The 2003 WSOP was the turning point for the Poker community when Chris Moneymaker, an accountant from Tennessee, taught us all what a “bluff” was in Poker, when He moved all in on Sammy Farha and then beat the professional player to win the Million Dollar Prize and the coveted bracelet.
No one knew Chris other than family and friends and I am not sure how many people in the world new Sammy other than family and friends in the poker community.
ESPN brought us a new era of TV made heroes by showing the 2003 WSOP in it’s entirety and even made it exciting. They followed up in 2004 when another unknown Greg Raymer played a masterful tournament with 2500 entries and defeated a young mawho had just begun his poker career, David Williams.
The excitemnet generated by these tournaments caught on like wildfire throughout the country. Casino’s started holding NL tournaments and anyone could say,”All In”like their new found Poker protege did on ESPN on Tuesday Nights.
The 2003 main event with its 849 entrants continued to grow and grow and in three years the Main Event had over 8,000 players. Where else could the average person sit next to the superstar Poker Player TV made for us.
Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matasuow, Johhny Chan, The Godfather, Doyle Brunson. Names most of us never knew until 2003. We were used to Babe Ruth, Johny Unitas, Jack Nickalaus Magic Johnson etc. We as mortal humans could not play the sport that made these men famous along side of them as we could Poker Players.
These players started to teach the game to make some extra cash and on-line sites started popping up over night and making deals with these Players to attract new players (us)to their site.
The WSOP became a spectacle much like Super Bowl weekend and Baseball and Basketball Allstar weekends.
Jerseys with Poker Players names and other lines of pokr clothing became very popular.
With all of this, people whom never held a real job and gambled on everything from monopoly to if a girl or guy was going to walk through the door next became household names and signed autographs wherever they went.
There were several successful business people who left their professions because of all the fame and fortune one could win in these Poker Tournaments. Some of them even won and made more money then they could have in their previous profession.
Now some of them think they are so much better than the rest of us. They have developed ego’s and believe they are better than most. I think they have forgotten where they once were. Living in their car or at a friends house, working odd jobs here and there to survive.
The economy has taken a turn for the worse right now and it has yet to affect Poker. I see people going to the Casinos and trying to double their pay check week in and week out. Sponsorships are becoming fewer in all sports and Poker players need backers more than any other sport with the exception of Nascar.
I play Poker not for fame but for the competition I used to enjoy in Basketball and softball before getting hurt and not being able to play them like I used too.
I enjoy sharing my stories in Poker with all of you and getting feedback in your comments.
Just remember who the real heroes are in society today.
Please see - http://www.wisehandpoker.com/blog/index.php/jshronk/2007/12/
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This is Jimmy V week. And if you don’t know what or who Jimmy V is, please just watch this video
and get the information to more people. Please watch the video, it is one of the most inspirational things I have ever come across (and as a creative person, I am not easily impressed - Jimmy jaw-dropped me), and this week is Jimmy V Week.
DON’T DECIDE ANYTHING ’til you watch the video. It is of a former college basketball coach who has been given less than a year to live, receiving the Arhur Ashe Award at the ESPN awards and being more inspirational than any of my teachers, coaches, or counselors have been in my entire educational career.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE watch the video and then visit http://jimmyv.org/ OR https://www.jimmyv.org/donate/donations/
After you have watched it, I would jump for joy if you are excited for any of it. Research charities, find the one you most agree with. Give to them. If you can’t find one, give to the salvation army or the red cross.
But everyday -Laugh. Think. Cry - according to Jimmy V
Try it.
Watch his speech.
Give what you can to the cause.
Please.
-Justin Shronk
Grandson of Angela Cusumano and Barbara Donato - both lost to Cancer”
Now that I have publicly made a point of being dissatisfied with Full Tilt Poker’s payment processing, I thought I would follow it up with how things have resolved so far.
Since I discovered that FTP had cancelled the Cash Pickup option, I’ve played exclusively at Pokerstars. The rumor that Stars had a cash pickup option seems to be just that, as I have not discovered one. I made a check withdrawal request on August 28th from Full Tilt, who make it clear that it can take up to 15 business days for your check to arrive. It has been my experience that you rarely recieve it much earlier than that. I made a check withdrawal request a week later from Pokerstars, on September 4th.
