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Yes I Know....

[Content: 0% poker, 43% other]


....where the hell have I been?

Well it's a long story and there is just no need to bother with it today.

So how about something lite and whimsical today... a test!

Strange though it may seem, this visual-emotive test has some validity.

Once you click on the link you just pick one and you're done; takes 15 seconds.

I offer this to you only because I was sent the nine responses first and then after I knew which one was "me", only then did I take the test and lo and behold -- it worked. Hmmm, maybe I should give you that same option.

OK, this is going to take longer; if you are in cyber-time mode and just want to press on with your daily surfing--jump to the bottom and click the Test Link.

Here are the nine 'answers', as you probably know they are very general and anyone who lacks a certain dollop of truthful self-awareness could believe anything about themself. However, I think if you take a moment and find the real you...... you will be surprised at the correlation.

The only real problem with the test is that many people relate transitory moods to color and form but if you read these and then immediately take the test... it should work. Sort of a temporal snapshot of your current inner state.

Here are the nine options:

1) You come to grips more frequently and thoroughly with yourself and your environment than do most people.

You detest superficiality. You'd rather be alone than have to suffer through small talk.

Your relationships with your friends are very strong, which gives you the inner tranquility and harmony that you require.

You do not mind being alone for extended periods of time. You are rarely bored.

2) You are easy-going and independent. You do not need to be the center of attention, instead you graciously let others take center stage.

You have no set plans, rather you prefer to "go with the flow," relying on your sharp instincts and intuition as situations present themselves to you. You are very social and popular, yet you are perfectly happy going off alone to persue your interests. There is a quiet confidence about you.

3) You are quite willing to accept certain risks and to make a strong commitment in exchange for interesting and varied work.

Routine, in contrast, tends to have a paralyzing effect on you.

What you like most is to be able to play an active role in events. In doing so, your initiative is highly pronounced.

4) You appreciate high quality and things that endure. Consequently, you like to surround yourself with little "gems," which are often overlooked by others.

Culture and tradition are important to you.

You have found your own personal style, which is elegant and exclusive, free from the whims of fashion.

Your ideal, upon which you base your life, is sophisticated pleasure.

5) You take charge of your life, and place less faith in luck and more in your own deeds. You solve problems in a practical, uncomplicated manner.

You take a realistic view of the things in your daily life and tackle them without wavering.

You are given a great deal of responsibility at work, because people know that you can be depended upon.

Your pronounced strength of will projects your self-assurance to others. You are never fully satisfied until you have accomplished your goals.

6) You are a very sensitive person. You refuse to view things only from a sober, rational standpoint.

You listen to your feelings. It is important for you to have dreams in life.

You reject people who scorn romanticism and are guided only by rationality.

You refuse to let anything confine the rich variety of your moods and emotions.

7) You value a natural style and love that which is uncomplicated. People admire you because you have both feet planted firmly on the ground and they can depend on you.

You give those who are close to you security and space. You are perceived as being warm and human.

You reject everything that is garish and trite. You tend to be skeptical toward the whims of fashion trends. Your style is easy and elegant.

8) You demand a free and unattached life for yourself that allows you to determine your own course. You have an artistic bent in your work or leisure activities.

Your urge for freedom sometimes causes you to do exactly the opposite of what is expected of you.

Your lifestyle is highly individualistic. You would never follow trends.

On the contrary, you seek to live according to your own ideas and convictions, even if this means swimming against the tide.

9) You love a free and spontaneous life. And you strive to enjoy every moment, in accordance with the motto: "You only live once."

You are very curious and open about everything new. You thrive on change. Nothing is worse than when you feel tied down.

You experience your environment as being versatile and always good for a surprise.

10) You are a mean, nasty bastard and will suffer the eternal fires of damnation.

OK, there are only nine but #10 you know who you are.

Sorry had to kill the test link, it now links to some cheap porno site.

