Mailbag

We are going to just cut to the chase and go straight to the mailbag.

Via instant messenger, Stew asks the following “what the hell is this “Beer 3:16” thing you refer to?"

Ha-Ha Stew, good question. Obviously, you are not a wrestling fan. Anyways, here is the story. As early as I remember, when watching sporting events on television (football, baseball, etc.), you would see signs people holding signs in the crowd, or having them hanging off the wall that had a handwritten “John 3:16.” This was obviously a reference to a bible passage.

Anyways, fast forward to June 1996 and the King of the Ring pay per view, put on by the organization formerly known as the WWF. Jake “The Snake” Roberts was slated to fight Steve Austin in the final to crown the King of the Ring. Historically, Jake had many demons (drinking problem, drug problem, family issues, etc.). He was playing the role of a reformed and repenting Christian on-screen. He would often quote the Good Book when cutting his promos. Austin offered an impromptu comment in his promo, where he uttered the infamous words, “You talk about your psalms, talk about your John 3:16.well Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass.”

A few months later, in the opening weeks of the NFL season, little brother and I went to the local watering hole to watch some football, and we knew that the local television was going to be there to take footage from our bar of choice. Along with a few of the regulars, we got a bit ridiculous, and “dressed for the part” where we terrible towels (shark’s favorite piece of memorabilia), dressed and acted obnoxiously, and we hung the infamous “John 3:16” sign on the rail right below where we were sitting. We were totally obnoxious for the camera spot. Somewhere throughout the evening, John 3:16 got crossed out in favor of “Beer 3:16” and it has stuck for all these years.

So in closing, I guess in the spirit of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, the Beer 3:16 passage reads “I just took all your chips, ya donk!”

Next piece of mail comes from Joy. She writes, “Hi Mike, Just stumbled on your blog. Not that I did not enjoy it, but you seem to spend a lot of time writing. Why?”

Hi Joy, thanks for writing and I am glad you enjoyed what you saw. I write in this blog for a number of selfish reasons, though the amount of time I spend writing is certainly up for debate.

For starters, I am that type of person who “needs” a creative outlet, otherwise I get myself into trouble (I.e. - I find myself writing letters to the editor of the local newspaper where I take cheap shots at the whining locals who complain about “what is,” yet seem to do nothing more than whine, as they do not offer solutions to their logic-lacking ramblings. Or, I decide to “make moves” on people at the poker tables, which are donk-like in nature and could should lose me money. Other times, when I lack creative outlet, I start unnecessary wars (read: push “the button” just to see what happens next). Therefore, the world (and my bankroll) is a better place when I write in the blog to utilize my creative needs.

Second, this blog is a place for me to place my thoughts on poker. Unless I delete a post (I have not done so yet), the poker pub acts as a permanent record of said thoughts. I often go back and reference these thoughts, as I find them to be helpful down the road, even if my intention was not to help myself to help myself originally.

Third, I believe that people get SOMETHING out of my writing, be it entertainment, insight, a lesson in poker (beginners), a good laugh (more advanced players not realizing my target audience is more so the beginners than the advanced, as most players we encounter online are in fact beginners). I am satisfied if people get something of value from my posting, though I would keep doing it if they did not, as I gain value by posting.

Finally, the blog is a great way to get the word out there about events that are important to me, and I wish to call attention to them. I consider it a supplement to the CheckRayz site and my mailings. So, that is why I put time into writing. Writing, actually, communication comes very easy for me. I can often fire off a post in five to ten minutes that may take the average Joe an hour to write. It is something I enjoy doing, so as long as I feel I am good at it, and enjoy doing so, I will keep blogging.

I rambled on long enough on the mailbag today, so we will leave it at that… Actually, I‘ll pimp the CheckRayz tournament before ending, tonight there‘s a $5+.50 freeze out qualifier for the $15,000 guaranteed poker tournament tonight at Kiwi Poker that we are hosting. 1 seat (worth $50+5) will be added to the prize pool. This means that there will be two seats for the price of one that will be awarded tonight at 10.30 pm EDT. The password is available on the poker tournament schedule page of the CheckRayz Poker website. You must be a member and logged in to access the password. Registration with CheckRayz, of course, is free.

Have a great weekend everyone, thanks for tuning in, and talk to you soon!

Mike



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