World Series of Poker, State of Poker, PokrPokr.net and missing poker in Miami.

Hello! I'm alive. Really. Hiding in the very tip of Florida. Came down for a conference, stayed for a nice weekend with Piggy in the South Beach side of Miami Beach (DUCK TOUR 2 Successful!), ate WAY to much Cuban and Italian food (after one year on the diet, thought I'd take the holidays off), partied at MANGOS last night, got up and peeled myself awake to post this and make sure you guys knew I was alive.

What have I been up to? Well, I covered the World Series of Poker final table this year for www.lifesabluff.com, Flush Magazine UK, as well as some photo journalism for Sky Poker (part of the SKY Satellite Network in Europe.) Don't ask me how I get into all of these things, I just don't say no when the opportunity arises. Well, as part of the festivities, Hoyt Corkings and the folks from DoylesRoom.net were sponsoring a very high end charity poker tournament for the JDRF (Juvenille Diabeties Research Foundation) at the brand new, MASSIVE (and good lord it is bigger than a Sear...a back-in-the-day Sears) Red Rock Harley Davidson in Las Vegas. A ton of pros showed up to lay down some cash for a great cause and play for a $20000 signature Harley. I did not win. Meh. Check out the photos to the right on my Flickr site for more notes. One below of Doyle, Hoyt and Me at the Life's A Bluff autograph booth signing prints by Mr. Ryan Estrada.
From there is was on to cover the Final Table as the November Nine battled for the WSOP Main Event Bracelet and 9.1 MILLION US Samolians. It was ESPN and Harrah's first run at doing a delay to build up the Final Table and show it mostly live. It was a huge feat and they should be commended. Again, photos and notes to the right...hope you enjoy them. Also did a lot more Random Questions interviews that you will see there soon as well as some follow up videos with Tiffany Michelle after her rather controversial behaviour at the 2008 WSOP. Again, right column folks...I don't put this stuff up for Skittles and Giggles.

Was recently interviewed on podcast by Duke over at PokrPokr.net about the SuperMix Game played with www.pokerroad.com forum members, my Random Questions and general this and that at the WSOP this year. It was fun and the podcast will be up soon. It hits some real highlights from the trip, so be sure and give it a listen and save me some typing. If nothing else, here how a 4/8 limit Razz game ended up with a pot of over $800.

While we are on the subject of Poker...I have a sin to confess. While I was in Miami I did NOT make it to the GulfStream or HardRock Casinos to play some poker and thus fulfill my traveling poker requirement. Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa. Lo Siento. Oh! And with a brave new world via the US election, come a note from the PPA (Poker Player's Alliance), a lobbying group myself andthe crew at Life's A Bluff have had a go-around with in the past but has now changed its ways and charged forth to just do what it really started out to do...and that is lobby to get online poker regulated and legalized so we can make some money off it in this country and stop shipping profits abroad. And here is that closing note, anti-poker nutjob politicians beware, there are more than a million of us now, and we vote!

The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) played an important role in the national elections this year by supporting pro-poker candidates for Congress all across the nation. While the voters casted their votes based on a number of important issues it is clear that poker players made a significant difference in several key races.

The PPA was successful in helping to unseat a number of anti-poker U.S. Representatives; we also achieved our goal of electing many pro-poker candidates. Of the 54 candidates PokerPAC, the political action committee of the PPA, endorsed (12 of which were challengers) 46 won their elections on November 4, 2008. Moreover, we are pleased to announce that more than 40 of our lowest rated Members of Congress will not be returning to Washington next year.

Some quick shots from the APE! (Alternative Press Expo) in San Francisco. Some great folks from web comics were there as well as some fun alternative art and publishing.

Jeenie Breeden poses with her illustrated self at her booth. Read Devil's Panties damn it.

J. Jacques of of Questionable Content. I am sooooo jealous of his clean line work.
Sam Logan of Sam & Fuzzy and J. Jacques shared a booth at APE. Great Gear, get to their store.YES! The game is here soooooon. Home Star Runner.Bob the Angry Flower Creator as Bob the Angry Flower.SKULLBUNNY!Chainsaw-Baseball bat. Enough said.

