Party Poker Blog

TGIF.

Not that it matters to me - hell, it could be Tuesday for all I know.

Two quick pimps. I'm going to be playing in Wil's tourney tonite at PokerStars. You should, too, if you can.

Secondly, I'm going to break one of my blogging rules here. Al and I have coined this rule the Stinky Pants Theorem, which basically means, don't give the trolls what they desperately crave - attention. If you don't know who Stinky is err was, then you ain't a longtime reader of this blog. Not that it matters.

But I digress.

I was bummed when I heard that OddJack was going bellyup. I've always felt that Nick Denton having a blog in "our space" was a good thing for all of us. Not to mention that one of my favorite writers was an anchor for the site.

But the bittersweet reality is that now he's back in his home, Gambling Blues. Writing as only he can. And I gotta celebrate that fact today.

And so he went all old-school. Tasty, tasty bloggy goodness.

Go read BoyGenius and his missive:

Ninety-Nine Problems, And An Ad Ain't One

First time I lose, I drink whiskey
Second time I lose, I drink gin
Third time I lose, I drink anything
'Cause I think I'm gonna win
Gram Parsons, "Ooh, Las Vegas"

One week till Vegas.

Yet another poker blogger gathering.
Amazing.



I never blog my get-togethers with our burgeoning poker Tribe because it's always somewhat overwhelming and I can never recapture the moments very well. But suffice to say - I have some incredible memories thanks to a fantastic group of people. It's an incredibly diverse, smart, strange, bitingly funny group who thankfully never make fun of my diminutive stature. I've really lucked out on the friendships.

It's really unbeleivable to think how far this all has came. I planted my little seed in the blogosphere in September of 2003. Sometimes I'll go hit a random page in my archives and wonder, "Who the fuck wrote all that? I really pity that guy."

This blog is a tribute to my insanity.

Hell, I even yanked out this humorous old quote written about me by an old friend:

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Iggy the Blogfather, who is to the poker blogging community what Timothy Leary was to the counterculture movement — simultaneously its biggest cheerleader and its most enthusiastic participant.

-

And so, in celebration of our impending get-together, I'm gonna go all old-school Johnny Appleseed poker blogger and pimp some guys and girls that I've been overdue on. I owe you a massive uber-post but I've been up for nearly 48 hours straight, training for Vegas. Hopefully I'll bang one out for you before I leave town. Stay tuned.

Visit these folks, damnit. A buncha honking new poker bloggers out there for you to Destroy Workplace Productivity.
In no particular order:

Pot Committed
An L.A. native's journey on the felt and the big screen.
Way over-due pimp here.

Poker Sweet Home
Married to the Flop

Ros on a Rush

White Belt Poker
Zen and the art of the low-limit poker grind…

Poker Doctor
Never Play Cards With a Man Called Doc

Redpill's Poker journey
Thank you to whomever sent me this one.

The Slag Pile
Another St Louis blogger!

Littleacornman's poker n life blog
Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.( or the little acorn goes on tilt and becomes a broke little acorn)

All in でしょう
(オールインでしょう = All in deshou = I guess I'm all in.)
A journey of six thousand miles begins with a single chip.

Poker Poison
Watch out World.....

Dumbasses Trump All
A place where someone ridicules "special" people playing with buttons you have to click three times

radiovegas poker blog

Compromising Anonymity
23 Skidoo reference? Serious bonus points.

Predator314's Poker Journal
The insights into my Poker game and my life in general. I'm a self proclaimed semi-pro low limit poker player trying to build a bankroll and pay bills with poker winnings.

WarRoomPoker

Set Over Set
The attempts of a young man to turn a paycheck or two into copious amounts of cash. In short, early retirement.

Donkey hunter
Pin the tail on the donkey - The trials and tribulations of a fledgling poker player

Meek's Poker Bank Roll
Blog written by a Poker Bank Roll belonging to the poker player Meek.

Marks Poker Blog
Mark Strahan from Dublin, Ireland blogs on about the game of poker in Ireland and throughout the world!

MattahFahtu
Poker and other stuff.

Beau's Poker Blog
This is my newest blog, where I will discuss anything ranging from how I do in poker tournaments, to news from the world of poker, and the occasional live-blog of a tournament I'm participating in.

Everything Has A Limit

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And in the spirit of community, let's repost this wonderful anti-blog rant from 2+2:


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Blogs are Gay

Everytime I see a new blog starting up, I am compelled to sound off, so here goes.

Blog's are gay. Why do people feel so self-important? The problem with blogs is that they aren't written by anyone interesting. If they were, they would be TV shows. Furthermore I think the writers of these blogs are delusional. Do you really think you are captivating audiences with your ruminations on everyday life? Give me a god damn break. Hey man, check out my blog! No fucking thanks, if I wanted to know about your boring ass life, I would hang out with you.

Note to blog authors: If the blog was YOUR idea, it was surely a bad one. Don't you think if someone wanted to know about your life, they would ASK you to write a blog? Hey I know, I'll just start a blog and if nobody reads it I don't care, it's for me anyway. That's a steaming load of crap. If you don't want anyone to read it, then don't write it.

