The following article appeared in the premiere issue of ALL IN Magazine
The Viral Phenomenon of
Poker Blogs
by HDouble
…and then I hit my set on the river, and check-raised Howard Lederer to
scoop a $60,000 pot. And then I woke up.
Everybody loves to read about the biggest game in town—Scotty Nguyen’s great laydown on the river or Daniel Negreanu’s stone cold all-in bluff in the latest World Poker Tour event. But how did these guys get the bankroll to play in these game? You’re not going to be sitting at Phil Ivey’s table anytime soon if you try to pull off some of these professional moves in your typical low limit game. Watching the pros may help your game if you’re playing $2,000-$4,000 hold ‘em, but if you pull a Howard Lederer and try staring down your opponent in your local $3-$6 game, you might get a bad beat of a different kind. Is there any body out there writing about what it takes to grind your way up through the limits, one big bet at a time?
That’s where poker weblogs (or blogs) come in. Blogs are
online journals documenting the good, the bad, and the ugly on the
road to poker excellence. Of course, there are blogs of all
sorts, from political blogs, to blogs about blogs. With the growing
popularity of poker, coupled with the cult-like and viral nature
of the poker community, it should come as no surprise that poker
blogs are one of the fastest growing trends on the web. These
online journals offer a window into the writer’s intensely
personal struggle with the game of poker. Unlike magazine
articles, which offer a focused look at a single topic, a blogger’s
frequent updates often cover a wide range of topics. Reading
a blog is a lot like a one-way dialogue in which you get to know
the author, sharing his frustration over a bad beat, or his joy over
a big win. One blogger suggested that poker blogs are like
reality TV on the web—the reader is along for the unscripted
roller coaster ride through the poker world. Sure, it’s
fun to read about Phil Hellmuth’s explanation of how he knew
Erik Seidel had a set, but it’s a lot easier to identify with
someone who’s playing the same limit as you are. Of course,
I’m a little bit biased.
Having just retired from a two-year gig playing semi-pro football, I was struggling to accept the fact that I probably would never make the highlight reel on SportsCenter. As I wistfully mourned the death of my athletic life, I found myself surrounded by pizza boxes, automatically thumbing the remote to ESPN out of habit. I was confused to see a bunch of fat guys with sunglasses pushing huge stacks of chips around… this was the SPORTS channel, right? The WORLD SERIES of Poker? This is a joke right? Part of me laughed at the idea of calling a card game a sport, but I was strangely enthralled… the drama of no-limit poker intrigued me, and I felt a strange rush every time a player said “all-in” and put his tournament life on the line. Best of all, some rookie named Moneymaker was showing the pros how to play after winning his way into this $10K tournament as a longshot in a $40 satellite.
After I snapped out of my strange poker hypnosis, I turned off the TV, smirking as the pros were dominated by a first time tournament player. The next day at the office was a typical one— boring. Except today, I couldn’t escape the visions of all-in bets and chips being stacked like towers. The seed had been planted, and minutes later, I found myself at the bookstore with a stack of poker books in the checkout line. I was fascinated—the hard edges of mathematics, the many faces of psychology, and the common sense economics greeted me on every page of the poker books.
I dove headfirst into the wisdom of Sklansky, Cloutier, and Krieger, and pored through the archives of the online poker literature on rec.gambling.poker. With visions of towering chip stacks and check-raises dancing through my head, I finally mustered up the courage to pony up some cash and sit at the lowest limit table at the nearest card room. A few check-raises and $100 later, I was hooked.
Poker quickly took over my life. I found myself thinking about poker more and more, and spent many a lunch break brushing food off of the printed pages of rec.gambling.poker. Pretty soon there was nothing left to read—there were plenty of books espousing theories on how to beat the “big” games, but advice on profitable play against the fish in the no fold ‘em games down the street was nowhere to be found.
There are always plenty of frustrated rants when the cards go cold, but it’s a demoralizing frostbite to the beginner. Every poker player knows about those nights when you watch your chips disappear after your pocket Aces get cracked by some clown who thinks that 7-2 offsuit is a good hand to call three bets with. It was nights like those which made me wonder if anybody else was going through the same frustration I was, or if the poker gods were punishing me for something I did in my past life.
