Road to the WSOP

Bill Rini and DoubleAs have recently made public declarations regarding their intent to participate in the 2006 WSOP. A number of players in the comments section of my original post about wanting to play in some capacity next year have also stated that was their intent as well. Be it winning a satellite or increasing their bankroll enough for a buy-in, they want to play in the WSOP.

To answer Bill?s rhetorical question: Yes. The poker bloggers, as a whole, will likely make a significant showing at next year’s WSOP.

How we are individually going to get there (or fail to get there) will be interesting to observe?I predict a fascinating 12 months for readers of poker blogs. What an exciting time to be writing and reading about poker in this infancy of a new medium!

(God! Could I be more earnest in that above paragraph?)

Bill Rini later posted an article about goals and some commentary (which for some reason b2evolution won’t let me link to–see his July 18th entry). It should not be missed. Bill says, ?There?s a tendency for people to accept mediocrity,? and follows this with a classic corporate tale of a short-sighted manager opening his mind to a new way of thinking about his employees. I hope that story had a happy ending.

Unable to speak for anyone who may be reading this, the notion of accepting mediocrity resonates with me. Though difficult to admit, it has been the hallmark of not only my professional career, but of pretty much every hobby I ever undertook.

Do you know why?

(I?ll bet you wish you did! I just deleted a whole steaming pile of WHY that included my marriage and my career and a Scrabble game and this one really cute guy who fucking ditched me at the senior prom FOR ANOTHER GUY. There was even a part about my website! Oh my God, are you lucky. It would have compelled you to design ways to kill me ever so slowly. And in a manner more than likely causing me extreme shame and involving sharp implements to my sensitive lady parts. And farm animals. Wait. I think I’m the lucky one here.)

Anyway, the short story is this: Losing sucks. Trying hard is, well, hard. Mediocrity is easy. Got it? Good. I have a plan for the WSOP that involves no fear of failure and some hard work and Dan Harrington and countless online and local tourneys and lots of conversations with people who know more about poker than I do should they be willing to entertain me (or be willing to accept a fee). More to come on that in a future, less eyeball-drying entry.

Now? The hair!

I need to say something before I log off tonight. To everyone who commented and emailed about my hair. Many many many thanks. You are too nice to an internet whiner. God. I?m so lucky.

And to everyone who recently googled this site with concerns about hair loss (except for the person who looked up “daniel negreanu bald”, you are so on your own) . . .

My condition, according to the dermatologist, is called telogen effluvium. It?s technically a temporary condition, but my case has gone on for three years with no sign of regrowth and dramatic periods of severe thinning. (Not patches or chunks of hair falling out that could potentially be explained as a bar fight making you appear eccentric and a ?good time?. Dammit.)

Telogen effluvium is a spectacularly fun word to say, and if you do have it, the odds are enormous that you will never have it as long as I have had it. I am an anomaly. Don?t worry about your condition.

If you are a woman, and are suffering from telogen effluvium, I recommend you speak to your doctor about prenatal vitamins.

If you have curly hair and are suffering from telogen effluvium. I also recommend Curly Girl, by Lorraine Massey and Deborah Chiel. While this book will neither cure nor halt the condition, if you are lucky enough to be curly and follow the methods described within, you can hide the effects.

I said telogen effluvium a lot in this entry so it would show up in YOUR google search, girl. Yes, you. I know your pain. E-mail me (gracie at sheverb dot com) if you have any questions or want to talk about it. It’s not the end of the world and you’ll likely end up with your hair back.