Reading Iggy Is Fundamental

Some days you can do no wrong. You hold quads and your opponent keeps reraising you. For example, on Sunday, I played a total of 45 minutes and scooped a nifty $33.90 ($0.50/$1.00, 6-max). Every draw seemed to hit. Top pair always held up. Big hands were invariably paid off. Even trash hands checked in the blinds seemed consistently to connect with the board in profitable ways.

Other days you can do no right. You flop a set while your opponent flops the nut straight. For example, yesterday I played about three hours total and dropped $20.15. Lost with KK when 93-offsuit made two pair on the turn. Lost with AA when T7-off filled his inside straight on the river. Every draw seemed to miss. Top pair never held up. Big hands were regularly met with table folds. And so forth.

Yesterday’s slide was softened somewhat by the news that our friend Iggy has been reborn over at PokerWorks, a site that collects about a half-dozen poker blogs, including ones by Michael Craig (author of The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King), Linda Geenen (a professional dealer at the Bellagio), and professional player Tony Guoga (“Tony G”). Iggy’s “Guinness and Poker” will continue to operate, although it appears that the serious uberpostin’ will now primarily occur at his new location, IGGY at PokerWorks. His debut post for the new site is already up, so go check it out.

Iggy played this one craftily, of course. Whereas most of us thought he was tossing his cards in the muck, he was in fact slowrolling. Still, all of those praises appearing in those many prematurely-composed eulogies over the last week-and-a-half were well-deserved. (Go back to G & P to find links to several of them, including Up For Poker’s hilarious video tribute to Ignatious -- worthy of Errol Morris.)

Iggy’s “commonplace book” style of blogging -- he mostly compiles and presents what others have written and said about poker (rather than solely document his own experiences) -- not only benefits those of us looking to learn more about the game (and/or how other folks view and interpret their existence on this mostly absurd globule), but readily provides all sorts of opportunities to connect with like-minded others. Like a lot of online players, I have no “home game” at present and so greatly appreciate being able to participate in various communities via this here interweb thingy. Iggy’s uberposts facilitate that sort of exchange of ideas -- as do others’ blogs, the forums, the podcasts, and the like.

Think I’ll stop writing for now and go read a bit. That’s the other thing Iggy’s blog has done -- encouraged us all to shut down our own little presses and read once in a while. Sure it can be enjoyable, constructive, even energizing to write about one’s own ups and downs. But it also helps to hush up now and then and listen for a change.