Livin’ The Dream

“You’re makin’ a run at it aren’t you? Rollin up a stake & movin to Vegas” – Kinnish

The quote is from the movie Rounders. We’ve all seen it, some find it cheesy, some of us watch it couple times a year, & others like me and my buddy Marcus can quote every word. When I was in high school, right around the time Casino came out, I started to read everything about the gaming industry. My dream was to play poker, meet some people, make some money, & ultimately get into casino & hotel management at an executive level. Basically, I wanted to be Bobby Baldwin before Bobby Baldwin was Bobby Baldwin.

Fast forward to graduation. I went on college, got lots of book learnin at UK, got a great job with Lowe’s & moved out to LA. The very few times I got to play poker, I’d set there in that huge room at Commerce & think “I could do this. I always dreamed of doing this for a living.” Alas, I had a great job making great money, was young, & really loved being a manager for Lowe’s. It wasn’t The Mirage, but it was high level management with a huge company. I did however blow lots of my bonus checks trying to play with people I had seen on tv. I didn’t care. It was fun, I knew I was getting a check for a couple thousand in a few months, & I’d be fine. Especially if I could find any of the games that I growed up playing that wasn’t in the nosebleeds. There was however this one time when I set down with my entire liferoll in a HUGE razz cash game for less than 30 minutes. I was so nervous I couldn’t handle it but that is a wholenother story for another time.

I got moved to Lancaster, CA started playing low stakes NLHE for $20 buyins at Diamond Jim’s casino way out in the desert. I would usually win $100 or lose $500. Then something clicked with management & the casino got on board with spreading omaha hi/lo. I loved it because I was already familiar with it. I’d still get broke in the NLHE games waiting on the omaha games, but when I got in the omaha games where the average age was 86.4, I cleaned up.

I left Lowe’s in a hissyfit on April 24, 2009, cashing out my entire Lowe’s stock, and going to the casino. I did well playing omaha/pineapple mix. It was that day I thought, “forget looking for a job, just do this!” It was easy right? NOOOOOPE!

It’s amazing how many times you can make the same mistake and never learn from it like all them times I’d burn my bonus checks at commerce, or buying into hold’em cash games after winning at omaha. However, even after making it so hard on myself, I never got broke again.

I came home to Nashville few months later, & couldn’t find a game to save my life. So I was driving all over, to Atlanta, to Chattanooga, Ringold, Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, & Tunica. I finally got away from hold’em and was playing PLO alot, as well as the ORSE games. It would be 2012 before I had a losing month, & those months came from degenning in the pit, not on the felt. I’ve never made no 100k in a year, but I live decent. Somedays I had MacDonalds, but I’ve never worried about money to pay bills.

If you make your income from poker, You want a bracelet & you want to know if you are good enough to make it in Vegas. Ever since high school, that has been my dream. So in the first week in January, I’m loading up the vehicle & heading out to The Vegas! It’s time to make the dream become reality…Even if I don’t become Bobby Baldwin.

NEGATIVE THOUGHTS, BAD DECISIONS, & WORSE RESULTS

Been some time since I wrote anything, but not for lack of trying. Lots been going on lately. I’ve just concluded my first losing month in two years. That is sort of a tough pill to swallow.  While I can blame one session on the possession of the dreaded $50 bill, (that damn General Grant still swindling us southerners!) most of the results for July 2012 can be attributed to life decisions.

In the recent weeks I’ve began to try to get away from negative thoughts and my many superstitions. For the most part I am becoming convinced that positive thinking and a change of outlook can be beneficial in a variety of situations, especially poker.  Before, (as in June) anytime I had a big hand I’d think to myself “Self, let’s see what ways we can play great and lose this hand.”  Anytime I had top set in PLO on a dry board, I was convinced if the money went in I would lose to runner, runner backdoor draws. And it happened as it does sometimes, but it was happening A LOT. It seemed all month long if I had monster draws I would brick, and monster hands would get drawn out on. I had begun playing more No Limit Hold’em, and I seemed to be having big hands lose for big money. Each time I would remind myself of how I hate the damn game, it sucks, everyone sucks, I suck, and Corky McCorquodale sucks. I wished on numerous occasions for his grave to be infested with ants and worms.  Negative thoughts to say the least. A great new friend has me beginning to taking time to think more positively and attempting to remove doubt, and focus less on bad beats and lucky draws.

