the Circles of Poker Blogging Hell- 2

There is an interesting sort of blogger that resides in the second circle of Poker Blogging Hell. It is one that feels some entitlement and holds some resentment. Sure they may have not been at the first gathering in Vegas, but they were always around with encouragement and have been to a number of gatherings.

The second circle had their reasons for not being in Vegas that first December. But they read the stories. Along with other readers, they lived the drunken debauchery through the words of others and either regretted not being there or vowed to be show up when the next announcement was made.

The second circle is not about when you join the group. It is how well you adapt and interact. It is the showing of respect to each other. It isn't about who is continually crushing the tables. It is about offering up some advice when asked and helping a player with their game. It is sitting down at a 2/4 game just to spend time with friends, donking it up not to win pots but to see the look of amazement and anger on the face of a tourist when you play the entire hand blind. From the rail. Smoking a cigarette. It is more about spending some time finding out about each other at the bar than arguing over when you should have 3 bet with Q Q.

The second circle is the bloodstream. People who fostered friendships when playing in the blogger tournaments online. These tournaments may pop up every couple of months but would be well attended. They also were for a good cause. Bragging rights were nice but the respect of fellow players was worth more. Because they weren't held every day of the week, they were special.

Then another good idea was hatched. Let's get our players into the WSOP. Hard work went into arranging these tournaments but a couple bloggers won their way into some preliminary events.

The feeling of community is strong among these inhabitants. So strong that some have moved away from poker but keep their ties with those they know. Other interests have taken over their lives but they remain in constant contact one way or another. That is part of the entitlement they feel. They have blogged for years about an activity they enjoyed and now feel it has been ruined by those who rather throw insults than poker chips. They show up to sling chips with the other still but not as often. They rather get a group together and invade an SnG that play a tournament.

Hence the resentment. Whereas the blogs had been about news, trip reports, encouragement, and success, they were slowly morphing into the opposite. Something they had helped to grow was now becoming something bigger than expected. And they didn't like what the new kids were bringing to the game.