Risking becoming a full-fledged nerd, I began posting my thoughts to a website detailing the ups and downs of each session. I began my journal not only as a springboard to develop my own poker skills, but also in hopes that my ramblings might end up helping somebody get through the stretches of cold cards. I’d always secretly dreamed of being a writer, and it seemed that this was my chance—by some strange stroke of fate I was destined to write about poker. After a few weeks, I started receiving emails from readers who wrote that my poker blog had helped them improve their game. I also received emails from other poker players who were keeping journals online—my poker reading list grew as I became aware of more poker blogs, and my game profited from the gems hidden in these journals. In addition to the strategy tips, the blogs were full of hilarious stories that illustrated how fun the game could be. More emails were exchanged with fellow poker bloggers, and new blogs kept popping up, keeping pace with the exponential growth of poker throughout the nation.
Poker has only gotten bigger in the past year, and the number of poker bloggers continues to increase. It’s been about a year now since I gave birth to my blog, and I’m constantly amazed at the quality and quantity of writing produced by my fellow amateur poker players. Poker blogs have drastically grown in number—while only a handful of poker journals were online in 2000, there are now over 200 poker blogs. Everybody’s writing about poker—from high school students playing $.50-$1 online to the star of Stand By Me, Wil Wheaton. Want to beat the games in Italy? This quote from an Italian poker blogger may help: "Un'altra interessante strategia preflop, che corregge quella famosa di Sklansky."
But it’s not all roses. For every poker blog worth its salt, there are ten that you wouldn’t even want to wipe your poker chips with. The new trend is to capitalize on the popularity of poker blogs to thinly disguise a “shill” site selling you one thing or another. There are over 200 sites that call themselves “poker blogs,” although many of them have more sales pitches than an infomercial.
It’s not all bad though. I’m here to guide you through the poker blog wilderness, leading you to the best and brightest of poker writing on the web. Without further ado, I give you…
The Best of the Blogs
PokerWorks
Debuting in 2000, PokerWorks is one of the longest running blogs of the bunch. The author, Linda, is a veteran high-limit dealer at the Bellagio, and her blog offers a unique view of the other side of the table. PokerWorks offers readers a rare glimpse into the highest limit poker games on the planet from the dealer’s perspective. She preaches gospel on Devilfish, Sam Farha, and all the other high rollers who frequent the Bellagio, including celebrities such as Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and A-Rod. She’s seen it all, including her share of world famous tournament winners scraping the bottom of the barrel:
They jump into a ring game and can't win. Ouch!! It hurts when they hit the bottom. The funds have ran out. They're borrowing to play, making deals, looking for any angle - none of this could be their fault because they are a Name Brand Player!! They swear when they lose, they're inconsiderate and slow the game down by holding their hand and mumbling for twenty minutes when they know they've lost, they ridicule the new players, they berate the dealers and glare at them, they throw their cards, (and what the hell is that all about???), and no one is supposed to say a word to them about their insufferable behavior because they are a Name Brand Player.
To which this writer says plain and simply, "So
What?"
Guinness and Poker
Dubbed “The Godfather of Poker Bloggers”, the author of Guinness and Poker brings his extensive 5-year background in the online poker world and a six-pack of Irish draught to the table. Guinness and Poker acts as headquarters for all things poker, including links to daily poker news articles, notable tidbits from assorted poker message boards, and highlights from recent poker blog updates. Well known for his Guinness-fueled ramblings, Iggy’s blog is always good for a laugh and expert advice on how to sharpen your play:
For the record, I'm playing far looser and aggressive in tournaments than I ever would in NL ring games. As a matter of fact, because of all the great poker blogging tips about the NL ring games online, I’ve been playing them the last few days. And yes, it truly is insane. If you are able to practice extreme patience and not let the egregious bad beats affect you, these are veritable ATM machines. Sure, I've had Mister Runner-Runner beat me three pots in a row, but you will get his stack over the long haul if you can successfully tag and track him.
On any given day, at any given moment, the improbable triumphs over the probable, and appears to do so frustratingly often. But, over the long haul, luck gives way to the favorite.
Lion Tales offers more insight into the world of high stakes poker, chronicling one man’s quest to make it to the final table on the World Poker Tour. Author Richard Brodie’s blog is full of jealousy-inspiring tales of hob-nobbing with legends Gus Hansen, Howard Lederer, and Andy Bloch. The Lion’s wry humor and poker skills come through in this tale of knocking out Phil Ivey in the 2004 Reno World Poker Challenge:
I had 215,000 chips when we got down to 28 players and started going hand-for-hand. Phil Ivey had lost most of the rest of his chips to Londoner Tony Bloom on his left, bluffing all-in preflop with Queen-Nine suited against Tony's pocket Aces. Phil continued to raise under the gun with his short stack but the third time I called with pocket Tens and Phil was out on the bubble. The 27 of us left were guaranteed $9802 each. I breathed a sigh of relief, having taken care of another couple months of the cable bill.