So let’s fast forward to Tunica, Mississippi and the World Poker Open.  After having a roller coaster Friday night, and finishing down a little bit for the night, I wasn’t really concerned. I had my new outlook, felt good, and Saturday would be a new day full of positive thoughts, vibes and really sweet inspirational texts. I played some & did well, then played some video poker and did even better. On Saturday afternoon I was fortunate enough to visit the LIPS event and meet Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher who were both super sweet to me. It was great to be able to meet two ladies I admire, even though I learned that Linda refused our southern delicacy of squirrel gumbo.

Then later I got the wonderful idea that I should go to Vegas… the next day! There are some friends I wanna see, a wonderful woman I wanna meet, and awesome food I wanna eat. I wanted to go mainly for the food, but all of those seemed like good enough reasons to make a bad decision. But wait… that requires a plane ticket. So the ego stepped up to the plate and said “Logic, get your ass outta here we agoin to the Vegas!” That’s really what was said, I was right there, heard it all. So what’s the best way to get extra plane ticket money? How about driving to Harrah’s for that really soft $1/$2 PLO game where I can small ball hopefully for a couple hours and make the plane ticket $??!! No that takes too long and I have nothing but time, so that wouldn’t be smart.  Oh I got it! I’ll play craps right fast and make it in about 20 minutes! Then as I walk that away, stories of TJ and Chau Giang dusting off their bankrolls at the craps table came to mind so I stopped. Then it hit me! A bad decision that lead to one of the worst result I have ever experienced as a poker player… I decided I could play roulette and win it in less than 10 minutes! So I played roulette for about 10 minutes, losing the price of about 6 plane tickets.  Que the pac-man death sound here.  

Needless to say, I came home, checked the bank account for bills, checked the other account for the bankroll, and counted the cash I had, all the while wondering where the other stack of cash went to.  We’ve all been there. Thanks to Jared Tendler, and his book The Mental Game of Poker, a good many of us are handling those situations better, and you can count me among that group.  In addition to that, having a support system to keep me centered, positive, and reassuring me that I have the talent to continue to make it in this crazy world, has improved my overall outlook in a variety of different ways. I can prove that it works. As I type this, my roommate and his girlfriend brought home a surprise from Old Hickory Steakhouse, (Google it) a bowl of lobster bisque! If you follow me on Twitter (@Tennesseejc if not) you know that this fat kid loves lobster. Also, while typing this I’ve gotten a text that the smart, witty, sassy blonde I’ve been talking to is doing well on a video poker machine, Karina Jett is on my TV beating Mike The Mouth on Poker After Dark, and Corky McCorquodale’s grave it turns out, actually IS inhabited by ants and worms.

“Professional Poker Player”…More Than Just a Title

Calling yourself a professional & acting professional are two totally different things. The poker world gets this line blurred way to often. Why? I don’t really know.  What I do know is it’s pretty tilting to me, and getting worse all the time. People who call themselves “pros” but act childish are not at all good for the game in my opinion.  If you ain’t good for the game, your bad for the game. Simple as that. No inbetween. Every player is either good for business or bad for business. 

So what is a professional poker player? Is a pro someone who sustains his or herself from an income in which 95-100% comes from poker? What about 80%? What about if you pay for your food, car, phone,& rent from your poker income? Are you a pro then? I’m sure most of you would say yes that makes you a professional poker player.  I say not even close.  That makes you a poker player. A very good, maybe even great poker player at that. But it don’t make you a professional.

What about if you’ve won a WPT title? What about two? Or the most coveted prize of all…a bracelet. Surely if your income comes from poker, you have a bracelet and/or a WPT title, you can be on the list of professional poker players right? In my best Waylon Jennings voice I’m saying “WRONG”

Conducting yourself in a professional manner goes farther in making you a professional poker player than any amount of skill does.  Acting like a jerk, doing unprofessional things to people at the table ruins your reputation & the overall credibility of the industry in the eyes of the amateur players.  There are a couple things I’m seeing a lot of lately that we as so called “pros” in the poker world should make a conscious effort to stay away from.  It certainly would make the live poker experience more inviting to new players, which in turn boosts your profit margin. 

Remember when your momma would tell you “don’t run with the scissors!”? She wanted you to be safe for sure but also she cautioned you against this because it’s pretty damn stupid to do so. A lot of people in the poker world recently are doing things just as stupid & it is causing me to secretly hope they’ll trip.

