phrase) that I had a standing bet with Iggy that Wil did not read my blog... then this happened in the comments:

wil
Iggy totally WINS.
Not only do I read your blog, I subscribe to your blog in Bloglines.
Pay up, baby.

LeVar Burton
Me too. Why doesn't anyone remember me in all of this? Is it the 'Reading Rainbow' backlash? Fucking PBS, I should know better than to trust those effete New York liberals with their 'book learning' and shit. Wil thinks he's got it bad, I was the token brother on that sci-fi show. The writers got me laid all of twice, and when I go to the conventions? Where the black people at? Nowhere, that's where. So I end up with some pasty-ass cracker wearing a plastic headband over his eyeballs asking for my autograph and I just want to remind these bitches that I WAS KUNTA KINTE MOTHERFUCKERS.

Don't even get me started on the Gates McFadden Photoshopped porn either. If I could find one lousy donkey dick piece of LaForge fan art I'd feel like those nine years were worth it. But no, with you white people the most exotic you get is Michael Fucking Dorn. Let me tell you a little secret about Michael Dorn - dude hates Puerto Ricans, and I'm pretty sure he killed a guy in the early 80s. What's up with your precious Worf now fanboys? You white people piss me off.

Daddy
I read your blog too.

Marina Sirtis
Levar, Levar, Levar - there you go playing "that" card again, for JFC would you get over it. So what if the writers only got you laid twice? They had me end up with the Kling-fucking-on, for christ sake - and I couldn't even write off the therapy sessions to get the hideous image of that latex laden bony mug out of my head.

AND, who do you think I had to sleep with to get that plot point redirected and get me where I belonged - with the Big Boy (http://www.marinasirtis.tv/gallery/personal/pages/21.htm) - in the movies?

AND - you think I relish that pasty ass cracker staring at my boobs everytime I show up at one of those geek fetes knowing that as soon as I endorse that sweat laden 8x10 glossy headshot they're padding off to the little boy's room to seclude themselves in the last stall on the left for the next half hour? Huh?

And another thing - I'm Greek, dammit, not Russian, not Persian, not "generic ethnic" - Greek, GREEK you hear me?!?!???

Astin
I know *I* was disappointed you went out Maudie.. I mean, I handed you all my chips at the beginning of the tourney... I expect more for you flushing against my straight. (I should've checked... alas)

StudioGlyphic
Levar rocks.

Patrick Stewart
Not only do I read you blog, I have found you to be a constant source of inspiration and have used it to get me through all the lonely nights since I can no longer hang with my homies LaVar and Work-Dogg.

Drizztdj
The dorkiness bar has been raised above Steve Irkel's suspenders in these comments.

Rock on Miz Maudie.

CJ
Funniest comment thread ever.

Kelsey Grammer
Okay, first you're all asking, what the hell is Frasier commenting for? Well, screw you.

I spent 10 years on Cheers and another 10 on Frasier with 3 Emmys to show for it. But do I get asked about that??? Of course not...

I get asked about being Capt. Morgan Bateson like I even had any idea what the fuckin' character's name was!!!

"In episode #118 blah, blah, blah, why didn't decompress the cargo bay, blah, blah, blah?"

Can't those damn people move on with their lives!?!?!?

And, wil, I loved your work in Toy Soldiers.

And keep up the good work Maudie, long-time reader, first-time commentor.

iggy
i am still waiting for maudie to pay up, damnit.

Pauly
(shakes head)

BigMike
You seem to have become the Dorothy Parker of the blogging community. Well done Maudie.

Darrin Stevens
Yeah, I know, what is the husband of a witch doing in with all these skiffy commentors? Well, even us madcap Mad Ave.-types read Poker Perspectives. Hubba-hubba!

Bone Daddy
Is this Maudie's Poker Perspecitives or the Star Trek Suicide Hot-Line?

ccgreg
Maudie had more railbirds than Clonie Gowen (I was one of them)!

See you in a couple of days!!

I'm still playing poker - online only at Full Tilt.. Wish I could say I'm doing well, but I'm not. Bad habits - that's all I can say.