Some pictures from this Halloween! We actually got 6 trick-or-treaters. Up from 1 last year. Overall, it was sitting in and watching some scary movies whilst waiting for the bell to ring. And now the photos.

The Queen of Halloween!

Pumpkins carved and unlit.

Franken-pumpkin through the grate.

Panda Pumpkin through the grate.

Just a couple of updates from the world of interviews!! Two new Random Questions Videos up now: I give you Polar Opposites in teh world of Professional Poker.

Clonie Gowen:


Todd Brunson:

Wow...what has been going on huh? Its been a bit, but here I am again.

FOOTBALL WEEKEND!! One game in and things are blowing up already. Brady hurt so my big Fantasy Football weapon is screwed, hopefully that won't be a long lasting one. Got Farve as a backup and apparently...NOT having a kicker is the best way to squeeze extra love out of your new-to-the-team QB. However, sometimes you do things like trade a prime Defense and running back to you end up getting your ass kicked by the woman you love. Willie Parker and the Eagles defense somehow cleared up all those questions people had about them. Big time.

Poker Update: Back from the Legends of Poker and paid for the trip on the felt and got some GREAT interviews and photos to boot. All in all, it was quite the success. Some photos below from the event. Pardon the odd formatting, I don't feel like wrestling it at the moment. Sometimes free, cheap and easy has its drawbacks. Thanks Blogspot. Anyway, met some great people this time and hooked up with old buds from Cardplayer, PokerPages, PokerListings, PokerNews, and PocketFives as well as the WPT crew. (Hang on gang, things will work out.) Mo Faithipour did a great job taking care of the high limit section at the Bike even though, like some fall-back Frat house, the big games and players went down the road (a scary, dark, east-Los Industrial road...) to the Commerce. My nights went long and I did not join them however so no stories from the big game(s) that were all over there. Reports state that it was one of the Commerce's best weeks in a while however, even with the pros scattered all over for big tournaments coming up in Maccau, Cannes, London and then the Borgata next week. Whew. How much money do people think is IN poker? Above is 10K US, 20K Euros, 10K Pounds, and then 10K US. So, a total of about 70k in 3 weeks for JUST the main events...assuming you are capable of getting to all of them. We are getting dangerously close to butchering the "sheep" of poker we are sheering it so close. Come on folks, lets get organized.

VACATION UPDATE!!: Well, Piggy and I made it to Seattle and then drove up to Vancouver on the long weekend. Wow, I am really pleased to have got to see both these cities as a tourist. Vancouver is like the incarnation of what San Francisco TRIES to be. They are obviously liberal, green and progressive but they are actually friendly, helpful and enacting a lot of the things that folks in Frisco are still just getting off the ground. Weather was cool but bright for most of the trip so we got lucky there. Seattle was grundge incarnate in many places, but they were in the middle of Bumbershoot, so that might have said something to do with it. In the end it was saved by the Duck Tour and dinner at Fado. Vancouver gets an A and Seattle gets a B on the "weekend vacation" report card. Gotta get the pictures off the other PC folks....give me a bit.

Creepy, no? Well, old Waldo hit a snag last week and was forced to take a break from poker for a while. ('bout a week, fret not.) Felt like everything was going well and I was playing solid and then the deck got as cold as the backside of a drunken polar bear's chain mail cod piece body surfing the snow dunes of the North Pole. I mean...brrrr. Online was not only worse, it was maddeningly, statistically, mind blowingly painful. So, rather than break anything or plow off into funds not earmarked for the felt, yours truly took a break.

Actually, this is all an excuse to repost this pic from icanhazcheezburger.net which, next to the fail blog, is the most logical place to go in a day to see some mindless, 5th grade humor and some semi-clever work with photoshop. Most are cute...this one...well...god help whoever owns that cat. Or whatever the heck it is.

