Mean Gene

Iggy's back, but Andy's gone

I'm only two weeks behind the times in writing about the very sudden and premature death of Andy Glazer, poker writer extraordinaire. Andy's passing last week from a blood clot saddened the entire poker world, and I think the pokerblogging community has an especial reason to miss him because, let's face it, Andy was the guy we all wanted to be. I mean, play tournaments and write about poker...that's what many of we bloggers do, except that we don't get to travel the world (at best I travel from room to room in my house carrying my laptop) or play in the biggest events. He was living our dream, and doing a pretty doggone good job of it at that.

I read all of Andy's WSOP reports this year and I was actually going to write a parody of his coverage. A good-humored one, to be sure--I was going to gently rip on how on nearly every other hand he had to say, "Now, I don't know exactly what happened here because I didn't get a chance to see everyone's hole cards, but I think...". In a previous post I praised Andy for trying to cover an event that is a logistical nightmare for a reporter, running from table to table, craning your neck trying to see cards from a horrible angle, while ESPN cameras shove you aside so they can get their closeups. When he wasn't sure of his info he told us so, and made sure he got it afterwards and posted it.

But he was far more than a mere recorder of hand histories. He wrote intelligent and insightful columns, and wasn't afraid to criticize when someone deserved it, which must been trying at times since he was a serious player as well. In his last post he wrote about covering a tournament in Ireland that was apparently a disaster, and he promised that he would go into detail in his next column exactly what went wrong. Sadly, we'll never hear what happened in Andy's own words. Poker is booming right now, but with Andy Glazer's passing we've lost one of the game's finest chronicalers just when we rabid fans needed him most.

We can, however, welcome back the prodigal son to the blogging fold. Iggy is back and destroying workplace productivity like never before. And now that I'm actually working again, I can attest that he is a definite drain on the economy. Check out his latest posts for more and better tributes to Andy Glazer, including one written by Phil Hellmuth that I wouldn't dare criticize one iota.

If you need any other reason to visit Iggy's site, let me inform you that he posted a picture of Maria Shrapnova eating a banana. 'Nuff said.

No posting for a bit, going to Watkins Glen, NY with a gaggle of friends for the Finger Lakes Wine Festival. Drinking vino for 2 days and buying a few cases. Actually transferred a few hundred out of my poker account for the trip, to give me and my wife some mad money in case there's a Pinot Noir I just HAVE to have. A hopefully drunken and entertaining report will follow.

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