I am THE James

A lot of interesting and strange things happened at the WSOP this summer.  Some good and some bad.  Below are some things I discovered:

Harrahs truly does try and accommodate all players.  We had deaf players, legally blind players, players in wheelchairs, players with no arms, and even a quadriplegic.  (With that being said, the media is TOO SENSITIVE in trying not to offend handicapped players.)

Mike Matusow is just as insane off the camera as on.  (Proven by him coming up to me and randomly ranting about his chip stack during a break.  Why did he come and rant to me personally?  I made eye contact I guess.  I don’t know.)

David Singer complains a lot….

John Phan would get a ticket in Oklahoma for playing too slow.

People take $10,000 whims….

Blogs do indeed take on people’s personalities.  (I wrote some blog entries during one event and for two days people came up and TOLD me that I wrote that.  Didn’t ask me.  They told me.  And most didn’t even know my name.)

The phrase “One time” is probably the most overused phrase in history.

Followed by “bad beat.”

Followed directly by “ship it.”

Playing connect four is so much fun, but YOU play alone, cause you’re a virgin.

People have a hard time grasping the concept as to why a decent poker player would rather do something other than play poker.  (You have no idea how many times I was asked why I didn’t play.)

Younger players need to learn more about the history of poker beyond Doyle Brunson, Stu Unger, and Johnny Chan.

Jean-Robert Bellande may appear to be a jerk but he does have an honorable side.  In the Limit Shootout, he was heads up and his opponent did not return on time from break.  He refused to take his seat and let the dealer pass the blinds around until his opponent arrived.

“If you don’t lose a hand heads up, you will eventually win a tournament.”  - Words of wisdom from Tom Schneider referring to Daniel Negranu’s bracelet win.

This past Monday, I returned from my stint at the World Series of Poker as a blogger for PokerNews.com. It was a fantastic experience, one which I hope to get the chance to do again sometime. Playing in the World Series is a lot different from reporting the World Series. I actually enjoyed the later more this time. One reason is that I didn’t have the stress associated with playing. The last two years, I was burnt out by the time the World Series was over. This year, I could have continued on past the time my contract expired. I was glad to be done though. By the time 4-H Camp time arrived, I was sort of regretting my decision. I ended up figuring out later on that was just due to my missing camp. I talked with several people about camp, and things went well. Step will be taken to where I can attend next year. There is a small hole in me that is noticeably missing due to not attending camp. At the same time, we must make sacrifices in our lives at time to make our overall life better, or at least put ourselves in said position. (more…)