Brags

I’ll lead off with the big one. My girlfriend pointed out to me that although a few people posted it as a comment, I hadn’t actually made a post that included my finish at the World Series of Poker. Out of 6,844 players, I finished 35th and won $193,000. How sexy is this?


The check is for $191,000 because I left a $2000 tip for the dealers. That might seem like a lot, but 1% is pretty standard, and remember that you only tip when you cash, so in some sense the 10% who make the money are tipping for the 90% who did not as well as for themselves. It’s kind of a screwy system, but that’s how it works.

The other big news, which would have been the lead item any other week, is that as of August 4th I will no longer be the director of the Boston Debate League. The League is getting larger, serving more students and schools, and partnering with the central administration of the Boston Public Schools. Running it is turning into a full time job for which I have neither the time nor the inclination.

We’re very fortunate that the chairman of our Board is also the founder and managing partner of Isaacson, Miller, an international executive search firm for nonprofits. Ordinarily they work with big organizations like museums and universities, but one of their associates, who is also a Board member, helped us conduct a nationwide search for a director. We hired a great candidate who is frankly more qualified than I thought we were going to find. I’ll still be working with the League, having a paid, full time employee is going to make a world of difference for us.

July’s been an exciting month. I went from being way behind pace for hitting my yearly goal for poker income to being just a hair’s breath away. I probably won’t end up meeting my goal for hours played since I won’t feel like forcing myself to put in hours when I don’t feel like playing. On the plus side, I probably will play more non-hold ’em games, and I may even hire a PLO coach.

9 thoughts on “Brags”

  1. Very nice, tipping the dealers, Foucault. Just another example of being a really classy guy. Congrats again.

  2. I don’t dispute that you’re a classy guy, but I do dispute that it’s “pretty standard” to tip extra on top of the mandatory percentage that’s already been taken out for the dealers.

    QL

  3. Perhaps “standard” was not the best word to use. If one is going to tip, then 1% is a pretty standard amount. I don’t want to rehash the tired debate over whether one ought generally to tip dealers when money is already withheld from the prizepool for them. I’ll say only that I was very happy with nearly every dealer I had over the course of the tournament. They were friendly, funny, courteous, quick, and professional, definitely the best I’ve encountered in a live tournament.

  6. Congrats on the poker. Following your main event run (and Stefan Mattsson’s, of course!) is becoming an annual work procrastination tool for me. Equally as much congrats on all your work with the boston league. I’m sad that you are stepping down–the providence/boston duals will never be the same–but am truly impressed by what you have done.

    james

  7. Great job Andrew, it’s nice to see hard work and perseverance pay off. From reading your writings about poker it was clear that it was only a matter of time until you hit a really big score. Didn’t expect it to be this soon though! GL for next year and everything in between.

  8. Andrew, congratulations. Three cashes in a row in those mammoth fields is a spectacular achievement – . I would hope that you decide to write an elongated trip report along the lines of what you have done the previous two years. Some of the better poker writing I have read. Good luck with the and life over the rest of this year.

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