So many people both “pro” & knowledgeable amateur alike think it’s their place to educate bad players at the table.  Somebody please tell me why? If you genuinely feel you are the better player at the table or in a situation vs an opponent, why in the hale would you try to make that player closer to your level of skill? Last Week I get dealt A233 playing limited Omaha8.  Flop is K-3-K. I lead & get called in two spots.  Turn card come a 8. I lead again & got called by dude in middle position. Given the nature of the way the game had been playing I knew if my hand was no good I would have been raised on the turn, & the old dude had raised with wired pairs of any paints so I wasn’t worried about quads. I was prepared to bet the river for value.  Then before the river card he did “something” I can’t explain it, just something about him told me he didn’t have a king. I figured high pocket pair  or maybe A2xx. The river card come a 9.  No low possible. I bet with my low full. He raised.  I’m a firm believer in going with your read no matter what. That’s the best way to learn to improve your reading skills. Well, that & reading Zach Elwood’s book “Reading Poker Tells”. So my read told me I was good on the turn, he didn’t have a king, so that would make me have the best hand.  I pump it, he reraises & now I know my hand is no good.  Easy fold right? Yes of course it is. But if my read was correct, my hand was still good, & I made a very stupid amateurish move by calling the river. He turns over 2-99-J rainbow.  My read had been perfect, (THANKS ZACH!) and I had been two outered by a dude calling all the way down with what was obviously a hand that needed a miracle to win. I said “nice hand” and killed him very creatively in my mind. As the dealer was pushing him chips, one man said “I reckon you thought your hand was good on the flop” speaking to the old dude who had just beat me that pot. The guy then showed how fishy he was by saying “I don’t understand what you mean.” That was obvious to me he had no clue, had been a holdem player just learning Omaha8, & the type person I want in that game. The other dude would not quit with his “education” and telling the fish how stupid his play had been.  He proceeded to announce to the table he was a “pro” who played everyday and had never seen a worse play. If you call yourself a pro, act professional and don’t berate the fish. Make them feel comfortable at the table. I went out of my way to make the old feller laugh, and get him talking about other things than poker. Later on in the night, I have AA23 in a heads up pot against the same old feller. Flop come A-6-Q all hearts. I fired and he turned his hand over 288K all clubs, and said “I guess my hand is no good on the flop” looked at the “pro” who had made him feel stupid earlier, and mucked his hand. My creative ways of imagining people meeting their demise in hunting accidents changed focus to the table captain. In a NLHE game, lets say you connect on the flop, bet, get raised, then 3bet your good hand, & get called by Ace high who then spikes the Barry Greenstein. How would you react? Can you control your emotions? Or would you tell the person how stupid they are, call them a horrible player, etc. Who cares if they suck out on you? Those are the people you want at the table. You want people calling huge amounts of money in bad spots. You want them folding correctly in that spot so you win $25? As the better player your money comes from you forcing your opponents to make bad decisions. Don’t tell someone how stupid they are in that spot. It’s unprofessional & in my mind makes you stupid as well for lowering your EV in that game.

As bad as I think that is, a lot of the so called pros have horrific attitudes towards other players when they are losing, even when it is their fault. People may watch Tony G. on tv & think “oh it must be cool to do that at the casino.” That behavior is bad for the game. In addition to showcasing what an ass they are, & low amount of class they possess, it shows how little respect they have for the game. It shows selfishness, immaturity, & a complete lack of huggage given to them as a child probably. In the long run, that attitude lowers profits.  How? Let me explain. No…let me sum up. When you exhibit that kind of behavior where you are calling names, being downright hateful to people two things happen. First, many people, including those who possess less skill, won’t want to play with you. People don’t want to deal with your attitude, and will just bypass your game. Poker is a social game. Even losing can be a fun time if the table dynamic creates a good atmosphere. If you are anti-social, the people who just want to donate & have fun want no part of you. So then you will find yourself with less fishy opponents. Secondly, the better opponents, will become pissed & come after you. Not as easy to consistently turn as big of a profit with a target on your back every single time you set down at the poker table.

Now there is a difference between table talking to tilt an opponent, & just being a classless asshole. Mike the Mouth has sometimes crossed the line but I don’t know of any instance where he insulted someone’s family, religion, sexual preference, or told a woman she is a bit looser with her morals than normal.  From what I have heard Phil Hellmuth & Tony G are in this same category. But what I know for a fact is some other people that are looked up to because of their tv successes, consistently cross the line with insults.

