stevesbets

I have 2 of my Finals tomorrow and so I logically decided that it’s the best time in nearly a month to blog. My finals are in Math (the infamous calculator midterm) and Business Law. Since I did all of the math in High School, my studying has focused on the Legal stuff and I have to say it’s far more interesting than my other B school material thus far. As such I have decided to take the LSATs and try to get into Fordham Law to do a JD/MBA. Getting into Fordham Law school is no slam dunk so I’m going to actually have to hunker down a bit for LSAT studying this winter. My other two finals are a paper for marketing on the evolution of the company Burberry which is pretty interesting and a convoluted set of projects for a convoluted woman about which I will say much much more once the semester is over and my grade is in. I will report back on how finals go once they are all done.

Ultimatebet and Absolutepoker have combined to form the Cereus poker network and I am definitely trying it out. I recommend everyone come on over to play me in some sit and goes there. I have looked into the refund process from the cheating scandal and I am satisfied that management has done everything they can to make it all right. They have also implemented state of the art security precautions to ensure it does not happen again. At this point their cashouts are smooth and their service is much improved, they are going to be a legit 3rd option for USA players along with Pokerstars and Full Tilt so jump on the bandwagon. Also note managment is DIFFERENT now than when the cheating occurred.

I have been meaning to weigh in on the Tiffany Michelle debate ever since the WSOP aired with some episodes that largely featured this polarizing figure. Before I do, I want to make it clear that I understand that people can be portrayed very poorly on TV through little to no fault of their own. DanDruff of neverwinpoker is a good example of that. When I saw his WSOP episode a few years ago I found him to be nearly unwatchably annoying, however I have since had several experiences with him and have found him to be one of the nicer and more put together people in the poker world and I know he regrets his actions and portrayal on ESPN.

With all that said, I found Tiffany Michelle (or her TV persona anyway) to be detestable but NOT for the reason that most people did. In a now infamous hand very deep in the World Series, Michelle called the clock on Paul Sneed who ended up reluctantly calling all in with a weak top pair against a guy bluffing with a naked ace (the ace fell on the river to break Sneed’s heart). People at her table and around the entire poker community have blasted Michelle for calling the clock there because it is a big and important decision worth potentially millions of dollars. I have NO PROBLEM AT ALL with her doing it, in fact I encourage it. I have said before that I have zero doubt I can make any poker decision in less than a minute (the amount of time you have to act AFTER someone has called the clock) and I would wholeheartedly support a measure to limit the amount of time people can waste thinking and pretending to think when they really have their mind made up anyway. I absolutely cannot stand the insane amount of time that is wasted by most live tournament players and it is within EVERYONE’S right in a tournament to call the clock on someone at any time. The fact that many well known players have condemned Michelle for this is pathetic to me.

So while Michelle bothered everyone else with that clock call, she bothered me with just about everything else she did. I find that some of the female poker “celebrity’s” often have an attitude similar to that Michelle demonstrated on TV (please note i said some and NOT all). That attitude goes something like this: She is a woman in a world of men and everyone underestimates her but she has proven (through her effort in a single tournament mind you) that she is “smart enough” to play with the men. Additionally, she craftily uses her “actress” good looks and sex appeal to disarm the ignorant men around her and take their chips before they know what hit them. She has higher value than the men because she is better looking, more sought after (in a world of men), and is one of the few females “capable” of holding her own. The guys at her table should feel privileged to be called “honey” by her in a condescending way. She was loud, obnoxious and annoying to the people at her table and if ANY man acted that way they would be thoroughly blasted on the message boards and on air. The truth of the matter is, ALL WOMEN are just as capable as men to play in the poker tournaments. MOST of the people that do play in the main event of the WSOP, men and women, are not necessarily extremely bright nor extremely good at poker. SOME men do soft play women but it’s pretty rare in a 10k event, and if they do I think it would not have anything to do with Michele’s “amazing looks” (I am not here to judge the truth of her beliefs in her own hotness, I’ll leave that to the readers) and would have everything to do with some sort of innate sexism they feel. Finally, getting deep in one tournament, even if it is the WSOP means absolutely, positively nothing about how smart you are, how good you are at poker, or how much of a feminine pioneer you are. The only reason that poker is so dominated by men is because more of them have the inclination to spend a portion of their lives playing the game. [end of rant]

My friend just turned 26 (happy birthday Alex) and it really got me wondering how people become full fledged adults. Just a few nights ago I was playing poker and watching Rounders, eerily reminiscent to a Stevesbets at age 21 activity. I’m going to be 26 in the not so distant future, more than halfway through my 20s, more than halfway to 50 and feeling the same as when i was a fraction of this age. In High School we read a short story about an 18 year old that said something like, “when you’re 18 you are also 17 and 16, 15, 14 etc etc, but you are not 19″. I find this is true, I am every age below me because I have been every age beneath me. As for those above me, they are unfathomable, far away and scary. There does come a point though, a point I am well past when we need to grow up and make adult decisions regardless of the ages I have in me. This need is all the more present and important in the poker world filled with what Andy Bellin, author of “Poker Nation” called “Liars, bozos, thieves, dupes and morons”. So all of you young poker players watch out, 26 is right around the corner.

I just got my DVD of the Dark Knight which I preordered long ago. I could go on forever about both this movie and Batman Begins. I loved them both and Dark Knight is my favorite movie of all time. I really do wish a Batman existed, the idea of turning fear against those who pray on the fearful is very appealing to me. Maybe if I ever become a billionaire…

Expect more frequent updates from now on, I promise