On the other end of the spectrum is Grubby, a mid-limit player and playwright whose name comes from for his propensity for unhealthy food. Grubby’s blog began with this infamous credo:
I have a modest job that pays rent and bills with
barely anything left over.
Poker will henceforth subsidize
my food intake. If I don't win, I don't eat. And that makes Grubby
grumpy.
Poker Grub is probably the most humorous blog out there, and his now famous “Hammer Challenge” set off a domino-effect of horrendous online play in the poker blog community, offering a prize for the first poker blogger to send evidence of winning with the worst hand in poker, the mighty 7-2 offsuit:
Your big hands not holding up? Keep getting sucked out on the river? Tired of folding rags? Want to instantly tilt the table? Try playing The Hammer!
I'll send $5 to the first blogger to win with this hand. For every day that passes without someone winning, I will add $5. If no one has won after 50 days, the challenge is null and void (don't want to lose my shirt, dontchaknow).
In order to qualify for the prize, the winner also had to type “HAMMER!” in the chat box after showing down his hand. This resulted in a collection of hilarious rants from the unsuspecting victims of the mighty hammer.
A low-limit player who is running for president this year, Mean Gene uses his superb writing skills and degree in journalism to come up with posts with titles like “The Unbearable Lightness of Being Phil Hellmuth” and “Confessions of a Dangerous Fish.” Gene’s brilliance is evident in his unique perspective on one of poker’s most talked about players:
The talent that differentiates Phil from other players is his much-talked-about skill at reading people. Even other pros talk in hushed voices about how Phil just seems to “know” what cards the other player hold. “I’m a psychological profiler, that’s what I do—I read people,” Phil was quoted recently in a sycophantic article. During the WSOP he said, “I just seem to be able to look into people’s souls…everything they do at the table tells a story, and I’m very good at reading people’s stories”. This bothers me. There is something decidedly sinister about a guy who consistently shows his contempt for others yet possesses the ability to deduce what that person is thinking. Joseph Stalin had the ability to read people and sense their weaknesses, and he ended up one of the greatest mass murderers in history. I of course don't equate Phil Hellmuth with one of mankind's most vicious dictators, but perhaps the comparison helps put things in perspective—Poker Brat versus Pure Evil.
Pauly brings his Hunter Thompson-like insanity and his background as a writer to the capture the New York City poker scene. Since he made plenty of dough trading stocks on Wall Street, he has the luxury of traveling around the country and playing poker at all hours of the day. His blog is full of chemical-induced diatribes on topics ranging from betting on the Oscars to losing big in Vegas:
What the hell happened? I guess the Vegas Gods purposely booked Phish for three days because they knew it would draw me and my entire wad of cash out into the middle of the desert, where I'd quickly fall ill to the fatal illness of greed and debauchery. I am a weak person, it's a known fact. And yes, the demons of Vegas quietly lulled me into entangling myself into their web of despair and darkness and gluttony. Like a mirage in the distance, I thought I saw sand angels dancing and twirling in the cool Nevada night, their soft voices enticing me with orgasmic whispers and tickling me with smooth feathers. But I was wrong. I was ambushed by gutless thieves, an army of henchmen who shook me until all the change and hundred dollar bills fell off of my body.
Not only does Felicia Lee offer extensive live-tournament experiences from Laughlin to Las Vegas, her superb people-reading skills bring us deep into the psychology of tournament poker. Behind her pretty face is a tough, aggressive tournament expert who’s not afraid to mix it up in the biggest games. Felicia can often be found facing off against the best of the best in Vegas, as her recent tangle with Ted Forrest in the World Series of Poker $1500 Stud Event illustrates:
One strange play happened when I was a severely short stack. This was hours into the tournament, and I had just taken a big beat. I was lucky enough to be the bring-in on the following hand. Ted limped in, my only competitor. On fourth, I immediately caught a second nine, to go with my nine in the hole. Ted also had a nine doorcard. Ted bet out. I figured it wasn't going to get any better than this, so I immediately raised. Ted studied me for quite a while. I'm not easily intimidated, so I just watched him, as well. He knew how short I was; he knew I couldn't even get through this hand.
Finally he said, "I don't want to try to eliminate you with the worst hand. I want you to stay right here. All I have is a draw."
