By Jonathan Miller, on Fri Jul 5, 2013 at 10:00 AM ET  So first the good news: I made it to day two of the World Series of Poker’s Little One for One Drop event!
Out of the 4756 players who began the tournament, only 588 of us remain. And the 495 top players will “cash out”: winning at least $1797, with the top prize of $655,000.
And now the bad news: I am in real chip trouble. With only 950 chips remaining, I am probably the shortest stack left in the tournament; and if not, I am pretty close to the bottom. With blinds rising to 300/600 at the next level, I will have to go all-in very quickly, and hope that I either get a good pair of hole cards, or that my bad pair gets lucky on the board. And most likely, even if I prevail that first time, I will have to immediately go back all-in, with the same sort of prayers needed.
I had actually reached 18,000 chips with ten minutes to go before the end of Day 1. Several hours before, I made my first bonehead move of the week — I bluffed all-in against the guy with the nut flush, and was down to 2500. But like last year, I went all in with a Jack/small (last year it was the Jackson Five, this year, it was the Jackson Three — Tito and Jermaine must have been fired from the group). When no Jack appeared on the board, I stood up, thinking I was out, and was told that I had made a straight on the river. And then again, just like last year, I looked down to see a majestic pair of kings in the next hand. I went all-in, and shot up to 8000 chips.
 Damn You Three Jacks! I played great until the very end. I had a pair of jacks, and when the jack of spades appeared on the flop — as well as two other spades — I went all in to keep anyone from chasing a flush. Well, one guy did, and he caught it on the turn.
Damn you Three Jacks!
So I am now left with a tiny stack, and in the need of some incredible luck to survive.
But as they say, that’s poker. And who knows what is in store for me tomorrow? We sit down again at 1:00 PDT (4:00 EDT), and with the need to go all-in pretty quickly, I will know my fate pretty soon. So be sure to follow me on my Facebook Page or, better yet, on Twitter, to check in.
And if the poker gods really are smiling on me tomorrow, check in on this page for summary updates of the tournament and this page for chip counts.
Or if you could care less about me, many of the world’s biggest pros are in the tournament. And so is my math/baseball/politics man crush, Nate Silver. So please join us!
By Jonathan Miller, on Thu Jul 4, 2013 at 10:00 AM ET  The troublemaker It’s all Julie Rath‘s fault.
As you may have read yesterday, our otherwise amazing men’s fashion expert took me to task for dressing like a “dork” at previous World Series of Poker events. Her words:
I don’t mean to be harsh, but the words that come to mind are Fashion Train Wreck.
Jonathan, I suspect your reasoning was to dress like an amateur so the pros would think you were easy prey, but did you also want them (and everyone watching on TV) to think you were a dork? Now of course I know you are NOT a dork, but please make a note for future reference, wearing sports jerseys in general, much less on multiple days in a row, is not a good look.
So let’s put the past behind us. This year, I urge you to know when to hold ‘em, when to fold ‘em, and when to step away from the sports jerseys. Try a Hawaiian shirt instead. It has a lower dork-factor but still sends the message that you’re a casual player.
 So I listened. And I found a beautiful Hawaiian shirt in my casino’s galleria, and sent Julie a photo for approval. And I entered “The Little One for One Drop No-Limit Hold’em, the second largest competition of the World Series, behind the Main Event of course.
(This is really a special event. 10% of all proceeds are sent to One Drop—a non-profit organization established in 2007 by Guy Laliberté, Founder of Cirque du Soleil. One Drop strives to ensure that water is accessible to all, today and forever by developing integrated water-access and management projects around the world. In the U.S., One Drop is a public charity that undertakes innovative activities in which water plays a central role as a creative force to generate positive, sustainable change worldwide.)
And I played really great. 30 minutes into the event, I ran into some horrible luck. I flopped a set of 9s; and there was an Ace on the board, meaning that I probably could extract a lot of money from an unsuspecting opponent with a good hand, like an Ace/King or an Ace/Queen. However, when I went all in, I was called by a set of 10s. Oops. My chip count went down to a pitiful 800 or so.
But I didn’t lose my composure. Over the next 8 hours, I slowly and methodically built up my stack, employing some ridiculous bluffs when I had good reads on my opponents, and eight hours later, I had a decent sized stack, around 8000 chips.
I was dealt an Ace/King, and when the first four cards were turned up, I had an ace high flush. Sirens! I went all in and was called by someone with a Queen high flush. Only one card could beat me — if a 9 of diamonds appeared on the river (final card) — my opponent would defy all odds and defeat me with the best hand of all, a straight flush. (He had roughly a one in 30 chance.)
And guess what? Straight flush. I was busted.
 My lucky outfit The good news, is that the One Drop tournament offers a second chance — a mulligan, in golf terms. I will rebuy in a few hours and start from scratch. And the One Drop charity gets a little more of my money.
Of course, I blame the bad luck entirely on Julie. So I will return to being a dork, and wear my luck Cincinnati Reds Joe Morgan jersey, with No Labels ball cap, the same outfit that I wore on my luckiest Day 2 from last year.
I’m also headed to the gym, to take on my third day of weight training under the long distance training of the world’s great poker physical fitness expert, Josh Bowen.
Check it out below, and I will keep you updated regularly as always on my progress at my Facebook Page and on Twitter.
By Jonathan Miller, on Wed Jul 3, 2013 at 10:00 AM ET  Photo courtesy of Thom Karmik One of the most critical bits of advice shared with me by my friend and nationally-celebrated mental performance coach Jim Fannin, was to never dwell on the past, keep my mind focused on the present, and when a setback occurs, say “Next!” and move onto the next challenge.
As a writer, I have to break the rule a little bit. After a nearly 13 hour ride in the $1000 no limit Texas hold-em tournament in the 2013 World Series of Poker — the same event last year in which I made the final table and won nearly $70,000 — I busted out when my Ace King suited (a very good hand) was beat by a pair of Jacks (a slightly better hand. I finished in the top 400 out of the nearly 3000 entrants — not too shabby, but far short of my goal of winning the championship bracelet.
I’m proud of how I played, and I don’t have any regrets. The trouble is that when you play the conservative “tight/aggressive” style I employ, you need to occasionally get dealt some good opening hands. And unlike last year, when a top hand appeared in my grasps when I really needed it, this year, in the 13 hours of play, I never was dealt any of the best 3 hands — Aces, Kings or Queens.
 So it is time to say “Next!” and prepare for the next challenge. That one starts at Noon PDT today (3:00 PM EDT), “The Little One for One Drop No-Limit Hold’em.” This will be the second largest competition of the World Series (behind the Main Event of course), and 10% of all proceeds are sent to One Drop—a non-profit organization established in 2007 by Guy Laliberté, Founder of Cirque du Soleil. One Drop strives to ensure that water is accessible to all, today and forever by developing integrated water-access and management projects around the world. In the U.S., One Drop is a public charity that undertakes innovative activities in which water plays a central role as a creative force to generate positive, sustainable change worldwide.
I’m headed to the gym, to take on my second day of weight training under the long distance training of the world’s great poker physical fitness expert, Josh Bowen. Check it out below, and I will keep you updated regularly as always on my progress at my Facebook Page and on Twitter.
By Jonathan Miller, on Tue Jul 2, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET In his latest column for The Huffington Post, The RP argues that Alison Lundergan Grimes CAN defeat Mitch McConnell. But that much is out of her control. Here’s an excerpt:
 Alison Lundergan Grimes can beat Mitch McConnell. But like most congressional campaigns, which often can be decided by the national political winds, Grimes’ success will be determined by several factors over which she will be able to exercise very little oversight. Here are a few that might make the difference between a Grimes victory and a McConnell sixth term:
Barack Obama
The McConnell team has not merely hinted that it will be doing everything in its power to tie Alison Grimes to the President who is quite unpopular in this deeply red state; it has whack-a-moled the theme in all of its early political advertisements. Just this past week, a GOP SuperPAC spent more than a quarter of a million dollars attacking the non-announced Grimes as a Senator “who would jam through Obama’s agenda — massive spending, Obamacare, the war on coal.”
This case would ordinarily be a tough sell: Grimes has long had both feet planted in the Clinton camp, has received considerable support from the coal industry, and in the mostly administrative position of Secretary of State, has never had to take a position on the hot-button social and economic issues that have made Obama unpopular in the Bluegrass State. In her brief announcement press conference, she signaled an early distancing from the President when she dodged a reporter’s question about Obamacare by answering, “Regardless of the vote that is issued in this race, we cannot change who our president is. But we can change who we have in Washington representing Kentucky.”
Still, any case can be made when it is backed with many millions of dollars in television ads. Which brings us to Factor 2:
Click here to read the full piece.
By RP Nation, on Tue Jul 2, 2013 at 10:00 AM ET  We’ve already talked about how influential Social Media and related platforms such as Twitter are in helping change the political landscape (check out our contribution to the Recovering Politician’s 12 Step Program to Survive Crisis).
However, while following our favorite “recovering” politician, Jonathan Miller (a.k.a. Johnny Poker) during this past weekend’s World Series of Poker tournament, we recognized a new reality of the pervasive influence of Social Media. It has officially permeated the world of professional poker as well!