Heading up to Canadaland...Canukistan...Our Northern Invasion Threat, er, I mean Neighbor at the end of the month for a long weekend in Vancover from a cheap flight booked months ago. Piggy and I are fairly excited as this is the first time she gets to use her new passport and we both get to see the gem of the Canadian West (via Seattle). I'm sure pictures will be forthcoming. Oddly, this comes at a time when I've really, really been trying to find a reasonable flight back to Missouri. Best case that actually lets me do anything is $450 bucks. Its disgusting, no?

LOOK MA!! I'M ON TV!!

For those of you that care to watch the WPT events, this weeks episode was at the Bay 101 Casino for the Tour's only bounty event, the Shooting Star. (Basically, if you knock out specific players, typically high-profile pros, you get $5000.) This makes for one of the best tournaments of the year and marks the the first full event where I was there as a reporter for www.lifesabluff.com and pulling in more Random Questions interviews than ever before. One of those was Jennifer Harmon (yes, you silly person, stop now and click the video links on the right to find it.) who did a GREAT interview and then finished the event third to the eventual winner SteamRoller/Bounty Hunter, Brandon Cantu and Steve "Mugglylicious" Sung. While I thought the coverage of this event was really quick and bang, bang it was a lopsided final table with Cantu running the table with the chiplead from start to finish...and by no small margin either. Anyway, you can see me on TV decrying the shot that knocked Jen out 1 hr. 41 mins into the show. Shaggy brown hair and a goatee in a checkered black n' white short sleeved button-up and a long sleeved black undershirt in the second row. Much to the WPT crew's credit, they kept me hidden behind the Pot Size graphic or in the "fuzzy" space in the shadows. Still, it was a great time. Should I find something...I'll post it here.

I got one of the new Sprint/Samsung Instinct 'iPhone killers' since my work perk was removed...so look forward to grainy 2 MP photos and videos send from your favorite shutter-bug otter-man/boy.

The chins are feeling better after some meds to clear them up. They are gaining energy at a rapid pace. Its possible they might spontaneously burst into plasma energy at any moment.

Lil' Otter starts school in less than a month and her Grandmother starts another Nanny tenure in Dallas very soon. Wow...where does time go, and what did I do with it? Its hard to believe she just turned 5 in April. Its hard to believe "SuperMom" is on her last gig before retirement (maybe). I just can't stand it some days...I really need a break to make it out of here or up in the world here. In the mean time, pray I just keep it together. Thank God Piggy is here with me, I'd be a complete basket case/degenerate otherwise.

Doh!! I'm THAT guy!! Posting pet pics on his blog!! Aw man...well, can you blame me? The following are from today's "exercise run" out back of the Casa where the guys can run free outside and stretch out. Something I am sure a lot of cage critters don't get the chance to do. The names appear to be officially Rosco and Sully. Sully is the fluffier one with bigger eyes and a patch of fur regrowing on his right side and Rosco is the shyer, mildly lighter one with a bigger head.

And the Rodents have Landed!

The two new arrivals at the Casa de Piggy and Otter steal the spotlight for now. I finally...FINALLY...has a pet at home. I have never gotten one due to my travel schedule and lack of budget/time to actually take care of a pet well. I spent a lot of my youth raising and training animals and it gets to be a big part of you, like it or not. Its hard to be a dog person without a dog, but these little guys seem to fill the void a little and can make it on their own at home for a day or so without having to be crated, kenneled or left outside to the elements. They are very bright and were picked up from the California Chinchilla Rescue in Menlo Park. (www.chinchillarescue.org) The boys are 12 years old (they can live to be 25-28 yrs old but have a typical life expectancy of around 18) and used to belong to a very nice gal that had to move away but could not take her childhood pets with her. In steps Lani and then in come Marie and I to take these fellas home. We went looking for one, but felt for the pair and outside of pelleting on us (actually quite clean, considering) they were very well adjusted and happy and seemed to be the best choice from over a dozen. Marie shot this little video (ignore my babbling) and I'm sticking up a couple of pictures too.