Now that we've established that blog authors desperately want an audience, let's move on to content. My thesis: Nobody in the US has ever written an interesting blog. Why the US? Well, blogs from international spies or people in war-torn countries are obviously cool. Compared to those though, American blogs are dumb. I mean this with absolute sincerity, and it is addressed to anyone who writes a blog: your life is not interesting. No really, I know it seems interesting because it's your life, but it's not. And a poker blog? I hope to god anyone who writes a poker blog is playing at LEAST 15/30 online. I think I'd rather do my own dental work than read a blog about 5/10 or lower.

And wtf is a blog anyway. It sounds like something I dropped off in the toilet after a night of pickled eggs and Jaegermeister. Was "weblog" too many god damn syllables to digest? Or was blog just too "hip" to pass up. Either way, I won't be reading any blogs, least of all any poker blogs. Peace.

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To each their own.
Now sign up on Party Poker with Bonus Code IGGY damnit.

And after you've plowed through all the new poker blogs, make sure to go read the fine folks at Up For Poker.

Addendum: thanks to everyone who dropped me a note saying they enjoyed my last post. I guess the lesson there is to stop uber-posting and just focus on 4AM drunken ramblings.

A week between posts? Yikes, that's some kind of record for me.

Gentle reader, fix yourself a real stiff drink for this one because it prolly ain't gonna make you feel comfortable. It's making me queasy just starting to write it.

Plus I'm loaded. 4AM loaded.
As in delete-this-post-tommorrow-when-I-wake-up-not-loaded.

The holidays were rough for the wife's family. Empty place at the table - huge void as Jen was the epitome of a good-looking, outgoing, bubbly blonde, center-of-attention girl. Her mom, my wife's sister, is an elementary schoolteacher and she finally took a leave of absence from work. I'm happy they allowed her to do so.

Fuck, how can you console someone inconsolable?
It's tough getting old, trying to soak up more and more grief.

My antidote over these crummy times was plenty of Guinness and complete immersion into poker. As if I wasn't already fully immersed. And man, I'm really starting to pay the price. I've lost feeling in the fingertips in one of my hands due to carpal tunnel. Damn tingly sciatic nerve.

My mom tells me that you trade in your psychological problems for physical ones when you turn 40. Sounds about right.

Anyway, there's gotta be a clever poker sniglet for this injury somewhere.

So I've been fitted for a brace, blah blah blah.

It's ironic that this carpal tunnel has kicked in because I've been hitting the boat nearly every damn day these past two weeks. I really love being a pseudo-regular in the poker room. I've always wanted to do that. Potential fodder for a future book, if nothing else.

I'm all set for Vegas. Eight days and counting....Go read Pauly if you don't know what I'm talking about. I'm already preparing myself by sleeping during the days - much to my wife's chagrin.

But she's still uber-supportive. Playing poker for a living drives me far more crazy than her. Of course, she never has to experience the downswings and emotional rollercoasters that I do - I mean, there's a certain satisfaction that comes from waking up and doing a job. I've never, ever NOT had a job. For whatever reason, it's always felt rewarding to do a day's work and then come home and have free time. That's always been my life.

But free time now is different.
It's a constant, if I want it to be.

I'm only gonna say this once.
I made more money playing poker this year than I did in my corporate job last year.

Best of all, I don't have to wear pants.
Lucky me.

It's funny but the cardroom has exposed me to some serious characters. Not on the Vegas level but still...there are some brutal folks sitting around the table. I've avoided unleashing myself upon any of the folks, mostly because I live by the dictum - Don't Shit Where You Eat. But I've witnessed some cruel ribbing lately.

It's a fact but cruel jokes are a big part of life in any environment where action freaks, poker addicts and obsessive/compulsive gambling junkies are ripped to the tits day and night for 15 hours straight on their own adrenaline and swollen more and more each day with a kind of hubris that comes when you try to steer Ambition and Money all at once.

It's a rush. Some folks will say it's better than any drug they've ever done but that raises unsettling personal questions that I'd rather not address here. Sure, I've had days or nights like that but they are very rare and I really can't remember them. But when I do - it's like an old wound - like a nail thru your ear, or a shoulder surgery. The pain ebbs away but the wound stays forever. The scar never quite heals right - - and whenever it seems like its going to, I'll scratch it. I have some scars that go back 40 years and I still remember how they happened - just like it was yesterday.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about some of the hapless regular losers in my game. Not everybody is comfortable with the idea that poker is a guilty addiction - but it is. Or it can be.

I'm continually shocked when I'm hit up for loans from some of these guys. I suppose I shouldn't be, I'm not the naive type, but I clearly don't look as bright as I am. And fuck, most of these guys don't even know NOT to play table games. It's stunning.

I used to think, "Hell, they're prolly a trust-fund baby or somehow independantly wealthy." No harm, no foul. I mean, how else could they afford to come blow money at the boat every freaking day?

But now I admit I know better. Some of them are addicts. They are guilty and cheat, steal and lie - just like any other junkie. And when they get into a frenzy, they will sacrifice anything and anybody to feed their deeply retarded habit and there is no cure for it. They don't care about anything else.

They are salmon and they must spawn. They are addicts, and perhaps, on some level, so am I.

The fish hear their music and I hear mine.