When I die and they lay me to rest,
Gonna go to the place that’s best.
When they lay me down to die,
Goin’ up to the spirit in the sky
— Norman Greenbaum
I never believed in god. That’s one reason why, when I was little, I thought Spirit in the Sky was a song about a pilot. Ever since I could remember, my father talked about what an incredible experience it was to fly. No matter what WWII story he told — whether it involved humor, disdain for bureaucracy, or the tragic loss of life — he always had a gleam in his eye when he retold his tales from the sky. It was almost like he couldn’t believe humans were given the profound gift of flight. For him, “the place that’s the best” was always in the cockpit of his B-24.
And that was the song that immediately popped into my head on Sunday, standing on Juno Beach as a B-24 slowly passed, low, overhead. A B-17 followed closely behind. I turned to someone on the beach and asked the date, although I knew the answer before they responded. It was February 8th…the anniversary of my father’s birthday. Read More »
Lou Mannheim: Kid, you’re on a roll. Enjoy it while it lasts, ’cause it never does.
Imagine how small the world of poker would be without debt. What would happen to poker if a large number of players stopped being able to pay back what they owed? Some generous players and backers would get burned and the rest, including the online sites, would decide the risk of lending and sponsoring players was too great. As attendance at tournaments started to shrink, prize pools would diminish as well — resulting in even fewer players willing to put up the buy-in. The downward spiral would be hard to break.
I’m not sure when I first realized I had become Lou Mannheim, the character played by Hal Holbrook in the movie Wall Street. But at the office, there’s no question I channel his spirit every time an office pool springs up. Whether it’s the closing price of the Dow or the front-month contract price for oil futures, I’m always the pragmatic pessimist in a sea awash with Bud Fox-esque dreamers.
Some of it is just time in the trenches. I’ve seen a lot of markets, from exuberant to suicidal, from bubbles to painful corrections. And like a veteran poker player, you start to know what’s fueling a good run – skillful play or dumb luck. Post-2002 investors are like newbie poker players, who think it’s the ultimate bad beat when their aces get cracked in a loose nine-handed game — while still nursing a triple-digit gain dream. Read More »
To me, Januaries and Tunica were synonymous. Every year I would prepare for my trip by stopping off at Sam’s Club for a tub of Double-Bubble and hitting the library for books on tape — anything to get me through the 10+ hour drive. It also included the annual cleaning out of my car. One year I found a cocktail glass under the passenger seat, left there from the year before by Chip Jett on a side trip to a Memphis strip club. I still have the glass, likely property of the Gold Strike.
If you weren’t a poker player, you’d probably have to be put on a morphine drip to go to Tunica. It was basically built on Mississippi swamp land. And other than the casinos, the biggest thing in town was the Piggly Wiggly.
But for poker players, Tunica used to issue a siren’s call each year that was too loud to ignore.
These days, it’s barely a whisper.
Pauly emailed me last week. He had one question: “What the fuck happened to Tunica?” I know he’s since written about it — but I thought I still owed him an answer.
After Becky wrested 99% control of the Horseshoe in Vegas from her brother Jack, he set up his own shop. The Horseshoe in Tunica was part of the house that Jack built. And true to his roots, it was always a good room for poker. In 2000, Jack hosted the first World Poker Open, sporting a $5K buy-in Main Event. At the time, it was the second biggest buy-in after the WSOP. Since the Horseshoe was short on space, Jack partnered with the nearby Gold Strike, which had a serviceable ballroom and a solid poker room of its own. Ron Williams beat Todd Brunson for the bracelet that year. In 2001, John Juanda emerged to win the event from the 146 player starting field. Read More »
I’d been playing poker for over five years before I stepped foot in the Commerce. As much as I had heard about the legendary card room, I was still awed by its majesty. It was a temple built to please the poker gods – and all those who came to worship at its tables.