5 days later on the 9th of September, My Stars check had arrived. Today, September the 16th, 19 days after my cashout request, I received my FTP check. That’s almost 4 times longer waiting for FTP than Stars. I will say that I am relieved to have received the Full Tilt money, but I find it hard to imagine a legitimate reason for this discrepancy. It’s been this way as long as I’ve been playing both sites. I don’t know if I can keep money on a site that is so cavalier with my money. Sure, I can get rakeback on FTP, but there are less players and the games are worse for that reason anyhow. I’ve always preferred a few small things about the FTP interface, it’s always seemed more user friendly to me.
The only reasons I can conceive of for the discrepancy in payout time are as follows:
1. FTP just plain has a slow system, which doesn’t prioritize timeliness.
2. FTP wants to squeeze out that extra profit from holding on to our money for a few weeks longer
3. FTP is in financial trouble, or keeps in funds in a bank that is close to insolvency.
None of these excite me, and even if it is just the first one, the reason they haven’t solved it may be the second or third. The payment problems FTP has had over the past few months make me consider the third more than I otherwise would. It’s a shame, because between rakeback and the interface, I would rather play on Full Tilt, but I just don’t feel comfortable doing that now, and the timeliness of payouts is important to me.
Perhaps I will return to Full Tilt if they bring back Cash Pickup as a payout option, but as of today, it’s still not available.
I’m currently watching the 25k head-op PLO tourney on Full Tilt. I noticed a very interesting second round match-up of Brian Hastings and Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond. I noticed that Phil had lost connection and was very impressed when Brian did the right thing by letting time run all the down and then raising to take the pot. He easily could’ve been raising as fast as he could and whittled Phil down to nothing while he was disconnected. Phil was very thankful for it and said he would have done the same. It’s nice to see two one stars show some class.
Hastings also showed he understands responsibility. He is a pro for the site and also is a member of Cardrunners. It would look bad to have someone representing a couple of well known sites getting as many chips as possible while someone was unable to defend their chips. Way to be a good representative of the game Brian.
Full Tilt Poker’s payment processing problems of the past few months have been a real hassle to those of us who play on the site regularly. Their checks have always been slower to arrive than Pokerstars checks have been, but over the last few months they’d become infuriatingly slow, and many players had reported getting checks that bounced. I should point out that I don’t know anyone personally that it’s happened to, but was widely reported on poker forums. My checks just never showed up. Twice I’d requested a check, and after the alloted time they sent me an email explaining it had been canceled, and gave me a bonus to make up for it.
Now, the bonus was not insignificant, and after everything was taken into account, I was perfectly happy with the extra money I had received for my inconvenience, assuming that I would be able to receive the money in some way, but until that happened, they could count me as a very dissatisfied customer. It was just pure luck that the two month delay in cash flow had not caused serious financial problems for me. Soon after my second bonus, when I was ready to request a third check, a great thing happened. They announced the “cash pickup” payout system.
It was incredible. I was allowed to request a payout of up to $2500, and the next day I was emailed the name of the cash transfer service (a very well known company that they only revealed in private correspondence so I will keep it private just in case they did that for a good reason) with multiple convenient locations near to me. I just drove down the street, and picked up my money in crisp American Dollars.
I was elated. My payment problems had me on the verge of switching back to Pokerstars exclusively, and now FTP had provided me with something that would make them by far the most convenient site to use. I even evangelized the new service to my friends to get them to switch over from Stars and Absolute. (I’ve since been told that Stars offers the service, which I will check up on soon)
As I grew my bankroll back up from my withdrawal, time to make another crept up on me, and I was disturbed to discover that the “cash pickup” option was canceled. Was it just a one time thing for the people who they had caused so many problems? I emailed customer support to be told that it was suspended as an option, although it was still listed on the website. I grudgingly requested a check payout, my recently won goodwill towards FTP cashed in with it, to wait the three weeks that my checks seem to average, hoping that it actually arrives on time.
