I would like to send a thank you to my 2 supporters who have encouraged me from the beginning of this project, Ben and Jerry out there in Vermont, without them I would have finished this blog days ago.
Most people that are familiar with my life are aware that I love Texas Holdem. It is a fantastic game that merges the luck of craps, the planning and evaluation of chess, and the sheer courage of bull fighting where you stand in front of a charging bull with 2 pair with just a pair of threes and watch him fold. The game has so many levels that I am still learning every time I play.
Sept 8th would have been the 66 birthday of the greatest Texas holdem player ever. Stu Unger was the youngest person to win the World Series of Poker main event before Phil Helmuth did it several years later. Stu's best game was gin rummy at which he was unbeatable. He played Harry Stein, who was considered the best gin player at the time, and beat him 86 games to none. There were many rumors that circled around Stu like he could remember every hand played against the other players, he was able to see the other players hold cards, and he could read there minds. He did have a remarkable memory. He was once bet $100,000. by a casino owner that he could not take a 6 deck box {shoe} of cards and after turning them over 1 at a time that he could not identify the last card in the shoe. Stu won. Another time he was playing in a WSOP event no limit heads up event against Mansour Matloubi. With a 3 3 7 K Q on the board, Mansour pushed all in. Stu had a 10 -- 9 and called him saying you have a 4-5 or 5-6, and I'm calling you with a 10 high. He was right, he had a 5-6. Stu once said that the only person who can beat me is me. He was right. He started using cocaine to get an advantage of staying awake and alert in the many all night Vegas poker game. He became addicted. He used cocaine until his nostrils were so damaged that he could not snort it at which point he shift to smoking crack cocaine. At 45 his heart gave out on him, probably damaged by all the cocaine use. You have to wonder how great he would have been if he did not get hooked on drugs.
I think we all have addictive tendencies. I think we have something missing that allows all of the good feelings that we get from life to leak out as if in a leaky bucket. We try to stop the leaks with drugs, alcohol, sex, poker, food, religion, social media, TV, and other temporary fixes instead of repairing the bucket. WE are all a mess and instead of facing it honestly we hide and pretend. I am a mess. I am a selfish, arrogant, coward. I was not a good husband, not a good father, nor a good friend. I am in phase 4 of my life going through my 4th childhood. Thank goodness this one does not have puberty at the end. My gift to you will be honesty, except when we are at the poker table and then I will be a lying conniving chip rustler.
Until later The Beggars Apprentice
Most people that are familiar with my life are aware that I love Texas Holdem. It is a fantastic game that merges the luck of craps, the planning and evaluation of chess, and the sheer courage of bull fighting where you stand in front of a charging bull with 2 pair with just a pair of threes and watch him fold. The game has so many levels that I am still learning every time I play.
Sept 8th would have been the 66 birthday of the greatest Texas holdem player ever. Stu Unger was the youngest person to win the World Series of Poker main event before Phil Helmuth did it several years later. Stu's best game was gin rummy at which he was unbeatable. He played Harry Stein, who was considered the best gin player at the time, and beat him 86 games to none. There were many rumors that circled around Stu like he could remember every hand played against the other players, he was able to see the other players hold cards, and he could read there minds. He did have a remarkable memory. He was once bet $100,000. by a casino owner that he could not take a 6 deck box {shoe} of cards and after turning them over 1 at a time that he could not identify the last card in the shoe. Stu won. Another time he was playing in a WSOP event no limit heads up event against Mansour Matloubi. With a 3 3 7 K Q on the board, Mansour pushed all in. Stu had a 10 -- 9 and called him saying you have a 4-5 or 5-6, and I'm calling you with a 10 high. He was right, he had a 5-6. Stu once said that the only person who can beat me is me. He was right. He started using cocaine to get an advantage of staying awake and alert in the many all night Vegas poker game. He became addicted. He used cocaine until his nostrils were so damaged that he could not snort it at which point he shift to smoking crack cocaine. At 45 his heart gave out on him, probably damaged by all the cocaine use. You have to wonder how great he would have been if he did not get hooked on drugs.
I think we all have addictive tendencies. I think we have something missing that allows all of the good feelings that we get from life to leak out as if in a leaky bucket. We try to stop the leaks with drugs, alcohol, sex, poker, food, religion, social media, TV, and other temporary fixes instead of repairing the bucket. WE are all a mess and instead of facing it honestly we hide and pretend. I am a mess. I am a selfish, arrogant, coward. I was not a good husband, not a good father, nor a good friend. I am in phase 4 of my life going through my 4th childhood. Thank goodness this one does not have puberty at the end. My gift to you will be honesty, except when we are at the poker table and then I will be a lying conniving chip rustler.
Until later The Beggars Apprentice
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