The Blog World Has Gone Crazy

Miss a few days, miss a lot apparently.

I have only just started to catch up on my blog-reading, but it seems there are all kinds of problems out there with content being stolen, etc. Shame on you all for writing such excellent posts that people actually want to plagiarize your hard work!

Just kidding of course. It is a terrible, terrible thing.

In a weird way - it kind of makes me glad that the majority of my posts lack any real substance and perhaps defines why I write a minimal amount of actual poker content. I daresay I know my fair share about poker theory and how to play the various games. (More than I let on or type on here, anyways.) I am predominantly a tournament player and could write article upon article about how to improve in the MTT's online, but I don't. The truly sad thing however is that I am, among other things, a writer, but you would never know it by the haphazard way I throw these posts together.

In the past, I chose to refrain from posting anything too serious about the game of poker on here for several reasons. First, because quite honestly I don't want a fan base or to feel I have to debate or defend my writing. I just want the people that are (or have become) my friends to be able to pop on and see what is going on in my game and in my life. I have developed several really good friendships through this blog, and if nothing else ever comes of it - that is enough reason for me to continue writing.

The other reason I have kept my posts fairly generic is this: When I first started blogging I received a pretty nasty comment from someone. Now this person was not anonymous, he was in fact an actual blogger in our community and left his name, url, etc. along with his comment. I was so disheartened by this that I just about gave up blogging before I really began. Now - don't bother diving into my archives to see who it was - when I switched to haloscan it deleted all my old comments. There is no need to divulge who it was either. Karma is a bitch and will one day burn him in the same way he burned me. (If it hasn't already.)

Obviously, since I am still here, I decided not to throw in the towel at that point, but instead decided to limit my content to casual observations and occurances, random thoughts, and the odd note about my actual play. I have enough confusion and controversy in my life, I didn't feel I needed it on here as well.

I stayed because - first and foremost - I wanted to remain being a part of the community that I have grown to love. This is an amazing and eclectic group of people, and it truly saddens me that I will probably not be in Vegas to meet everyone this June. I will however be counting the days until the next event.

The second reason I kept blogging is because I am too thick-skinned to let someone "run me out of town", so to speak. I would rather write pages and pages of drivel (and sometimes do) than give anyone that kind of satisfaction.

Looking back now though, I realize I made a mistake. I DID let this person alter the content of my posts. I have done some serious reflecting in the past couple of weeks because I have found it hard to write something on here on a daily basis without getting into game theory or discussing hands, plays, etc. I have approximately 25 entries that sit in "draft mode" because they were a bit too serious or involved for me to want to post them on here.

My point is this - it is my sincere hope that not one blogger alters the content of their blogs due to this (these) moron(s). For different reasons I did just that and I regret it now. I haven't used this blog to its full potential, whether it is to reach others or just serve as my own personal poker journal. Either way though, I have held back and it would truly be a shame to see anyone else do that with their bigger and better blogs for fear of their content being stolen.

On a bit of a side note - I have seen several people talk about moving their site from blogger to an actual domain. If anyone needs help with this - email me at joanne1111 at gmail dot com. For those of you who don't know, I own my own company designing and hosting websites. I will give any blogger a good discount, so contact me for more information. There are a lot of ways to better protect your content.

/shameless self-promotion

On to happier topics, I AM playing in the WPBT tournament tonight. I wasn't going to, since I am probably not going to be in Vegas, but I have since received all the encouragement I need to go ahead and play anyways. Gotta defend those WPBT leaderboard points :)

The past couple of weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind. I have been busy on several web projects, writing, and playing poker. Also, the ongoing quest of determining where I will be moving in the near future has once again thrust its way into the forefront of my everyday life. Well, the results are in, and it does appear that I will be moving to Toronto this summer. I am not sure how I feel about that yet, so I am going to refrain from saying more until it is a finalized decision. One bonus though - I might be able to play a home game with the East Coast boys if I do move there ;)

So - with the tournament starting in an hour and the possibility of more dial-a-shots looming, I had better get ready. Quick trip to the store, scarf down some dinner, and it is game-on!

Good luck everyone :)