A little addendum here: I took the test again a couple of months later and found that not only did my #1 still resonant as me but the two I was most repelled by are precisely the type of people I care to avoid.
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100 Things About Me (2007)

[Content: poker 8%, me 100%]

As some but not all of my readers know, bloggers often "out" themselves with a list: "100 Things About Me". I recommend this exercise to everyone, even if you only share the results with your cat.

So as my final step in changing this blog from poker to personal, here are my "100 Things About Tim".

1. I do not have a tattoo or any piercings.
2. I was All-League in football in high school, so were all three of my brothers.

3. I was born in Detroit but only lived there a year and a half.
4. I grew up in a rural village of 1200 in Michigan near Ann Arbor.

5. I have lived with four women in my life; this total does not include lesbians, my mother or my sister.

6. Only one relationship ever got anywhere near the conversation that begins: “4½ yellow gold with….”

7. I got my undergraduate degree in political science from Kalamazoo College in 1969.
8. I received a Ph.D. in East-West Psychology in 1999.

9. I have been quoted in Business Week.

10. I was the key witness in two trials and both times the lawyers neglected to ask “the” question.

11. I was Jane Fonda’s bodyguard for a day.

12. I once grew my hair for two years, it never reached my collar.

13. My beard used to be dark red, now it would be dark red and white-grey.

14. The title of my novel in process is: “All My Friends are Nearly Normal.”

15. That has been the title for over ten years.
16. I went to a Catholic grade school

17. I skipped the fourth grade.

18. I rang the “Angelus Bells” at the church three times a day for five years.

19. I don’t wear jewelry, cologne or chartreuse.

20. I volunteer at the SPCA in the cat wing.

21. 99.4% of my clothes are cotton.

22. A google search for me will find a lot of papers presented to the Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness.
23. My academic friends think that same google search finds a lot of strange poker references.

24. I feel the most important feature of a car is head room.

25. I have really great hands.

26. I taught real estate in LA in the late 70’s.

25. I once sat next to a perfect Madonna wannabe at a dance performance, this was during the underwear-on –the-outside phase; she had the costume down perfect. Later, I noticed the guy she was with was Sean Penn.

26. I was mesmerized twice during an Easter weekend in Paris.

27. There were seventeen academic awards for boys given out my senior year in high school. I won them all.

28. I write under several pseudonyms.

29. I won $4800 in my first ever major poker tournament.

30. The first hand I was ever dealt in a live poker game was pocket Aces.

31. When working for a major Japanese corporation the president of the division fired 25% of the employees, called everyone else into a meeting and gave a 90 minute lecture on our new austerity plan. When he finished he said: “I will take questions now.” Then he looked at me and said: “If you ask a question, you’re fired.”

32. I once had a job evaluation where the manager wrote: “I have no idea what Tim does; we prefer not to ask. Overall rating: Excellent, perhaps.”

33. I have run several political campaigns, none of my candidates won but neither were any of them arrested.

34. I have voted in every presidential election I was eligible for.
35. I have never voted for a winning presidential candidate.
36. I have only voted for one democrat and no republicans for president.
37. In the 1972 election, I voted for ten different parties.
38. The last presidential speech I heard was Richard Nixon’s resignation.

39. I don’t believe in the Cartesian mind/body split.

40. I do believe in Karma and Reincarnation, well at least this time around.

41. From the age of twelve to twenty-six, I had the key to a pharmacy in my pocket.

42. My father was a pharmacist, village councilman and volunteer fire chief.

40. I got my first passport to study in Germany in 1968.
41. I used my second passport to go to Antarctica in 1980.
42. Third passport took me to Singapore & Bali in 1997.
43. I was using my fourth passport in Australia in January 2007, when I wrote the first draft of this list.

44. The fourth passport is going to get a lot more visa stamps.

45. I have about six dozen favorite quotes.

46. I think that The Simpsons is a brilliant commentary on American culture.

47. When anyone says their family is dysfunctional, I ask if they have ever seen The Osbournes.

48. I have many qualities that resemble a hibernating bear.

49. I love my friends more than my family, except for one wonderful brother.

50. I have never been arrested. Once a young, eager officer considered it (1971 anti-war demonstration) until his more seasoned partner said: “…that guy outweighs you by fifty pounds and I am not helping you if he resists.”

