Blogger Milestones - 5 Years for Iggy and Up For Poker

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

Only authorized photo of camera shy uber-blogger Iggy

“Guinness and Poker is the Rosetta stone of poker blogs, the gateway. Thanks to Iggy, we’ve seen the drunkest minds of our generation destroyed by bad beats, hammer plays, hysterical …

UpForPoker features some of the top writing in the business, a perspective on an oft-thriving local poker scene, and an actual box made out of pure luck. Attempts to open the box of luck have resulted in Raiders-Of-The-Lost-Ark face melting, also suckouts so brutal that they make Condoleeza Rice grab her testicles in sympathy pain.”

Julius Goat

Two of the top poker blogs recently hit their 5 year anniversary posting about every aspect of this silly game of poker. UpForPoker as well as Guinness and Poker both started putting their thoughts out on the internet in September 2003. I would say that poker blogs have never been the same since but they were two of the originals. Fantastic writers and content that jumps from trip reports to tales of the table to all the poker news that you need. These two sites were instrumental in growing numbers of players using the blogging format to document their treks around the world from casino to casino and putting their stories out for the masses to read. What follows is my homage to the two great sites including quotes from some bloggers they’ve influenced. For better or worse.

“What does Iggy mean to me besides little man dwarf sex. I have been around the little fellow for almost his entire run at Guinness and Poker. I remember my first days as a newbie blogger and how the tiny fellow made me feel like a part of a bigger community. I now realize that he only did this because he enjoyed laughing at my miserable train wreck of poker play in those early days.

Every time I would sit down at a poker table he would show up. I thought it was because he liked me but now I realize that he crunched the numbers and could make more from me at a fifty cent table than he could five tabling 5/10 LHE. Proof that even though his body may be tiny his mind is not.”

Waffles

Somewhere along the line Iggy was bestowed the nickname of the Poker Blogfather. Ask 50 bloggers who gave him the name and you’ll probably get 25 different answers. Iggy is a blogger who spends his time in a flyover state spending his days trolling for fish and digging up dirt hidden in different forums. When he first started his site you could only find poker information online at various forums like rec.gambling.poker. Unfortunately RGP quickly turned into a place that attracted more trolls than quality posts. Iggy somehow found a way to sift through the mountains of garbage to find nuggets of gold which he would re-post in all their glory for all to read. When Iggy puts up one of his “uber-posts” it would take several hours to get through but it was always worth the lost time. His motto was “killing work productivity one post at a time”.

But that was just one aspect of the wee man. His greatest accomplishment for poker players and bloggers is his willingness to welcome one and all. The would be entire posts dedicated solely to direct his large audience to a list of new bloggers making their splash. He is generally the first to welcome new writers, encouraging them both publicly and privately. Without the Blogfather, my little corner of the internet would not exist and that’s just about the only bad thing I could say about him.

“Guinness and Poker was singlehandedly responsible for more than $20,000 per year in lost productivity at my last job. Since I went to work for myself, I’ve had to limit my reading to three hours per week, else my kid has to go hungry for a couple of days.”

Otis - UpForPoker

“UFP is easily one of my all-time favorite blogs, poker or not. The three disparate personalities behind it make the writing highly intelligent and compelling enough, but Otis’s stories put it over the top. Suffice to say, his storytelling abilities make me want to never write again. That’s the highest praise I can give. Viva la UpForPoker!”

Iggy - Guinness and Poker

The UpForPoker boys include CJ, Otis and G-Rob. CJ started the site 5 years ago and the rest gradually joined up as they shared their interest and talent in the game. All three are from various forms of the Main Stream Media (properly capitalized per blogger regulations) and it shows through in their content. They’ve covered just about every poker-related topic from the highs to the lows. Otis has traveled the world covering poker tournaments and is recognized as one of the top professionals. The three friends bring some of the most unique insights into the environment surrounding online and live poker.

The world of poker blogging really began taking off 5 years ago when these two sites hit the internet and gave players a brand new place to find poker content in a much more personal format. The floor is open, leave a comment or thoughts about two of my favorite poker blogs.

“UpForPoker was one of the first pillars of poker bloggerdom and the prose of G-Rob, CJ and especially Otis always keeps it fresh. Iggy has kept Guinness and Poker a must read blog keeping the pulse of industry and it’s undercurrents, just watch out for some of the pictures.”

LasVegasVegas