Currently, there's a fun post up on the FTP blog about creating a chat cloud. Check it out. My pal Al scribes for the site - generous soul and everyone's favorite bar fly.

Hey, who knows, maybe I'll get back here and write more m'self. Probably not. But maybe. I'll try at least monthly. Need to exercise that muscle.

It's only been six short and fast-changing years since poker became the new black. Most of us have gone the way of Twitter or abandoned the grand experiment altogether. Or, like me, begun new blogging adventures elsewhere. And, like me, have found even those efforts wanting.

I'm extremely nostalgic for "the good ol' days." Those days that had me giddy over a shout out from Iggy, or in anxious anticipation of the next post from Up For Poker, or playing a Saturday morning MTT with Pauly. And remember those pile-ons at the $25 NL tables on Party Poker?

Deep sigh.

The one constant has been the annual winter gathering. The return to the neon and glittering poker Capistrano of Vegas. I expect the requisite amount of excitement prior to and the inevitable disappoint afterwards that there wasn't more time... It's a cycle that is well established.

No, I'm not dead yet. Actually feeling pretty darn good. Will I be seeing you in a few short weeks? I certainly hope so. I have drinks to be drunk and Pai-Gow to be played with you. Please don't disappoint.

But... I'm jonesing for some donkey time online, for some casino time a few minutes south of here.

If I lack any other, that's enough motivation to get my butt re-employed as soon as possible. The job search is going, that's about all I can say. Unfortunately, am facing not only massive competition, but a bit of age-ism.

I'm not dead yet. Just thought I'd pop on here to say how much I miss the "community" which seems to have twittered away. Pun intended.

I'll close by throwing out a couple of congrats:

Amy Calistri & Tim Lavalli: Check Raising the Devil - the Mike Matusow bio is out and ready to become part of your poker library. I haven't read it yet - but as I am composing this post from my local B&N, I expect to walk out of here with my copy.

The Otis Family: Baby Dos said hello to the world yesterday evening. Happy, happy day!

And with that, I will crawl back into my self imposed exile.

Ciao!

That's the time between the first post of this blog and this post.

Five years ago, I launched this experiment which, for all intent and purposes, was merely a test of some newly acquired web-design skills.

Five years ago, Web Logging (which took less than a nano-second to be truncated to Blogging) was a fairly nascent phenomenon.

Five years ago, the poker boom was rippling around the world following the million dollar triumph of Every Man - Chris Moneymaker at the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event.

Paving the way to that moment, were the revolutionary broadcasts of the World Poker Tour which lifted poker out of the depths of ESPN late night, sporadic World Series summaries into the light of hole-card cams, celebrity and jaw dropping prize pools.

I was one of many who relished the spotlight being focused on the game. Having been a kitchen table poker hobbyist for many a moon, witnessing the game being welcomed to the party was a joy. I couldn't get enough.

My bookshelf soon swelled with purchase after purchase of poker strategy books - Super System leading the way, followed by Sklansky, Miller, Caro, Harrington, Schoonmaker, Hellmuth, Cooke, Carson... and that's only a partial list.

The internet provided a welcome opportunity to apply the skills gleaned from my reading - on the heels of the WPT phenomenon was the online poker rush. One twenty-five dollar deposit on Party Poker and I was hooked.

It seemed the perfect topic for my newly launched blog. Something to write about while I became familiar with the medium and tweaked the design. I'd found a couple of other blogs via a few poker forums I'd visited and so thought, why not, throw it up there and see what happens.

What happened is well documented. What was just a handful of us five years ago has grown into a metropolis of poker bloggers far too numerous to count. We gathered for tournaments in online poker rooms. Then we took it off the page and gathered in the mecca of poker - Las Vegas - where fast friendships were formed and a tradition was established.

A little more than five and a half years ago, my life was pretty routine. I was a confirmed couch spud, content with a solid work week, capped by weekend time with friends, evening time with the TV and my books.

Poker... well, poker knocked me out of that rut. This blog... this blog spun me down an unfamiliar, exciting, twisty and turny road that had me flying solo into a city I once vowed I'd never visit, to meet a group of people known only to me by vague screen-names and blog posts.