Let’s keep in mind that words sting a lot worse than punches in many cases.  What if someone is very self conscious about their weight, and you continue to jab at them about it.  Is that gaining an advantage? I say no its not. What it is however is cruel and bullyish. What if a well known woman in poker just went through a breakup and you comment on that attempting to tilt her. Is that gaining an advantage? I suppose you are tilting them but also doing so in a classless, supremely shitty fashion. On twitter last week lots of stories came about how Will the Thrill Failla has made some awful comments to players, usually when he was the one who screwed up or played bad. This spawned debate about a lot of other “poker celebs” who behave the same & whether it is acceptable. I’m sure he’s not the only one that has told someone they should kill themselves, but probably the most high profile to have done so numerous times.  No doubt some of you reading this have done the same. Why is that ok in poker? I’ve said that many times & will continue to do so in regards to things I hate outside of the industry but never relating to poker.  I want to ask people “does that make you feel better about yourself?” Do you feel more like a man or more like a badass to say stuff like that to weaker opponents? What if you say to a woman “I hope you get raped & die of aids!” Yes, I was in the room when that was actually said to a woman. Is that ok? The pros that have said those types of things to others at the table are extremely bad for the game and furthermore should die violently in a fire. See that…works both ways. It is completely unprofessional behavior & in no way should you call yourself a “professional poker player” if you act like that. All you are is someone who makes their living at the game but you damn sure ain’t no professional. 

At the heart of this lies the question of “why is this ok, & how did it become so?” My belief is that the majority of this behavior comes from younger people who grew up playing the game seriously on the internet, not experiencing the social aspect of the game, and playing live only in casinos where security will not allow physical violence. Some of us a bit older who grew up without internet learned the game as more of a social function. It would be much later before we recognized the fact that we can actually earn a nice living by playing it at a high level. For me, and several more like me, casinos aren’t anywhere close to us. If we want to make a living playing poker, you have to deal with the stresses of underground casinos and private games. To consistently pay your bills, it takes playing at more than micro stakes so private games may not be the safest. Takes a special kind of person to deal with all that goes on. Lots can go wrong. But what NEVER happens in private games or underground casinos is the kind of behavior and treatment of fellow players that exists in the public casinos. 

When I played at Aria last there came a heated argument at the table behind me where a dude had been felted, with the winner of the pot slow-rolling. In many private games that’s a quick way to get a ride to the hospital. I’ve seen pretty severe beatings on more than one occasion & once a stabbing due to slow-rolling. Anyway the felted gentleman got up and said “You knew you had the nuts when you called you were supposed to just turn your hand over not slow-roll me.” To which the villain replied “no what I was supposed to do was take your money which is what I did.”  Newsflash, that came from a dude who has been seen on tv several times. Why is this ok? Somebody go ask Doyle how that would have turned out back on Exchange Street in Texas? I PROMISE you if it ever happened at an underground casino is north Georgia they don’t call the floor to serve you a one round penalty.

Do those of us who make a living off the game even care? Surely some of us care more than most so the responsibility lies within us to better it by just being good examples. Maybe telling a fellow poker player privately how their behavior isn’t cool works sometimes. Even better, more in the industry can try earning the respect of our peers through leading by example.  In order to grow our profits, we need new people coming to the game all the time. When they come, try to keep them around. Make them feel comfortable, have a good time, and leave wanting to come back. You don’t have to be friends with people you are going to war with, just be civil & show some respect for the game & your fellow players. Remember Amarillo Slim said “You can sheer a sheep many atime, but you can only skin him once.” Let’s keep that in mind and stop running with the scissors.

 

JC

A Tale From Tunica…& Texas too

I debated on writing this but I feel with the recent passing of Amarillo Slim, it’s an appropriate and relevant time for me to share a few of the personal memories I have of Slim.

When I was in high school we got the internet at our house. Like most of my generation when I first got it at home I spent countless hours asking Jeeves various questions and typing in a variety of topics into Alta Vista. In between talking to classmates in the Nashville chatroom & checking for the blood code for Mortal Kombat, I somehow ran across the world series of poker. This was ’96. When I asked Jeeves about it, my search yielded all kinds of stuff. While I’d been into poker for several years, I found out what Texas Hold’em was, what tournaments were, and who the guys we idolized were. I was fascinated by the stories I read about Brunson, Roberts, Reese, Pearson, & last but in no way least, Amarillo Slim.