I final tabled the $300 Super Saturday tournament at the Oak's this week coming in a technical 6th though we had $2k stashed for everyone. With the entry fee tucked back and tips and a donation to PAL animal rescue (it was also a memorial tournament for a long-time friend of the Card Club and tournament who's love was pet rescue and bringing the team chocolate.) it tucked home enough to get some running money back under the bankroll since the WSOP fiasco. Final two hands were AJs against a short stack on the button who shoved when no-one raised and I called in the big blind for 35k more. Blinds were 5k/10k with a 1k ante and I had about 80k at the time so it was cut and dried really, except he woke up with jacks there. A few hands later I picked up Ten-Ten on the button (after eating a round of blinds and antes being card dead with action in front of me) and saw the other short stack (who had more than me by a bit) turn over KJo. He caught the king on the turn and I went out a lot further back than I thought I would...but hey, crap happens and it was a nice profit anyway.

Last week Piggy and I packed off to the Zoo in San Francisco! We had a great time and I went on photo safari. Working on getting those up on Flickr where you can see them or a "best of" on here but I really went nuts, so it is taking a while.

What may have brought on the missing-pet solution could have been the great time that we had going out with a friend of mine from work to Fort Funston beach just down the road on Skyline Blvd. two weekends ago. We took her highly energetic Golden out for a beach run/retrieving session and saw folks up there hang gliding (its a pretty sheer cliff face drop to the beach) and kite flying but almost no-one but the recently defunct jellyfish on the beach. Sadly, it was the first time we'd made it down the road to the beach that is practically in my back yard...but its not like we are in SoCal or Florida weather to enjoy it. No photos there but cheers to our new buddy and her canine pal for spending the afternoon with us!

Just heard that the lil' otter and her mom made it out for a long day at Six Flags and had just come back from some camping the week before. I hope that I get some photos, but if not, they tell me they had a blast!!

Prayers out to: My Mom as she looks for a new Nanny position (email me if you know anyone.), Piggy as she copes with my craziness, the players dealing with the end of the WSOP and their Main Event bust outs, my Dad as his election for a civic position, and my brothers as they both head into new parts of their careers (or in one case...trying to get one going).

Congratulations Scotty Nguyen! "Scotty Baby" took down the "player's championship" at this years WSOP by winning about 2 million playing in a $50k buy in mixed game event (HORSE) against about 150 of the world's best players. Now known as the Chip Reese memorial tournament (named after its first winner and one of the most respected high stakes cash players of all time), the pros view this as "their" championship vs. the 10k No Limit Hold Em open championship, even though anyone can enter. The $50k buy in and the mix of games (Hold Em, Omaha 8/b, Razz, Stud and Stud 8/b) scare even tournament professionals away as only the baddest sharks can survive in this pool. Anyway, I sat down with Scotty about a week before this event kicked off, you can find the interview up tomorrow at: www.lifesabluff.com (and archived for you folks that don't check daily...) at www.lifesabluff.com/randomquestions.

WSOP 2008, failure to follow plan = planning to follow failure. But I got some great photos.

Well folks, it looks like this year's World Series of Poker is not my year to take one down. As you know from my previous posts, I was in a bit of a slump generated from taking a lot of bigger shots than I should have in tournaments and cash games and trying to ramp up for this year's Series. Big surprise, that did not work quite as well as I had planned. However a late score at Oaks put some $$ in the roll and I slapped a rubber band around most of it and headed for the WSOP. (See where the great planning starts folks?)

There were a few reasons for this. First, I have done pretty well at the cash games and side action at the WSOP over the last 3 years. Enough that I paid for the event I played in (even if it was a side event), my hotel and my expenses while on the trip. A fairly positive experience for the common grinder. Not to mention, that last year and this year I have been generating interviews and photos for the fine folks over at www.lifesabluff.com. (Yes, clicky clicky, check them out...win some free stuff why don't ya.) So let me hit you with the bad/obvious news and then I'll get to the other projects.