51. I have only two addictions: chocolate and oxygen.
52. Apocalypse Now is my favorite movie but not the director’s cut.
53. Catch-22 was once my favorite book.
54. Annie Lennox is my favorite female singer.
55. I really love cats and I am fond of manatees.
56. Microsoft Word is sheer brilliance; its creator is a chauvanistic ass.
57. Three of the most remarkable women I have ever met, all live in Texas.
58. The other three I met in San Francisco.
59. I have lived in Michigan, Massachusetts, Germany, LA, San Francisco and Las Vegas.
60. I am the middle child of five; I am typical of a middle child.
61. I am an Aquarius, double Capricorn.
62. I read Tarot.
63. I have some limited shamanic abilities.
64. The best vacation of my life was in Bali.
65. The second best was Key West.
66. Genesis before Peter Gabriel left.
67. Nessa Dorma from Turandot.
68. Susan Sarandon, Steve Buschemi, Val Kilmer,
69. I discovered I was buddhist in Singapore.
70. I write about poker better than I play poker.
71. The most important part of a movie is the writing.
72. After the writing comes the music, except Koyaanisquatsi.
73. I am fascinated by images from the Hubble Space Telescope.
74. I prefer Charlie Rose to Bill Moyers, most of the time.
75. “It is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all” is empirically true.
76. I do not watch nor follow team sports.
77. I do watch the Super Bowl for the commercials.
78. I eat the M&Ms by color, dark to light.
79. I can’t skate or ski.
80. I don’t believe in sports where your legs often go in opposite directions.
81. I was employed for several years as a demi-god in several virtual reality worlds.
82. No matter what some relatives say, I am paternally Italian.
83. My mother’s maiden name was Gillespie, which has got to make me part Irish.
84. Is my favorite number but not my lucky number.
85. Grey is my favorite color.
86. I have made love in hell.
87. Until I was 35 everyone thought I was older than I was.
88. After I was 35 everyone thinks I am younger than I am
89. I lived in Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach and I never, ever lay on the beach.
90. 1984 was the first book I ever stayed up all night to read.
91. I owned a mortgage company in Manhattan Beach, CA.
92. I lived with a woman named Faith.
93. I got hit by a car driven by a woman named Hope.
94. I was asked to have coffee with a hooker named Charity and she really did want to have coffee.
95. I do not eat fast food of any kind.
96. I will eat a hot dog, no matter how many snouts and lips are in it.
97. I will eat chocolate anything and will do most anything to acquire it.
98. I once camped for a weekend with 7 gay men, 6 lesbians, and 4 newborn kittens.
99. I have only one prejudice; I abhor voluntary stupidity.

100. I will listen to almost any thoughtful position, unless it violates the limits referenced in ninety-nine.
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Change of Ships

[Content Disclosure: 37% Poker, 43% Life, 3% Innuendo]

This is both a poker and a career update.

First, I am now working for CardPlayer Online and CardPlayer Magazine for the remainder of the 2007 World Series of Poker. I will be working on the Pro Blogs on CardPlayer.com, which is an assignment that combines my writing strengths and my relationship with many of the professional players. A good fit for me and I hope for CardPlayer.

This means I am no longer working for PokerNews either on the WSOP or on my regular Poker Shrink articles. Leave it to say that the PokerNews editor and I had some "creative differences" which we (you and I) will explore later in this space.

I continue as the chief writer for PokerBlog.com.

