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.

It's the WSOP final table. It's 2003, lipstick cameras are being used but our hero refuses to show his hole cards (duhn, duhn, duhn). Three players are left - our hero, his nemesis and negligent father "LC" (Robert Duvall - so wasted in this role... must've needed the paycheck), and an "internet player" playing in his first tournament. Oh, how original...

The hero, Huck, is in a hand with his Dad (it's important to note the Huck has never beat his dad...). We have a few rounds of silly betting and banter to the river.

[[EDIT]] I screwed up the sequence but it isn't important. The important thing is, on the river there's an all-in push and a call all-in. LC has Huck covered. If Huck loses the hand, he's out in third place.

LC flips his kings, Huck mucks. Insert looooong very dramatic pregnant pauses between actions.

Now, what's wrong with that picture?

I'll still french kiss the first person who answers that the next time I see you if you figure it out. And if I'm wrong about the rules... then you can french kiss me the next time you see me.

As the plane descends and lines up with the runway, the first of the famous icons come into view. Coming in from the south a beam of light shooting straight to the heavens shines from the apex of the Luxor. The golden profile of Mandalay Bay, the emerald green glow of the MGM spark a jump in their heartbeats and all they want is to be on the ground, out the door and mingling with the high rollers, the glitz and the glam and take their shot at beating the town.

Las Vegas - a town true to every gambling cliché, every tawdry image, everything one has imagined it to be, pro and con.

I looked for that first Vegas moment in the new movie "21" starring Kevin Spacey (who also co-produced) and an up and coming actor Jim Sturgess. The movie makers didn't disappoint. They gave me my moment when young Ben Campbell, played by Sturgess, descends into Vegas for the first time.

Descends is an apt metaphor for the journey Sturgess' character takes in this tale, which is based on the best-seller Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich. Mezrich's book recounts the true story of a team of MIT students who managed to extract a few million dollars from Vegas casinos via a Blackjack card-counting scheme in the early 1990's.

The screenwriter's did a good job of extracting the core of the true story and crafted a well-made, quasi modern-day morality tale with (mostly) believable characters and a plot that holds your interest. It was slow to start, however, spending too much time in the set-up before young Ben Campbell joins the team and heads with them to Vegas for his first big score.

I groaned a bit when we were introduced to Lawrence Fishburne's character, Cole Williams. Williams is a "Loss Prevention" specialist for the Hard Rock Casino. We learn he's an old schooler from the time when thugs and mobsters ruled the Vegas nights. Somewhat of a tired cliché. I forgave the writer's, though, for they addressed that fact, albeit weakly. However "hollywood" it may be, it upped the ante and gave the plot an element of life-threatening danger, not to mention a bit of a plot twist which helped the story come to a somewhat tidy close.

Of course there's the love interest as nerdy, but not bad looking Ben, nails the object of his admiration, Jill, played by the lovely Kate Bosworth. The team, itself, is made up of a tight ensemble of capable actors, although we don't get to know them as much as I would've liked.

Vegas doesn't overwhelm the story and I welcomed that. The pitfall could've been to make it about the city and all it's temptations, but the screenwriters did a good job of avoiding that trap. The scenes away from Vegas did more for giving us a feel for it's underbelly than could any back room bruiser scene.

Even with the slow pace in the first part and a somewhat formulaic plot, the movie is a good view and enjoyable. Spacey, as a co-producer, no doubt had a hand in keeping it from becoming trite. It's well cast and I would bet this could be a break-out role for Sturgess. My fellow poker bloggers, I know, would get a kick out of it, as I did, for the views of Vegas and the interiors of the casinos. And one or two or three, especially, for a brief mention of Sapphire.

I will forever remember my first Vegas moment - that first descent into the city of sin. It was a moment of excitement I wish I could recapture, but, you can only have one first. It's something I think about as each return to Vegas I am less entranced, less dazzled, and my heart doesn't race. If not for the people I'm going to see on each visit, Las Vegas would be tucked away in a photo album and only a remembrance in this blog.

Go see the movie. You will enjoy it, I'm sure.

Now, I know I don't have to stick to poker as a subject here and, certainly, I've strayed to other subjects in the past, but the greater percentage of content has been and is poker.

For the time being, poker and I are on an extended break from each other. I expect to play again and, of course, jump into a blogger event from time to time so I won't be absent, you can be sure. I just won't be writing about it until such time as the embers are fanned and the flame burns again.

I am still writing, though. Just not here. For a while now I've been courting another blog (we never said we couldn't date others....). A very small handful, well, less than a handful - maybe four, five people know of that other one and stop by from time to time. I'd like to invite the rest of my remaining readers here to stop by as well. Poker is forbidden over there - just a caution - and the Maudie persona has been shed. So come on by if you'd like, you're most welcome:

I began this experiment in November of 2003. I found Felicia's blog by way of postings on the United Poker Player's forum. From there I found the Royal Vegas blog, and for a long while, it was the only blog on my tiny blog roll:

United Poker Forum
UltimateBet
Paradise Poker
Royal Vegas Poker
Party Poker
Card Player Magazine

At that time, it wasn't an online casino site, but another blog that was very good at pimping other blogs. That lead me to Guinness and Poker where I saw, to my delight, my own blog had been pimped.

