Draft Disaster!

I didn’t get to my friend’s house until 3:30, just when our fantasy draft was set to start. I learned, to my intense pleasure, that they’d already chosen the draft order and I was first!

Outstanding. The only other time I’d made the starting pick was the year I won my first championship.

They were waiting for me to get there, so I didn’t have much time to think, but I knew who I wanted. I grabbed a sticker sheet and strode to the board. I pressed the sticker with “Alexander” on it to the board and did a little “in your face” move to my fellow team-members.

Everyone, strangely was silent, and remained that way for two picks. Then, finally, someone in the back says “Hey, Russo, did you really mean to pick a tight-end?”

Wha…?

Yes, I chose STEVEN Alexander instead of SAUN Alexander. Gah!

Thank God they were good sports about it. I put the Seattle running back’s sticker over the no-name tight-end’s to gales of laughter. It was so stupid, I couldn’t even come back with a witty rejoinder, I just sat down, shook my head, and took the abuse.

After the draft, got whored out playing silly games like 1-2-3 drop and Queens and Bitches. I'd never played them, and it showed.

Poker=Meh. Slowly recouping what I lost last week.

Hey how about that High Stakes Poker? I enjoyed watching Negreanu steam. I don’t dislike him, I just like the drama. Must’ve been tough on Lindgren, though, to pile on a friend like that.

I wonder why Abe Kaplan keeps grousing about the prop bets. I agree, it’s annoying to not know what they’re talking about, but I can’t see what the point is for Abe to keep saying that the producers have to do something about it. They do their commentary in post-production anyway, don’t they? Is Abe trying to send a message to the producers for later episodes? If so, this seems to be a silly way to do it.

I’d like them to incorporate the prop bets into the show- let us know what the bets are and what the stakes are.

HSP is the most entertaining poker program out there, no doubt. But, it comes across as canned, to me. Matusow was staked, that was clear. I’m wondering how many of the players are playing with their own money? How many are playing just for exposure?

There’s a rule of thumb amongst social scientists: You can’t get truly candid behavior from a subject once they know they’re being observed.

I find myself wondering how the play, decision making, and table talk is affected because of the oh-so-subtle cameras sharing the table.

Editor's note: Shaun Alexander. Gabe Kaplan. I steal time from work to write this crap, so I don't get a lot of time to proofread.