Happy New Year, everybody. I hope 2006 was good to you, and that 2007 will be even better.It's said that the First Age of life is childhood, the Second Age is family and career, and the Third Age is the rest of your life. I've vowed to make my Third Age the most excellent of all. And in 2007, that means lots of poker.The year 2006 was a momentous one for the game. Poker is more popular than ever before. Search engine Lycos reports that its No. 1 most searched word is POKER (way ahead of Pamela Anderson and MySpace!). The World Series of Poker's Main Event attracted a record field of 8,773 players, with champion Jamie Gold winning $12 million. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act passed a lame-duck Congress, and some believe that longtime Congressman Jim Leach of Iowa suffered an upset defeat because of his sponsorship of the bill.In any case, PokerStars is still humming merrily along, and many think that the newly elected Congress will not enforce the ban.It was a great year for our local poker scene. Tournaments here delivered bigger payouts to more entrants. All of the card rooms now feature no-limit games, along with the standard limit variety. Sit-n-go tournaments and league play are gaining in popularity, and new players are streaming onto the scene every day.As for me, I compiled a strong record of wins in '06, my first full year of tournament play. I blew it at the World Series, but did garner three first places, two ninth places and an 11th place in tournaments of note. It's a record that I'm happy with, even though I'm not yet the player I hope to become.I'll certainly be testing my skills in '07. To kick off the year, I've already won entries to the Coachella Valley Poker Championship at Spotlight 29 in January, and the L.A. Poker Classic at the Commerce Casino in February. Both offer big money prizes and prestigious titles.I'll continue thinking, dreaming, and writing about poker. Now if I just keep racking up wins, my Third Age will be the best yet.
By Jill Cohen
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment