sheverb

Meet my newest requests:

fortune [1, noun]
3 a: prosperity attained partly through luck

I have the good fortune to work on a team with five exceptionally talented and creative guys. I am doubly fortunate that I will work with all of them again tomorrow.

I’m not going to implement the nofollow tag for existing sponsors until it’s time for renewal–it would be entirely unfair. (With the exception of FullTilt. I will always follow you. We have a relationship.)

I understand this situation affects the more prominent poker bloggers and I think in a small way, this helps. I can live with being out of the Google index until then. Really, the only people who care about reading this tripe will find me via other poker blogs. I think about it this way: If a creepy ex-boyfriend is google-stalking me now? He can’t find me.

Let’s not take ourselves too seriously, hmm?

I now conclude this broadcasting day with a video of a giant spider who built a web outside my bedroom window.

Oh, just click on her.

I’m not going to editorialize about this yet because all the facts aren’t in, but I’ve received so many emails and IMs about it that I don’t see any harm in posting what I know. Nat Arem seemed to be the first to discover the google-drop situation and posted about it here:

Weird things going on at Google

Google has apparently cracked down on buying and selling links that they perceive to be artificially inflating page rank. In fact, individuals can actually report websites that have the types of links that Google now considers unacceptable for their page ranking system. Is that what happened to us? Who knows. An emailer pointed out that when Google rolls out a change, it’s algorithmic and generally not a penalty targeting specific sites. Also, this new change could be affecting niches outside of poker bloggers.

We can submit our sites for reconsideration, but we’re probably going to have to add a rel=”nofollow” tag to sponsor links in order to be reinstated. (Which will upset our sponsors.)

I don’t know what will happen from here. Sponsors will surely stop spending money on ads if our page rank is zero, but the only way to bring up that rank is to render the links ineffective for sponsorship. Catch-22.

The one thing know for certain is, none of us ever thought we were violating a policy by accepting ads.

Does anyone know what’s up with Google dropping poker blogs?

Edited to add: Besides myself, it seems that Up for Poker, Bad Blood, Otis’ Rapid Eye Reality and Pot Committed are affected by this. Anyone else?

Anyone who reads poker blogs knows how Iggy, LJ and Lucko won seats to the 2008 WSOP Main Event. Despite putting forth a tremendous effort, neither LJ nor Lucko survived the chaos and randomness that are hallmarks of masssive live MTTs. Iggy, however, managed to end Day One with 38K in chips and lives to play Day Two on Wednesday. But you know this already–you’re not here for a poker scoop. (In fact, I have no idea why are ARE here, but I suspect there’s a strong possibility that right about now, at this very moment, you’re thinking the same thing.)

Though I’ve been hanging out in the fringes of the poker blogging community for some time now, I’ve been following along at home and am incredibly proud of all three. I’m also astounded by the caliber of poker writers that emerged out of this community over the last few years. They’ve kept me company as I suffered through some Pauly-sized insomnia these last few weeks.

PokerStars Blog

Amy Calistri

Sincerely, the story part? It’s fewer than 150 words. The rest is homage to Pauly.

Peacecorn lives!

Not in a Peacecorn’s Desperate Choice LifeTime movie of the week manner (though by employing tremendous suspension of disbelief, this could be played by a pre-weight loss Valerie Bertinelli bluffing away a large chip stack in the late stage of a tourney with 9/10 off suit).

Peacecorn Lives is more like a SciFi horror film where:

Your car (AA) never starts at the crucial time (my 89s hits a straight on the flop and turns a flush).

The public official (my 57o) never believes you (your JJ loses to my two pair on the river).

The bad guys (my pocket fives) come back to life for the sequel (your well-played AKs is ahead all the way, but you fold to a bluff on the river).

Or

Everyone who has sex (you and the rest of the table who called my crap because I have no concept of pot or implied odds) dies (gets sucked out by me with a gut shot) .

Much to my delight, Wheaton is personally involved in this post, but not in the manner in which you might suspect. Head to Fleet Street Games for fun if you play online poker and desire some seriously free cash. This long story short continues tomorrow or Friday.