The Poker Penguin
The Poker Penguin is a super smart New Zealander who has a penchant for showing how the world’s great achievements apply to poker. The Penguin explains how Schrodinger’s Cat, climbing Mt. Everest, and the Seven Sins can help your game. It sounds strange until you see how well the guy creates metaphor:
There is something immensely powerful about making a big all-in raise. It is a statement of machismo. It as close as most fish will get to being the gunfighter striding out into the street at high noon. This is immensely appealing as it offers the player a chance to create a dramatic showdown in the poker story that they are the hero of. I'm veering dangerously close to narrative theory. The basic idea that I'm playing with here is that people create stories out of events past and future to give meaning to their life, and to justify a course of action. When confronted with the gung ho slogan "lead follow or get the hell out of the way", few people want to admit to themselves that they are the kind of man who meekly gets the hell out of the way. John Wayne wouldn't fold his bottom pair.
An up-and-coming poker player who doubles as a java programmer by day, Chris Halverson uses his analytical mind to dissect the low-limit games. Chris is a relatively new player, so his readers get to witness his progress up the ladder of limits. Every week there’s a new epiphany, and you can feel the light bulb going off in that big brain of his. Check out Chris’ description of the first hand he ever won:
A couple hands go by when I look down and see big slick offsuit. If you've seen the Fox Sports showing of the "Showdown at the Sands", you'll remember how they had some players hooked up to heart monitors. If I had been hooked up to one at this time I would have short-circuited it. My heart was pounding. I hadn't been at the table long enough to establish how I would play, so when I raised I got 6 callers. My mind flashed. Was I playing online? Where am I? Oh well, let's see the flop. KKQ. One bet called around to me. When I called out "Raise" and reached for my chips my hand was shaking. I was hoping nobody could see it, but I could and I was having trouble grabbing the chips. I toss them in front of me and keep looking at the felt. I was nervous as hell and was hoping nobody could tell. I get four callers. Turn and river are rags and bet out each time and have one caller at the end. I flip them over and he mucks. I win! I was shaking as I was trying to stack all my chips. Cards are flying, I've got chips all over the place and I was trying like hell not to make too much of it. You know, like I do this all the time.
The most famous of the bloggers listed here, Wil’s background as an actor (starring in “Stand By Me” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation”) prepared him well for keeping his poker face on during a stone cold bluff. Although Wil’s blog covers a lot more than poker, he’s recently been focusing on taking his poker game to another level. Wil’s writing skills and sense of humor were put on display in his tale of a no-limit tournament in a back alley Hollywood speakeasy with plenty of industry big shots:
Finally, my cards start to come. I stick to my plan, and double through Mrs. Funnypants, the well-known comedienne. On the next hand, Mr. I'm In The Music Industry goes all-in against me with pocket tens. I've got a good chip lead on him, so I loosen up and call him with K-9. There's a king on the flop, it holds up, and I bust him out. It's the first time I've ever busted anyone out, and I feel like Howard Fucking Lederer. I sneak a look at Mr. Lawyer as I rake in the pot. He's busy shuffling his chips.
Last, and hopefully not least, comes the blog of yours truly. My ramblings cover everything from advice on how to beat the wild no fold ‘em games in my hometown of Los Angeles to why “The Hustler” is a better movie than “Rounders.” Recently I attempted to extract the poker wisdom from one of my favorite movies, “The Big Lebowski”:
Walter Sobchak: Is this your homework, Larry? Is this your
homework, Larry?
The Dude: Look, man...
Walter Sobchak: Dude, please? Is this your homework, Larry?
The Dude: Just ask him about the car.
Walter Sobchak: Is this yours, Larry? Is this your homework,
Larry?
The Dude: Is that your car out front?
Walter Sobchak: Is this your homework, Larry?
The Dude: We know it's his fucking homework! Where's the fucking
money, you little brat?
This quote goes out to the worst play in online poker-- the infamous disconnect—your opponent pulls the plug when you bet big on the river, avoiding a river call by abusing the system. PartyPoker is finally going to disable this in Multi-Table Tournaments, but even in $3-6 limit ring games, I'll see some clown time out on the river after I check-raise them. Mysteriously, they're immediately back before the next hand is dealt. It's one big bet, suck it up. If you see somebody type "Where's the fucking money, you little brat?" in the chat after an obvious plug-pulling, you'll know who it is.
So there you have it, the good, the bad, and the ugly of Poker Blogs. If you’re tired of the old poker guard, and want to hear the new voice of poker, check out the poker blogs for a breath of fresh air.