Opened on Saturday after having drinks waaaay to late with Todd Brunson and at the Rio Friday night along with fellow Life's A Bluff writer Mr. Id (and his lovely lady for who I have no pseudonym yet) and Piggy. Mildly hung over, I went to try my chances at the Mega Stack event going on at the Caesar's Palace Card Room the next day at the crack of noon. That must have had something to do with it as I managed to pump off my stack about 6 hours in when I knew I was beat but was too stubborn to admit that the guy had stuck with second pair and hit trips on the turn. *Errrrt* out the $350 that that one cost, but hey, for that money the stacks were, indeed, Mega, and the levels left plenty of time to play. Were I JUST rounding at the series, I might have parked my budget ass there and played Caesar's until I wore a dent in the felt, but alas, I did not and found myself back at the Rio and in the cash games. Despite expectation to the contrary by some folks, the single table satellites were again, very soft, and your hero managed to run up some chips to take bigger shots a few times including a couple of $525 and $1030 STTMTTs. The problem was, I think, that I was doing this past midnight every night after having been up early (for a poker player) doing interviews and covering the events. The cash games were holding me aloft until I took two huge hits getting it in way ahead only to come out behind (the challenge of a soft game...hmmm), and the cost of living started to chew things up. $80 bucks on cab rides out to TPC and back to interview Negranue (not to mention day to day cab fare from the Tropicana.) , and as I promised myself, all food, expenses and side action coming out of the bankroll and not the bank account. Instead of focusing on the one event I really wanted to play, the $2500 6-max NLHE event, I wandered about in every direction trying to score a seat into the big show and that turned out to be some fiscal suicide brought on by a little case of tilt from some gawd-awful plays on the bubbles of those 1k events I mentioned. Well, I made it home with $15...so I didn't go completely broke.

On a good note though, I think I had a great time in spite of myself. A lot of the players that I had spent time with at other major events welcomed me warmly, the Poker Road crew took me under their wing again and let me use their tables, interviews were pretty well accepted and I think I have more lined out for my next stop at the Legends of Poker at my favorite place in LA, The Bike. Shronk-daddy and Joe Sebok saved my ass when my camera went busto by lending me one of the Flip Video Ultra cams to finish my interviews that I had scheduled. I highly recommend them and I cried a little when I had to give it back. (Go to their site if you need a great, cheap, easy solution for video.) I got interviews with Mark Newhouse, Scorry Nguyen, Jeff if you wanna see them, they even have a new and improved model, the Mino out now. I scored interviews with a ton of interesting folks at the WSOP including but not limited to: Mark Newhouse, ScottyLisandro, Gavin Smith, Jeff Madsen, Annette Oberstad, Andy Black, Bart Hansen, Daniel Negranue and Justin Shronk. All in all, a hell of a batch of videos. These will pop up about every Friday on Life's A Bluff so remember to drop in and check them out. Currently a very rushed G-Smith is profiling. TONS of photos, this year's much better than last years, of players with the new Nikon D40 and 55-200 lens playing a big part in that. Check those out at FLICKR and let me know if you want to use of buy a print. Always happy to be capitalistic.

Well, that is the short and sweet of the rundown...hopefully you have lots of links to click on and things went well.

Cheers!

The Little Otter's FIFTH BIRTHDAY PARTY!

Hey all, WOW its been a while. I was actually admonished for not keeping the blog up! Just when I thought no one was really reading it! Well, I have a certain VERY important update that has been due since April, so I'll get to that first. Piggy and I traveled to Missouri again for the little otter's fifth birthday party and we had a really good time. We managed to keep an air matress inflated long enough to sleep the night and were able to stay right there for a couple days and really soak up the time with my special little girl. It was a blast, a real milestone moment and a great party. Hats off to the organizer!

And on that note: The little otter is coming to CALIFORNIA!! Her momma and she are making the trip by sleeper train to SoCal where we will spend a couple of days at Disneyland, see the sights of LaLa land and then head down San Diego Way to the Zoo and maybe Sea World. I'm pumped. I felt like a little kid when I finally got to Disney. I can only imagine what it will be like through the eyes of a 5 year old!