I hadn’t planned on covering the 2007 LAPC. But a week before the event, I got a call asking if I could be out there to discuss the possibility of doing Mike’s book. I basically sold myself cheap, getting on the PokerNews team for the price of the air fare. It would be many months later before an agreement was reached for the book – lawyers – but the seeds were sown in LA.
I loved the Commerce, but I clearly wasn’t the only one. I’ve never taken so many pictures of players smiling. They all just loved being there. It was like they were home. And now it’s the new home of Tournament Director Matt Savage. Somehow it all fits. Matt is a poker player’s TD and I can’t think of a room that will appreciate his skill and philosophy more than the Commerce. Read More »
Everyone thought that Becky Binion Behnen had a lock on the worst WSOP legacy. She has served as the casino manager’s equivalent of Herbert Hoover. After an ugly family legal battle, Becky wrested control of Binion’s Horseshoe from her brother Jack and proceeded to milk it dry – even selling off the million dollar display with 100 Salmon P. Chase $10,000 bills. On January 9, 2004, U.S. marshals seized Binion’s cash and shuttered the doors because of Becky’s failure to pay into employee medical and pension plans – which weren’t the only bills she was behind on. Within five and a half years, Becky had reversed the fortune of one of Las Vegas’ most profitable casinos. And perhaps worst of all, she had jeopardized the future of the WSOP.
In 2003, Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP Championship, fueling the dream that any amateur player could win poker’s crown jewel. The 2004 WSOP stood to draw a record field. University of Nevada, Las Vegas professor Bill Thompson pointed out that the World Series of Poker had grown and prospered in spite of Becky rather than because of her, But with three months before the scheduled start of the 2004 Series, the event’s future was in question.
Harrah’s quickly swooped in and bought the Horseshoe, immediately selling off the property while maintaining the rights to the WSOP. The 2004 Series was held, and as predicted, attracted a record turnout. Some people bristled at Harrah’s corporatization of the event. Juice was pushed to all time highs. Dozens of new events were added, eroding the value of a WSOP bracelet win. Media rights were sold off to the highest bidder. And even final tables were obscured from view — from family and friends — in an effort to squeeze every last buck out of the Series. But the WSOP lived on. Maybe not in a way that pleased most pre-boom pros. But it survived and even grew.
It’s hard to believe that just five years later, the fate of the WSOP, and even Harrah’s itself, is in jeopardy once again. Like Hoover, who now has the opportunity to go down as the second-worst overseer of the economy, Becky may have a new contender for worst WSOP honors. After all, Becky only drove one profitable casino out of business. Leon Black is now driving the largest casino company in the world into the ground. Read More »
I feel like I’ve been cloistered away for the last few months. Basically I’d get up about 5:00 am, start a huge pot of coffee, feed the cats, and work on the book. At 8:20, I’d jump in the bathtub, throw some clothes on and head off to work. The book totally claimed the weekends. But I took breaks now and again to play an online poker tourney – either the PokerListings Run Good Challenge or Saturday with Pauly. And about once a month I’d sneak on Rounders Radio with Lou.
For the record, I did money in the Run Good II Grand Final. But it was a decidedly “meh” 5th place performance. Even my cat Java was rooting for Change100 – who put in a spectacular performance for second place. Kid Dynamite, playing his best maniacal luckbox game, took the title.
But the book is officially “at the publishers.” The whole time I was writing, I kept fantasizing what I would be doing once it was done. But instead of the new life I imagined for myself, I’ve spent the last week or so trying to reclaim my old life. I’ve wallowed in the small luxuries of the mundane…doing laundry, cleaning out my kitchen pantry, and dyeing my hair. I even got to go out. I gratefully spent Christmas eve-eve with Cathy and Lee and the B.D. Riley’s pub crowd – where I met blogger K-Nine from Dead Dog Walkin’ (specializing in women’s skin art – I suspect as a way to get laid). And I’ve allowed myself the pinball-like pleasure of bouncing from one blog to the next. Read More »
This afternoon I’ll be playing in the PokerListings Run Good Challenge II Grand Final. I’d love to report that I have some momentum going into the GF, but my performance has deteriorated throughout the Run Good II Series. After placing second in the first event, I definately lost some steam. Luckily I squeezed out a fifth place finish in the second event after being the short stack with ten players left. But my non-money finish was good enough to lock up my place in the Grand Final. In the third event I was shooting for a first place finish or an early bust out. Needless to say, I came up with the latter.