Because of this blog, in five years I've been to Vegas six times, to Cincinnati once, Philadelphia/Atlantic City twice, Kansas City, Tunica twice, Greenville-SC, Dallas-TX and Key West. I've formed lasting friendships with people I never would have known otherwise.

After five years, the tide has ebbed. Our blog voices have thinned a bit, and enthusiasm for the game has cooled, the passion tamed. The poker industry is experiencing some growing pains and it may be some time before we see which direction it goes.

I don't play as much as I once did. I no longer rush home to log online or to grab the bankroll and head to the casino. I no longer have the all consuming drive to play I once possessed. I also no longer have the desire to write about it. But, I still love the game. That will never change.

But, oh what has happened in five years time. I was speaking with a dear friend a while ago, a dear friend found by way of this blog, and we remarked how life changing this phenomenon has been. And, oh how glad I am for that.

I'll see you in Vegas in a few short weeks.

Keep those cards in the air!

WSOP

I've been catching a few of the events via ESPN's coverage. I have to admit - I watch to see who of the blogging crew I can catch in the background. Not an easy thing this year since it looks like ESPN did a good job of masking the idle masses on the rails.

I enjoyed seeing Eric Lindgren win his first bracelet. I'm looking forward to seeing the footage of the other "pros" who got their bling this year, as well.

I did not, however, particularly enjoy seeing Scotty Nguyen win the 50K HORSE. That was an absolute train wreck. I tuned in late and missed his chastising DeMichele for, what I guess was, grandstanding. DeMichele got the message, but Nguyen just wouldn't let it go.

The number of f-bombs from Scotty's mouth kept pace with the number of beers he sucked back. His own level of grandstanding was an embarrassment, not to mention inappropriate and (in my most humble opinion) bordered on angle shooting.

Both Otis and Amy have put up excellent posts which address the myth of poker pro as some sort of hero. ESPN seems to be tearing back the mask somewhat this year, exposing more of the reality of some sad and complicated personalities.

Scotty won his bracelet along with an abomination of a trophy that was created to honor Chip Reese. But, I guess it goes well with the bracelet which is it's own piece of gaudy excess. Which may be an appropriate metaphor for the whole world of poker. Gaudy excess.

Ah, but lest you think I've adopted a lofty, better than thou attitude - think again. I play a willing part in the gritty comedy-drama that is poker. The game is cast with an arc of characters who run from the holy to the damned. It's a story on every street with tragedy and triumph walking hand in hand 'neath the dim streetlamps. And it keeps me coming back for more.

Olympics

I will feel very sorry for the Chinese gymnasts if they end up getting stripped of their gold. They are amazing athletes who, no doubt, had little choice but to toe the party line and do as told. Shame on the system that put them in that position.

Why, tell me, do the women beach volleyballers play in bikini bottoms and sports bras and the men in baggy shorts and jerseys? What's up with that? I wanted my eye-candy! Kudos, by the way, to the directors in the command center for avoiding crotch and ass shots where they could - which couldn't have been easy.

Yeah? - shut up. If there's gonna remain a double standard in uniforms, I'm gonna remain a prude. Sue me.

The DNC

I got my text informing me Joe Biden was Obama's second at 2:39AM CST Saturday morning. Apparently, though, someone spilled the beans prematurely, preempting the "you'll know first by text/email" promise of the campaign. Big whoop. Obama is in danger of pushing his grandstanding too far. Acceptance speech in Staple Stadium? What - is Oprah gonna be there or something?

I Played Poker

In the last month I've dabbled a bit online at the micro limit tables on Full Tilt (which, by the way, stopped paying the $50 per month ad fee about a month ago - that happen to anyone else?). I found it kind of relaxing, in a way, to return to my roots at limit poker - the baby tables.

This evening, on a whim, I trekked to the casino to try out the $4/$8 limit game. I was pleased the $3/$6 had been eliminated and I was curious if the play would be any less precarious at the increased level. It wasn't.

The play was just as loose/passive as any $3/$6 table you'd choose to sit. Having played a no-limit live game for so long, it took me a few rounds to get my sea legs. I then played a patient tight/semi-aggressive game. I walked away with more cash than with what I started (no thanks to the luckbox in the seven seat) which made my post game Sonic corn-dog and diet cherry limeade super nice.

