200 pound lifesize Santa made from milk chocolate at the Bellagio’s.
Once again December is here and since awards tend to be an annual tradition I feel an obligation to present my personal picks from the ever expanding world of poker blogs, this is just one of my ways of saying thank you to the bloggers that really go the extra mile to make the community exactly that, a community.
First I present the Hall of Fame inductees. Last year Iggy’s Guinness and Poker and Linda’s Table Tango were honored with this, the highest praise I know how to bestow, now I give you two more. In the interest of diversity once a site is enshrined in the Hall of Fame it’s ineligible of future awards.
Up For Poker-The Blog Dream Team of the South. CJ, G-Rob and Otis.
All exceptional writers and people, always giving the extra effort to make things as cool as possible. From organizing the 2005 Summer event then convincing Poker Stars to help out the bloggers the Up for Poker Team has transcended the poker blogger realm and now it’s authors can be found preaching the gospel of the game in many publications and outlets.
The best part is that they keep moving forward and now have an amazing blog called Tri-clops, where a question is posed and each of the three bloggers of the Up for Poker team respond. Everything is fair game from whether or not they are going to hell all the way to their personal thoughts about the best way to enjoy Vegas.
Poker Grub-For anyone that doesn’t understand this I have just two words, “The Hammer”. Indeed the guru of gambling and grub was the creator of a term which every poker blogger has burned into their poker playing soul’s. One of the longest running poker blogs on the net, the Grub goes back to the beginning of poker blogging.
2005 Golden Prof…Bill’s Blog, Bill Rini-This was an easy decision, Bill Rini has expended incredible effort for the blogger community. His passion, dedication, perseverance and hard work are the reason the December blogger tournament is possible. Bill’s excellent, long standing poker blog and scuba blog have long been a fixture in the community and his newest creation, Poker Filter is nothing to sneeze at, so here’s to the ‘Jacques Cousteau’ of Poker Blogger’s.
2005 Silver Prof…Paul McGuire, Tao of Poker-What more can be said about Dr. Pauly other then he is the quintessential poker blogger. A top writer with an in-your face often gritty style that has found favor and Pauly is now in more publications then I can name (check his bio for the latest info) Dr. Pauly is a community keystone who has helped many a blogger find their feet and the ground to put them on.
Dr. Pauly is, without a doubt, living his dream of traveling the world following poker and its champions, all the while keeping a close watch on the escort service and night club industries. Pauly’s efforts extend well past the world of poker and his efforts seem almost superhuman with his personal blog Tao of Pauly, his e-zine Truckin’ and even a Phish Blog. Dr. Pauly, I salute you.
2005 Bronze Prof…Boy Genius,Gambling Blues:
-I have to say it’s good to have BG back, OJ was what it was and I’ll keep my own counsel on the matter suffice to say BG was most certainly not the problem. In retrospect, I much prefer reading journeyman poker writer Boy Genius on Gambling Blues.
There you have it, the 2005 Poker Prof Poker Blogger Awards. Congratulations to those selected to be honored for their outstanding contributions to the poker blogger community and the poker industry. A big thank you to all the poker scribes laboring away to provide timely information, helpful advice and a lot of great reading. Happy Holidays to all from all of us here in Las Vegas!