I can’t be the only dissatisfied customer that had been won over by the new service, and I’m somewhat bothered that it was taken away so quickly. They appear to have replaced it with some type of prepaid phone card thing, which it appears requires you to be charged 3% + $0.90 to use, and can’t be as convenient as Cash Pickup was.
I think I’ll be going back to Stars for a month, and see how I like it. I hadn’t played there in a few months, and I’ve changed primary formats so it’s worth toying with anyhow. Maybe during my time away, FTP will realize how easy it is to lose customer loyalty, and how hard it is to earn it, and make a return to what was clearly the best thing they’ve done with payment yet, the Cash Pickup withdrawal option.
Brian “SBrugby” Townsend has admitted to multi-accounting on both Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars in recent months. In his blog, he admitted to this and said he has lost his red pro status on Full Tilt for six months for his actions. Click here for his blog.
Townsend is known for playing the highest stakes in online cash games after grinding his way from .25/.50 nl. He is one of the key members of Cardrunners. In the summer of 2007, he played high stakes in Las Vegas, which involved several million dollar swings.
I’m a little late on this topic, but some people feel that the way Scotty Nguyen’s behavior at the 50k HORSE final table was bad for poker. I’m not so convinced about that.
He clearly was out of line with his antics and deserved penalties for his behavior. I have heard that Scotty came out and said that he wasn’t drunk. I have no idea how that is possible. In fact, if I were him, I would say I was very drunk because then there is a reason to act that way. I don’t travel the tournament circuit, so I have never seen Scotty in person. His TV appearance has always come off as a nice guy. This appearance clearly is crumpled up and thrown in the garbage after the HORSE table.
I don’t think this was really bad for poker, though. People already playing poker are going to keep watching poker shows and keep playing the game. This added entertainment to poker for people that aren’t big poker fans. I had heard about the drunkenness and was looking forward to seeing what exactly happened. While this isn’t the kind of attention poker wants, it will get viewers, which certainly is not bad for the game.
The one thing that Scotty’s acts did tarnish a little was the celebration of deceased Chip Reese. The night was slightly intended to honor the poker great. The barrage of swearing put a cloud over that a little bit.
Scotty will have some work to do in order to get the image he had by the fans back. I don’t think his actions will help poker a whole lot, but it did add some entertainment that isn’t always there. I don’t think this was bad for poker. That being said, this can’t be a normal occurrence. That would be terrible for the game by giving it an image of drunks. As an isolated incident, it’s fine. People get drunk. That is not a secret.
If you missed it, download it, find it on youtube, pay a nerd in your dorm to put it on DVD. It’s amazing. Some highlights:
“Bob doesn’t have a funny bone in his body … unless you count the time he sat on Dave Coulier’s cock.” -John Stamos
“Bob’s girlfriends are so young, R. Kelly won’t even pee on them.” -Jeff Ross
“John Lovitz. There hasn’t been a more affeminate jew in the closet since Anne Frank.” -Greg Giraldo
“Jodie Sweeten is here. She hosted this horrible cable show called ‘Pance Off Dance Off’ … which ironically is how I used to watch Full House.” -Brian Posaine
“Bob, in case you haven’t realized it yet, this isn’t a roast, it’s an intervention. You can keep doing drugs all you want but please quit doing comedy.” -Jeff Ross
“I don’t know who any of you people are … but maybe that’s because I watch TV and go to the movies and read the trade magazines.” -Cloris Leachman (Mary Tyler Moore Show)
“I have vibrators older than most of you. The difference is that most of them still work.” -Cloris Leachman (Mary Tyler Moore Show)
“Jim Norton is a necropheliac. Last night he fucked Norm Macdonald’s career.” -Gilbert Godfried
xharalabobx: something is up with these jamaicans
xharalabobx: girls went 1,2,3 in 100m
oOkayPlayer: i saw that
oOkayPlayer: i heard they are putting together one hell of a bobsled team too
xharalabob121x: lol