I'm booked for Vegas in December and counting the days. No job loss was gonna keep this swallow from returning to the glittery Capistrano of Vegas. No sirreebob.

In a recent post, Otis waxed sentimental about the site of the first gathering four years ago - the Excaliber. A flood of memories washed over me as I read that post. I'm still amazed I made that trip. Oh, how glad I am I did.

I remember sitting at a $2-$6 (or was it $1-$4?) table - the three seat, I believe. On the big screen, replays of the National Rodeo Finals were running. I looked up at one point when a cheer rose up from the back of the room. Otis had raised his arms and was leading a group cheer for Whiplash - the dog riding monkey. This was to be repeated many times throughout the evening. Camaraderie was building and friendships were bonding with each cheer.

As I played on, one or another of our group would stop by my table. "How are you doing?" "Just fine," I'd reply with the grin that appeared the moment I touched down at McCarron and didn't leave my face until well after take-off three days later.

I remember Iggy's arrival. The little imp had a few tricks up his sleeve. I didn't have much interaction with him that trip, though. I stuck like glue to Pauly, who'd taken on the role of the Scarecrow to my wide-eyed Dorothy. But by the time of the second gathering, Iggy'd become a fast friend. Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Tinman. Heh. I'll end the analogy there... save to say that I have yet to click my heels - I'm not ready for the adventure to end.

At some point this trip, you can find me, along with a few others I expect, at the Sherwood Forest bar in the Excal, raising a glass in tribute to that first gathering and celebrating four years of friendships with the most wondrous mix of people you could ever find gathered together in one place.

I have to quote Otis (modified slightly), because it was - and is - so true:

It was there, friends, that life began to take an odd but fantastically sublime turn.

See you there, I hope.

I've enjoyed the hell out of this week.

There are so many moments - those kind of moments that create those shared memories that are relived over and over after each meet-up - kinda like a great chinese dinner... the belch that brings the flavors all back again. Lots of laughs and good times with damn good people.

I can't think of more gracious and generous hosts than Mr. And Mrs. G-Cox. Many, many, many thanks for the hospitality - great munchies and a GREAT cookout at the lake - I so enjoyed the Bambi-burgers (sorry, Gracie)!

I'll have some more to say - a couple of pics to post - but I just wanted to give a quick shout-out to all the attendees this year - you guys rock. I had such a good time and wish I had the stamina I once did to hang with you longer than I did.

What a week. Time spent with good people and, to top it off, the joy of seeing a friend live a dream and reap a much deserved reward. More thoughts on that later, as well.

In the meantime, reports are trickling in - check out these intrepid bloggers for all the shenanigans:

G-Cox
Katitude
Surflexus
Ooosssuuuu
23Skidoo
Joanada
Instant Tragedy
Buddy Dank
Special K

And my heartfelt congrats go out to Ignatious for his cash in the WSOP Main Event. I am over the top ecstatic for him and not just a little bit verklempt with emotion, too.

For those who aren't aware of what's happened - in short, Google adjusted it's underwear and many of our beloved blogs have been dropped from the search engine. By way of example when you Google "Up for Poker" this is what you see. The same thing happens for "Sheverb" and "Rapid Eye Reality" and a few others.

The culprit appears to be certain advertising on the sites. However, I have the same or similar ads on this site and, to my puzzlement, Poker Perspectives pops up at the top where it should be. However for the term "poker blog" - well, I gave up looking for me after about page seven.

And page rank? PP is a 4. I once could boast of a number two or three spot on the first page of Google for "poker blog" and a page rank of 5 (what I never could boast of was hordes of daily visitors - indeed, I think my best days topped out at maybe 300 - 400 hundred visitors a day...now, I'm lucky to see 15 or 20 - such are the times). When I let my original domain (kebzweb.com) slip from my fingers, that further damaged my rank and status in the blogosphere (the guy who has that domain now bought it from whoever snatched it up from me for around $800... I'd like to have it back, but $1 is even too much to pay...).