Speaking of her being FIVE, here are some pictures from the party:

You can see now why I didn't fill this post with silly poker musings and other things. She is just WAY TO CUTE! Thanks to everyone that came out and HAPPY BIRTHDAY again to my sweet little otter!

The Ali "Ali-wood" Nejad interview is now up at www.lifesabluff.com!!

Couple of fun events lately that I need to stick some pictures up from. Sorry for being so lazy, work is killing me.

Hal Fowler, WSOP 1979's mystery man. Doyle Brunson mentioned this guy in his blog and I am re-printing it below because it is a great story and I hope I have this many stories (and tell them as well) when I am Doyle's age. I doubt I can aspire to "Texas Dolly's" skill as cards, but maybe...some good old country story telling.

" The poker historians have speculated, guessed, and surmised what became of the 1979 World Series winner, Hal Fowler. I’ve heard all kinds of stories: he was living in California…he moved to Hawaii…and, that he died shortly after his win. Nobody seemed to know. Finally, Des Wilson wrote a book called Ghosts At The Table. He went to great lengths to authenticate all the facts in his book and he spent months trying to find out what happened to the man that pulled the greatest upset in poker history when he won the WSOP. He took so many amphetamines and Valium that he could barely sit at the table and made some of the most unbelievable plays anyone had ever witnessed…miracle after miracle and he finally back doored a straight to beat Bobby Huff.

The strangest thing happened. Fowler never came back to defend his title. In fact, he never came back to Las Vegas. Des Wilson hired a private detective to trace Fowler’s life and he came up with some amazing facts. Harold Fowler was born in Vermont and had left home at a very early age and his family never saw him or heard from him again. He went into the service and when he got out – nobody knows why – he insisted that no one could know where he was at any time. The detective traced Fowler to a retirement home in Tulare, California, where he spent his last ten years. He died in 2000 and had only two possessions when he died; a small gun and a video recording of the 1979 WSOP. He lived his last years on social security, was almost totally blind, and could barely walk. He told the people at the retirement center not to tell anyone about his death for at least two years. What a strange story. His achievements and his secrets were buried with him.

All I know is that I liked the man, even though I never knew him well. After he won the WSOP he told me he was going to go on tour and sell 10,000 copies of Super System. I bet him $5,000 that he wouldn’t do it and after one year I got a cashier’s check in the mail for $5,000 from Fowler. At least he was an honest guy who paid a debt he didn’t have to because that was the last time anyone ever heard from him that I know of. - DB"

http://www.pokerroad.com/_/authorpage.php?author=Doyle%20Brunson&type=proBlog
Read all Doyle's blogs on Poker Road.

New batch of Random Questions is hitting the airwaves! Unfortunately, I will probably never have the hit volume of Sneezing Panda or Chocolate Rain, but I hope you guys will drop into YouTube and have a listen as I interview luminaries from the poker world. It is really a "One Man and A Cam" operation by a non-professional interviewer, but, I think I have gotten better with each interview and I am learning a ton "under fire" as they say. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this little side journey for Life's A Bluff and my journalistic hobby!

Hit the link, watch the video...if you like, give me a nice rating and a favorite-ing!
Antonio Esfandiari -- The Magician
Jen Harman -- Lady Luck
Jean-Robert Bellande -- That Guy from Survivor China
Hoyt Corkins -- The Alabama Cowboy
Kristi Gazes -- Fun, fun, fun...

The rest of my work...as always...right here! http://lifesabluff.com/interviews/

Proof of less fatness...

Lots of unproven chatter about weight loss on this blog. Well, here is a shot from Christmas 2007, about 45 days into my diet where I topped out between 258-260.

Here is me at Easter, down to 220. And holding unfortunately. Working on a kick off to get down to two bills. But 38-40 lbs ain't so bad so far.

EASTER UPDATES!!


First off, in case you missed it, Piggy has a great blog about our Paschal Adventures here: http://www.phillypiggy.blogspot.com/

But, I wanted to put up some more funny pics:

The makeshift Easter Sombrero

Grinning Idiot with Basket of Eggs

Bay 101 Shooting Star Tournament Photos!

