Grandson of a Meat Cutter
I just got a generous extra donation from one of the players of the poker tournament to make up the shortfall we had. I followed the payment over to his blog to see who it was. I recognized him immediately.
When the poker tournament was starting, there were suddenly a hundred little details that had to get handled in a about 5 minutes. This big, unassuming guy steps up and asks “What can I do to help?” I don’t know who he is, but I start giving him orders, “Take this over there!”, “See if you can get this machine connected to the net!”, and boom, boom he took care of them.
It’s moments like that when you are in the biggest need, that help is most appreciated.
I also read that a few days after the poker tournament his grandpa passed away. It is funny how an entire mans life, his loves, his hopes, his dreams, fears and triumphs can get summarized in a few paragraphs. There were some clues to a rich life though. A few basketball championships, working in a creamery, as a meat cutter, and having a heart transplant.
I am glad Brian got to have some fun the at the poker tournament the week before his grandfather passed. I am sure Jim would have enjoyed thinking about Brian sitting at the poker table his last week.
Those I have loved who have passed have mostly enjoyed the adventures I have had that I came and told them about, much more than me sitting at their side.
So to each of you who read this, go have a good adventure while you can. Life is precious and wonderful. Thanks to each of you who make my life so incredibly rich satisfying.
The hottest girl in SEO
This is not link bait. Please consider this a link command. Pam is an unbelievably cute, smart, capable and downright nice person, and one of the hottest chicks in SEO.
(She is sitting right next to me and gave me permission to write that or I would not have dared as she is over 6 feet in heels)
She also happens to be a patient at my chiropractic office. I asked her about her page rank, and it appears that she doesn’t have any yet. Can you even imagine how cool it would be to give her a link, then see her in person, look at you through her beautiful brown eyes and give you a big thank you.
In reality she is teaching me tonight how to embed a video in my wordpress blog, so I thought I would give her some good PR 
This is the video that caused me to adore her. Don’t tell my wife, but don’t worry, my wife never reads this blog.
I hope you enjoy this! and feel free to give her a link at http://www.thatpamchick.com
She also likes comments, so hey follow me over there and let’s load her down with comments until her wordpress install breaks, why not?
Much Love,
dk
UPDATE
Lisa Ditlefsen has left a comment at Sphinn with a bit of a challange to my blog.
Here is Lisa’s picture
that I stole from Lisa’s SEO blog
Lisa sounds like an SEO expert, but then again, that is not what we are talking about here, are we?.
Poker T-Shirts for Sale – They are just fricken rad
After all of the sponsors have gotten their shirts, we still have Poker shirts left over.
Of the ones that are left, they are going first to the winners of the Name the SEO contest.
They are also being sold to fund more money for the charities.
As soon as I see a size has sold out I will update the options on checkout.
If for any reason you purchase one and I find we have run out of your size, you will be immediately refunded through Pay Pal.
Buy a T-Shirt
To buy a T-Shirt or Shirts click here:
Winners of the Name the SEO Contest
If you are one of the winners of the Name the SEO contest. You know you are a winner because you already commented at the contest! Just click below, pay the shipping cost, and in the notes section enter your e-mail address.
dk
Taylor Pratt – SEO Poker – Hands Shaking
(Guest SEO Post by Taylor Pratt, who made it to the final table!)
So there I was at my poker table. $150 cash waiting in my hand for the buy-in. Beautiful women are walking around serving drinks. You can hear the sound of thousands of slot machines in the background. The dealer is to my left, and Shoemoney is to my right. Vegas in its prime.
It’s no wonder I’m nervous. This is my first major poker tournament. Hell, the only high stakes poker game I ever played in consisted of a $20 buy-in for beer money back in college. Somehow I knew this was going to be different: instead of losing $20, I was going to lose $150. I meant to bring along my sunglasses. I’m not actually sure why people wear them, but it seemed like the right idea. Fortunately for me, I forgot them back at the hotel. I would have looked like such a dweeb.
I hand over my cash to the dealer, and he pushes over a stack of chips – 2,000 to be exact. No limit holdem. My hands are shaking because I’m nervous, but I hide them under the table so no one will see. I get the bright idea to start playing with my chips. I saw the pros do it on TV. I knock over my entire stack by accident. Luckily no one saw.
