Garry Gates

Now that the WSOP has come and gone until next summer, I'm feeling a void that can only be filled by getting back to work, so here I am - expect to see a lot of me in the weeks to come.

Though I was fortunate enough to be able to play in my first ever WSOP event this summer (Event #3, $1,500 NL Hold'em), I left my month and a half long stint at the Rio feeling very unsatisfied. I wasn't necessarily disappointed with the way I played in that tournament specifically, or in any of the many satellites I played (and lost), but moreso with my inability to safely and efficiently manage a bankroll. I walked into the Amazon Room on June 1st with confidence and lofty expectations and left 47 short days later feeling like there should've been more... of what, I'm not entirely sure...just more.

While my life as a poker player failed to make any significant gains this summer, my life as a writer took many leaps and bounds during the short time I spent working as a blogger for PokerNews.com. I worked quite closely with some of the industry's top minds, as we battled through gruelling 8-14 hour work days with little or no time off, in a collective effort to bring unprecedented live coverage of poker's crown jewel into homes around the globe. For veteran tournament reporters like Pauly McGuire, Amy Calistri and B.J. Nemeth, who have covered the event for years, the WSOP is just another stop on the tournament trail (albeit the most stressful and demanding one). For a guy like me, however, covering my first event of this magnitude, the grind that was the 2007 World Series of Poker was one big learning experience, and holy shit did I learn a lot.

In the weeks to come, I hope to give you an inside look at what it was like to be a permanent railbird armed with "gold" media credentials (the best a man can get), following the action from start to finish on poker's grandest stage.

Stay tuned...