Hey Folks! Got them all up and posted. The charity events, the $2k and the $10k at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/runtcake/

Also, check out the new Random Questions Interviews going up over on www.lifesabluff.com! The old ones are under the "Interviews" Tab.

The LAPC and the Bay 101 Shooting Star.

Well, I may not get to play them this year, but I will certainly be at both this year doing some coverage for Life's A Bluff. In fact, you can already see some of the LAPC "Random Questions" live interviews posted there right now. I apologize in advance for some of the crappy light and sound, but its a "one man and a cam" operation and we are still working the kinks out.

The LAPC had a huge field that was packed with pros and arguably some of the best local players in the world. When I walked in on day one, I think I saw possibly 2 tables out of 63 that were "weak". That would mean they only had one named pro...but you never know just what that means. Phil Ivy battled a final table that included 11 WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, WPT Champ Nam Le and another WPT final table veteran to make the final 6 one hell of a final table and no walk in the park for the 8 time final tablist (but yet to win) Phil Ivy. He outlasted them all though and finally pulled down that WPT trophy at one of the biggest events on the circuit.

Just a couple of weeks later comes the Bay 101 Shooting Star. This unique event features a $5k bounty on all the "Shooting Star" pro's heads as well as a $1 million dollar guaranteed first prize and awards for chip leaders at the end of Days One and Two. Many pros mark this as their favorite stop on the tour due to the very fan friendly nature of it and the change up it gives to the standard tournament format. I like it, because I played it last year. This year, my move to the peninsula as well as personal commitments and bankroll issues during the juicer qualifiers appears to have knocked me out of the running for the cool million this year, but "I'll be back."

What I will be doing this weekend is more coverage of the 2nd Annual Coyote Creek Golf Tournament hosted and founded by tournament director Matt Savage. Hopefully, we'll get some fun coverage of pros on the links and some interview footage away from the felt. (I wonder if I can ride along with the beer girls?) Immediately following that I'll be making a quick run up the road to cover the Leo Brien Foundation Charity Poker Tournament in Santa Clara hosted by the 'Silent One' Todd Brunson. Now this should be a blast. Typically, these events feature wild play, drinks and hilarious situations and its all made even more fun by the fact that it goes to a great charity. (see link for details) Its already selling to the rafters and many of the pros are still trying to confirm their seats so look for this to be a charity blockbuster! I'll have to get Greasie Wheels Productions to do my next charity tournament!! (They also handle the Jen Harmon Nevada ASPCA No Kill Shelter tournament that LaB did artwork for and have a hell of a year of new projects in front of them from what I hear.)

Hopefully I'll have a ton of new photos and stories for you after this event to match some of the ones over the last year or so. Man, its hard to believe I have been blogging everything for almost two years now. Who'd have thunk it?

In Memory of Jason Schroer

On Monday evening I received a call that my daughter's stepfather, Jason Schroer, had succumbed to his last bout with cancer. Jason was a man that quickly earned my respect with with kind, gentle and loving manner that he interacted with my daughter. He brought love, a positive attitude and stability into my daughter's home and we all (myself especially) were lucky to have him in our lives while we did.

Jason was a consummate optimist and a fighter. He fought off cancer several times only to have it come back time and time again, but he never let that deter him from doing what he loved and and loving those around him. Jason never once complained to me or anyone around me regardless of the pain and no matter how dire the situation. He never used his illness as an excuse to stop helping with his family's farm or his duties around the home. He was an honorable man with an iron will and a kind and generous spirit.

There are very few people as honorable and kind in this world as Jason Schroer. I know everyone that knows him has wondered as least once why some other less deserving, mean-spirited or evil person was not taken from this world instead of him. We can only trust that he is in a better place now, free from pain, and reaping the rewards of a life so well lived, even for such a short time.

I have placed a couple of pictures here that show Jason with my daughter and her mom's side of the family this Christmas. The smiling, joking nature you see here is genuine and what this world will miss most. RIP sir.

