Meet the Bloggers
Drew Amato (Cheshire, Connecticut)
We’re down to our final week here at the Borgata Fall Poker Open and we’re welcoming back photographer and blogger Drew Amato. Fresh on a flight back from Sin City, Drew joins us for the championship event and some deep stack tournaments here in Atlantic City. He’s known for his exceptional photography. If you’re lucky enough, he will catch a good hand of yours while he’s browsing the field looking for his next subject.
Q: Where are you from?
A: “Cheshire, Connecticut”
Q: What is your educational background?
A: “Leaving school to pursue my own goals was the best thing that I’ve done.”
Q: What did you do before you got into poker blogging?
A: “Always been a photographer and a poker player. Before switching over to shoot photos in the poker industry, I spent 2 years up in Vermont shooting photos in the snowboard industry.”
Q: Talk about your career as a poker blogger.
A: “Living out of a suitcase has both its ups and downs. I’ve always been on the road constantly for work so i’ve adjusted to it. Blogging is nice because it allows you to travel and see different areas and casinos you would never end up at otherwise, but photography still remains as my main source of income/work.”
Q: What’s your favorite aspect of poker?
A: “People’s emotions are so raw when it comes to poker. You can have two people that are best friends at the table, but as soon as a hand develops between the two of them, everyone is out for blood. As horrible as it is, I find it hilarious when people take a beat and then proceed to berate the opposing player and everyone else who tries to get in their way.
Q: Tell us about your most memorable moment in poker.
A: “When I first turned 21 I won a midnight $60 tournament at my local casino for like $800.00. I woke up the next day and thought I was the king of the world.”
Q: Favorite sports team/sport?
A: “Hockey….Philadelphia Flyers
Q: What do you do in your spare time?
A: “Snowboarding and Traveling
Q: What are you craving after a long shift?
A: “Lobster.
Q: Philosophy on life.
A: “A ham sandwich is better than nothing. Nothing is better than eternal happiness. A ham sandwich is better than eternal happiness.”
Q: One thing you would like your readers to know.
A: “I’m very sarcastic.”
Follow Drew on social media: Twitter: @drew_amato Instagram: tomato_tamato Blog: www.drewamato.com. We hope you enjoy the blog as the final week plays out. Keep checking back with us as we bring you 5 more main events from the Borgata in Atlantic City.
John Brinkley (Washington DC)
You’ve been introduced to three bloggers so far, three in which you are all probably very familiar with. They’ve been in poker rooms up and down the East Coast reporting and sometimes even playing in those high stake tournaments and cash games they’re always writing about.
Now, we’re bringing you a fresh face who is very new to poker blogging. Straight and to the point, John Brinkley is the newest member of the FPO blogging team here at the Borgata. We’ve thrown him into the mix to really feel and experience what the poker culture is like in New Jersey. While a bit of a rocky start, (which is to be expected), we feel John is finally finding his own “poker style”, while clawing and conquering his way through the Fall Poker Open.
John is joining us from Washington DC where he is currently a freelance writer and editor. The man can write; look up his blog here: www.forbes.com/sites/johnbrinkley. Poker has always been a hobby of John’s. Now he gets to use his own writing background and experience to bring you the play by play action in a very different style then what you’re all used to. Check out our interview with him:
Q: What’s your educational background?
A: Berklee College of Music (Boston), American University (Washington)
Q: What did you do before you got into poker blogging?
A: I was a musician (drums), then a newspaper and wire service reporter, then a speechwriter, now a freelance writer and editor.
Q: What would you say is your favorite aspect of poker?
A: “Winning a big pot.”
Q: What are your favorite sport/ sport teams to watch?
A: “Redskins, Nationals, Capitals, Red Sox, Georgetown Univ. basketball.” Pretty standard for a DC native no?
Q: What do you like to do in your spare time?
A: “Golf, poker, horse-racing, running, playing guitar, horseback riding, hiking, cycling, anything outdoors.”
Q: What’s your go-to meal?
A: “Shad roe.”
Q: Tell us your philosophy on life.
A: “Do what you love and don’t worry about the money.”
Q: One thing you would like your readers to know about you.
A: “I’m available.”
Short, sweet and to the point, just like his writing style. You can follow John on twitter @johnb505. Monday we bring in Drew Amato, our last blogger of the series. Check back for his interview coming soon!
MaxelroD (Marlboro, NJ)
We’re now into week two of the Fall Poker Open and we’re ready to introduce you to another writer, of whom probably needs no introduction. A poker player, poker writer and Borgata regular, Matthew Axelrod, formally known as A-Rod, is up to bat in our series of “blogger interviews”.
Q: Where do you call home?
A: “I currently live in the Upper East Side in Manhattan.”
Q: What is your educational background?
A: “I started college at the University Of South Florida in Tampa, FL, before transferring to Rutgers University and receiving a B.A. in Journalism and Media Studies.”
Q: Tell us what you did before you got into poker blogging.
A: “Before I got into poker blogging, I attended law school in Miami for two years. An opportunity was presented to me, in the shape of a job at ESPN Radio in New York City. It was something I was extremely passionate about, and decided to part ways from law school to pursue the sports radio field. I worked at ESPN for 7 years before leaving the company as Executive Weekend Producer, and headed over to SiriusXM and the NFL Channel.”
Q: How did you get into blogging about Poker?
A: “I approached Parx when they opened their poker room, knowing that they’d eventually run some sort of tournament series. Having done zero work in web design/blog design, I had to really sell myself on my passion for the game and the coverage aspect of tournament poker. I continued to do other work with poker publications and the DeepStacks Poker Tour, while alternating between Parx and Borgata.”
Q: What’s your favorite aspect of Poker?
