8.27.2008

Big Six #6


When & what started you playing poker?

I started playing poker once my uncles deemed me old enough to play in their quarter 7-card stud game at the cabin. Online, I started off reading trip reports from Felicia at the United Poker Forums (http://www.unitedpokerforum.com/). Wow, its still up.

First poker blog you read?

Felicia's then Iggy

Will online poker become legal, illegal, or no change?

I think we're in for a bumpy ride thanks to UB/Absolute's handling of the superuser account scandal. My hopes are right people finally see the light and poker can be played without having to jump through loopholes online and live.

One thing you could change about Poker what would it be?

Make live poker games more accessible (allow card rooms to open)

Dead or Alive: One person you would like to play poker with? Why?

Phil Ivey. And play H.O.R.S.E. to see what makes him so great.

Vanilla or chocolate?

Swirl?

8.22.2008

Dear Pokergods,

Why do you hate me? I thought we were BFFs

OXOX,
U?

8.20.2008

Big Six #5






When & what started you playing poker?

I always loved to play cards but never poker until I got into a game a few years ago with all the late-night desk guys at the paper. This was way before the poker craze, so we played 5 and 7 card stuff, wild cards. I was amazed at how you could play all these different games of poker.

Well, a couple years later, I began playing one night a week, .5/.10 blinds. I used to think "Why would you watch Poker on TV? It's so boring." But then I started to look forward to the hold em games quite a bit. And then my friend who was hosting told me about pokerroom.com. I played with play money there for a year, brought my bankroll up to a million, then read a lot of books and put in a deposit of $50. I never had to deposit again.

First poker blog you read?

It was Poker Geek's, but now it's dead. Or was he Poker Nerd? Chris Hanel was his name. Still one of the best I've read. That led me to Pot Committed and Tao of Poker.

Will online poker become legal, illegal, or no change?

I can't see the feds not legalizing online poker and wasting all that tax revenue with the economy beginning to shit. I really think we're in for some hard times and poker is too much of a moneymaker. The only problem with that is the tax will eat into our profits and make it difficult for decent but winning players like me to keep winning.



One thing you could change about Poker what would it be?

Not so many douchebags on national TV and make the limits universal. In Colorado we have $2/5 spread limit and that's it and it sucks.


Dead or Alive: One person you would like to play poker with? Why?

Jennifer Harman. We could talk about what it's like to raise twins and trade tips.

Vanilla or chocolate?

Peanut Butter flavored ice cream rocks

8.19.2008

Update the diggs

If you happen to have this blog bookmarked, stay tuned I'm going to be updating a few things on the site & you may need to update your feed subscription.

Cross your fingers I don't break too many things in the process.

8.13.2008

Big Six #4





When & what started you playing poker?

I started playing poker in its current form a little after I started law school. I remember I was about to head out to meet a friend for some drinks and at 10pm, I saw the WPT on the Travel Channel. I thought to myself, "Who the hell would watch people play cards on the TV?" An hour later, I was running late to the bar so I set up my VCR and taped the second hour. I was instantly hooked. Then I remembered Howard Stern advertising Golden Palace Poker, so I signed up there. It helped that they had a $20 minimum deposit. I limited myself to $20/mo. since I was a student, and by the end of the month, I was paying as low as .10 SNGs, trying to win .45 (1st place) just so I could buy into the .25 game and work my way back up. Eventually, I got better and after winning the $1k freeroll twice and coming in 2nd once, three months in a row, I started to gain more confidence. After that, I really didn't need to rebuy back in, and it's been smooth sailing since.

But way before that, I used to play cards with my two grandmothers as a young kid and by high school, I'd regularly play poker with my buddies with all sorts of wild rules. It was usually draw poker with wild cards, but we'd bet decent money, so I guess part of me was always a card player and gambler.


First poker blog you read?

It was called the Intrepid Card Player. I was working in a firm and was bored as shit one day, so I searched for CardPlayer magazine's site. It was blocked, but the Intrepid Card Player also came up on my search and wasn't blocked. It was interesting reading about some guy's similar struggles and personal life. I followed a link to Tao and the rest is history.


Will online poker become legal, illegal, or no change?

God willing, nothing will change. Realistically, I predict in about 20 years it'll be legal and regulated. But we need the 20 years for the people in power to understand technology better. Right now, not enough politicians are willing to risk their reputation on a bill that their opponents will say promotes a vice, gambling. But I think the gambling culture and the computer culture will become more pervasive until it'll be the big pink elephant in the room, and then, finally, it'll be illegal, but taxed to shit. Lower level players won't be able to win consistently given the higher rake (due to the taxes) and the government will have reports of everyone's wins/losses for tax purposes, further cutting into the small players' pockets. But poker will survive as long as gambling gets people's rocks off.

