the best 7stud player you never heard of....

[jonathankaplan]

....won the $10,000 Stud championship at the wsop yesterday.

Eric Brooks and I first met in 1982 standing in the Dome Mines trading pit. We each were working our positions up to the (then) limit, buying a spread that still stands in my mind as one of the best I'd ever done. (That's a different story.) We both traded on the PHLX for some years,

Comments

Some comments on the above.

[jonathankaplan]

Hmm, I look back later, hours later, and no one has responded....that is kind of rare, makes me wonder....

Pain happens, I may sound bitter at my situation but I am not. Everyone has to learn to play the hand they get, I am still learning. Don't worry about me.

I really wanted this entry to be a tribute to a nice guy I have known a long time, and (except for one other), the person I am happiest to see win the first quasi-official 7stud Championship. Eric Brooks is great guy, I wish I had written the journal better, and had no references to me at all, since (perhaps/apparently) I distracted the issue too far to achieve my aim of revealing some of his glory. He's a quiet guy who deserves it, much more than a great many others I have known.

I didn't want to edit after-the-fact, or I might just delete all of me from the above entry. It would feel wrong to do that now, though.
Oh well, I'll try to do better.

Re: Some comments on the above.

[john_j_enright]

I just read it just now, but it seems like like a fine post to me.

I realize this isn't the main point of your post, but I'm sorry you have to put up with the pain.

Re: Some comments on the above.

[jonathankaplan]

Thank you, John.

Don't feel sorry. Into every life some rain must fall. My life until then was blessed. Now it is less so. It all evens out. There is some reason I hurt, I may not know why, that may even be unknowable, but there it is, and the art of life is living with whatever happens.

Thanks again.

[nokomisjeff]

Good post.

I commented the minute I saw your post. I haven't been around LJ very much since my wife's death.

Jeff

[jonathankaplan]

I haven't read friend's journals in a long time, and I just went back and reread yours.
I am so sorry for what has happened.
I am sorry I am not more timely with that.

But I did have one more positive thought....You got to spend 30 years with the love of your life? Forevermore that will not seem like enough to you, but I'd trade every moment after my 30th year with Cathy just to get to that 31st year.
30 years is a very long time for a man to be so blessed, you are into bonus time now, I think. Don't be bitter. Don't let yourself slide back in ways Denise would have despised. Go forward. A lot of waves sounds like a great start.
Best of luck, my friend.

[fun160]

Jeff, I had an epiphany when I read this entry. Your blog is the Masteroftheuniverse’s Weblog, isn't it? I post there occasionally as We Are...Penn State email list.

Regarding your LJ post of January 23, 2007 it made my heart ache all over again for my former life as a pit trader. I've been completely out of the game for a while now, but I'm starting to get the itch again.

They moved my cheese when they put everything on the screen, but there are some aspects of electronic trading combined with the CBOT-CME merger that have me thinking of returning to trading. They might have moved my cheese all the way back!

[nokomisjeff]

Very cool.

I write mostly over on my blog, but do post rarely on LJ. Mostly I write comments on LJ friends articles, as I like to keep up on what they're doing.

I write over at Victor Niederhoffer's site quite frequently. His site is:
http://www.dailyspeculations.com/wordpress/.

I've been getting away from the LJ thing the past couple of years, preferring to concentrate on trading and other things.

The transition from the pit to the screen isn't too bad.

Jeff

[freelikebeer]

This post is as clear and strong as you intended it. There isn't much to discuss that wouldn't seem like it was nitty detail compared to your message.

[jonathankaplan]

Thanks for the kind words.
I appreciate it.

[gunga_galunga]

Have you ever thought about writing a book about your trading and poker experiences? I find both topics fascinating.

Is the other top three player a two time bracelet winner?

[jonathankaplan]

Yes, I've thought about it, but my memory doesn't work linearly any longer and the effort to compile that book is beyond my ability now, I think

[combinatorial]

I promise to check my LJ friends page more frequently if you promise to post more. :)