Prop Bet Update: ZJ Throws In The Towel

Howard Treesong · #1 04-02-2007, 10:08 PM

From ZJ's blog:

"I’ve basically decided that winning the Card Player PoY race is no longer something I’m willing to dedicate an entire year to. Don’t get me wrong, I still plan on finishing highly on it, at least top 20 barring a complete blowup, but I can’t take the non-stop traveling. I love life in LA too much. I skipped Reno, Monte Carlo, and Foxwoods, and I’ll be 100% focused and ready for the Bellagio series including the $25,000 World Poker Tour main event which is a BIG deal.

Maybe I’m still on tilt from the 600+ points I had cheated from me in the Bahamas. A couple of people have referred to that as a second chance event, but it wasn’t one. Second chance events are generally the same day and the same buyin. In the Bahamas, there were a series of tournaments. The only one that got submitted to any major poker site was the main event. I have emailed PokerStars about getting this event submitted, but to no avail. There isn’t even a record of the tournament happening. Oddly enough, the other tournament missing from my CardPlayer page is my EPT Deauville Final table in France… also a PokerStars tournament. Coincidence? You decide.

Oh well, the truth is I’m too lazy to put up a fight to compete with guys like Nam Le, The Grinder, and JC Tran (who is on a sick sick run btw) who are willing to put forth a full effort. Even if I did put up a 100% effort, I would obviously be an underdog against all of those guys."

I can't decide if the humility in the last sentence overwhelms the paranoia of the second paragraph or the reverse. At the same time, I'm somewhat amused that the three guys he calls out are three of my horses; this post is pretty clearly a veiled reference to my prop bet.

ZJ's poker thinking seems first-rate, as his posts in the MTT forum on some key tourney hands demonstrate.

JCT is running away with it, BTW: he's got a lead of something like 3400 points over ZJ.

El Diablo · #2 04-03-2007, 01:05 AM

HT,

I wouldn't call it humility. I mean, where was the humility after running hot to start off the year? I also don't buy the newfound love of LA. I think he just figures his image of tourney phenom is much more likely to hold up this way.

Claunchy · #3 04-03-2007, 01:08 AM

I don't know a ton about ZJ or donkament pro-dom in general, nor am I particularly polarized either for or against ZJ regarding his multi-accounting thing.

That said, every time I read anything this guy writes he comes off as a ridiculous pompous douche who is always posturing. I am 99% sure I would hate that guy IRL.

Howard Treesong · #4 04-03-2007, 01:37 AM

His humility may indeed be false, as you suggest. And one of the premises I was betting on is that he wouldn't have the staying power to retain an even keel while running bad on the road -- a premise that for now looks to be correct. But I think poker (even the donkament version) places a significant premium on recognizing one's own flaws, so I'm not entirely willing to discount his last sentence.

I really do wonder if I'd like ZJ IRL. I suspect I might. I certainly did like his "emotionless cyborg" comment in one of his Wynn threads.

samjjones · #5 04-03-2007, 09:23 AM

ZJ playing at 58% of maximum effort is still better than 91% of the tourney pros.

ZeeJustin · #6 04-03-2007, 06:05 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I also don't buy the newfound love of LA. I think he just figures his image of tourney phenom is much more likely to hold up this way.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've loved LA since the first time I visited the city when I was 13. Since I moved here 2 years ago, I've only learned to love it even more. Read some of my past blogs, there are probably 5 or 6 different ones where I talk about how awesome LA is.

ZeeJustin · #7 04-03-2007, 06:08 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I can't decide if the humility in the last sentence overwhelms the paranoia of the second paragraph or the reverse.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm surprised you are reading that statement as humility. It's just blatantly obvious that I'm an underdog against the 3 best players in the world.

El Diablo · #8 04-03-2007, 06:08 PM

ZJ,

You didn't love it enough to not be dedicated to winning POY earlier in the year. It was only after you stopped running so hot that you couldn't bear to be away from LA for the tourney circuit. That's all I was referring to. Maybe just a big coincidence. I know you enjoy LA.

ZeeJustin · #9 04-03-2007, 06:22 PM

[ QUOTE ]
ZJ,

You didn't love it enough to not be dedicated to winning POY earlier in the year. It was only after you stopped running so hot that you couldn't bear to be away from LA for the tourney circuit. That's all I was referring to. Maybe just a big coincidence. I know you enjoy LA.

[/ QUOTE ]

Obviously if I was final tabling 6 out of every 7 tournaments I was playing, I would have played more tournaments... so I guess I can't say the bad run had nothing to do with me skipping so many tournaments.

The truth is though, that I've never enjoyed the traveling. That's why I didn't play any EPT's last year. The jet lag especially kills me.

I love most my trips to Vegas, but places like Tunica totally take the fun out of everything.

Winning the CP PoY would be awesome, but I've basically realized that it's not worth not enjoying myself for a year. I'm very happy with the lifestyle I'm living now, so I'm not gonna change too much.

ZeeJustin · #10 04-03-2007, 06:35 PM

And BTW, I don't really like the title of this post.

First of all, I never made these prop bets because I wasn't sure if I was going to dedicate myself to this 100% or not.

The strongest statement I have made is something along the lines of "The plan at this point is to play as many events in 2007 as possible."

Also, I'm not entirely out of the race. I still have at least a 4% chance of winning PoY even without playing everything given the nature of luck in tournament poker, and the value of WSOP tournaments.