And! I am working with my favorite co-writer, Amy Calistri, on two books we are writing with Mike Matusow. Lots more on this later too.
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Hellmuthian Reflections

[This is a saved post from 6/13/07, originally posted on PokerBlog.com]


When it was announced in the Amazon Room at the World Series of Poker that Phil Hellmuth had won his record 11th bracelet there was a smattering of applause (OK, a few claps), mixed in with a few boos (OK, more than a few) but all in all general disinterest. You see the observable facts of life on the poker circuit and in nearly every poker room in the world are that generally poker players do not like Phil Hellmuth.
Sure, I know you have heard this all before, the “Poker Brat” stuff and the “Hellmuth Blow-ups” for the television cameras. But return with me now to the entire day of Phil’s record-breaking 11th bracelet and let me tell you about a different Phil Hellmuth. A Phil that might surprise you.
First, I need to do a little disclosure. I don’t like the poker player named Phil Hellmuth. I don’t buy the “He’s a great guy away from the table” line that you hear around the poker circuit. I have watched Phil Hellmuth Jr. play poker in scores of card rooms around the world, with and without television cameras running and quite frankly he is immature, egotistical and insulting to other players. He is also the best No Limit Hold’em player on the planet. Yes, I know you are waiting for the “Just ask him he will tell you” line but sorry Phil doesn't have to tell me and there is simply no reason not to acknowledge that day in and day out, when it comes to NLHE tournaments, no one; absolutely no one, is better than Phil.
His always observable “verbal diarrhea” behavior at the tables is perhaps the best table strategy every devised for tournament play. Phil will use that “donkey” line on anyone. Have you noticed that he never directly calls anyone a name? If the three seat wins a hand that Phil feels was incorrectly played; what does Phil do? He tells the eight seat about how bad “that guy’s” play was. If he says: “Buddy, keep that up and I will take all your chips”, he doesn’t look at you. Phil doesn’t like to get into it directly with a player, at least not since Sam Grizzle knocked Phil on his ass with one punch. No Phil’s table strategy is actually well thought out and supremely effective. He tells the entire table what you are doing and then tells you what he is going to do to you. How he is going to keeping letting you take down those small pots until he catches a hand and crushes you. And you know what? That is exactly what he does, time and time again.
So what about the day of the record 11th bracelet victory. The event was scheduled to be played in Bluff’s Sequestrium. The players would be “tented in” with only one guest each allowed. Phil brought his wife. The tent is stuffed with cameras, sound equipment, production staff, a tournament director, and a chip counter; all surrounded by huge black drapes. The Bluff floor staff was expecting a Hellmuth blow-up about the unusual table set-up, so I naturally I hung out at the “tent” waiting his arrival. When it came I knew immediately everyone was wrong. Phil was in another zone completely. He was smiling, relaxed and incredibly focused.
After entering the tent and chatting briefly with his wife, Phil stood to get "mike'd up" for the webcast. I took this opportunity to walk over and I chat with him:
“Phil, what do you think about this tent?” I asked.
Phil beamed at me and said:
“Lovely.”
Lovely?
“That’s it Phil,” I persisted “nothing more to say about the whole set-up today, when you are going for number eleven?"
Phil just smiled.
I have some experience with Zen masters and other practioners who seem in a state of bliss or extreme focus; that was exactly the impression I had from Phil at that moment. Complete control, amazing focus and incredible calm.
For the actual playing of the final table, I was back in the production booth where half-a-dozen screens showed the static shots used to create the webcast. They had one camera on Phil the entire time. When there was no action at the table or during the shuffle, I watched Phil. He remained calm, serene and incredibly focused. Sure, he did his talking and he got into one extended verbal battle with Scott Clements but those were clearly the Hellmuth strategy at work. Never did he even have a hint of waver in his plan and quite frankly never did any of the professional observers doubt for a moment that bracelet #11 was anything but inevitable.
Think of Phil what you will. Distain him, ignore him, champion him as the best; one thing was obvious to me—when Phil Hellmuth is focused and in control at a table, only a deck as cold as an Antarctic winter or some incredible run of donkey luck will keep Phil from contending for the top prize.
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What's Going On?















[Content Disclosure: Poker 3%, Speculation 88%, Tease 6%]

So what's going on with "Keeping Your Head in the Game"?

