I wrote a poker trip report in 2011
I used to be a serious poker player, and after I made my deepest World Series of Poker Main Event run, I wrote a well-received trip report on a poker forum. I've brought it here.1
It's a bit stunning to me that all of that happened 15 years ago, that I hadn't revisited that trip report in at least five years, and that I haven't played a hand of poker for money in over six years. A few notes from rereading it now:
- Although I didn't remember all the hands, a lot of the memories are still vivid. I remember the tables, many of the personalities, some of the hands, and the overall vibe very well. I'm sure that's partly because I took the time to write this up, but there really is nothing like making a run in the Main Event.
- I can't get over how terrible a player I seem to be from this writeup. Although I definitely had some weaknesses exposed in the tournament, that's mostly a testament to how far poker strategy has come in 15 years.
- I have been worrying about the tradeoff between quantity and quality in writing for a long time.
- The guy who wrote this is definitely a grad student with no kids. That's not at all to disparage my past self or anyone else; it's just striking to dip so vividly into a part of my life that had a completely different structure.
Matt Glassman prompted me to do this, indirectly, by mentioning the trip report in this very good post about poker.↩