Atlantic City Epilogue
Within five minutes of Jordan's return to the room with a check for almost $400,000, we were on our way to the valet, heading back to New York City. I spotted my buddy Jason Stuken (aka "Tall, Good Looking Jason"), a close acquaintance from the Playstation days, at the Mrs. Fields shop and stopped to catch up. He's always full of good cheer, and I introduced Jordan, whom he congratulated.
We said our goodbyes and proceeded down the lobby towards the valet cashier. As I walked away, I noticed Jason bend down and inspect something on the floor but didn't think anything of it until he got Jordan's attention and, holding a piece of paper in his hand, asked Jordan if perhaps he was interested in retaining the check that the Taj Mahal had made out in his name. Somehow, it had fallen out of Jordan's bag and lay there on the floor of the Taj lobby.
The situation kind of felt like the final synchronistic, heady moment of the trip--the absurdity of Jordan's almost losing his paystub and then recovering it by virtue of a chance encounter.
***
We hit the road in my dad's Ford Taurus. It was the very first time I can remember leaving Atlantic City happier than when I came: picture three degenerate poker players (my friend Kevin came along for the ride) going 80 MPH up the Garden State Parkway singing "Wonderwall" in unison.
We got into the city around 2AM, met up with a friend and smoked some great NYC herb, and around 4AM we shut down the adventure for good with a three-course meal at Blue Ribbon on Sullivan Street.
***
In my last entry, I think I was inaccurate in describing Steven Feraca's playing style as "tight-passive" since, as Jordan pointed out on the way home, it was more like "tight-superagressive." His style seemed to be a blend of very snug, apparently cautious play punctuated by bursts of semi-mindless overagression with top-pair-or-worse type hands. I think that will be evident when the broadcast hits ESPN. Anyway, like I said, he was a real nice guy, so I'm not really trying to put him down.
One thing I have noticed recently is that there are plenty of people who make it deep in tournaments without "getting out of line" at all. Rhett Butler, who made the final table of this year's WSOP, seems like that type of player. I'm eager to assert that Butler probably weaved his way through the thickest field in tournament poker without ever bluffing.
Of course, one has to work with the style that works best for himself, and I'm not going to try and rock-up in an effort to go deep in poker tournaments, but it's becoming increasingly obvious that tight, boring play is an important gear to be able to switch to in a tournament.
***
Oh yeah, and congratulations to the 2006 USPC winner Alex Jacob, a great guy and excellent poker player.
We said our goodbyes and proceeded down the lobby towards the valet cashier. As I walked away, I noticed Jason bend down and inspect something on the floor but didn't think anything of it until he got Jordan's attention and, holding a piece of paper in his hand, asked Jordan if perhaps he was interested in retaining the check that the Taj Mahal had made out in his name. Somehow, it had fallen out of Jordan's bag and lay there on the floor of the Taj lobby.
The situation kind of felt like the final synchronistic, heady moment of the trip--the absurdity of Jordan's almost losing his paystub and then recovering it by virtue of a chance encounter.
***
We hit the road in my dad's Ford Taurus. It was the very first time I can remember leaving Atlantic City happier than when I came: picture three degenerate poker players (my friend Kevin came along for the ride) going 80 MPH up the Garden State Parkway singing "Wonderwall" in unison.
We got into the city around 2AM, met up with a friend and smoked some great NYC herb, and around 4AM we shut down the adventure for good with a three-course meal at Blue Ribbon on Sullivan Street.
***
In my last entry, I think I was inaccurate in describing Steven Feraca's playing style as "tight-passive" since, as Jordan pointed out on the way home, it was more like "tight-superagressive." His style seemed to be a blend of very snug, apparently cautious play punctuated by bursts of semi-mindless overagression with top-pair-or-worse type hands. I think that will be evident when the broadcast hits ESPN. Anyway, like I said, he was a real nice guy, so I'm not really trying to put him down.
One thing I have noticed recently is that there are plenty of people who make it deep in tournaments without "getting out of line" at all. Rhett Butler, who made the final table of this year's WSOP, seems like that type of player. I'm eager to assert that Butler probably weaved his way through the thickest field in tournament poker without ever bluffing.
Of course, one has to work with the style that works best for himself, and I'm not going to try and rock-up in an effort to go deep in poker tournaments, but it's becoming increasingly obvious that tight, boring play is an important gear to be able to switch to in a tournament.
***
Oh yeah, and congratulations to the 2006 USPC winner Alex Jacob, a great guy and excellent poker player.
posted by Shane Schleger at 1:40 PM
7 Comments:
Is jordan at all like bill hicks? he definetly looks like him.
nice posts, keep it up.
Hey, I enjoyed "Phil the Groundhog? WSOP 2006 in Review, part 1," and was impressed by your willingness to say what is, and let the chips fall where they may.
But where's the promised Part 2?
Also, are you strictly a devotee of high-end skunk and such-like, or do you have any appreciation for what is commonly (and often mistakenly) called schwag?
Some of the compressed Mex shows up crispy with crystals, with an aroma and flavor not much different from a lot of hash. A lot of this stuff, well, not a lot, but some of this stuff is just as potent, hit-by-hit, as some not-quite-premium indoors and various well-tended outdoors.
Even when the basic potency is less than something costing 4 to 6 to 15 times as much, it often has a better balance of the various cannibinoids and cadibidoids and therefore a better outcome, even if you have to consume a bit more.
Your feelings on the subject?
To spare us from jeb!
I am primarily "a devotee of high-end skunk."
Although I do share some of your appreciation for the "Sexy Mexy"--indeed it can even be a welcome change of pace from "kind bud"--I enjoy the flavors of Kush, Sour Diesel and the like as much as I enjoy the high itself. Mexican "schwag" tends not to resonate (so to speak) with the same amount of flavor.
Shane --
He's such a good guy I'll even nudge you to get his last name -- Jacob, not Jacobs -- right.
Congratulations.
--Nate
Hey Shane, Eric Crain here. In 3-4 weeks I'm going to be heading out to LA to play Commerce for a month. Don't know if you're going to be out that way during late november/december, but hit me up either way. Email is jakz101poker@yahoo.com. Catch you later. Peace!
nice article
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