Several years ago when I was looking for a good avatar to use on poker forums I fell in love with two famous Paul Cezanne paintings that featured card players.




They were painted as part of a five painting series by Cezanne between 1890 and 1895 around his family estate in Provence. While the other four works are in museum collections, my favorite "The Card Players," (top pictured) I learned today, was part of the collection of the late Greek shipping magnate George Embiricos. Over the weekend, the Qatari royal family paid over $250 million at auction to purchase the work. Yes, $250 million for a 120 year old painting of some card players.

The previous record was held from the 2006 auction sale of Jackson Pollock's 1948 No. 5 painting to Mexican financier David Martinez for $140 million. With all the oil money in the Gulf over the last decade, many modern and contemporary master's works have been ending up in locations like the Qatar National Museum. This staggering purchase indicates that many other famous paintings are on their wish list and should bode well for the valuation of the many higher profile artworks out there. I'm figuring if they are willing to pay that kind of money for the artwork, they might want to protect its value. So my avatar may go into retirement soon...

Last night for Mrs. Zimba's birthday, we got dressed up and drove into Portland with another couple to do a restaurant hop with a food tour company we found on Groupon. We met up with eight others to make a group of twelve at the Irving Street Kitchen in the Pearl neighborhood of Portland. The concept is to have appetizers at one restaurant, main course at the second, and dessert at a third. Our guide ordered an assortment of each restaurant's best or most popular dishes with everyone taking a small portion and sharing every dish as it's passed around the table. The second restaurant was the Peruvian fusion restaurant Andina, and the dessert place was Clyde Common. At first I tried to take pictures of the dishes to write up a fuller report, but I found it too hurried and obnoxious for tons of people at the table to be constantly taking pictures. So here are some pros and cons I found from the experience:

Pros

- We got to try so many delicious dishes over the evening.
- The appetizer and main course selections were excellent.
- Discovered two new good restaurants and revisited a former anniversary dinner location.
- Meet some new people.
- Walked through the neighborhood.
- The cocktails were inventive and delicious.
- The Groupon food value was good for the experience.

Cons

- Sharing each dish amongst the table caused you not to have more than a bit or two, even if you really enjoyed a dish.
- All alcoholic drinks were extra, with pricey cocktails, so our alcohol tab and tip was easily more than the original Groupon purchase.
- The last dessert bar was over 10 blocks away, a fair walk for the third place and 13 blocks back to our cars.
- Our guide was on his second restaurant outing on his own and could have hosted and guided us a bit better.
- The dessert restaurant had some "out there desserts" like blue cheese apple pie, beet sorbet, and parsnip tapioca. We also tried Absinthe, for the first time. I don't recommend it unless you are a big fan of anise/black licorice.

Overall it was a fun evening out and a good excuse to experience many dishes from the foodie scene in Portland. Since the gallery days, we don't go into Portland as much so it's always a fun time.

Not all writers intend on becoming writers. In school and college, I wasn't a big fan of writing. I didn't feel I had a narrative voice and I didn't pursue any formal training. As I went about my post-college years until my mid-thirties, my experiences started to color my mind. After traveling, working, starting a family, I started to feel I might have something to contribute by writing. In a job that didn't require it, I volunteered to start writing a blog. The original goal was to inspire others to do the same. Along the way, I realized I had something unique to contribute and I looked forward to writing.

It's been a few years and jobs later, but I'm still blogging. As readers will note, the regularity and subject matter has shifted as time has passed but a post a week has been the bare minimum generally. The last few months the muse hasn't spoken to me as often as I grapple with shifting employment or unemployment demands. This past fall, I used the blog to promote my weekly column on EpicPoker but after fourteen contributions, the column has been put on hiatus for now while they rethink their direction.

I'm currently pitching a new business to some investors while I do freelance writing on the side. I am doing the market research and due diligence necessary to see the project beyond conception to reality but you can never fully predict a new business. From Thanksgiving until now, there has seemingly been constant holiday or family commitments that have taken from my usual workaholic schedule. Due to constant budget cuts the last few years, having a four day school week is the norm, with three week Xmas break too. My son turned 13 on Saturday joining the teenage world with an outing with his best friends to an Airsoft arena shooting extravaganza and sleepover along with three indoor soccer and Futsal games over the weekend. On Sunday after the morning game, it was seven hours of driving up and back to Seattle for my daughter's ballet tryouts. Her goal is to have her summer ballet intensive program at an east coast city, so we have to return to Seattle two out of the next three Sundays for the 7 hour round trip. For good or bad, my slackening work demands have allowed me to be there for my kid's constant soccer and ballet demands of late.

One last area to touch on today...I noticed Phil Galfond made an extensive blog post decrying the current state of the game along with some suggestions for improving or fixing the current problems. I had thought of breaking down all the arguments, but it's a big project so I will summarize my initial reaction.