From time to time I've toyed with making the effort to truly "monetize" this small piece of real estate, but have always stopped short of actively seeking ads and sponsors and doing what's required of being a "power blogger". Why? Well, I think without fully understanding it, I don't want my little experiment here to be about that. To be about
capitalizing on - what? - I don't know. Plus, I'm lazy! That's hard work.

I've been fortunate to make a few dollars from some advertisers who seem to think a placement on my blog gains them currency in the Google commerce. Those funds have gotten me to Vegas a few times and elsewhere for gatherings. I've looked at it as butter cream icing on this cake we call poker blogging.

So with this little Google hiccup - it doesn't really bother me. It'll bother the advertisers, no doubt, and probably put an end to steady deposits to the "fun fund" when this round expires. But, I expect to stick around - and if there're folks that drift by to read whatever nonsense I stick up here, well - candles in the icing on the cake.

And, now, while I'm here - how about a little bit of poker content?? Yes!! Occasionally that can happen here.

Today, Monday, I played daytime poker in an Okie casino. Why? I'm on a week's vacation that's why. What's more, it's Okie-Vegas time. I had the pleasure of playing some cards with G-Cox, Surflexus, and Osuuuuuu! at a couple of our local casinos today. I suffered a bit of a dent in the bankroll, but the loss was tempered by the good company and the time spent with those good folk.

The week has more in store with more folk hitting town each day - there'll be chicken-fry, and poker, jet-skis, and poker, BBQ, and poker, and then some poker.

So who needs Vegas, huh?

Spinster for Hire

Expect something in the next week regarding Okie-Vegas - I'm looking forward to seeing folks who were here last year and a couple of new visitors as well - most notably the Al-ster himself. What a treat that's going to be. Oklahoma is not ready.

I'm hoping my backyard project will be completed by then, but it's going very slow. It'll look fantastic when it gets done. Right now it's an unfinished patio with a blown down fence and absent workers...

So - keep checking in. It's not as though there isn't enough poker stuff elsewhere out there - for goodness sakes. Poker bloggers have a lock on the WSOP coverage. You ought to know where to go - the Tao (dow, dow dow!) of Poker, Pokernews, Pokerati (which has a new look), to mention just three great sources.

Thanks for (still) reading!

How to turn 130 pounds of fury into 135 pounds of fury:

Take one chicken-fried steak:

And stuff it into one F-Train:

I can't believe he ate the whoooole thing!

This morning, it was a particular post over at Pokerati, or rather what was contained in the post, that had me glued to the computer screen for about an hour and a half, interrupted a couple of times by phone calls and, oh, my boss wanting me to hear some rare praise from the the grand poohbahs who were here from the state office. I smiled, said "thank you" then rushed back to my desk.

What had captured me was a You Tube film made by a poker player. A poker player who put his winnings and financial viability on the line to make a film about - himself. Or rather - his name.

The film is Google Me conceived and directed by a fella and poker player named Jim Killeen. Jim was inspired to do the film after Googling his name and wondered who were the other Jim Killeens who popped up on the computer screen. He managed to convince six other Jim Killeens to agree to meet with him and be filmed for the documentary.

What could have become a completely self indulgent ego stroke, instead blossoms into a uniquely introspective and relatable journey into self and exploration of identity.

The film has only a few rough spots, straying from it's purpose in some brief moments. At it's core, though, are the one on one's with each of the six Jim Killeens - from priest to trannie chasing swinger - each Jim Killeen's story is a fascinating portrait of diversity and individuality.

Several times I was moved to tears - a ballad in an Irish pub; a farewell on bridge with a son, mother and a father - as well as times that had me laughing out loud.

But, don't take my word for it - I've taken the liberty of embedding the film below. Watch for yourself - I'll darn near guarantee you'll enjoy it.

bowling.

Yup, I bowled yesterday. I won't say I went bowling. That would imply I intended to bowl at the destination point. Indeed, I did not intend to bowl. I intended to arrive, stay for a length of time - not too long, not too short - then depart.

Needless to say, my intentions collided with social pressure and my intentions lost out.

The occasion was the 50th birthday of a long-time friend. She chose a trendy bowling lounge in the trendy downtown OKC party district known as Bricktown to have her party.