Well a couple of things. First, the poker: there really is no reason for me to have a separate poker-only blog when I am writing six days a week over on PokerBlog and writing my weekly column Poker Shrink on PokerNews. Plus all the other WSOP related articles I write for PokerNews. Lest we forget the World Series of Poker begins in five days and our prep meetings start tomorrow.

I mentioned in the past that I have wanted to write more about things not poker and although I have been doing that quite a bit this spring, only a few of those pieces have reached the light of day. So I am going to convert "Keeping Your Head in the Game" to a personal blog with very little poker content. Whether I will pull this off during the WSOP (May 30th-July 18th) or perhaps wait for the mid-summer lull----I am just not sure yet.

If you are in my email eddress book, I will let you know. For the cyber-wanderers who land here--come back soon..... the cards will be changing in most mysterious ways.
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Poker and the Summer in Las Vegas

[Content Disclosure: 100% Poker; 17% Bitchin'; 13% Whinin'; 4% Commentary on the State of the Species]

As May rolls around and summer looms just around the corner, I paused to ponder just how cloudy and unclear one's future can be when contracts, attorneys, ill-trained managers cum poker players are allowed to run large businesses. I also note that a lot of this mindless paperwork comes from our every growing litigious society and because no one trusts anyone else to actually do what they said they would do, when they said they would do it for the compensation agreed upon. Then there is the ever present "that depends what the meaning of is is" mentality. Coupled with the recurring reminders that not every member of the human species is as evolved from our simpian cousins as we think we are. Reversion is an annoying trait and alpha males are the worst offenders.

OK, now that the mumbling lament is over, here is what summer 2007 in Las Vegas holds poker-wise.

The World Series, of course, dominates the poker scene each and every year. Seven weeks and fifty-five bracelet events will keep everyone on their toes and there will be several procedural and media screw-ups over the summer. The whole media covering the WSOP plans, rules and guidelines are still not fully in place less than four weeks before the first event; so expect disruption, complaints and confusion. All of which will be torturously played out in dozens of witty and whiney blogs.

The WSOP itself is still undergoing growing pains or perhaps better evolutionary emergence. The Harrah's/WSOP team are always looking better ways to present the Series. This means that they are always balancing the wants, needs and desires of the players and the often competing financial goals of Harrah's Entertainment Inc. Then, each year, they present their new and improved vision of the WSOP to 50,000 players over 7 weeks and inevitably they do not please all of the players all of the time.

With this year's Series being bigger in number of events, number of tables, number of total players, number of media credentials, etc. etc. There will be new problems and new successes and all of it will be reported, deported, inverted, rejected, inspected and detected ad nauseum. I will be joining the chorus at the Series in a yet unknown media capacity.

Prior to June 1st, the first official day of the 2007 WSOP, there are two Season Six WPT events here in Las Vegas. The Mirage Poker Showdown begins in a week, personally one of my least favorite poker tournaments but that is another story. Following Mirage is the Mandalay Bay Championship tournament, which overlaps the first two days of the Series.

Lots of poker coming up here, who knows exactly what cards will be in the air? There are more than 52, you know!
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Blogger Tag

[Content Disclosure: Poker 23%; Blogging 34%; Me 42%; Jane Fonda 1%]

Well my lack of posting here didn’t go unpunished as Amy tagged me for the 7 Things About Me Blog Chain. I figured I’d better get on it or there would be no one left to tag. This is truly a pyramid about to collapse. I’ve already have 93 things about me but I have only shared those privately. So I have selected 7 exemplars for now and promise to get the full list up to one hundred and perhaps even post it here. No really I will....

11. I was Jane Fonda’s bodyguard for a day
20. I volunteer at the SPCA in the cat wing.

24. I feel the most important feature of a car is head room.
38. The last presidential speech I heard was Richard Nixon’s resignation.

39. I don’t believe in the Cartesian mind/body split.

47. When anyone says their family is dysfunctional, I ask if they have ever seen The Osbournes.
73. I am fascinated by images from the Hubble Space Telescope.

Now who can I tag?

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