1. Everyone who gives advice is looking out for their own interest whether it be the high stakes shark, fish, reg, or whatever title you give them. It was obvious many of Phil's suggestions catered to adding to his personal win rate.
2. There are pros and cons to each suggestion or solution. As such, no one solution pleases everyone. Making poker an easy and fun experience for both pros and recreational players is difficult due to the inherent different goals of the players.
3. The online poker room priorities are typically 1) increase deposits, their overall liquidity pool 2) to increase their rake intake. This can be accomplished by various methods including increasing the volume of play or higher rake paid per hand/mtt. Safety, security and the player's interests are only secondary priorities.

I applaud Phil for trying to open up the dialogue and stir debate on these important online poker issues. Players of all levels and abilities need to speak out and be heard, otherwise they simply become pawns of others.

On Thursday I noticed a retweet from @AndrewWiggins of a @ColeSouth recommendation to watch an interview by noted investor and entrepreneur Kevin Rose of Digg and Milk who was interviewing his friend and fellow influential Silicon Valley entrepreneur, investor and advisor Chris Sacca. The quality of the interview was apparent, but what struck me was how down to earth and real the two were. Despite their success, there was no formalities, pretense or attempt to play the corporate PR game when conducting the interview.

A few things I noted from the interview:

- As an angel investor or venture capitalist, you will fail more than you succeed. But you need for your hits to be big ones so you come out on top in the end.

- Bending the rules is often a necessary part of survival and your ultimate success. Sacca essentially gambled his student loan money on a start-up then day trading up to a $12 million gain and ultimately a $4 million loss.

- Don't run away from your debts, as your name and reputation are important.

- Be unwilling to accept defeat.

- Realize that while you may not feel your skillset is that valuable, it probably is to someone without your background and experience. Each person can contribute value.

- Having a sense of humor about your situation.

- As @AndrewWiggins noted "Create value before you ask for value back." Being known for being helpful will open doors for you.

- Determination against all odds is a key ingredient to long term success.

- Sometimes you want as much promotion and awareness of your product and project, but other times it's best not to alert other competitors or investors where you are putting your efforts or where you see the market going.

- Having a detailed closed feedback loops give specific value to a venture. You can't just "spray and pray" in advertising these days, you need direct accountability.

- Despite free catered local organic food for you and your friends when working at Google, you can't demand Pheasant in the cafeteria. The sense of entitlement is crazy at some successful businesses.

- Sacca's one reticence to share information openly was how much equity of Twitter he owns (rumored to be as much as 10%). There are some things best not openly known.

The qualities he looks for in an entrepreneur or project to invest in:

1. A product he has an understanding of, use for, or where he can help.
2. Someone who has worked a crap job that has humility and perspective for what tough work really is like.
3. Someone who has lived, traveled or studied abroad for the mind expanding opportunities that creates.
4. Education isn't a pre-requisite, but a successful track record of succeeding at college can be a good indicator of future success.
5. Someone who plays sports, someone with outside interests, an alternative source of bounds and endorphins to balance their work. Being too focused on work isn't the perfect recipe for innovation. Outside interests and balance can drive creativity.
6. Interesting people, ones you want to spend time with developing a project.

One last piece of advice Sacca shares is that your first investment is rarely going to make you big money, it's in identifying your future winners based off metrics and doubling down on those few high flyers that brings you out a big winner.

I ended up watching a couple more videos in the Foundation series. Although I enjoyed the Sacca interview best, I find the interviews inspiring and educational to hear how others have gone about starting and growing a business.

And not to forget my latest Social Director column on EpicPoker focuses on "Enhancing the Value of Twitter for 2012."

Have a safe and fun New Year's Eve. Here is a quick look back at the year that was 2011 to appreciate some of the things I did and where I spent a lot of my time.

10. Blogging - One enjoyable constant the last few years has been my blogging. The frequency, intensity and subject matter has varied but the goal of expressing and sharing myself has grown, as has the readership. Thank you to those who check it out.

9. StarCraft2 competitions - One of the side benefits of contributing poker content on a gaming site was being introduced to the hardcore gaming world that is SC2 and enjoying watching the streamed and live commentated competitions on Justin.tv amongst the top players in the world. Despite the fact that I've never played the game, it is a fascinating game with many levels of complexity and skill.

8. Parenting - Although I've invested probably too many hours sitting in front of computer in 2011, the flexibility of working from home allowed me to be quite involved in my respective children's active ballet and soccer passions; whether it be coaching or just being a chauffeur and supporter.

7. SEO - The transition away from strictly poker writing led me to freelance with some sites that focus heavily on SEO'ing sites with content. I learned a fair amount about an area I had never focused on but is so important to driving traffic in searches that are the underpinning for so many online businesses.

