Author Archives: java

Jun
23
2008

Mikey, Vanessa, Barry and the Real World

I cringe a little every time a WSOP bracelet is awarded; one more I didn’t get to see in person. But I cringe more for some than for others. I missed Mike Matusow’s bracelet in the Deuce to Seven Lowball. And since this WSOP will be the final chapter in Mikey’s book, I would have […]

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Jun
08
2008

WSOP Vampires and the Man Behind the Hat

Since the WSOP began, I start each day with a bitch-slap by my cat Sammy, delivered at 3:30am. Alarm clocks have nothing on Sammy. Sammy has extra big paws replete with extra toes, and his swat is like no other. Also, Sammy’s need-to-feed is timed more accurately than the CS2 atomic clock. As I stumble […]

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Jun
01
2008

Being There

Chauncey Gardener: I like to watch. On Friday afternoon, everyone in the office was quietly cranking away. At 2:00 pm central time, I stood up at my desk and bellowed, “Shuffle up and deal.” It’s been a number of years since I missed the WSOP first siren’s call to poker players around the world. I […]

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May
11
2008

WSOP: The Way We Were

Every time I say it’s a game, you tell me it’s a business. Every time I say it’s a business, you tell me it’s a game – Nick Nolte’s character in North Dallas Forty The news that the WSOP is parting with its traditional final table ways has been out for a couple of weeks […]

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Apr
27
2008

Victories, Contractions, and Stimuli

Congratulations to David Chiu (pictured left), who put in a spectacular come-from-behind performance against Gus Hansen (pictured below) at the WPT Championship yesterday. I was happy to see the WPT Championship draw a pretty healthy crowd; off only slightly from last year. There were a lot of great names in contention down the stretch. Today’s […]

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Feb
10
2008

Gavin Grins, BJ Spins, and Writer’s Block-aids

By now, the poker world has realized that Gavin Griffin has become our first Triple Crown winner; winning events in each of the three major poker tours. In 2004, he won his World Series of Poker bracelet in the $3K PLH event. In 2007, he won the European Poker Tour’s Grand Final in Monte Carlo. […]

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Jan
29
2008

(Cas)set(te) Me Back in Time

One of the things I wanted to do once I tiled the floor was to replace my old entertainment center. It’s a teak veneer deal that was all the rage back in the 80’s when I bought it. One of the smoked glass doors has a big crack in it – the crack is more […]

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Jan
17
2008

Math: Sebok vs. Haxton and Poker’s Rose

The chaos that seems to prevail in the labor markets conceals a pattern of order which can be explained and which sheds light on the influences that determine the inter-industry wage structure in the community – Sumner Slichter Hang with me now; this eventually has something to do with poker. In 1950, an economist named […]

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Dec
04
2007

Ghost in the Machine

This morning I learned that Chip Reese had died in his sleep last night. As I began to compile a post for PokerNews, I had a kind of odd feeling. It’s not that I knew Chip (pictured at the 2007 WSOP) well at all; a nod in the hallway, a smile at the table. I […]

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Nov
17
2007

Bust and Global Warning Solved

What does it mean when all your friends are being arrested? I may have to spend a little more time with that question now that they nabbed my buddy Vinnie Procopio (pictured above at the 2007 LAPC). That makes four people I know arrested in the last few weeks on gambling charges. I think Wicked […]

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