Three Years? Who'd A Thunk It?

Today marks the third anniversary of Lightning Strikes. Who would have ever thought that I would write so muck junk about poker and life over the past 1000+ days? Today, I'm taking a few minutes to post some of my favorite screenshots and memories.

I began the blog for two reasons: to comment on someone else's blog, and to qualify for a poker tournament for bloogers that was hosted by Poker.com. The grand prize: a seat at the WSOP Main Event!

Even though I was new to blogging and relatively new to online poker, I was able to actually qualify for the final event and surprisingly finished in 4th place. I could have probably coasted into third, but the prize was a poker table which I didn't really want. I wanted the iPod for 4th-1oth instead. But geez -- I was really closer to a WSOP seat that I realized at the time:

Winning tournaments is always great, but sometimes winning a special prize makes it more memorable:

It is really nice to win against foes from other poker forums. Sometimes even a donkey can win:

Ahhh ... but winning against fellow bloggers -- that is sweet indeed, especially when a WSOP seat is on the line:

Kudos and Goodies

The first person to leave a comment on my blog was none other than my son. Guess he felt sorry for me since I had a blog that no one knew about. It now gets read occasionally by some online poker bloggers and a few other friends.

I'd like to thank my long-time online poker friend MurryTheCat, who has probably posted more comments over an extended time than anyone else. And ... thanks to some of my other poker buds who regularly comment on my blog -- Memphis MOJO, Mondogarage, PokahDave, OhCaptain, and muhctim, -- and other frequent posters like CEMfromMD, $mokkee, Bam-Bam, PirateLawyer, Schaubs, and Instant Tragedy. I hope to meet you guys in person sometime soon.

But wait -- a few more good screenies:

These represent my only Hold Em Royal Flushes. I've had a few in Omaha, but they don't really count, right? My best hand in a live Hold Em game has been a King-high straight flush which I got at the old Excalibur poker room in Las Vegas -- in the good ol' days before they replaced people with machines. Ugh.

And -- my favorite screenies of all:

Selling my house last September after it had been on the market for over a year finally brought some sanity back to my life. I feel so fortunate that I sold it before the economy really went in the crapper.

Okay - no more rambling. I have enjoyed the past three years and look forward to continuing this blog for some time. I am very fortunate to have a wife who puts up with all my garbage, including my competition jones and the many hours spent playing poker.

My world is looking pretty good right now. I hope yours is also.