A really, really, late Holiday update. Wherein I finally upload those now out-of-date holiday pics...but not the New Year's photos. I have to leave you wanting something. ;) Anyway, this should fulfill the promised photos from this blog post and explain the work holiday party a bit better.

All holidays need their grinning idiot...here is this year's. I'm a very happy boy here doing an early Christmas gift exchange with Piggy before heading out to a nationwide Christmas home crawl to Missouri, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New York.
My good buddies in St. Louis and their new baby girl along with the Lil' Otter, Piggy and Myself hitting the Red Robin! Big 'Ol Burgers, and better yet...balloons.

They had an awesome Santa at Grant's Farm, home of the Budweiser Clydesdale Team and much Holiday Merriment including A Christmas Carol with a Chinese Acrobat Team, Carolers, tons of lights and free refreshments! Unfortunately, the picture got a little creased, but its still a great shot...even if the Lil' Otter is in a rose patterned camo outfit!
Here is the Piggy and I in Marthasville getting ready for the big family event there. Nice huh?

My job is fun. Sometimes its a fiesta. In this case, a Holiday Mexican Fiesta Fancy Dress Party. Yep, they are creative aren't they? Well, here we have Zoro and his lady.

More of the team in serapes and toting Margaritas.

Santo Nicolas y su esposa Irlandesa. Colin is so much fun he gets to come to parties even after the group he work with was "resized". We are always happy Colin is there!

More drink toting party-goers!

Everyone having a great time here!

Ahhhh, que romantico! Y...que mustachio!

The rough-neck cholo crowd. Well, the checked the guns at the door so we let them in.

The rogues gallery.

Welcome to the front door of the Holiday Home of the Otter and Piggy. That is me hiding back there.

The stockings (and various stuffed piggies) hung by the chimney with care!

Our pretty little live tree...playing Xbox Live.

The holidays were a heck of a road trip and (as usual) turned into one of those vacations you need a vacation from, but it was worth it to reconnect with my family, friends and of course, Piggy's family as well. Thanks to everyone that took the time to stop and I hope we see you again soon...OUT HERE IN CALIFORNIA!! Seriously...why am I traveling back into the cold....COME OUT HERE PEOPLE!!

Oh, and on the poker front, the good news is that things have turned around. My Native people at Harrah's in St. Louis helped pay for trip expenses and then a trip down to LA put me in a soft seat in my favorite game there and BAM, I have a bankroll again. Add in a final table a couple of weeks ago, and we have AMMO! Just send the lawyers and guns for the Warren Zevon trifecta and we will be ready to mount a full scale takeover of my little poker universe.

PS -- A great bit of work has gone on at www.lifesabluff.com including a video interview by yours truly with 2007 WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider. Check out the video at the site under "interviews."

Wherein I apologize lamely and post some holiday pictures. More to come, once I hatch them off my camera and find a second to get them up here. These photos are a selection from Old Bear Productions of Jackson, MO. Grrrr.

The Little Otter got to spend a day in her daddy's home town visiting Grandpa Bear for the Holidays. Yep, she was a pretty happy gal getting to explore the old office lair of the Old Bear. Check out the Dora the Explorer Pink Camo. All the fashion in the under 5 set I'm told.

This is one of the Old Bear's hunting dogs (of a much smaller number than the packs he kept when he had slave labor...er, children at home to help him care for them) named Nell. She told everyone about meeting Grandpa's white dog Nell.

The Old Bear and the Little Otter in Dad's office. We introduced the camera game of "close your eyes till we count to three, then open and smile" so you aren't blinking. So, basically, she looks really surprised in a lot of these photos. My bad.

Getting our grub on at the Texas Road House. Me with my crackberry and Little Otter with her never ending request for Chicken Strips. Nom nom nom.

Piggy, Old Bear and the Little Otter all upstairs in the old High Street Building. I got lucky that I got to hang out with a beautiful woman and a wonderful daughter and we made a old fella's Christmas a little bit brighter! Thanks for a real nice holiday day trip dad! And for letting Marie and I take out the old 63 Impala for a cruise down memory lane!