#737 – Why Poker Players are Awesome – Part 2 (or 3 or 5 or 50)

I’m always impressed, but never surprised, by the generosity of poker players. In several recent blogs I’ve pointed out how poker players have stepped up in this rotten economy to donate to good causes as other people and businesses cut back. This post is a shameless woo-hoo for all out us, though I’d like to single out the Dublin Bellybusters, members Patrick (Dr Fill Good) and David (LAPPIN), Railbirds.com, virtual poker communities and, heck, poker players everywhere. Annie Duke wasn’t exaggerating when she said, “Poker players are the most awesome people in the world.”

As I mentioned previously, DublinBellybusters.com and Railbirds.com are two virtual poker communities that have taken up the cause of Relay For Life, promoting and playing in my pair of Relay tournaments on Full Tilt. (I know there are many other individuals and groups who have helped me, and apologize for not being able to list all who have helped.) At my second Relay For Life tournament, Patrick, a member of the Bellybusters, outdid even the everyday acts of generosity I’ve almost come to expect from poker players.

Patrick, as Dr Fill Good, won the second Relay for Life tournament last Sunday. Without me asking, suggesting, or encouraging him – in fact, we’ve never met or spoke – Patrick shipped me his $250 first prize and asked me to donate it to the Scottsdale Relay. That was so cool and so uncalled for – but so routine for poker players.

Patrick’s buddy David, who plays on Full Tilt under the name LAPPIN, introduced me to the Dublin Bellybusters last year. They seem like a great, fun-loving group of players and I have played some of their tournaments on Full Tilt. I also met David at the Million Pound Challenge in London last September and he seems like a great guy. (Don’t let their charming dispositions or low stakes tomfoolery confuse you. David, Patrick, and several other Bellybusters terrorize the mid-stakes tournaments on Full Tilt.) David has been my main contact with the group, spear-headed their involvement in my tournaments, and he convinced Patrick and worked it out for Patrick to donate his winnings to my cause. (From my limited interaction with these guys, I assume Patrick is rolling his eyes now and saying, “Yeah, David’s a real prince. Very generous with other peoples’ tournament winnings.”)

Now the two of them are hatching some kind of scheme that may (a) cost me money, (b) subject me to ridicule, (c) raise money for Relay For Life, and (d) probably all three.

They challenged me to a Relay-style poker competition, Michael Craig against the best the Dublin Bellybusters have to offer.

The details are still being negotiated, but Patrick’s initial idea was that I would play him, David, and a third player heads-up simultaneously for an hour or two. “At the end of the session whichever team is up, the other team will give $250 to Relay For Life. My other two players will also donate any winnings they make over their buy in to Relay for Life.” In his most recent email, he has suggested “us three semi-pros against you trading off on the hour for three hours. Playing just NLE and HORSE HU on two tables for three hours being the general idea.”

We will work out the details and probably play sometime at the end of next week. (I would like the matches to take place before the May 8th Scottsdale Relay but the Relay’s books remain open for awhile after.) You can follow the negotiations and find out about the matches in this blog, on Dublinbellybusters.com, or through their forum on BadBeatsPoker.net. If you have any suggestions, want part of the action, or wish to make a donation, you can leave a comment to this blog.

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