One thing you could change about Poker what would it be?
I would make it legal to play live poker everywhere in the continental US (that's right, suck it Alaska). And there wouldn't be any BS restrictions on limits or anything like that. Free the poker, man! Other than that, I love the game and wouldn't change a thing.


Dead or Alive: One person you would like to play poker with? Why?

That's really tough. At first I thought, Jesus, but then I remembered that I am Jewish. So, let's go with Stu Ungar. After all, it's poker and Stu Ungar was the best there is at the time. If I'm going to get one shot, I want it to be someone who I respect as a poker player, can learn from, and then party with afterwards.

Vanilla or chocolate?

I'm going to go with vanilla, cause my wife is white. Unless you are literally talking about ice cream, in which case, I'd go chocolate.

8.10.2008

RIP Isaac Hayes

Seriously the big guy upstairs must be gearing up for one hell of a party. Carlin, Bernie, and now Isaac Hayes.

I'm going to stop reading the news before someone else dies.

8.09.2008

The world just got a little less funny

RIP Bernie Mac 1957-2008


First Carlin now Bernie Mac, is this some terrorist plot to rid the US of some of the actually funny comedians?

Big Six #3



When & what started you playing poker?


After I retired from ultimate frisbee, I was looking for a new competitive endeavor. Two of my ultimate frisbee teammates convinced me that poker was a good choice. I can't thank them enough.

First poker blog you read?


Up for Poker. I met CJ (Luckbox) during the 2006 WSOP. Turns out that we went to the same college, and at the time he was living close to where I grew up. He gave me the link to the Up for Poker blog.

Will online poker become Legal, illegal, or no change?


No change. At least for the foreseeable future.

One thing you could change about Poker what would it be?


People who can't take winning or losing gracefully.

Dead or Alive: One person you would like to play poker with? Why?


Kirk Morrison. I think he's a great player, and I have a crush on him.

Vanilla or chocolate?


Chocolate





8.06.2008

Poker has seen rapid growth over the last few years. It has manifested from a small cigar smoke filled room activity to a game played by millions sitting at home on the home computer. Online poker has almost replaced what we once knew as poker, and online poker tournaments have replaced the social get togethers otherwise known as ‘poker games’. Poker is now much more accessible to more people, thanks to a few reliable online casinos.

8.04.2008

Big Six #2






When & what started you playing poker?

When I was approximately 10 years old, I found my grandfather's ceramic poker chips somewhere in our house. My siblings and I used to play five card draw, although we really had no idea what we were doing. As I got into high school, I became part of a home game with some real degenerates -- the kind who would wind up spending all their money for the rest of their lives betting the ponies -- where we mainly played Guts, which is a three-card stud variant, and MoFo, a lowball game where you are dealt four cards, decide if you're in or out, then get three more to make your worst five-card hand. I guess that's probably where I developed my love of lowball games.

Back then, we would all congregate in the basement of someone's house and play quarter-ante poker games. A big night was a win or loss in the $20 to $40 range. This went on almost every Friday night until I graduated because I was a geek and a nerd and had nothing better to do on Friday nights when I was in high school.

My gambling stayed under wraps through most of college, only to come back out in full force when I got to law school. It seems like a wacky thing to me, to get a whole bunch of risk-averse lawyer-wannabes together in a room to gamble, but that's what happened. Again, the game was quarter-ante and occurred pretty regularly, although thankfully by this point my friends and I all had enough of a life that it didn't occur on Fridays.

It wasn't until I got out of law school, and online poker started to really take off, that I started playing hold'em with a bunch of improvisers I knew through the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York City. Several of the other players there were just as passionate about poker as I am, and, better yet, just as geeky. We started playing not so much with an eye to play, but with an eye to learn the game and become better players. We analyzed hands together. We discussed certain playing styles together, both in person and on an online forum. Most importantly, we played together every Monday night.

First poker blog you read?

I wish I could remember. I started reading poker blogs four and a half years ago. It was one of: the now-defunct "The Cards Speak" by HDouble; Iggy; Pauly; or the now-defunct Ugarte's Poker Grovel.


Will online poker become legal, illegal, or no change?

It will become legal within a year after the new presidential administration takes office (even despite the damage from the Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker cheating scandals).


One thing you could change about Poker what would it be?

I'm kinda tired of "all no-limit hold'em all the time". I started as a limit player in 2003 -- back then you couldn't find a NLHE cash game anywhere on the Las Vegas Strip or in Los Angeles -- and over time I've gravitated back towards limit hold'em and other limit games like Omaha Hi/Lo and mixed games. I know that no-limit hold'em is here to stay, but I'd love to see limit games come back into balance a bit.

Dead or Alive: One person you would like to play poker with? Why?

Richard Nixon. Charming, cunning, full of interesting stories and supposedly wasn't the worst poker player out there.

Vanilla or chocolate?

Vanilla.

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