Well here it is, my top five most memorable moments of 2008. You can read this article at PokerNetwork:

From The Den: My Top 10 Most Memorable Moments of 2008 - Part 2

It’s good to be home. I arrived back safe and sound after a decent flight. The flu that I picked up on the final days in Vegas has been a bitch to shake. I’m not normally one to get ill so it’s been strange that it’s taken more than a week to shake this one off. I’ve spent my time back home catching up with mates, family, TV and AFL. I’ve also been playing as much online poker as possible. Having watched so much poker for the last seven weeks just makes me want to hit the felt and play. I’ve played well and ran well so it’s been a useful week or two. I’ve played some at NoIQPoker, Full Tilt, PokerStars and Ladbrokes. I took advantage of PokerStars current 2x Reload Bonus and have run pretty well. I always found PokerStars to be one of the tougher online sites to play at, so anytime I can clear a bonus and turn out a profit as well I am happy with. I’ve been 8-tabling to try and clear it as painlessly as possible. I am also trying out Ladbrokes so that I can qualify for PokerNetwork’s exclusive $20,000 cash freerolls. So far so good. Ladbrokes is on the Prima network and there seems to be plenty of juicy fish. It reminds me of the old days at Party Poker where you’d look to find the good players amongst the fish, instead of the other way around. It’s also compatible with PokerTracker which helps.

Also I demolished Tim online last night, in a series of 7 matches. We played all the HORSE rotations and added NLHE and PLO to the mix. We started with NLHE and Razz. Tim had the better of me in NLHE…I mean how can I overcome his skillful all-in shove with J3 against my AK for the board to bring him a full house. What a waste of time. I creamed him in Razz and Stud Hi-Lo, but he has an edge on me on Omaha and squared it up at 2-2 with a Omaha Hi-Lo win. We then played Stud and PLO, and I fluked an upset PLO win after Tim rivered the second nuts against my made nuts on the turn. Sweet. I was then freerolling on Stud, but Tim got lucky to square it up once again. We went to the decider, Limit Holdem, and I think I have an edge here over the NL guru. I pounded on him relentlessly and came away with a hard fought 4-3 victory. This was good fun and I like the format so I think there will be a rematch very soon!

It’s been a good break, but not long enough! I’m about to get back on a plane and head over to Melbourne for the Victorian Championships. This is one of my favourite series, as ALL of the events are excellent. They are in the right price bracket for most players, but offer something for tight budgets as well as the high rollers. One of the more interesting proposed events is the State of Origin Challenge. Six players from each of the six states battle it out in six sit and gos, scoring points for their team. The six winners play on the final table, and the state with the most points takes home the cash. Tasmania doesn’t have a huge list of well known poker players, so looks like I may get a gig. Stay tuned.

Either way, I plan to play as many of the smaller events that we are not covering for the live reporting as possible. After Melbourne, I’ll have another week off before heading over to Macau to cover the APT and APPT events for PokerNews.

No rest for the wicked!

Thanks for the memories…

From the Save The Tasmanian Devil website:

In May 2008, the Tasmanian devil was listed as “Endangered” under Tasmania’s Threatened Species Protection Act 1995.

“The upgrading in status from vulnerable to endangered, recommended to me by the Scientific Advisory Committee, reflect the reductions in the devil population, resulting from Devil Facial Tumour Disease,” said David Llewellyn, the Tasmanian minister for Primary Industries and Water.

“It reminds us all that there are no quick and easy solutions in our conservation effort.”

Sightings of the devil have declined by 64% over the past decade and, as at May 2008, Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) is found across more than 60% of Tasmania.

“The change in the devil’s status reflects the real possibility that this iconic species could face extinction in the wild within 20 years,” Mr Llewellyn said.

Yet another poker blog is born.

Just what the world needs?

If I thought this was going to be just another poker blog then I wouldn’t have bothered.  However after some discussions with some interesting people at the start of the year, and with planned trips to Fiji, Paris, Monte Carlo, London, Melbourne and Las Vegas over the next few months, I can see the potential for some adventures and some interesting blogging.

I used to send emails from my poker road trips to family and friends, and now this blog provides a platform for choice.  For too long these poor souls have been spammed with my nonsense in their inbox.  Finally they can choose to ignore me and this blog and remain ignorantly bliss of my general health and well being.  So this blog may actually result in less readers than I started with!  Or these people can rally together, tell their friends and jump head first into the Devil’s Den! Opening blog posts are probably really important.  Capture the audience. Make Them Want More. Well I haven’t read the Idiot’s Guide to Blogging but I hope this will do for now. I’ll reveal more the inspiration behind this blog as it develops, but I just wanted to quickly thank a couple of people.

After the Aussie Millions in January I was fortunate to have many drunken evenings talking to, and sober days working along side, the infamous Dr.Pauly. Before AM I was one in the minority who had never heard of Pauly or his blog.  I quickly learned that Pauly is an icon in the poker industry and a self-proclaimed “celebrity” in Vegas.  I raised my eyebrows at this thought until a young fan approached our group late one evening in jaw-dropping awe that he was about to meet the good doctor.  I asked the young man how much Pauly paid him to approach us, but amazingly the adoration was genuine.  It was then that I realised what Pauly had achieved in his time writing for poker events all around the world.  He encouraged me to pursue the idea of a blog and to turn an under-rated aardvark into a bone-crushing devil.  Thanks bogan.

I also want to thank the guy I have learnt the most about poker and not surprisingly he also has a sensational blog and several successful online poker websites.  When I first saw poker in TV maybe 3 or so years ago I was hooked instantly, and I realised that they must play this game online somewhere, somehow.  I jumped on the net and after a quick search came across a website called Poker Network - Australia’s leading poker portal.  At first I was just looking to play for fun and mucked around on Party Poker in two-thousand player freerolls and play money cash games.  Wanting to learn more, I jumped on the Poker Network noticeboard and posted a typical newbie thread, asking for help with how to go about getting serious about this game.  I soon got a reply from a guy called Jonny who was more than happy to help me get setup.  He showed me the ropes with payment options, software, sites and strategy.  I annoyed him constantly with questions and he replied with friendly assistance every time.  Many newbies are taken advantage of by money hungry affiliates looking for a quick referral and although I’m sure Jonny has made a few $ from me over the years, he has continued to help as my game evolved.  He showed me the art of poker bonus whoring, casino bonuses and gave me a start in the online poker/casino writing industry.  On Poker Network “yoyo” loves to be hated and the trolls love to hate, but the reality is that Jonny has given a lot and continues to give to the Australian poker community and without his knowledgeable guidance over the years I wouldn’t be in this position.  Thanks mate.