It started when the player list for the most recent NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship was released. Shannon Shorr posted a blog entry about being snubbed by tournament organizers, as he was not included in the list of the 64 players. (Several were qualifiers, but most met the poker-accomplishment requirements set by the NHUPC.)
Shorr wrote: \”I will go on record (as I did after the 2006 calendar year) as saying I\’m shocked that I don\’t make the list. After very closely examining the list, Michael Binger, Nam Le, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Michael Martin, Vivek Rajkumar, Amit Makhija, Adam Geyer and Hevad Khan are probably somewhere wondering WTF! as well. No one in the poker tournament industry besides Nam Le, JC Tran, and David Pham has matched my consistency over the last 3 years on the tournament circuit and in that time I have NEVER been selected to play the NBCHUPC. As most of my readers know I\’m pretty low-key and don\’t exactly go looking for recognition, but I just feel like I deserve this.\”
That put Shane \”Shaniac\” Schleger on reality-tilt and prompted a blog post entitled, \”Seriously? AKA: The Award For Most Delusional Poker Player Goes To…\” Though Shaniac tried to soften the blow of his words by saying that he liked Shorr personally, the post went on to list the reasons that Shorr was not invited to the NHUPC.
In part, he wrote: \”Shannon, get a grip. You should be ashamed for putting yourself in the same sentence as Le, Tran, and Pham, who essentially dwarf the entire poker tour community with consistency and moneymaking.
I think you have to make up your mind if you want to go back to college or try to become a studly poker superstar. And your results are nowhere near the other players you named in the above passage.\”
Evidently, Shorr didn\’t take that criticism as well as hoped, but Shaniac finally posted a response that sums it all up nicely with a video created for the occasion. It takes good-natured jabs at both and can be seen by going to Shaniac\’s post here. (If anyone would like to send the embed code for that video, feel free to help a sista out.)