Tao of Pauly

The Fat Guy... and Poker Blogger Fever

I just added The Fat Guy to the roster of poker bloggers... he's a hilarious guy from Texas! Some good stuff on his site. Check it out.

With the addition of The Fat Guy, that now brings the total of 19 different poker blogs (the Tao of Poker makes 20!) that I have been following (and vice versa). There are a dozen more poker blogs out there that I have not read... and I'm sure there are hundreds of daily readers without blogs, that religiously read those sites including mine. The web traffic is increasing everyday. And finally there's a healthy spill over onto the Tao of Pauly and Truckin'. Yes, poker fever is sweeping the nation (and the world) and poker blogs are the newest rage... it's one of those things that will make the 2004 It Lists.

Poker Fever

Poker blogs are the fastest growing weblogs out there today. Wow. I'm glad I started mine almost six months ago... and I was one of the first poker bloggers, and in the poker blogging community, the Tao of Poker is highly regarded as one of the first generation of poker blogs. Whenever I visit a new blog, I almost always see the Tao of Poker linked up.That is a true homage to my poker playing skills and travels... and my ability to write lengthy detailed reports on my many trips to the casinos and playing in tournaments. I have finally embraced the insane popularity of the Tao of Poker and will take advantage of it's popularity and web traffic and hopefully use that opportunity to showcase my writing skills. At the same time, I want to keep everyone up to date on my quest to win a seat at the 2004 World Series of Poker... unless someone wants to just loan me the $10,000 entry fee!

The coolest part of poker bloggers... is the diversity of the players. The old poker player was a degenerate gambler, a chain smoking, alcoholic, ex-con, shady character, who has not shaved in months. These days, a new generation of poker players are out there... and they are getting younger and younger. And with the internet and poker websites booming, there is more information than ever before available to novice players to improve their game. Sales in poker related books have jumped drastically... every pro out there is jumping on the book writing band wagon. The new poker player is well-read and has devoured every major book writen about poker. They have seen every major televised tournament and come from all walks of life. After two amatuers won $4.5 million in the last two years, Brooklyn's Robert Varkoni and Chris Moneymaker from Tennesse, the average poker player is all fired up over the chance to play with the big dogs and even take them down and walk away with millions of dollars in cash. I predict that the 2004 WSoP will have almost 1,000 entries (2003 had 813) and the winning prize will be over $3 Million. Yikes!

I have been talking with some of the most interesting people out there... some family guys, a couple of poker playing females, some businessmen, some students, some writers, and some wise guys... but everyone is passionate about poker and becoming a better poker player. You can check out a project I have been working on called: Poker Bloggers Fotolog, where I posted pictures of poker bloggers. I only have a couple up there, but I hope to add more pics after I get back from Miami.

I am excited for the first poker bloggers tournament on Partypoker.com coming soon. Iggy from Guinness & Poker had the brilliant idea of getting a table together comprised of all poker bloggers. It should be quite the event, scheduled for mid January. I can finally play against some of the minds behind great sites... from all over the world... from London to L.A., from Toronto to Chicago, from Florida to DC, from Texas to Germany... we can get together and play online. Sometimes the internet is great when it brings together like minds. Where else would poker players from London have a chance to read about my 7th place finish at a tournament at the Luxor in Las Vegas last week?

With that being said, take a peek at the poker bloggers links. Some great stuff out there. And check back to the Tao of Poker where I will be bloggin' tales about my trips to the casinos in Miami with Jerry!

Tao of Poker Trip Archives

I added a new feature to the left side of the Tao of Poker... called Recent Trips, which are quick links to blogs about specific trips to casinos this past year.

Here they are... Recent Trips:
Foxwoods 12.23.03
Vegas 12.16.03
Vegas 12.15.03
Vegas 12.14.03
Vegas 12.13.03
Foxwoods 12.3.03
Foxwoods 11.16.03
Foxwoods 9.16.03
Foxwoods 8.20.03
Foxwoods 6.2.03
Vegas 4.30.03
AC 4.14.03
Vegas 3.31.03