Where else besides social media could one directly ask all of their family, friends, followers, and fans to help strategize on what outfit they should don at the table (Good call on the Maccabee jersey, Jonathan)? How else would poker fans not only know who is playing at Phil Hellmuth’s table, but also get a picture of such to boot? Where else could you hear about which tournaments poker legend Doyle Brunson is contemplating entering? Yes, that’s right. Even Texas Dolly, well into his 70’s, is active on Social Media and Tweeting with his fans and the poker community.
Social Media provides any interested party an instant inside look at the personalities, battles, and tough breaks this rare group of individuals contend with each time they saddle up to the table. Now all can witness first-hand, and in real time, what the players themselves think, see, and feel while in the heat of competition. The conversation doesn’t stop there. Take the recent social media beef between Gus Hansen and Daniel Negreanu. “The Great Dane” took to Twitter to not only remind Negreanu of the $300M he won from him in a recent tourney, but provided a link to a YouTube clip of it as well. Negreanu responded in kind by issuing a battleship style challenge to Hansen in which he asked his fans to Tweet him names of players they think he should select to play on his team. So fans are not only able to see and hear what the pros are thinking and doing, they can directly engage and interact with them as well! This type of access is priceless and extremely valuable to a “sport” which isn’t blessed with the saturating media coverage enjoyed by other professional leagues.
Now a beginner player can get a tip directly from a pro on how to improve their game, all while watching them use those same skills against elite competition during the biggest poker event in the world! Intimately sharing the joy and pain they experience while playing this crazy game gives us virtual front row seats to the annual Vegas spectacle. We here at Socialfly are on the edge of ours!
By Loranne Ausley, on Mon Jul 1, 2013 at 10:00 AM ET  So when I learned that my co-author and friend, Jonathan Miller, is heading back to Vegas today to revisit last year’s incredible 8th place finish in the World Series of Poker, it reminded me of my first gambling experience.
My dad, who I have written about several times, is an attorney and banker and still one of the most well respected political advisors in Florida. Somewhere along the way he learned a thing or two about gambling – and imparted this knowledge to me in a very memorable way.
I must have been about 12 or 13 years old and we were at our family beach house on Dog Island, Florida just off the coast of Florida’s Panhandle. It was a rainy day, so we were holed up inside and my dad was teaching me how to play backgammon. Just as I started getting the hang of it he asked if I wanted to play for money and I readily agreed.
We played game after game and I was really in the money – I was winning 3 out of every 4 games and after several hours of playing I had amassed quite a kitty of about $50 (which was a LOT in the mid 70s!).
Of course, we weren’t playing with real money because I was 13 years old and I didn’t HAVE $50 – but that didn’t matter because I was WINNING! Just as I was dreaming of all the records I could buy with that $50, my dad offered one last game – DOUBLE OR NOTHING.
Just like that, I thought, I could have $100 – and it was so EASY!
I know it isn’t hard to guess what ultimately happened – Dad cleaned my clock…AND he made me work off the $100. Easy lesson for him to teach and hard lesson for me to learn – thanks Dad – I love you!
Good luck Jonathan!!!
By Saul Kaplan, on Mon Jul 1, 2013 at 8:30 AM ET I successfully avoided government throughout the first 20 years of my private sector career. But in 2003, after a career first in industry and then as a road-warrior strategy consultant, I found myself as an accidental bureaucrat in the public sector.
I never saw it coming. After a weak attempt at retirement, my wife wasn’t in the market for a strategy consultant to advise on household operations. What I hoped would be a year at home to sort out options quickly became a not so subtle nudge out the door to find my next gig.
I naively raised my hand to the newly elected Governor of Rhode Island and the Executive Director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC) and asked how I could help. The next thing I knew I was at the RIEDC, first as the agency’s lead for strategy and development, and then as a member of the Governor’s Cabinet and Executive Director of the agency. I had become an accidental bureaucrat.
I spent six years in the public sector and loved every (well almost every) moment of it. It was an innovation junkie’s dream to catalyze a statewide conversation on how to transform from an industrial era to a 21st century innovation economy.
 During my time with the state, many friends asked, “Doesn’t the public sector move too slowly for you”? After twenty years of working with big companies I am not sure they move too quickly, themselves. While it’s true government moves slowly, neither of these structures move quickly, have adequate capacity for trying new models and approaches, or work and play nicely together.
But given my background as someone who has worked in both sectors, I think there is much that the public and private sectors can learn from each other.
There’s a reason it’s called the public sector: Everything is public. My schedule, emails, comments — everything — was all out in the public and transparent. The private sector could take a lesson in this kind of transparency. It took a while to get used to but it was good training for today’s social media world.
Read the rest of…
Saul Kaplan: Confessions of an Accidental Bureaucrat
By Jonathan Miller, on Sun Jun 30, 2013 at 11:31 AM ET  I will be hitting the felt at Noon PDT for my first $1000 buy-in tournament in this year’s World Series of Poker.
