Sadly few of them are the poker blogs that made up a large part of my daily fix. It was in decline well before Black Friday but coffin nails sprouted  more quickly after.   So, I thought there might be a resurrection of sorts with the December blogger gathering.  Bit more disappoint rather than hilarity ensued — but CrAAkkkEEErrrSS came through with a pair.   You remember him before his corporate sellout, right?  (I never do get that hip-hop UPPER/lower stuff r1gh7.)  Anyway, he referenced a bunch of names that were vaguely familiar — my short term memory being a challenge.

Many of those claiming to be poker bloggers would have difficulty proving it without access to the Internet’s Waybak machine.  Well, not quite that bad for some but approaching rigor for many others.  I had thought that many would make a WPBT post — embarrassment, if nothing else.  A few obliged with a short I came I drank I slept I spewed post.  Well, they were almost a blog.  But, many of the solid names that I could rely on for an interesting view or pseudo brawl are still listed as missing.

Anyway, this CrAAAA — stop it, I am going dyslexic — well, you know who I mean — had this link to one of the MIA. (M1AA?) Now I remember this person as a sparky, in your face, something to say person.   Kid met the testosterone laden home and workplace head on.  Fun… Articulate… all the rest.  New job demands and all — I understood the cutback.   At least until recently.   That AAKK guy left me a link to this thing called Twitter.  It must be a home for those with a certifiable something-or-other challenge.  You remember that funny, articulate girl I mentioned, right?  The one that could string paragraphs together for both fun and profit.  Well, the mighty hath fallen.

Is that sad or what?  Crystal balls couldn’t make sense of it.  And. you’ll notice many  @names claiming to be bloggers.  Some have switched or forgotten their true blog name.  I suspect embarrassment.  They are twit, tweet twots.  I am normally loathed to call folks twots and that wasn’t conjugating but criticism. A sad collection of people marginally involved and only for the moment.  The word has been limited to like 100 and whatever requiring the attention span of gnats or gnus or g-something sad.

I could gather equally egregious examples of where articulate has wandered off to.   This is not the exception and it must stop.  I allowed a lot of fairly new people life access because of this.  They are the real persons with bunions, warts, or whatever.  They are also my idealized version via blogs and comments that gave them a position of respect and affection.  And they’ve deteriorated to one poorly formed sentence before my eyes.   This isn’t just the above party.  Examples abound.  You know who you are.

Get off your blogger claims and write something, you lazy, good-for-nothing, mumble-mumble-mumble

Tweets are to language like a stick in a termite nest is to tool making.  That places you with the lower order of primates.  Shape up, people. Straighten those gig lines.  We’ll take you back in blogdom and to the race.  Don’t make me send you to a 12-step program.  Hair shirts with a Blogger logo will be available in the lobby at intermission for $37.50.

*****

Twitter may someday make a contribution to the language and art of communication; but, it will be under the infinite number of monkeys concept.

*****

P.S. So, is the lighter hair caused by unacceptable but anticipated color variation or access to a California sun missing farther north?  (I am willing to hear sun effect with a straight face.)

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The thing that’s turning me into a troll is simple.  Some blogger picked on a couple of friends.  Not that that kind of silliness isn’t a blogging constant.  But, like I’m also capable of doing, I saw this as a bit beyond good taste and common courtesy. My friends are quite capable of their own defense.  But, hell, I never let that get in my way to joining in and making an ass of myself.  I think I’ll find company here.

Ok, nothing but the facts:

• my friend Poker Hack wrote an article
• my friend Linda published it
• Grump figured it grist for his mill
• Comments at length follow his blog (He said — She said)

Anybody could have read the article and written a commentary on the article by asking for clarification and pointing out parts that left them questioning.  Then you get the grump approach.  Most of us leave it behind when we matriculate from playground based education.  But some keep drawing lines in the sand and issuing challenges with chest swelling and posturing.  That can get annoying over time.

Here the challenge was $100 over calling 10 casinos and getting … hell, you read it and it was boring then.

Poker Hack wrote an article about a different subject entirely.  I counted (actually the word processor did) and it was 1016 words — fairly long.  And, after  the debate, point-counter-point, commenting, and blogging, we end up with Grumps’ last comment defense:

Linda, I’m not trying to pick a fight. I understand that the thrust of the article was about a particular situation. But I maintain that this one sentence–”In most brick and mortar poker rooms, friends, spouses, and lovers are discouraged from playing at the same table”–is almost certainly false.

Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee: I think I’m entitled to them.
Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee: I want the truth!
Jessep: You can’t handle the truth!

OK, Grump, here is the truth.  You do pick fights.  And you love to do so. You just did it again for the flimsiest of reasons.  You finally grab one sentence in an article on a different topic and demeaned friends of mine who have decades of poker experience.   And what is your basis? Your various experiences in poker rooms whose lack of continuity — not only from moment to moment but from room to room – you have commented on and berated.  Wow!  what an intellectual romp on your part.

So apologize and get back to what you do best.

To reveal the hidden answer, use your mouse to highlight the space immediately after the word “Answer” below.

Answer: Grumpy’s Pics

ADDENDUM:

The rules of poker and their implementation are often ambiguous.

Related forms

Antonyms
1.  explicit. 3.  certain. 4.  clear, precise, unambiguous.

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So, you’ll have to bop over to another site to see some of the inside info about Full Tilt and two of its pros — Benyamine and Ivy.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming:  lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.  While working at Pokerworks, I recall another blogger there used to regularly give head to Robin Leech.  He later did the same with his “Uncle Tilty”.  He made good money at it — 5K a month at PW.  Supposedly got more at FT.  That may be of interest to some but it is hardly close to a day in the life of Phil Ivey.   (Neither was this article was  written with an overpriced Mont Blanc fountain pen. But I do have a rather sexy keyboard if I say so myself.)

ADDENDUM:

Got this email.  Neat site.

The screen is going to fade to black; have your glasses on, and ‘click’ on Year of your birth below.

I then tried it with other years, like my kids and grandkids…it’s all very interesting indeed!

Year of your birth

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John sent me an email that he was headed for the Horseshoe and did I want to meet.  We decided to meet in the poker room.  John, “Red polo, tan hat” ; me, “Grey polo, dark khaki slacks.”   I arrived and saw the attire and pulled up behind and did what I do best — made a stupid wisecrack. It was John so I didn’t get my lights punched out.  He asked if I minded waiting for the blinds; I didn’t mind.  He won the final hand before the blinds (uncontested) with pocket jacks.

He had played very well pulled a Josie and was up almost a buyin in under an hour of play.  He gave me the play by play for the double up and a bad beat story about losing some of it.  Seeing that we were still feeling each other out trying to figure out if the meet was a mistake, I didn’t charge him the dollar.

We wandered from a very nice poker room into the casino proper with both working on whether or not it had been a mistake to meet. The chat went:

• We’re right by the buffet.
• How hungry are you?
• Not very
• There’s a coffee shop
• Sound good

We seemed to have hit it off or at least not run away screaming and proceed to the coffee shop while laying out the one ground rule: we would trash discuss absent blogger in alphabetical order making Waffles again a bottom feeder. (Sorry, Wolfie. Waffles was so “interesting” that we never got to you.)  Then we got the the most exciting part of our meet; he had the catfish sandwich; I had the Italian Beef; we both had a XX Amber. His sandwich looked dry; mine was dry.  My waffle cut, coated fries were tasty.  His mac and cheese looked nicely coated with Velveeta cheese.

I bought.  Two reasons:

1. He got up from a hot table without complaint
2. He said I looked MUCH younger than he’d pictured.

Ok, he just said younger.  So shoot me.

Come to think of it, John was the first online friend I’ve met in person.  Seemed to work better than friending on Facebook.  We wandered back to the poker room and he got on the list (31st) and we chatted for a bit.  I felt bad I’d pulled him away from what look like a passive table that one could work.  Of course there was no need to apologize — we are Midwesterners you know.

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76      David Smith      $5,031

I didn’t get to watch but my admiration is there.   Back in my PokerRoom days they had a biggy.  It was a two day event.  I had a number of friends playing it.   I made a post that said I thought Booty played the best of those I watched.   She never got a lot of traction.  She was just hanging in there while other friends flirted with the chip lead.  But, she was still conniving to keep a few chips when those who’d earlier chipped up were making the walk of shame.

It is always great to get cards when you need them and even when you don’t.   There are those days where you just can’t avoid getting it in good.  They are memorable.  But the one’s to take pride in are the cat fights.

I found out Mojo was moving on to day 2 after it was in the bag.  He had 24.8 in chips.  I looked at the draw and that made him 5th or 6th in chips at his table.  The round cost 2400 chips so he had a M of 10.   Worse though was the next level was a good pop that’d take 3600 chips for a round.