My best friend & I were already organizing football & basketball pools in school, so with our new discovery of all these famous prop bets, we decided to follow suit. We attempted to find twins to do the quail eating thing, and ended up using the only set of twins in West Nashville so naturally the jig was up and we had to pay. We attempted to drive a golf ball a mile on a frozen lake and my buddy hit the damn ball in the trees every time, not even touching the frozen lake so we had to pay. We attempted to fix the first round of the city basketball tournament by having our team take a dive. We both started so we felt sure we’d be able to control the game, keep it close, tank, & make about $50 each right? Well I drove and we ended up getting lost, getting a speeding ticket, and in a road rage situation on the way to the tournament. We were late, therefore our coach benched us both for the entire game. Our team won by 20 with the starting forward & center on the bench. Needless to say, we had to pay.

After we graduated my buddy went to Dallas to be the next Stone Cold Steve Austin while I went on to the University of Kentucky (GO CATS!!). I spent some of my first freshman year (I had two freshman years) with him in Dallas. One morning we get up to go to Lone Star Park there in Grand Prairie. We walk on in to the clubhouse & get our spots all picked out settin down right in front of the biggest four televisions in the place. It’s time for first race we’re standing up hootin & hollerin for a horse that ran like it was destined for the glue factory, when I notice Amarillo fuckin Slim standing ten feet from me! Now I’m borned & breaded in music city, from a family heavily involved in racing, & a house about 24.6 steps from the TN Titans practice & medical facility. So seeing famous people was nothing new. I’ve never been one to go cookoo for coco puffs, or celebs for that matter, so I got in my head I was going to introduce myself.

But I got scared. At the 2nd race I stood up, inched over to look at the same tv he was viewing, & when he turned around I kept staring at the screen as he walked by. DAMMIT! 3rd race same thing. By the fourth race we’ve been there literally 7-10 feet apart for 2 hours & I’ve said nothing to my gambling hero.
I told myself, “self, don’t be a bitch. Your never gonna see him again, just say hello, tell him a funny story, and let him alone.” on the fifth race I stand right beside him. I had a decent bet on a horse that I believe was number 8. I hadn’t cashed a ticket all day, and right as I go to say something to Slim, my horse made a big move to the front. I yelled in prime redneck fashion, “C’MONE 8!!” When I did Amarillo fuckin Slim, who hadn’t spoken a word all day yells “SAY IT AGAIN!” Holy shit my gambling hero bet on the same horse as me! So I did say it again. Slim yelled “SAY IT AGAIN!” again. So I did. And he did. It was quite comical and the few people who were there in that portion of the room were all laughing at the exchange.

That broke the ice, we talked for a little bit and after the 7th race he left. Right before he left, as he was throwing away his racing form, he said “take the 1 in the last race.” I said “you sure about that?” His reply was: “if I tell you a flee can cut a tree, you better find you a saw.” Well when the last race come around, the 1 horse was absolute dog shit. The damn thing barely walked across the wire. I didn’t care. I was all smiles. My buddy Scott won a bunch of money, I lost a bunch of money, but I felt awesome to be able to legit say I met Slim.

There is a story that was going around on 2+2 where someone said they played NLHE with Slim at the Bellagio. He says Slim slow rolled him for a massive pot and laughed at his antics, then the ENTIRE…BELLAGIO…POKER ROOM applauded. Now I ain’t no vegasite, yet, but I’ll be ducking flying pigs before I ever believe the entire Bellagio poker room applauded someone being slow rolled even if it happened to be Jesus H. Christ himself holding the cards.

The reason I say that is because a few years after my Lone Star Park experience, I found myself at the Horseshoe in Tunica, MS. I put my name on the list to play Pot Limit Omaha (shocker) & took a open seat in a limit hold’em game. I get focused on my table & before long they call me for PLO. I grab my chips & go to the open seat which just happens to be right beside Amarillo fucking Slim. There was a hand that come up in which case one person slow rolled the other. He was very arrogant, thought he played like Doyle, when in reality he ran like Secretariat. When he slow rolled a 2nd person just a few hands later while holding quads, I made a comment. Slim came in with his 2 cents and told a couple stories of people slow rolling their way into coffins. He made it a point of saying how he felt that’s the best way to handle it.

Amarillo Slim didn’t play many pots that night. He did keep us entertained with his stories of various games & people. I didn’t know that one or two of his famous pool games with Minnesota Fats actually took place in Nashville! Somebody asked about the old WSOP days, others asked about the dangers of life on the road, the dangerous games, someone asked about Jimmy Chagra, etc. I told him of the couple of times I had played with Puggy Pearson & that I had learned a lot. He laughed and told me the first rule to poker is to never listen to anything Pug had to say. I made the comment to the table later on that I personally didn’t think I’d ever win a bracelet and I wasn’t going to ever waste the money on expensive buy-ins. Slim turned to me & gave me one of the best poker quotes that I’ve repeated a thousand times: “You’ll have the bracelet & the memories long after the money’s gone.” I tried to keep him talking about the famous prop bets. One in particular he told us a lot of details about was the time he did a rafting trip along a particularly dangerous river. He said that Jimmy the Greek was betting against him and was telling people he hoped Slim would die in the river. Slim alluded to the fact that now nobody knows who Jimmy the Greek was & that he didn’t particularly like him neither.