I have a critical decision to make, and I desperately NEED YOUR HELP.
My wardrobe.
Do I go with my lucky outfit from Day 1 last year — Tel Aviv Macabees shirt, University of Kentucky ballcap (see picture?)
Or should I vary it up?
For uniforms, my choices include Jeremy Lin’s Harvard jersey, Darius Miller’s Pelicans jersey and a generic Red Sox jersey.
My ball cap selection includes a Joe Morgan commemorative Reds hat, IDF camouflage cap, and ball caps from Harvard and Miami University.
Note that I am saving my lucky Day 2 outfit — Joe Morgan Reds uniform, No Labels hat — for tomorrow’s vote. And saving my University of Kentucky Anthony Davis uniform for a final table.
Please vote in comments below:
By Jonathan Miller, on Sat Jun 29, 2013 at 2:30 PM ET  Of all the well-wishing emails, comments, and tweets I’ve received over the past 24 hours, only a critical one really stood out.
It came from my friend, Jim Fannin, a world-renowned mental performance coach, whose client list features an all-star team from virtually every major professional sport. I didn’t realize until we spoke that he has also counseled plenty of famous poker pros as well, including one of my favorites, Phil Gordon, a pro who once placed 4th in the Main Event of the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
Jim was taken aback by my negativity in the email I sent friends announcing my trip to Vegas — I had written that repeating my final table finish from last year would be “an absurd implausibility.” Jim let me know in no uncertain terms that this was the kind of attitude that could send me to the rail in a short time.
To help turn me around, Jim gave me a quick coaching session that was invaluable. His mantra, to “clean my mind” and “stay in the zone” — a strategy that was brilliantly described by Tom Chiarella in this Esquire piece — requires me to wipe away all of my defensive rationalizations of sure defeat (Jim calls this my “safety net”), and focus instead on my ultimate goal — winning a WSOP bracelet.
Indeed, my un-coached visualizations from last year proved prophetic. My goal — my dream — was to make the final table of a WSOP tournament. Indeed, I did, but I was so crippled by my tiny stack of chips and sheer physical and mental exhaustion, that I was soon eliminated — in 8th place. Of course, I couldn’t have been happier making the final table, but Jim urged me to think bigger this time and envision a championship.
 Some other tidbits of advice from Jim Fannin:
- Drink a ton of water. I’ve heard this continually from my personal trainer (see below) and every medical professional that’s treated me; but constant hydration in the uber-dry Vegas climate, as well as with the mental challenge of 12 straight hours of poker ahead of me, will be critical to keeping my mind sharp.
- Stay away from caffeine. This seems counterintuitive — I credited Diet Coke with keeping me alert during the late hours of the grueling 4 day event last year. But caffeine’s high also has very deleterious consequences: It dehydrates you, clouding your mind; It has a boomerang crash effect once the caffeine wears off; and it keeps you from sleeping well to recharge the next day. That sure was the case last year — on Day 4 last July, I was the walking dead.
- Breathe deeply at the table, take brief mental breaks, and keep my jaw unhinged and relaxed. Jim instructs that the world’s most successful performers think less thoughts than the rest of us. Keeping my mind clear and focused on the present (definitely not the past) is critical to empowering me to trust my math skills and my intuition that served me so well last year. As far as the jaw, Jim suggested that I think about how Michael Jordan stuck out his tongue on his greatest plays — he was in “the zone.”
 Click here to review and purchase Want more advice from Jim Fannin to empower your performance in any field?
Check out his latest book, The Pebble in the Shoe: 5 Steps to a Simple, Confident Life. I highly recommend it!
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I’ve also sought counsel on how to stay in the best physical shape for the grueling week ahead. (And yes, sitting for 12 hours, focused on cards, may be nothing like a day of painful physical labor, but for this broken down, middle-aged man, it is grueling!)
My personal trainer, and this Web site’s regular Thursday columnist, Josh Bowen, sent me the regime below for tomorrow morning, with a picture that will help me visualize my ultimate goal. Between the visualization and the water recommendations, I think Josh and Jim are working in concert.
Join me if you like:
By Jonathan Miller, on Thu Jun 27, 2013 at 4:00 PM ET  Recovering Pol Jason Grill writes about his love for Kansas City Royals baseball in our new book, The Recovering Politician’s Twelve Step Program to Survive Crisis, but only this week did he have the opportunity to step on the field of the Triple-A baseball squad in his hometown.
In the picture at left, Grill receoves the Kansas City Entrepreneurial All-Star awar from Liberty Mayor Lyndell Brenton.
A hearty Mazel Tov to Jason Grill!
UPDATE: We just learned that the Kansas City Royals are a MAJOR LEAGUE TEAM.
Who would have guessed?
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So first the good news: I made it to day two of the World Series of Poker’s Little One for One Drop event!
