Across the span of the Twitterverse, poker players seemed to be taking time away from the tables to jump into several different activities. For most, that was the first weekend of the National Football League schedule.
Two players who passed up watching the NFL games on television to watch them in person were Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little and Beth Shak, albeit at two different locations. “Heading to the opening day at Giants Stadium to watch the Giants play. Should be fun,” Little Tweeted before the New York Giants crushed the Carolina Panthers 31-17. Shak, on the other hand, watched a disappointing loss from the Philadelphia Eagles against the Green Bay Packers 27-20. Still, she was excited to Tweet, “I’m @Eagles game pic w/ Vince Papale #83 from movie Invincible.”
Other poker players chose to watch the games from the comfort of their homes, with one making some wagers to make it more interesting. “Bet one early NFL game CIN +5 hoping Palmer has a big game against an inexperienced NE secondary,” Tweeted PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu. Following the game, in which the Bengals fell to the Patriots, Negreanu tried to make up his loss: “Looks like I’m dead on my Cincy bet down 21 ugh. Hoping SF -3 will get me even at Seattle.” Unfortunately for “Kid Poker,” Seattle crushed San Francisco.
For most, the Sunday night game between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins provided a good sweat. “I think I get high blood pressure watching my Skins,” “Poker After Dark” hostess Leeann Tweeden chirped to her followers. It seemed that a couple poker players were for the ‘Skins along with Tweeden, including Alex Outhred (“Dear lord, if u feel bad about putting me and my train mates in a train wreck on Amtrak 2 days ago, do NOT let Cowboys win.”) and Lee Childs (“Ah, what a weekend for the JMU Dukes & the Redskins! The ‘boys almost sucked out, but thankfully the floor caught ’em cheating.”). Eugene Todd sounded off for Cowboys fans when he Tweeted, “Wade Phillips is the worst head coach in nfl and no wonder his fathers first name is bum.”
Other poker players had mixed emotions after their respective teams’ performance. “wow, @ChicagoBearscom were probably just gifted a win,” UB.com’s Joe Sebok Tweeted following the Bears’ controversial victory over the Detroit Lions. “Weird call there. we are truly a horrible football team. sorry, love ’em, but wow.” Michele Lewis was a bit happier, Tweeting, “Everyone can thank me for casting my golden dawn spell on the Texans to beat the Colts. I’m starting a new chapter if anyone’s interested.” Finally, “Poker After Dark” announcer Ali Nejad wrapped his Sunday by Tweeting, “Let’s see, A’s lost (out of it, whatever), 49ers lost (week 1, whatever), Raiders lost (what’s new?), BUT GIANTS WON!”
The MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) also attracted a great deal of attention from many in the poker community. “I think Justin Bieber is awesome,” Negreanu Tweeted while watching the show Sunday night. “I always like Usher and Michael Jackson stuff and this kid makes good music.” In agreement with Negreanu was Carbon Poker’s Shannon Elizabeth, who Tweeted, “He was amazing! So cute!”
Christian “charder30” Harder fired off, “You catch Florence and The Machine and the VMAs? She was amazing,” to Erik Seidel following the performance of the band on the show. Annie Duke barely missed having a Bikram yoga session with multiple VMA winner Lady Gaga: “I missed Lady Gaga at 11am Bikram since I practiced at 9am. Would have liked to see her Bikram outfit. Appropriate there to wear no pants.” Outhred provided a good wrap to the VMAs in Tweeting, “What was good about the VMAs: whoever was douchey came off douchey, dope came off as dope. Problem: most guests/nominees were douchey.”
Even though it may seem that players were away from the felt, many of poker’s stars actually were on their way to London, where the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe kicks off on Tuesday. “Just got to my hotel room in London,” Tweeted Full Tilt front man Mike Matusow, but he wasn’t a happy camper. “What a long day, took 7 hrs to get from Vienna to London tonight what a joke.” Someone who was probably on the same flight as Matusow was Tom “durrrr” Dwan, who simply Tweeted, “Austria was sweet, back in London now,” following his arrival.
Another poker player who Tweeted about heading to WSOP Europe was Phil Hellmuth. “WSOPE gonna sorely miss 10 time bracelet winners @texdolly + Johnny Chan! And Chau Giang + David OP.” Others who are on the ground in London and ready for action include Antonio Esfandiari (“Buckingham palace… London here I am baby”), Shannon Shorr (“At Huntsville International Airport en route to London via Chicago O’Hare”), and Eric Mizrachi (“Finally made it to our hotel in London, crazy 2 hour wait in customs line. As we go up we bump into Freddy Deeb”).
For the best Tweets from the weekend, we have to start with PokerStars’ Vicky Coren. In her usual self-deprecating manner, Coren Tweeted, “No column from me today, I had NOTHING TO SAY. Course, that may make the Observer even better value than ever.” Adam “Roothlus” Levy took a trip to the zoo on Saturday and observed, “At the San Diego zoo today. Watching a hippo poop was not on my list of things to see. Unfortunately the hippo did not give me a choice.” Finally, Todd had an offer for anyone on the Twitterverse: “I have extra tickets for the Jay Z and m (Eminem) concert at Yankee Stadium. I paid 750 each for them on the floor. Holla if u want them!”