I look at the two cards dealt to me: two of hearts and eight of clubs. Perfect. I look around and realize – I don’t get to see what everyone else has. And what are my odds for this hand? Should I raise? Crap. This isn’t like what they show on TV at all. I quickly fold. It is a technique I learned early on, and mastered throughout the tournament.
After one hour of play I had won one hand, and folded all the rest. I was above 2,000 at least but quickly falling behind. The first player has been knocked out and I give myself a pat on the back because I’m already doing better than usual.
As time rolls on I start to realize that I only need to win a hand or two an hour in order to stay in this thing. A fellow SEO joins my table. People are just coming back to their seats after the ten minute break. He leans in and says, “Do you have any idea what you’re doing?” But I know what he really meant, “Damn, you’re one hell of a poker player.” I respond with a head nod, and begin to demonstrate my dominance of the game. Folding left and right as my opponents fade into the abyss of the casino.
The time has finally come. It’s the final table. The two tables that were left merge into one. All of the players needed a tray to carry their chips over. Not me. All I needed was one hand. Instantly I knew this was going to be a problem. I was the “short stack” at the table. Two yellows, a handful of pinks, and a couple of black chips. I wasn’t sure how much that was, but I knew it wasn’t good.
Taylor in the Baseball cap at the final table.
The top nine players in the tournament finish with money. I was the big blind and already half of my stack was gone. Luckily I’m dealt pocket queens. “Time to double up,” I thought. A gentleman a few seats over goes all in. I chuckle to myself knowing I’m about to take him out. Some poor chap calls. Now everyone is looking at me. “I’m all in.” I flip over my pocket queens and see my opponents’ cards: one guy has 2 Jacks, and the other has an Ace and a Queen off suit. Things are looking good.
Here’s the flop. Two junk cards and an Ace. Blast! Somehow the tides have turned. I’m no longer winning this hand. I wait for the turn card and there is no Queen. My tournament life all rests on the river…nothing. I’m out. 10th place- only one finish away from money. I politely collect my things, wish good luck upon my fellow players. They got lucky, real lucky.
Dan Perry’s story
MAJOR UPDATE!!!!
WIN DAN PERRY’S GOOGLE FRIDGE! OWN A PIECE OF HISTORY!
(Guest Post by Dan Perry who writes about Google, Golf, SEO and other things!)
Hey Dave,
I entered the poker tournament because I thought it would be a great networking event (which it was). Sometimes it’s tough to find a common ground to meet new people at conferences. Everyone migrates to their respective cliques, making it tough. Of course, the Friday Pubcon event is great for that, but I wasn’t able to stay for that, thus the Poker tourney for sure.
Got there early enough to watch the “real” poker players. The Travel Channel (I think) was recording a heads-up tournament between two pros. It was for the season finale of the WPT. I knew one of the guys (Allen Cunningham, who eventually won) so I watched them a while. The table was full of stacks of $100 bills. Gotta love that!
Finally got situated to play, and just sat down wherever seemed right. I ended up sitting next to TheMadHat, and meeting him for the first time. Great guy. Once we started, it really seemed to fly by. 5 ½ hours… really?
I remember switching tables about 3 or 4 times, which, in retrospect, is a good thing. One play I remember vividly was when I was ready to put Jon (from Manchester UK) all-in. We had been playing together for most of the night, and had actually become as good of friends as you can become in a few hours at a poker table. I had played pretty tight all night, and he had a handful, and took WAYYY too long to decide. Finally, he asked me “If I fold, will you show me your cards?”, and I agreed. Normally, I don’t show my cards, but since he was leaning the direction of folding, I felt it the right thing to do. I actually had a really good hand prior to the flop, but once the cards started appearing, my hand got weaker, but I was committed. He eventually folded, and I showed my 10 and Ace of Hearts. The table just about flipped. It wasn’t originally intended to be a bluff; it just sort of evolved into one. John ended up making the final table, and took 4th Place.
Moving to the final table, and being seated next to Shoemoney was great. As soon as I sat down, I introduced myself, and he the same (I liked that he introduced himself as Jeremy; although he is a celebrity, the ego isn’t there, which is always welcome). He then said, after looking over the final table, that he picked me to win. Of course, I immediately told him to stop trying to jinx me! Anyway, great camaraderie, and a really great guy.
