CARDRUNNERS

What's Your Edge

ezmogee's Poker Blog

June 04, 2009

I have never considered myself a professional poker player. Even after college when my sole source of income for a year was poker, I always considered myself semi-professional. Was I really good enough to consider myself a professional? For the past two years, as I performed my duties for CardRunners, it was a non-issue: I was Director of Marketing. But since May 1st, I've had no job - I'm not a student again until June 21st, and despite May being my worst poker month of 2009, I keep wondering what I am? Is it possible that for 7 whole weeks, I played poker professionally?

I've been thinking about this because of how much fun I've been having out in Vegas. I am loving the lifestyle, hanging out with my friends all day, going out at night, talking poker, thinking poker, etc. There are so many aspects of the poker world that I find utterly repulsive (I think many of the younger players do) but this summer at the World Series of Poker is just so much fun. Everyone seems happy, we're all bonding, and it just feels like one large warm community. I wish I could describe it better - I know that many of my friends, including myself, were dreading coming out to Vegas again this summer, and we're all shocked at how much we're enjoying our time out here. Learning to appreciate our lives, the impressiveness of what we're accomplishing out here, and the opportunities in front of us.

In one sense, poker is this small little niche world, largely irrelevant to any other functions of the world. Yet, at the same time, it is fascinating, intriguing, and unforgettable. I've been talking to Taylor a lot lately about how we'll look back at this period of our lives when we're in our sixties. I suspect we'll smile, and remember these times with a warm nostalgia.

So two more things of interest:

1. Right now I'm 35,000 feet above ground, typing from in-flight WiFi on a Virgin America flight from Las Vegas to NYC (I'm heading home for 3 days for some family issues). I am shocked at how good the wireless is. I played some poker and made $2,500 (thanks Virgin!) and the internet has only been disrupted once. It's extremely impressive, and I've been able to e-mail, IM and more.

2. Last night Taylor and I made our first appearance on "Two Months, Two Million" the reality show that Whitelime, Krantz, Ansky, and Flawless are filming. It was a small party at the Playboy Club at the Palms, and it was a pretty good time overall. It was really interesting to watch them outline the story, talk with the producers, and see how everything came together. Taylor and I made a pretty conscious decision not to drink too much so that we didn't end up doing something stupid on camera (yeah, we're lame like that...) I did lose $100 to freakin Joe Tall betting on Whitelime's weight - I thought he'd been working out everyday and was putting on some muscle, but I over-estimated things :(

Anyways, here's a still of Emil (whitelime) in the pink shirt smiling for the cameras: