Happy Thanksgiving! Here in the US, today is a day for reflecting on all that you’re thankful for in life. Here’s my poker list:
10. Sharron Angle- Thanks for being so goddamn crazy that you couldn’t even get elected as a Republican in Nevada during the 2010 midterms. If anyone remotely competent had gotten your party’s nomination, poker players would be without our friend Harry Reid in the Senate.
9. The 2+2 Pokercast– Fantastic free entertainment! They have consistently great guests and keep me in the loop about both important developments in the poker world and the best photoshop threads in BBV4L. The Pokercast is a regular companion when I’m grinding the Sunday Majors.
8. Barney Frank- If we see fully legalized and regulated online poker in the US anytime soon, it will be because of Barney Frank. So here’s to you, you beautiful curmudgeonly bastard!
7. Rush Poker– I buy the hype; this is a major development that will change the face of online poker. It’s fast, it’s fun, and it’s bringing in new recreational players. Now let’s see some heads up Rush in 2011!
6. My $25,000 Suckout– It was the single biggest pot of my career, and I needed a miracle to win it.
5. Five of Clubs– A lot of cards would have done it, but this river won me a huge flip against David Baker on Day 6 of the WSOP and kept me alive for several hours’ worth of pay jumps. And I got some solid TV time out of it!
4. FTOPS Jersey- 
Obviously it took a lot of luck to win this, including QQ > AK on the final table bubble and AA > KK at the final table to win a huge pot from Bakes. People named David Baker did not have a good year vs. me.
3. Chris Moneymaker- For making it all happen in the first place. He was the right guy, with the right name, to win the WSOP at exactly the right time. Seven years later, we’re still profiting from the boom he jump-started.
2. 2+2 Forums– The content of the strategy forums has gone downhill in recent years, but even so they continue to serve an incredibly valuable role as a community forum where the industry is kept at least a little bit in check. Keeping sites, and players, honest is difficult work, and these forums are the single best tool that we as a community have to combat cheating.
1. You- I’m sure I would have given blogging long ago if weren’t for all of you frequent readers and commenters. Thanks for keeping it fun and interesting!
On behalf of the readers, a big thanks to you for writing these blogs and providing us your insights!
I 2nd that, and seriously cheers to the crazy Sharron Angle.
Happy Thanksgiving Andrew!
Thanks for your great writings.
I was wathing today “Casino Jack” and this is a great movie to reflect on America.
Thanks, Andy. Can’t say I’ve heard of “Casino Jack”- what’s it about?
I will say is about life of lobbyists Jack Abramoff. But it is more about polical climate “Let Them Pump Gas”.
The movie shows serious problems in American politics but it is so FUNNY.
you have to see it -it is beyond standard black comedy or satire or sarcasm.
I apologize for my spelling but I pumped a lot of gas yesterday.
How, exactly, do you ascertain that Harry Reid is a “friend” to poker players? I heard this from several prominent players in the run-up to the election, but to the best of my knowledge, he hasn’t lifted a finger for us, nor even made any commitment to doing so. (I wrote more about my puzzlement along these lines here: http://pokergrump.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-am-i-missing.html.) Do you know something that I don’t that qualifies Reid as a friend of poker?
I am pretty sure that is some witty sarcasm there.