Amarillo Slim said that that there bet almost killed him. But he was quick to say “Whenever death come a knockin I always lay a price on me…And I done drawed out on him everytime.” Sadly, this time, death spiked an Ace on the river. RIP Slim

 

JC

Allow Me to Introduce Myself

***DISCLAIMER***

PLEASE EXCUSE THE ABSOLUTE SLAUGHTERING OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE & USE OF THE SOUTHERN VERNACULAR. IT’S MEANT TO ADD FLAVOR AND CHARM. AS WELL AS MAKE THIS EASIER FOR ME.   

After much debate I have decided I want to start a blog. If for nothing else than to get some thoughts down on cyber paper, piss some people off and make some people laugh, all the while talking a little poker.

My intent is to voice an opinion or two on the poker world, tell some funny tales from experiences being a road warrior, maybe talk some about some of the other things I’m involved in, and provide a sleeping pill for those suffering from boredom & insomnia. If it gains me a twitter follower or three then that’s cool too.  

I’ve wanted to write a blog for a long time but each time I get started, something new happens and I start over. Or I sit down at the computer, start typing and realize that I’m rambling and erase it all. This is literally draft number eleven.  Then I realized that no matter what I write, the site itself is going to be bland and I know not how to make it all spiffy. I apologize for that and I ask that you bear with me until I find an app to improve on it in the coming weeks.

So who am I? Let me explain. Better yet…let me sum up. I am a poker player. A sometimes semi-educated, more often than not funny, forever real and honest, horrible spelling, always reading, limo riding, jet flying, styling & profiling poker player. Ok, those last few I stole from Ric Flair but if ain’t nobody reading this here then plagerizinism (yes I know plagerizinism ain’t a word but it should be) shouldn’t matter. After Black Friday, I went back to my roots to become a rounder of the old school variety, travelling to home games as well as underground private casinos and shady backrooms in even shadier businesses. You might ask me,”why don’t you just move to Vegas or Tunica and not worry about crackhead hijackers & PO-leese who always want their handout”?  Well, I want to. But both parents are elderly, both diabetic, and I don’t have very many years left with them. So for now, I’m staying right here in “West Nashville where we ain’t bashful”. My place is close to their home so free food is awesome. Plus, where else am I gonna find neighbors known throughout the city as Junky Jones & Crackhead Carl? In addition, we are somehow still allowed to play on carbonpoker.com (how they do that?) so I’ve been doing that and only playing games that are within 90 minutes from my house.

I’m primarily a PLO & HORSE player. And contrary to 99.9827451% of you, No Limit Holdem is my worst game by far. I mean, I actually kinda suck at it. But I do have a fair understanding of the game and even binked a win & fair score on PokerStars in an 8 game tourney in which NLHE was part of the rotation.

My introduction to poker came when I learned 7-card stud during the summer that I was nine at an illegal poker game in a rough section of town called “the nations”. The dude who ran the game used to let me watch as long as I was quiet and turned the sound off on my Gameboy. He was a real close friend of my father’s and he was the sheriff!! Today I am a regular at the “music row” game that some people may have heard about. I ain’t Phil Helmuth so I won’t name drop ever but some big name stars play there regularly when not on tour so if you want to read some funny stories about how bad they play, be sure to revisit often and follow me on Twitter.  I don’t want to have a blog that spends a lot of time on poker strategy but from time to time I might talk about an interesting hand.

In addition to poker I’m also heavily involved with the National Hot Rod Association, TN historical commission, the Battle of Nashville Preservation Society, & TN State Library & Archives source collection group.  I’m a fat kid at heart who constantly dreams of punch & pie even though I work out, a crazy, rabid University of Kentucky basketball fan, & a dog lover. So now that you know a little something about me, hopefully I’ll be able to provide a little something for y’all in return.  Oh, and I’m single too. So tell your friends how cool I am and tell them all to follow me on twitter @tennesseejc. How’d I do for my first shameless self-plugging?

 JC