Redirecting

Thursday, October 19, 2006

RoShamBo Revisited

I met Jay Greenspan many years ago at NYC's Acepoint club. Several of us formed our own poker posse way before it was the cool "Crew" thing to do (I can't believe I even brought them up... they are like the poor man's Rocks'n'Rings). We discussed poker non-stop, and all worked to develop our skills. Jay morphed from a weak tight rock (where most of us began our poker adventures) into a big bet assassin, and top notch poker journalist to boot.

After celebrating the recent publication of his book, Hunting Fish, Jay recently got married to Marisa, in true degenerate style: they chose the order of the vows using a RoShamBo contest, and Jay's tutelage under the Legend, Rafe Furst, enabled him to come away victorious against his soon-to-be wife. You'll recognize Rafe as a 2006 WSOP bracelet winner, and perennial RoShamBo World Championship contender (although I did once beat him in heads up RoShamBo when he dared to come to my homegame).

Back to Jay's book: check it out. FridayInVegas is a pimp-free zone - I don't get paid for anything I say or do on this meager site, so you can be sure that when I recommend Jay's book, Hunting Fish, I'm doing it because it's worth your time. You can tell the book is good because Kid Dynamite is listed in the acknowledgements.

Jay travels across the country, trying to build a bankroll for the big Commerce No Limit game, while at the same time balancing the pressures of a long-distance relationship, and the TILT-ifying encounters that come blasting his way daily as a professional grinder. Now, don't misunderstand the term "grinder" - Jay no longer sits on his leather ass waiting for the nuts - he is not afraid to seize the opportunity to devour any weakness you show him at the table, and put you to a big bet test, to commit his stack on a draw, or to make a read and go with it. However, one of the great thing about Jay's book is how he illustrates the grind that is professional poker - the mental toll that the travel and the inevitable beats take on him and his psyche.

The book is not a story of a bunch of poker hands - although there are a few hands where Jay describes his thinking and actions, and give some expert insight into big bet poker thinking - it's a story of a poker journey, and the development and self-introspection of an aspiring player.

In other "friends of KD who are making it big in journalism" news, H0nus's fiancee, Catherine Holahan has been writing some articles on online gambling for BusinessWeek. Her latest is a top story today, and features the highlights of her discussion with Dr. Pauly.

check it out.
-KD

6 comments:

jremotigue said...

Thanks for the reminder that I need to do a review of Jay's book! I met him at the WPBT event in July and he gave me a copy. It's an excellent read.

Been reading your stuff for a while KD, haven't commented in a while, but thought I should let you know that enjoy the blog.

kanyezee said...

I also enjoy the blog, ive absolutely cracked up at some of your posts and you can deliver the punchline very well.

Just wanted to say that im also a fan of high stakes poker, but we don't get in here in NZ so I thought I'd point out that most episodes are on youtube.com if you have a connection that is fast enough to load the vids so you dont wait an eternity to view them.

Anonymous said...

you might have beat Rafe in one round, but I seem to remember you paying for dinner...

Kid Dynamite said...

yes yes.... Rafe beat me for dinner in the revenge match... but that was a non-title match

Anonymous said...

lol, Rafe sets you up with the "title" round, yet let's you lose the round with the money on it.

Kid Dynamite said...

yeah - i beat rafe for like $10 in the title match.. then he beat me for a $30 dinner