Boys of Summer
Out on the road today
I saw a dead head sticker on a cadillac
A voice inside my head said don’t look back
You can never look back
- Don Henley -
I agree with Thomas Wolfe; you can’t go home again. While experiences can be shared, perspectives are unique. It is difficult to see ourselves as others see us. And our memories are colored not only by who we were, but who we have become. But I disagree with Don Henley; you can look back…and for many of the same reasons.
I always think of the professional poker players that I have come to meet as my boys of summer (even though poker isn’t particularly seasonal and my feelings are not precluded by gender). Like vacation encounters, we are bound by a venue and an experience. But also like vacation encounters, our forged relationships rarely extend past the beach’s shore…or for us, the walls of a casino hotel ballroom.
I have thousands of pictures from the 2007 WSOP and my boys of summer. I have almost countless recollections. But at this point, they are just that - recollections. As I spend the next few weeks editing my photos, I suspect I will also be editing my recollections; tagging my memory’s landscape with my own contextual grafitti.
Seeing one expression in a photo may develop a different meaning now that I’ve witnessed the WSOP end to end. For instance, the first photo of Rafi Amit was taken on the first day of the WSOP. Amit had a cocky, yet edgy, confidence that five cashes in 2006 and a bracelet in 2005 supported. But after three weeks of the 2007 WSOP, Amit was scoreless; the second picture was taken on the twenty-second day of the WSOP. How did it end? With Amit winning his second WSOP bracelet in the 48th event; the last picture was taken the day after he won.
But there are bigger pictures to be assembled than a mere photo essay about a player’s emotional journey. When Jamie Gold won in 2006, people were disapponted by his seemingly dysfunctional ethical compass. If they wanted the anti-Gold, they got it with Jerry Yang; a humble social worker who has already pledged 10% of his winnings to charity. But is the poker community really ready for a devoutly religious man…a man who believes that god guided his victory…a man who actually got down on his knees in a Rio bathroom stall and prayed before a toilet during breaks…a man who believes that the redeaming element of poker is that it allows people to support their families and communites…a man that does not take the accepted Machiavellian view of poker?
Will Jerry Yang make poker more socially accepted? Or over time, will he begin a dialogue that fuels a re-examination of poker’s social benefits versus it’s costs. Are we ready for that dialogue? Am I? Am I ready for Jerry Yang - the player I actually picked to win the event just prior to the final table? I don’t know, but I am more than a little curious about the answer.
The photo of Cadillac Ranch taken by Wikipedia user Gaijin99; permission to use it, unedited. is granted under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Traditionally, I have been disappointed with poker photography — mainly in the presentation of it. Most poker photos are of a solitary player sitting at a table behind cards and/or chips. It could be any day, any tournament, any situation — the only difference is the shirt he or she is wearing.
A step above that are the photos of the dramatic moments in poker, such as when a player is in the tank facing an all-in bet with his or her tournament at stake. Or the emotion somebody shows after spiking the five-outer on the river that allows them to keep playing. While those photos always work better with context (i.e., captions), there is often enough emotion showing through that they can stand on their own.
But there’s also a third, higher category of poker photography, and that’s what you’ve done here. You’ve taken three otherwise standard photos (two with Rafi Amit smiling, and one with a more contemplative look), and combined them with a bit of insight and context. You’ve created something much more powerful than the sum of its parts.
How does one describe the 47-day grind of the WSOP? How to illustrate the ups and downs? In my opinion, with three simple photographs, you’ve done just that.
We’ve all heard the old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” but most poker photos are barely worth a dozen. (”Daniel Negreanu wears a red shirt on day one of Event #17.”)
I could type from morning to night (or, more realistically for my schedule, from dusk ’til dawn) and never capture the ups and downs that make up the grind of the World Series of Poker the way that you have here.
As you spend the next several weeks sifting through your photos, keep your eyes open — I’m sure there’s more gold in there than you realize.
BJ Nemeth said this on July 21st, 2007 at 6:24 pm
There is no social benefit to any type of gambling. The monies donated to charitable causes are a drop in the bucket compared to lives ruined and talents wasted in games of chance.
However, like any recreational activity, poker can be socially beneficial. The unique aspect of poker in this area is how it crosses social and demographic lines.
Big Sissy said this on July 22nd, 2007 at 1:52 pm
You start with the statement — “There is no social benefit to any type of gambling.” But in the next paragraph you say — “… poker can be socially beneficial.”
Aren’t these two statements mutually exclusive? Or are you saying that poker isn’t gambling? And if poker isn’t gambling, then what relevance does the first statement have here?
Big Sissy, both of your paragraphs stand up fine on their own (as opinions, of course), but together they confuse me. They sound like they were written by two different people.
BJ Nemeth said this on July 22nd, 2007 at 7:16 pm
I can spend $100 for a Ticket to an NFL football game, $10 for parking, $20 for food and watch the pathetic Detroit Lions lose by double digits. Or I can take that $130 dollars and play Blackjack, poker, slots, craps. Have a fun time and, possibly, take some money home, perhaps more than I started with. To me that sounds socially beneficial.
Wolverine Fan said this on July 23rd, 2007 at 4:45 pm