Well, there are probably few who actually still visit this dusty little corner of the web, but for the few who do, I just wanted to let you know I’m officially calling it quits. I started this blog up because when I started getting more and more into poker as a hobby. I discovered a great little of community of poker bloggers – and back then, it could actually be called a “little” community, though it was growing fast – and I wanted to be a part of. I had also been looking for an outlet for my writing for some time and I thought a blog might get me over the hump of trying to write a little something every day. For a while it did. Poker and blogging occupied nearly all of my free time for most of a year. But then things started to slow down. There were other demands on my time and I grew a bit weary of poker. I joined my fellow poker bloggers in Vegas last June and again in December and both times it renewed my determination to post here more and play more poker. Unfortunately, each time that drive petered out. The last time I got out only two posts before losing steam. And that was even after one of the craziest days of poker that I’ve ever spent. Rendered delirious by lack of sleep and a quickly worsening flu I cracked king with the hammer, played craps for the first time, cracked Pauly’s QQ playing blind and even wore a bathrobe I won at the Imperial Palace at the poker table. All with some of the best people the poker blogging world has to offer. And somehow I couldn’t get myself to finish writing up the story. (For some of the details and a glory shot of me in the bathrobe (fully clothed underneath, don’t worry) go check out Pauly’s account. Actually, check out this post as well to hear the story of our craps play and 5am poker table mastery)
That should have been my first hint. If I can’t turn out a decent tale after something like that then my heart obviously isn’t in it anymore. I’ve felt guilty about not writing it up just about every day since I came back from that trip. I’ve got this great stuff in my head just waiting to be transcribed but somehow it just never came out. I’ve even got a few sentences that I love in a partially written post, but I can’t seem to find the energy to finish it. I convinced myself it was because I came down with the Gracie Death Flu when I came back and by the time I got better I was just too far removed to write about it properly.
But I was reminding again this past week that while an interesting event in my life will immediately get me thinking about trying to capture it in a post, the follow-through doesn’t come. This past week I got sucker-punched in a bar (don’t worry, I’m fine, though sporting a nice bruise) after little to no provocation. In fact, I couldn’t quite believe I had been struck, though I did have to scramble to retrieve my glasses from the floor. And I never even saw the guy who hit me, before or afterwards. I had this grand story of confusion, careful detective work and finally revenge but when I got to Sunday night without capturing any of it in physical (or digital) words on the page, I realized I’ve moved past this outlet I’ve maintained for the past two years.
Some people will probably say “Duh! He’s written a bare handful of posts in the past year.” And others, though perhaps less sarcastic, will have come to much the same conclusion. I have no plans to tear the site down, so it will likely stay here for at least another year and I’ll likely keep it tucked away somewhere on the web for perpetuity when I get around to finding it a more permanent home. Who knows, I may even follow in the footsteps in bloggers greater than I and resume after a bit of an official hiatus (don’t count on it). And I don’t plan to abandon poker either, though it will continue to be sporadic. I also have no plans to completely severe my ties to the poker blogging community. I’d love to attend the odd poker tournament here and there if they’ll still have an alumni member. And I’ll definitely keep reading them and try to keep in touch with some of the friends I’ve made.
So, thanks to Iggy for pointing people at my blog back in the day. Thank you to Pauly for always being supportive and being friendly even when it’s a chore. Thanks to Hank and Felicia for being so welcoming to a newbie way back in the day. Thanks to Poker Grub, Mean Gene, Joe Speaker and Pauly again for giving me aspirations to write better. Thanks to Gracie and Pablo for being far and away the two coolest people I met on my Vegas trips. And that’s saying something, because I met a lot of exceedingly interesting individuals. And thanks to more poker bloggers than I can properly mention without leaving someone off. Al, Joe … crap, actually it really is impossible to mention them all. Suffice to say, if you remember me you can be sure I remember you and I’m thinking fondly on those memories right now.
And most importantly, I’d like to thank you each and every person who’s ever stopped by here to read a post. Blogs are one of the stranger things to come out of this interweb thingie and it constantly amazes me that anyone has any interest at all in reading anything I have to say. See you around.