I might be able to come up with a worse situation if I tried hard.  He certainly wasn’t alone in the problem but you needed to be inventive.  How bad was it?  Well, there were a few post there about some particular pro or hand; the level changes; bit more time and   hand for hand was announced.  That was 200 and some gone from 500 and some. They call that the walk of shame but it is anything but for most. The blinds put a gun to your head.

His tweets tell us this:

• starts at 24.8
• slipped to around 18k at the bubble
• another level change and “up” to 21
• chipped up to 42 with 327 left
• at the dinner break (190 left) he’s got an M around 10

And that continues in his tweets which you can read for yourself.  If you want to say things like:  he never got it in there; he should have taken some races; pretty boring poker — you don’t know jack.  He never had push-around chips.  With an M like that you have a bulls eye on your chest and there is a flashing neon arrow overhead so the dumb one don’t miss it.  And, he almost played his way to day 3.

That folks is an A-GAME!!!

ADDENDUM:

Bill to legalize poker could make it into the hopper next week.

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The player is Shaun (shaniac) Schleger.  The article is entitled Busted.  It is a rather honest look at his transition from a series of minimum wage jobs to making a living playing poker.

He questions his worth relating to “contributing to society” and that a valid question.  It doesn’t seriously prop up our GDP or come up with a cure for cancer — true enough.  But, based on his educational background, his contribution frankly had doubtful merit in that regard.  But, lets look a bit closer.

Until poker came along, he was getting by and avoiding being a drain.  That’s true for a lot of us.  Then, poker came along.  His income increased.  He lived better and had more disposable income.  We can’t say for certain the true source of that income.  It likely some was from overseas and some came from those with great disposable income.  The overseas part improved our balance of payments a bit.  The whales might have helped the balance go the other way to a degree.   Shaun used it for housing, food, and some nice perks because he now had disposable funds.

While his job didn’t make him a titan of industry or such, it did contribute to society.  He worked hard, long hours to provide the ability to buy more and that helps others.  So, yeah, Shaun, you are a contributing member of society and our government lowered our nation’s economic strength when it put you out of work.  Your contribution to that isn’t noticeable but that can be said of most households — up to and including upper middle class.

Taken all together Black Friday isn’t really a blip on the economy but it has its modest effect.  The government is always now hyping job growth/loss.  The major part of that is based on our spending and you and your colleagues have lost your income due to government intervention.   Government intervention happens every day and across industries.  Every requirement they add to business affect jobs.   That’s the part average folks like us often miss.   OSHA and the EPA act for gains that may or may not be important; they are just two of many similar government processes.  None of their goals contribute to society as much as yours, mine and that host of others who pay their way through life.

Whatever one might need to apologize for in life, making a legitimate living isn’t on the list.

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It was a bit of a shock to wander into Shamus’ establishment today.  He has been active on scene as part of the poker media.  That gives him some data and added perspective.  So, he broke the Ivey news to me this morning.  Phil lambasted the owners of Full Tilt.  As a Full Tilt “Red” Pro, that is very unexpected.

I’d have to call it refreshing though.  In Atlantic City and underage, he played as Jerome.  Jerome wasn’t famous or quite as intimidating as these days.  He is now described in many ways.   His now being in the very top at poker is indisputable.  The peace of data I find more revealing is the commentary about a couple of his fans.  They aren’t your typical fanboys.  They are a couple of old, white farts from his Atlantic City days as Jerome.  When you can make and hold friends from bottom to top, you are something unique.  To me that separates him and many of the newer crowd in certain aspects and from more traditional operators in more.

Poker can operate in the expedient.  Some nasty people are honest poker players.  That revolves around “your word” and not stiffing the guys  you want to borrow from next week.  Many people arrive on the poker scene a step or two ahead of the law even while being consider — pokerwise — one of the good guys.   There is a double standard that can make things seem to merge but there isn’t always the offset our mind sees.

I am not breaking new ground.  I been dupe, bamboozled, and made a fool of as often as most.  In the online area that has played out at UB.  But, we’ve never really figured out who, if, or where the good guys are.   With online site being the golden goose — even after the UIGEA — it is going to attract the gamut to A Fist Full of Dollars.  And there will be surprises along the way.  Mr. Ivey provides us with a big surprise.  It is a Clint Eastwood draw down moment.

I can’t wait for poker’s next spaghetti western.   Phil may have the lead again.  He can be as scary as Clint.  They were both disillusioned.  Phil isn’t likely to play as film noir a hero as Clint’s roll.  One thing for sure, with him calling out Jesus and Howard, the sequel won’t be The Three Amigos.

Looking forward to the next blockbuster.  In the meantime, I am off to that which I have left.   I will go play that HORSE freeroll and see if I can work it For A Few Dollars More.

ADDENDUM:

I saw the first of Clint’s epics at the Y & W drive in.  It was with a date and I was more interested in a grope than the movie.  Unfortunately, she was more interested in the movie.  I think it was the summer after my senior year. Damn I am old.

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Well, I played last night in Linda’s little HORSE bonanza. It used to be a fun place. We’d chat a lot and even rag on each other in fun. The current version isn’t all that chatty.

It is your usual mix with better play normally than you get in a $5 tournament. At times you’ll see some truly excellent play. And, we can have our aggressive reads flipped up for all to see as the chips head the other way. It pretty much works toward “and a good time was had by all” with gg usually sent the way of folks leaving. In blogger realms, that’s probably as close to truthful as gg gets.

Now we’ve one fellow that likes aggression. Let him work his way into a stack and he turns that up a couple of notches. The only real thing I find annoying is that the house always sits him two places to my left.

I missed the last one and but met him for the first time in the one before. I may of made a remark about him being fortunate for picking up so many great hands. I don’t remember and it wasn’t vitriolic but it might have been taken that way. It wasn’t heavy but who knows.

Anyway, last evening it played again and I managed to show up. It starts at 8:30 but seldom goes beyond two tables. I don’t normally play 'late' but Linda’s a bud and it usually doesn’t go real late. I remember pulling all-nighters and pretending I could work the next day. These days I’m an early bird without the worm. So, besides Linda’s little offering, the only blogger thing I ever played in was one CC put on when we were both writing for Linda. I do wish it started a bit earlier. 

I’m making this longer than I should. I really don’t know this guy from Adam. I guess he plays the Mokey and others. I did Google him and couldn’t find his blog. My guess is he isn’t that active or uses a much different title. About all I found were people saying things like, “Pissed XXXXX off. BONUS!!!”

So, we’re playing away. He’s raising like a mad man and building a stack. Its the Hold’em round and I’ve got the button in an unopened pot. He’s the big blind. I’m holding 97o. The flop comes and shazam. I have a nine high straight. He’s out of position and goes to betting. We cap. He bets the turn — cap. Not sure if he bet the river — I think he did but just called my raise.  Blinds hadn't gotten serious so the pot wasn't one to really write home about. He had like 86 for two pair. Given the cards played hardly something folks will talk about for decades. But he does by remarking I’m one of those guys that can only peddle the nuts. Joke or dig? Could be either. So, I keep it simple and mention that it seems to work too. I might have mention it wasn’t the nuts but the second nut or that if he wanted to get in a dig he could have referred to it as the idiot end of the straight.

This hasn’t made much of a blog up to this point. I can’t say I’ve been dissed or just digged. Then there we are in the same church and new pew. I got the button and A7. I think I just call but I might have raised. Flop drops an A and bet/raise. I don’t cap and play it out. He has AT for the win. Now he goes off on me being a dumb ass A-rag player. I figure it is getting personal. I have gone from being the rock-of-ages to a donk that can’t select a hand.  Ignore I've position in both hands.

Later, when the blinds were getting up there, all the above silliness was happening when being hyper aggressive wasn’t a big payday. Now the blind are aggressive and whats-his-face is long gone. I played a stud hand and had concealed jacks. Another fellow raised with an ace up and I hoped he had a small hidden pair instead. We went to war and with what I had left was pot committed and all in by 4th street. Long story, short; he had AA. We made sets. I rivered a boat. He typed NH. I typed SORRY! He said no he understood it was poker. I said I still could bear to say TU.

That’s kinda what I’d expect in such an environment. I hadn’t played particularly well and when he busted me on the bubble it seemed quite righteous. How different we are. I was tired and ready to bust but he did me in with grace. He didn’t put his self worth into every shuffle like the other guy seemed to do. Funny world.

Mojo played this tournament. Played better than I did but busted before me. He may have a whole different take on this. For me, it is funny more than anything. My only hope is that next time the guy is on my right.

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Annie Duke did a podcast that’s interesting to say the least.

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