A: “My favorite aspect of poker is the community. Poker (and gambling) has and probably will always have a stigma that some may find somewhat negative. Even my family questioned what I was getting into when I first started blogging and basically living in casinos.
This community (especially the Borgata Poker community) is made up of some really incredible people. It’s the lawyer spending a day or two off from practice, a best selling author penning a story on the felt, professional athletes looking for recapture the competitive spirit, the congressman writing books on the correlation between foreign policy and poker…it’s just an amazing community/culture that I’m blessed to be a part of.”
Q: What’s your favorite sport to play/ watch?
A: “Favorite sport to play is definitely golf. Favorite sports teams are the Knicks/Yankees/Cowboys/Rangers.”
Q: What are you craving after a long shift?
A: “After a long shift, nothing hits the spot like a Beef Pho from N.O.W.”
Q: What do you live by?
A: “We can’t run from who we are. Our destiny chooses us.” – Professor Petrovsky
Q: What would you like your readers to know if you could tell them one thing?
A: “I would like the players to know how much I appreciate them. Like I mentioned earlier, these are some of the greatest people I’ve come across, and they’ve made me feel like part of the community from Day 1.”
Follow MaxelroD on Twitter @MatthewAxelrod and Instagram Maxelrod28.
On deck, the newest member of our team, John Brinkley who comes to us from Washington DC. Keep following the action!
AlCantHang
We’re onto our second interview in our series of “Meet the Bloggers” Fall Poker Open Edition. Next up: Al Rash, or as you may know him as, “AlCantHang”. A Pennsylvania native, Al comes to us from Delco. He is only with us for one more day at the Fall Poker Open, as he is beach hopping down to Florida to cover another series.
Q: What were you doing before you got into poker blogging?
A: “I was a Systems Architect for a big international company for a long time. Burned out after 20 years, I quit to become a full-time writer, and now enjoying everything about life.”
Q: Tell us more about your career as a poker blogger.
A: “I left my former just to join Full Tilt Poker in 2008 following online tournaments and the World Series of Poker until Black Friday. Since then I’ve covered events for several rooms around the country and spent the last two summers reporting from the WSOP for PokerListings.”
Q: What’s your favorite aspect of poker?
A: “The wide-range of people you meet around the game, so many interesting characters and stories to be found. There’s also this great experience of watching some of the brightest minds in the game work their craft. If you’re lucky, you get to document historic moments in the game you love.”
Q: What is your fondest poker memory?
A: “My favorite Borgata moment was watching Vivek Rajkumar destroy the 2008 WPT Borgata Poker Open final table.”
Q: Which sport/sport teams do you enjoy watching most?
A: “Really any team with Philadelphia in the name but specifically the Phillies. After that it’s Penn State football and Chelsea FC.”
Q: What are you doing when your not traveling and writing?
A: “Being on the road so often, I tend to spend a lot of down time reading. I’m sporting an impressive collection in my virtual library.”
Q: Favorite Food?
A: “Pizza, cheesesteaks, and tacos. Real tacos, not that Taco Bell stuff Will OC enjoys.” He jokes.
Q: Philosophy on Life
A: “Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.”
Q: One thing you would like the readers to know about you.
A: On all but the most extreme occasions, I’m not a total jerk. I like to think of myself as a pretty decent fellow who enjoys life as much as possible.
We’re excited to have Al with us this tournament series and hope you enjoyed learning about him as much as we did. The guys behind the pen and paper are an eclectic group that are just as thrilling as the poker hands they report. We hope you stay tuned as more interviews are coming your way.
Follow Al on Twitter and Instagram @AlCantHang.
Will OC concentrating hard on a hand.
Just who are those guys behind those media passes, notepads, and lenses? We sat down with the writers who bring you the Borgata Fall Poker Open Blog in a series of exclusive interviews to answer all your curiosities. First up: Will O’Connor, or as you may know him as “Will OC”.
A graduate of Montclair State University, born in Wyckoff, a current resident of Seaside; Will OC has been all over the state and is looking to add a new “Jersey” spot to his resume: Atlantic City.
Q: What did you do before you started poker blogging?
A: “Well, I graduated college with a Business Administration degree, I’m really putting that to good use…” he joked and continued, “I played collegiate soccer at MSU. I was a two-time-all-NJAC defender, ended career 2nd in MSU record books in career games played. I also worked as a lifeguard during the summers in Seaside Heights, NJ.”
Q: What’s your favorite aspect of poker?
A: “Whether I’m playing or blogging, I’m always fascinated by the decisions players make. Whether it’s the sizing of bets, the calls or raises they make, the change between aggression and passiveness throughout a hand, session or tournament, it’s all extremely interesting to me. I think through watching other players and perhaps seeing some “incorrect” decisions they make, can make you a better poker player. ”
Q: What do you do when you’re not blogging at Borgata?
A: “I try to stay active when I’m not working a series, running, rowing, swimming, just staying in somewhat decent shape. I’m also slightly a movie fanatic and try to see anything that I think “looks good”.
Q: Favorite Food?
A: “Taco Bell. Period.”
Q: What’s your philosophy on life?
A: “I think Mike McDermott said it perfectly in Rounders, “You can’t lose what you don’t put in the middle, but you can’t win much either.”
Q: One thing you would like your readers to know about you?
A: “While this may be considered a “job”, I couldn’t think of a cooler thing to do. The people I’ve met and become friends with since starting this career in June have been nothing short of amazing and I’m extremely thankful for this opportunity, I hope you all enjoy the teams coverage.”
We have uncovered one man behind the blog. Stay tuned as we bring you the rest of our fan favorite bloggers throughout the Fall Poker Open Series. Follow Will OC on Twitter: @WOCPoker.