AimlesslyChasingAmy

Well I’m back in Austin and the magnolias are in bloom.  Austin doesn’t get near the humidity of Houston, but just getting off the plane from Vegas, I went from Cleopatra to Marge Simpson in ten minutes.  Seems like the Gulf moisture wants to settle into Hill Country for a bit.  I’m home for another couple of weeks - and then it’s back in Vegas for almost two months.  And all I can think of to say on that front is “bring it.” 

Fear the beaver, baby.  Fear the beaver.  It’s been a Canuck (or Kanuck) theme the last couple of weeks.  I just got an email from Dave Scharf (pictured above at last year’s WSOP).  Ramblin’ Dave from Saskatoon just scored a dandy third place finish in the Pot Limit Hold’em event at the Johnny Chan Challenge at River Rock.  He’s done a great hand history/analysis in the forum at Canadian Poker.  I love Dave’s game - it’s like the illegitimate love child of The Thinker and a Kamkaze pilot.  I realize these are both connoted to be male - but I swear I’m not implying anything homoerotic about his game. (How obvious is it that I am drunk blogging - or is that blunk drogging - but let’s move on)

I also got to watch Jim “KrazyKanuck” Worth (pictured above) go deeeep at the WPT Championship at he Bellagio a couple of weeks ago.  I was all set to take up KK on a bust out drink offer - and then realized that I lost my cell phone for the first time since I got one.  Well lucky for me, Pauly located my phone and we reunitied a few days later.  Unlucky for me I missed out on that drink.  Rain check during the WSOP, big guy.  And congrats for a superb showing.  So close.  So close.

I am also hoping for a drink rain check (although a drink wasn’t technically offered) from another Canadian.  My buddy Danny “Buncher” Hall (pictured above) mysteriously showed up for the WPT Championship.  Danny’s been starting to venture out more onto the B&M felt these days now that he’s selling the logging business.  So he’ll be putting in some time at the WSOP.

Although not a Canadian, I thought I’d throw up Shane “Shaniac” Schleger’s picture today.  It’s not that it’s such a great picture of him, but his eyes are actually opened.  I’ve probably taken dozens of pictures of Shaniac and almost all of them are with his eyes shut and head down.  I was starting to (and actually still) believe that Shaniac plays through the third eye.  Most people visually connect with the game.  Matusow swears that he has to verbally connect with the game (and who could argue),  But there is a small subset of players that seem to engage at a different - almost non-physical - level.  Even with their eyes eerily opened, I get that sense from Juanda, Ivey and Carl Olson.  Even Ted Forrest swears that when he is “on” he has an almost zen-like, out of body, experience.  My game has never taken a metaphysical path (unless one wants to debate the metaphysics of the bubble).  Might be an intersting journey, though.