Dan seems to think that the story of an Alabama hillbilly chronicling his last attempt to win a mint and avoid going back to the 9 to 5 would be interesting so in addition to bringing you the interesting stories from the WSOP floor, I will be sharing my own adventures in Sin City during the last three weeks of the WSOP.
For a brief introduction, I am Johnny Kampis, better known in the poker blogger world as \”Tuscaloosa\” Johnny since I hail from the Crimson City. I wrote for Dan at PokerBlog back in the heady days of WSOP 2006. I worked for PokerWorks last summer and have been the main writer for Rounder Magazine for the last couple of years. I also have my own blog, PokerNation, where I share my personal rants and raves.
I used to be a newspaper guy, working in that sort of journalism for six years. I left The Tuscaloosa News in the summer of 2005 hoping to sell a book on one year in the life on the tournament trail. I did some nice traveling that year, from Vegas to Foxwoods, Atlantic City to Reno, and met some interesting characters, but didn\’t score a book deal. Now I feel like a guy with two dollars in his pocket and no plan on how to make it grow. I\’ve managed to survive, but not really thrive, during the last three years. Dan knows, Donkey Bomber knows, and else reading this in a similar situation knows how much more enjoyable life can be without the 9 to 5 grind, but unless I can make the poker tables rain money in the next three weeks I\’ll be on the job hunt when I return home.
I\’ve spent my first few days in Vegas desperately trying to score a proper media pass so I can sit with Dan, Jen and the rest of the wonderful pokerati typing my reports. (There was supposed to have been one through Rounder, but there has been a snafu.) So now I sit here in the Fitzgerald\’s Krispy Kreme feverishly trying to finish my first post while snacking on a lemon-filled doughnut. Damn sticky keys.
I\’ve had no luck as of yet. I tried the $240 Omaha Hi-Lo at the Golden Nugget Grand series on Wednesday and played for 11 and a half hours only to not even make the moolah. I busted 21st of 162 and 18 got paid. I\’m 0 for 4 in WSOP satellites. So far I\’m singing the hillbilly blues.