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In the meantime, do check out the Sixth Anniversary OMG edition of Truckin.

1. Ikeaphobia by Paul McGuire
I kept imagining Swedish people in Sweden coming home from their Swedish jobs and sitting down on their Swedish couches and eating Swedish meals cooked in Swedish pans and served on Swedish plates… More

2. The Crucification of Kaminsky by Betty Underground
The diet pills made her skinny. Made her feel excepted in the land of the beautiful. The speed getting her through the days. Coke came at night, when she needed to escape her own mind. Her past… More

3. One Night Out, Part I by Sigge S. Amdal
I noticed that I wasn’t alone in the alley, and I looked up quick enough to see a prostitute coughing up a recognizable white substance. She looked up and for a brief time our eyes met. Only one window apart earlier, but out here we were both equally being sick. It was a strange moment of solidarity… More

4. The Reason Why… by May B. Yesno
The place had a less than classy name, The Roamin Gardens, to say little of the fact the only garden about it were two fake, potted palm trees at the front door. A typical sleazy pick-up joint. One in which you feel like everything you touch you can pick-up most anything… More

5. Drafting Richard Petty by Drizz
Imagine starting every day with these heavy chains pinning you to Davy Jones’ Locker, and having zero motivation to try to swim to the surface because those depths didn’t provide any sunlight to reach… More

6. FLASHBACK - Fukuoka, Phishy City by Tenzin McGrupp
The workers are tiny Japanese girls who wear the most adorable white and red uniforms and lovely white gloves cover their tiny hands. They greet you with big smiles and sing a nice happy song to you as the customers pay… More

I was terribly shocked and saddened to hear about Tim Russert today. My dad died six years ago this weekend while I was out of the country, so I know the heartache of such a thing. I’m not going to give you any twee advice about hugging your father or family this weekend, but I will ask one thing.

Can the pundits please lay off the “he’s doing his interviews in heaven now”?

It would have driven my dad crazy.

Lincoln Park Zoo, 1999

Between my recent trip to Atlantic City, a card room opening close by the Dome and cash games on FullTilt during my convalescence, I’ve played more poker in the last three weeks than I have in the last six months. My decision to bail out of Al’s BBT3 in February in retrospect is both a blessing and a curse. A curse because I miss it tons and understand there won’t be another one of these for very long time, and a blessing because I am very much off my game.

In fact, I’m so deep in the red it’s hard to breathe down here.

While I’m shifting my game to recovery-mode by playing much lower stakes and not traveling to Vegas this summer, I’m still following the WSOP closely thanks to Pauly, Change100, Jen Leo, The Poker Prof and Flip Chip, Tim Lavalli, MeanGene, Spaceman, Short-Stacked Shamus, FTrain and the rest of the crew who are covering it just for me. Just for me!

Aren’t they swell?

And while Amy may be in Texas for the WSOP, her heart is in Vegas–she’s still contributing. Plus, I hear Otis will be there in a few weeks. Oh, the anticipation.

If you care about such things, do check out their coverage. While they ARE writing just for me, they are generous creatures. I’m certain they’ll share with everyone. (In an hour or so, permanent links will be placed in the sidebar for your convenience.)

Pokerblog.com
Tim Lavalli

Pokernews.com
Amy Calistri
Change100
John “Falstaff” Hartness
Haley Hintze
BJ Nemeth
John “Shecky” Caldwell
Jen Leo
Gene “MeanGene” Bromberg
FTrain
Short-Stacked Shamus

Poker Listings
Jason “Spaceman” Kirk

Pokerati
Dan Michalski

Tao Poker
Dr. Pauly

Tao Poker saved me last night after losing a buy-in at Ocala Jai Alai and I just didn’t have the heart to buy back in. Because he’s raging solo and not writing for a media outlet this summer, he’s able to take the WSOP and all its corporate and not-so-corporate shenanigans to task. And shenanigans, there are many. The site kept me entertained on my Treo while my cohorts finished playing. I miss Pauly and can’t wait to hear these stories and further insights first hand.