Sep
13
by Chad Holloway
I had the opportunity of working at the 2010 World Series of Poker as a blogger/field reporter for PokerNews, and it turned out to be the best summer of my life. I met a lot of great people and had the experience of a lifetime. One of the goals I set for myself before heading to Las Vegas was to work hard and do the best job possible. Evidently, I must have done a decent job since PokerNews has thrown a bit of post-WSOP work my way. I’ve done some recaps on an online poker tournament series, some ghostwriting, and even a recap of a WSOP broadcast on ESPN.
Although those were all great writing opportunities, the thing I’m most excited about is PokerNews’ offer to send me to Argentina to cover the Latin American Poker Tour Rosario Grand Final tournament. The event takes place between September 23-26 at the largest casino in South America, City Center Casino. Aside from covering some great poker action, I am looking forward to experiencing a whole other culture and taking a much needed (working) vacation. I’ve never been to South America, or to the Southern Hemisphere for that matter, and to have the chance to go, especially to do something I love, is beyond unbelievable. You can rest assured that I’ll post some pictures and discuss my exploits in a future blog.
I’ve also got a new article that appears in Poker Pro Magazine, as well as on their website, that recaps the Fantasy Poker action from the 2010 WSOP. If you want to check it out, here is the link. This year proved to be my most successful year in Fantasy Poker. I took 343rd out of over 20,000 in an online Fantasy Poker competition and participated in the 2010 ESPN Fantasy Poker League against the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Howard Lederer, Gavin Smith, Dennis Phillips and Eric Baldwin, just to name a few. The official results haven’t been released yet, but I am pretty sure I managed to take that one down with Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi’s deep run in the Main Event. I plan on writing a lot on that league once the winner is announced, so you can look forward to that as a future blog as well.
Now that it is September, I’ve had to switch gears from Fantasy Poker to Fantasy Football. This year I am in four leagues, which is the most I’ve ever attempted. My most prized league is one I do every year with my closest friends. We actually made it a keeper league last year and I managed to win my first Fantasy Football championship. I’m looking to defend my title and feel I have the team to do it. Let me just give you three names that’ll let you know just how good my team is: Chris Johnson, Andre Johnson and Brandon Marshall (I’m a huge Miami Dolphins fan). Those three players alone would have won me most games last year.
Another league that I’m in is the PokerNews Pigskin Invitational. There are twelve teams and I’m not overly excited about my chances. I was unable to make the online draft so the auto-draft feature was used to choose my team. I had some great wide receivers chosen in Larry Fitzgerald and Roddy White, but my QB situation was dire (it drafted me just one in Jason Campbell). The waiver wire had no decent options, so I immediately sought out a trade. Luckily for me, Jonathan Aguiar had WR and RB needs and we struck a deal. I gave him Steven Jackson, Mike-Sims Walker and Kellen Winslow (I have Brent Celek as my starter) in exchange for Donovan McNabb, Jonathan Stewart and Hines Ward. I think this is a pretty fair trade and feel a lot more comfortable having a proven veteran QB on my roster. I guess only time will tell as the NFL regular season kicks-off on Thursday.