I’d like to think I could repeat in the GF. I finished second in the inaugural Run Good GF, finishing behind change100 and just edging out Michele. Actually I’d like to see all three of us pull off the estrogen trifecta again. But we’ll have some tough competion today. Read More »
I celebrated a traditional Thanksgiving – only our family’s traditions are a little different than most, I suppose. We always go to Central Market the day before Thanksgiving to buy our Turkey while my brother scouts out hot women in the cheese department. There’s the annual trip to Terra Toys to play with the wind up toys, bang gongs, perform impromptu puppet shows and debate which Pez dispensers are the true classics. The store is staffed with an interesting and eclectic array of sales people, who live in their own version of Neverland. At the counter, when they ask you if you’re ready, your first instinct is to inquire. “What did you have in mind, darlin’?” We play Scrabble and re-debate the Kennedy assissination. And invariably we stumble across some family episode that is either partially remembered or disputed and must be dissected until the real truth of it is known.
This year’s dissection involved a family outing to see James Taylor somewhere in Western Massachusetts more than thirty years ago. It was probably the first “concert” my brother and I went to. The heart of the debate revolved around venue, year and opening act. My mother seemed to think we also heard Jefferson Airplane that night. But I was sure that I would have remembered that. In the course of the hours-long debate, involving copious hours on the internet, I started listing all the bands/performers my brother, mother, and I had ever seen – individually or together. Making lists is more than a family tradition – it is a way of life. Read More »
This past weekend was just crazy busy. The Shrink and I are in the last big push to finish the book. So the weekend for me was backloaded with chapters to edit. Even as busy as we were, we both were hell bent on playing in the first event of Pokerlisting’s Run Good Challenge II. And poker with some of my favorite bloggers seemed like the best possible break I could take.
When play began, Pauly, Change100, Short-Stacked Shamus, The Poker Shrink, Luckbox, Pokerati Dan, Kid Dynamite, Michele Lewis, Benjo, Spaceman, Dave Schwartz, and WSOP Bracelet winner Jason Young were all on hand – along with our PokerListings nemesis Dan Skolovy. Luckily I had Skolovy to my right. Our first bustout was perfectly appropriate for the event: Luckbox, armed with the mighty hammer took out Kid Dynamite’s piddly A-Q after an A-2-2 flop.
I played a little fast and loose (for me) out of the gate. I was a little sorry that I didn’t really get paid off when my pocket deuces hit a set on a flop that apparently missed everyone else. I played a 6-7 that flopped a straight, a J-T that found one on the turn, and a 9-8 that made one on the river. Early in, I had the chip lead on my table. But anyone who knows my game, knows that a stack is completely wasted on me. Read More »
Crash Davis: Look, Nuke – these Big League hitters are gonna light you up like a pin ball machine for awhile – don’t worry about it. Be cocky and arrogant even when you’re getting beat. That’s the secret.
You gotta play this game with fear and arrogance.
Nuke LaLoush: Fear and ignorance.
Crash: No. Fear and arrogance, you hayseed, not ignorance.
In truth, the Federal Reserve has fewer economic tools in its toolkit than your average left hander has pitches. The secret to success — as any good pitcher, poker player, or even hooker knows – is arrogance. Alan Greenspan was not the brightest bulb on the economic Christmas tree. Granted, the Federal Reserve’s evergreen has always been a dimly lit affair. But Greenspan had a skill that served him well – he had arrogance. Read More »
