"It was 20 years ago today - Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play": The 20th anniversary of my lightning strikes! blog

Believe it or not, March 12, 2026 marks exactly 20 years since I made my first blog post in lightning strikes! The masthead disappeared several years ago when ... never mind -- nobody really cares. 😃

The blog was started during the heyday of poker in the years after Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP Main Event. I was playing a lot of online poker at the time, and began this blog as a way to potentially qualify for a tournament that had a WSOP Main Event ticket as its top prize. There were several preliminary tournaments to play to try to qualify, but as I recall, a player had to win the tournament in order to get a seat at the finals. However, in the last qualifier, the first TEN finishers would get a seat. I was fortunate to sneak in at 8th place, qualifying me for the biggie. I had done it: the bloggerpokertour.com Grand Final. I would face off against 43 other bloggers.

Although I do not remember who my fellow qualifiers were, many were my unofficial mentors or players who I totally respected and admired. I was honored to be in the same tournament with them. I was scared silly! I played so tight that I was squeaking in my chair. Then, as I recall (remember - this was 20 years ago), I got AA and QQ in back-to-back hands. I won a ton of chips and actually became the chip leader for a bit! I made it to the final three, but lost a crucial hand and finished in third place. I believe that I won an iPod for my efforts. A bit of a comedown from a $10,000 top prize, but hey -- I was stoked.

The early years of the blog were mostly stories of my online poker exploits. Looking back and reading a few posts, I'm surprised that I really did quite well in a number of online tournaments. Of course, I was playing every night after work and on weekends. Why my wife didn't boot me to the curb during this time in my life is still a mystery to me. I guess she really has loved me all this time!

As time when on, I began infusing more stories about my life into the blog. I wrote about all kinds of personal things: health scares (cancer, heart issues), family, deaths, music ... I always contemplated taking my best selections from these posts and making a book with them. Ahhh ... but who would actually buy/read it?

More recently, the number of posts I publish has slowed down, almost creeping to a halt. Few people read my blog, as writing seems to have gone to the wayside, instead being replaced with videos, vlogs, and podcasts. Sometimes it is just difficult to get motivated to write, knowing that the work is really more for myself now. I do appreciate the people who do still read my blog and even occasionally comment on it!

A funny thing is that my brother in Australia, thundering36, is the only family member to have ever shown any interest in the blog. My secret hope has always been that my kids will one day become interested and find this amazing treasure of their father's thoughts -- perhaps sides of me they never knew existed. I wouldn't bet the farm on that, though.

I could go on and on, but I won't. I have lots of great memories in my posts. I have met a lot of great people in my life via poker, work, and general activities. I consider myself an extremely fortunate person and am thankful that, for whatever reason, I was granted a wonderful life. I've always felt like I was given some great gifts -- a good head on my shoulders, a capacity for understanding and caring, the ability to (mostly) make good choices. I was born into a good family and married into another good one. I've worked hard and have been fortunate in a few areas. I feel really blessed.

What does the future hold? Who knows. I hope to be around for some time and hope that I stay healthy. As the saying goes, the rest is gravy.

Thanks for reading. Comments in the blog's comment section are always welcomed. 😎