Michael Craig's Journal

At least that’s what my most infamous Detroit friend Marshall Mathers said. (If I hadn’t mentioned it before, I hail from Detroit. In fact, I went to high school with Madonna, or dated Madonna, depending on which version of the story I’m telling.)

I woke up this morning ready to rush forward to the rest of my life. Once the exhaustion from playing in the Main Event abated, I was pleased with how I did and eager to get back on the road toward next year’s World Series.

It’s not always easy, and I don’t just mean for the players who are (a) at the final table, or (b) playing for the first time. The day before I played, Howard Lederer busted. I saw him in the Full Tilt suite this afternoon, sitting in a corner of the room, hard to reach because of the business equipment and the VIP buffet blocking him off. He was stretched out in a swivel chair, reclining, leaning back.

I told him I was over busting out and assumed he was, too. Nope, my foot-in-mouth friend.

“Almost. I’m getting there. It always hurts busting out of the main event. Every year, it’s the biggest tournament in history and it hurts going out.”

So now, instead of thinking of was too well-adjusted to be hurt for more than three hours, I think I’m just too uncomprehending.

Let me share with you my schedule for the next ten days, both on the blog and in my life:

Tuesday, August 1: Day 2AB. Richard Brodie, with 13,750 chips, is at Table 9. Matt Maroon, with 80,000 chips is at Table 77. I’ve spent a lot of time with Richard at this World Series and, because he is friends with Matt, some enjoyable meetings with him. I frequently tell my non-poker friends that I have met some of the smartest people I’ve ever met through poker during the last six months. I also mention that I am uniquely qualified to assess their coolness because I am dumb enough to be impressed, but smart enough to appreciate them. If I was dumber, I wouldn’t appreciate them; if I was smarter, I wouldn’t be as impressed. I think my horse, Phil Ivey, is also in the field today.

I am meeting with Ray Bitar of TiltWare to finish my interview with him for the FULL TILT book, discuss some other business matters (including when I’m getting an avatar on Full Tilt and playing under my own name). I’m also going to introduce Ray, if possible to Devi Ortega, a hot young female poker player - and I mean “hot” as in she plays great and is getting some great results, but she is also drop-dead attractive, not that I really noticed - to see if Full Tilt might be interested in working with her. I might also arrange to do another interview for the book, then rush back to Scottsdale to spend a couple days with my family. I also have to complete (meaning: start and complete) another column for LUXE LIFE WITH ROBIN LEACH, which will run Thursday.

Note about today: I was hanging out in the Full Tilt suite with Richard Brodie and he asked me, as he has throughout the Series, “When are you going to introduce me to Wil Wheaton?” He also asks me, “When are you going to introduce me to some nice women?” Consequently, I dialed up Wil, who was nearby in the media center and I arranged their meeting. I was by the suite because I had a meeting scheduled with Rafe Furst and Andy Bloch about Pot Limit Hold ‘Em. Wil knew Rafe from BARGE but they hadn’t actually met. Andy was running late so I went through the short Roshambo chapter that Rafe is also contributing.

I mentioned this chapter to Wil, who is a great guy for many, many reasons, but one of them is that he thinks the stuff I’m trying to do is cool and interesting. He expressed exactly that sentiment so I invited him to stick around while we went through the chapter. When Andy arrived and we left to go to Richard Brodie’s suite to work on PLHE, I invited Wil along, but he had work do to and declined.

I mention this both to remind you of all the smart, interesting, cool people I know, but also my difficulty in dealing with them in groups. My goal in life is to introduce all the cool and interesting people I know to all the other cool and interesting people I know so we can all hang out. But does that make some of them feel like props? Or like I’m just showing them off? Or if I didn’t, would I be acting like I was too big to include them in my fun?

I really just want to have fun and help all my friends have fun. I’m usually on the side of let’s-all-hang-out-together, but I always worry that some people think I’m acting like too much of a big shot and others think like I’m manipulating them into being curiosities for my other friends.

After finishing up my business with Ray and Devi and whatever unanticipated adventures arise, I’m going to drive home to Scottsdale and spend some time with my family.

Wednesday, August 2: Day 2CD. Home at Scottsdale with family. Deadline for LUXE LIFE column.

Thursday, August 3: Home with family in Scottsdale. Off day for the World Series of Poker. Ellie’s theatre camp show. I’ll probably drive back to Vegas late at night.

Friday, August 4-Thursday, August 10: I’ll be back in Vegas as the World Championship goes from 1,400 players to just 1. My plan is to spend most of Friday to Monday working on the following:

A. The Full Tilt book - writing up Pot Limit Hold ‘Em and Roshambo, finishing Limit Hold ‘Em, and finishing Pot Limit Omaha; doing interviews on Online Tournaments, aspects of post-flop NLHE play, Seven Card Stud, and Omaha Hi-Lo.

B. Uncovered adventures - I have a lot of interesting subjects about which I have not written, including Night with Huck ‘n’ Ted, my chimp-free WSOP Championship experience, the mystery of the origins of the World Series, the remarkable love story of Robert and Olga Varkonyi, and several others. Plus I have several notebooks with pages of observations and notes I’ve wanted to share.

From Monday to Thursday, I’m going to do some of those things, but my focus will be on the Final 150. I’m going to be doing what every writer in unincorporated Clark County is going to do: cover the Main Event of the World Series of Poker.

But I’m going to do it in a different way than everyone else. You’re not going to get chip counts or hand descriptions. You’re going to get STORIES and DETAILS, and I’m going to try to give you things you can’t get anyplace else. I have no idea what it will consist of but I know it will be good and it will be special. Get what you want about the progress of the tournament from someone else, but keep checking back because I’m going to be working hard - I mean REALLY working - to find information you can’t find anyplace else, and present it in a way no one else will try.

I’m not out here to work on my tan and if I can’t win the World Series, then I’m going to share it with you in the best way possible. 

This entry was posted on Monday, July 31st, 2006 at 9:46 pm and is filed under My favourites:.