I discovered more and more poker bloggers and by March of '04 the blog roll had grown:

Felicia's Poker Talk
Love and Casino War
Guinness and Poker
Guppy to Shark<
Up For Poker WBT-II
Cardspeak
Tao Poker
Anisotropy
Chris Halverson
Daily Grind
Decker's Journal
Down to the Felt
Grubby's Journal
Jason's Poker Odyssey
Lion Tales
Mean Gene WBT-I
Paulsbourbon
Royal Poker
Shaynamouse
Stick & Move
Suited Trash
TP's Table Talk
Table Tango
The Fat Guy
The Intrepid Card Player
Tight Pocket
Ugarte
AlCantHang
Gambling Blues
Tales form a Yeti
Paul Phillips
Wil Wheaton

As you'll note from the above blogroll, I'd begun to log the winners of the World Blogger Tour tournaments. I missed the first one, but jumped into the second one and didn't look back. Those tournaments were the fertilizer that fed the growth of this unique online community of folks who are passionate about poker.

March of 2004 I was playing the .25/.50 limit tables with a bankroll of about two-hundred and fifty dollars. I espoused my wisdom on playing a fishy table. March 2005, game theory and poker were on my mind.

March of 2006, I wrote about dispatching a mysoginistic, brutish, neanderthal in a one table challenge on Poker Stars. Pauly called me about ten minutes before the tourney started and tried to talk me out of playing against Poker Champ. The whole thing was quite the controversy at the time and ended up being probably the best joke played on the poker blogging community. Bravo, again, Daddy.

March of that year also brought perhaps the best comment thread ever seen here at Poker Perspectives. I was thrilled to learn Wil was, indeed, a fan of this humble blog (and I do believe the bet was paid).

One year ago I was receiving a monthly paycheck for blogging over at PokerWorks. That was quite a challenge, but lasted only a few months longer before the plug was pulled on that experiment. I will always be grateful to Linda for giving me the chance.

The UIGEA, a prolonged absence while at Pokerworks, a botched domain change and waning inspiration has greatly slowed the momentum of this little blog. Readership is nearly nil. I don't blame anyone but myself. I haven't had much to say about poker that hasn't been said before and more eloquently and passionately elsewhere in the poker blogosphere.

The community has grown exponentially since I started this grand journey four years ago. We've gone from little online tourney's to WSOP satellites. Poker bloggers have come and gone. We witnessed marriages, birhs, deaths, winners and losers. Yup. We are a true community.

Consider this a shout out to the old-schoolers. To the folks I met that first trip to Vegas. To the friends I've made and hold dear. I love you all.

If this sounds like a goodbye post, well, maybe it is. It didn't start out to be... but, well, this retrospective has shown me that perhaps it's time I accept reality and should tuck this little bit of my life away for now.

There are a lot of great memories in the archives over there. Take a stroll through them whilst I take a sabbatical and try to figure this all out.

Thanks for stopping by - keep those cards in the air!

I'm a couple of hours away from the last legal three day weekend until Memorial Day. I suspect I'll squeeze in a few more with my leave time before then, but for now - this weekend I hope to do some serious relaxing. Quite literally. Since starting back into physical therapy for my neck problems I've made a concerted effort to practice relaxation techniques - deep breathing and all that.

At the office, my door remains shut more than it is open. I try to shut out the office "busy-ness" with Really Music Radio on the computer or, on really stress ridden days, I crank up the ambient space music to calm my frayed nerves.

A few months ago I was moved from my little out-of-sight-out-of-mind office way off in a corner to an office right in the middle of the office culture. It's bigger, but I miss my quiet little hole in the wall. I've done what I can to make it homey and relaxing. Initially that was in an effort to put my young clients at ease but now I'm reaping most of the rewards.

One item in my office is my touchstone, of sorts, for finding peace in this maelstrom - it's the picture Katitude snapped while here for Okie-Vegas - you can kinda see it there on the left of the table in the pic above (click on the pic for a little larger view). At the last Vegas bash, she presented a copy each to me and Gracie. It represents one of my most favorite 'blogger moments.'

The time spent with those two ladies sitting on the dock at sunset by a lake in the middle of Nowhere Oklahoma always brings a warmth and instant joy whenever I think about it. A really special time.

So, I hope to find some peace over the next three days. I have a bit of an itch to play some cards tonight. That is perhaps not the best of choices given my goal for relaxation, but it just seems to be the right choice given my current state of mind which is, well, calm and positive. A state of mind I haven't seen in quite a while.

Ya'll have a good weekend, too, y'hear?