After the picture of the final table was taken, it kind of turned into a blur for awhile. I was seated at the right hand of the dealer, so I basically couldn’t see the entire left hand side of the table. I could see about 5 of the final 9 without having to move. I played pretty tight, and watched Jeremy’s stack just grow and grow. I’m sure there’s a picture somewhere, but his stacks of chips were HUGE! Of course, at the same time, mine were dwindling.
So much of this game is luck. At the point where your chips are getting low enough that you’re contemplating going all-in, my cards always seemed to be great. I went all-in, and won a big pot, which put me back in position to play tight and let everyone else just start fading away.
When it got down to heads up with Jeremy, again he picked me to win, and this was with significantly more chips than I had. Again, I told him to stop trying to jinx me, but I think he was being sincere.
At one point, I actually felt kind of bad for him. He had Lasik a couple days before, so he could barely see the cards in the middle of the table, and in addition, his cheering section had grown to a point where it was distracting for him. He actually asked a few people to back off a little as they were crowding him. It was much easier for me as the underdog; no pressure and no distractions.
In the end, I started building my chip pile up again, and betting much more aggressively. My raises were at least $20k or $25k each for quite awhile. When your heads-up, you have to remember that sometimes, a 10-2 off-suited may be a good hand. All you have to do is beat the other guy, and he may have a 9-4 off suited. This type of hand happened quite a bit near the end.
I don’t remember what cards I had for the final hand. All I remember is that Jeremy couldn’t have been more gracious. I don’t think I’ve shaken one person’s hand so many times in a period of 20 minutes in my life. I tipped the crew at the table $95, and gave an extra $500 to the wife of the fireman who passed, and walked out with $2600, a hell of a lot of free burrito cards (from Chipotle, which my wife and I LOVE), and the biggest smile in Vegas.
–
Note from dk – Were you the happiest SEO in Vegas? Got a poker story from the event? I would love to post it here!
Poker Tournament Finance Roundup
Poker tournament Pics and win a shirt here.
Read about the charities here.
Below is the accounting of the finances from the SEO Poker Tournament. From the feedback it was one favorite events from any of the SEO conferences.
I am posting what is almost all the financial transactions that will take place before, during, and after the conference. I will update this post periodically as the final transactions are completed. The expenses will be marked paid as they are paid.
Income (all collected)
Players fees received after Paypal costs $4244.38
Sponsor Fee after Paypal fee $1465.86
Sponsor Fee after Paypal fee $1465.86
Sponsor Fee after Paypal fee $ 904.95
Dan’s $500 extra donation $ 500.00
for the firefighters wife!
Cash Donations $ 50.00
(Gave them free t-shirts)
Total Income as of 1/6/06 $8,631.05
Expenses
EventBrite (registration site) -82.35 (paid)
EventBrite -55 (paid)
Get Noticed Advertising for t-shirts first payment -1725 (paid)
Get Noticed Advertising for t-shirts second payment -2102.45 (paid)
tip to Valet at Venetian on poker night -1 (paid)Advertising playing cards handed out at Pubcon -175.99 (paid)
Software for players to practice texas holdem -14.95 (paid)
Shipping costs to send Sponsor 1 t-shirts -15.76 (paid)
Shipping costs to send Sponsor 2 t-shirts -56.79 (paid)
Shipping costs to send Sponsor 3 t-shirts ????? (paid)
Amount to be paid to Firefighters wife -848.88 (paid)
Extra amount from Dan to be paid to Firefighters wife -500 (paid)
Amount to be paid to burned Firefighters -848.88 (paid)
Amount paid to Criminon -848.88 (paid)
Amount paid to John Dau (rebuilding Sudan) -848.88 (paid)
School in India for better water and sanitation -848.88 (paid)
Note – The school allready got their project funded! Yehhhh!!
So instead the money is being donated to the Childrens Project School.
If you can take a minute to read this it will blow your mind.
Let’s see if you can read it and not cry, I couldn’t and still can’t.
Total Expenses $8836.34
So the whole thing shook out with me having done a bunch of work, and cost me out of my pocket some hundreds of dollars. Funnest money I ever spent.
Take a look at these Indian girls new computer and tell me if it was worth it. 
I can’t even begin to tell you all what this event meant to me on every possible level. It was truly one of the great nights of my life.
Much Love,
dk