I vacillated between 'go' and 'not go' all of yesterday due to a wavefront of gravity. That's the only way I can explain how I felt - like there'd been a sudden increase in gravity that made moving difficult - especially up my spiral staircase to my bailiwick of an office.

At the last minute I decided to go, driving up with two other friends with the mutual plan of not bowling, staying until cake and then departing. What we didn't know was that our freedom to not bowl had been usurped by the lane computer into which our names had been entered prior to our arrival. They only lacked our shoe size which was demanded with the drink order.

The shoes - ah - that's what warmed me to heaving an eight pound round thing down a slick lane gutter in repeated futile attempts to knock down those pin things. The shoes were, well, cool.

By the eighth frame or so, I was in a heated contest for last place. It was between me and another loser inexperienced player. At the tenth frame, she thought she'd nailed last place for sure.

"What's your score?" I queried.

"Forty-five," she smugly answered.

"HA!!" I proclaimed, "my score's thirty-six! I'M the big loser, hardy-har-har-har!!"

She skulked off to the corner and sank into her cocktail. I was never prouder, strutting in my cool shoes and filling my cheeks with birthday cake.

I was glad I went, even though gravity won the day, preventing my ball from hitting its mark and landing me on my ass after one particular throw. But, I diddent care 'cause I was cool, way cool in my pair of size five red 'n black bowling shoes.

I can almost forgive that this disaster of a blog isn't in his blogroll. I do, after all, have an ego somewhere. Probably amongst the laundry in the bathtub that nags me every. time. I walk by.... but it exists, none-the-less.

Carry on.

I'm a bad poker community member. Even though I've put myself on a quasi-poker blogging hiatus, I promised myself I'd stay in touch by reading my Google Reader poker blog subs. I did OK for a while, even venturing to some poker blogs not in my subs and one or two new-to-me bloggers out there. But some recent personal trials put me way behind. Reading poker blogs just wasn't a priority there for a while.

I'm trying to get caught up and, good heavens, there are so many now, it makes my head spin. The too few online poker blogger tournies I've managed to play in the last few months have been populated by so many people with whom I am not familiar, I'm a little overwhelmed.

I understand there's trouble brewing in poker blogger land regarding some unseemly behavior at the virtual tables and off. And something about old-school vs. new school.... I was curious so desired to get some info to find out just what the deal was. I didn't get very far, and the following will explain why. Get ready. It's a bit of a rant.

ENOUGH WITH THE "DONKAMENT" "BLONKAMENT" "DONKEY THIS" "DONKEY THAT" "DONK DONK DONK" WOULDJA???!!!!!!!

Whew. That felt good.

Folks, what I am simply requesting of some of my fellow poker bloggers is to refine your vocabulary a bit. It might've been clever the first time a donkey-related snippet of word play was coined, but it's like a worn LP (for those of you under, say, the age of 45, click that link) - great to listen to initially, but after repeated playing becomes scratchy, warped and annoying.

Seriously, I hit a blog with that word coinage liberally spent and I am hard pressed to continue reading. I'd almost rather suffer through a litany of bad beat tales.... no, scratch that. Anything but bad beats....

That is all. Except another bit of admonition - I'm not sure what all the conflict is about, but I have a hunch and will only weigh in to say this:

If a person is incapable of being a good sport, lacks the maturity to take his or her beats in a dignified manner and, well, is simply an ass, the best course of action, in my not-so-humble opinion is to simply ignore the idiot.

Whoops. Only thought I was done. The old-school vs. new school thing. I'm guessing I'd be considered as an old schooler. If not for my real age, then for the fact I was one of the first handful of bloggers and I made the first Vegas trip.

Guess what. There are cliques. Lots of them. And it's okay. It's natural when you get a group of like minded individuals that has grown as large as the poker blogger world. And it's natural that there will be individuals who are jealous or get bent out of shape because they don't feel included in one clique or another. Hell - try being a fifty-seven (in one week) old single female who lives alone with two cats attempting to fit in with a group of under forty-somethings who have a hard time reconciling the fact that you're their parents age and they certainly don't act like that.....

So, really, it's kind of silly to get worked up about it. Really. Silly.

Okay. Now I'm done. You are now truly dismissed.