6. Hot Girls of Poker - What started as a belated whim to show someone how to create a more interesting, inclusive and respectful "hot women in poker" type forum post became the largest collection (over 360 women) of photos of women in the poker world.

5. Social Director - I was invited to contribute a weekly column on the Twitter poker world for the Epic Poker League official website. Although it could be positioned and marketed better, it has been fun to have a new project to gain greater visibility.

4. Twitter - Although I'm not the most active tweeter as it often competes with my content creating demands, I finally embraced the Twitter world and started becoming more actively engaged. It has become one of my primary sources and inspirations for keeping abreast of the poker and non-poker worlds. I have met a few really quality people at the WSOP this year I never would have otherwise and reached 700 followers by NYE (@pokercurious).

3. Fantasy Premier League - An invitation by @CrashoutCassius led to my joining the smallish CardRunners fantasy football league. It introduced me to the world of fantasy sports where I have subsequently spent many hours learning, researching, crunching numbers and getting into the competitive aspects of what had already been a long standing Premier League interest.

2. Poker drifted away - Mid-April marked the end of my poker playing after playing most days for the last few years. My full time salaried poker position transitioned to part-time freelance writing in the fall, so less of my overall time is focused on the poker world and I'm starting to consider other areas of the business world again. Although I remain an ardent fan, I am no longer certain I will be as involved when poker returns to a fully legislated and regulated U.S. environment.

1. Mrs. Zimba is a believer again - In my last blog, I touched on the complicated aspects of long term relationships. After a couple "frustrated with me" years, Mrs. Zimba is back on board. I don't say that lightly, as any relationship takes regular work to maintain. I know all things are possible as long as we are together and on the same lifelong path. Money and security means nothing if you don't have someone you love with which to share it. She and my two kids are my bedrock and inspiration for all the work I do.

I'm excited for 2012 and the opportunities it will bring. I am currently researching and pitching a new business plan that if it happens will be incredibly involving and bigger than anything I've done before. Regardless, I will continue to challenge myself and focus on those things that make feel alive.

May your reflections on 2011 and the start to your 2012 be equally uplifting!

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season. With all the festivities going on, I almost overlooked last week's Social Director column that gave my Twitter perspective on the heads-up battle between Chris Klodnicki and Andrew Lichtenberger in the recent Epic Poker League mix-max main event.

Last week, I noticed a post in the CardRunners Swamp (off topic forum) titled "how long since you've been laid?" In it the usual OT crew posted their funny and semi-serious responses regarding the state of their relations. I've always found these posts entertaining and illuminating for several reasons. The majority of posters are young, male and single or relationally inexperienced. They tend to exhibit a general distrust of the sanity of women along with certain idealistic notions of what a healthy relationship involves. I tend not to weigh in on these occasional discussions, but as my 16th wedding anniversary will be celebrated the first week of January and we've been together roughly 20 years I thought I might contribute something in my blog.

I spent a couple hours brainstorming ways of explaining my perspective in a novel fashion so it didn't come across "preachy" at all. At one point, I even started researching Venn diagrams to help demonstrate the complexity of any two people trying to make a long term commitment to each other. I scrapped that idea as being too scientific, unfeeling and rather nerdy.

In the end, all I can really say is that whatever two people agree to in a relationship is healthy in my eyes. I'm not here to judge what is or isn't healthy or how much sex any two people should have.

My perspective may be best captured by a line in the 2010 move Tron: Legacy when Jeff Bridges tries to impart his approach as the years have marched on to his impassioned son, "Life has a way of moving us past wants and hopes."

We can't predict what obstacles we will encounter in our lives and relationship as the years march on. In most serious relationships there is a progression through courtship, marriage, home, work and kids. Each element contributes complexities, along with unforseen health and aging issues. The idealism of an earlier age evolves to something more practical but not necessarily less romantic. To survive and prosper you have to continually look to manage and balance a myriad of issues that often preceed your own wants and desires. So while the frequency or ferocity may shift with the years, it doesn't mean that we don't all still seek the same connection, closeness, validation and oneness that beyond our primal urge to procreate causes us to prioritize sex so highly.

Out of the elevator they marched single file into the trading floor. Two held mobile file boxes. Two were security officials, but all held deadly intent. After identifying their targets, they firmly ushered them into an awaiting conference room and unceremoniously dismissed them.

"Mr. Dale, these are extraordinary times as you very well must know..."

As the recently released independent movie Margin Call opens, a majority of the trading floor of this fictional circa-2008 trading firm are being let go.

No one is given any notice. Their severance terms are quickly dictated to them just before they are escorted to their office or work station to collect their things and then escorted off the premises. No deference is given to complete projects in process or even to phone anyone as all access to their phones and computers has already been terminated.

Sadly this is a fairly standard method that the corporate world employs when they decide to end your employment. There is no real respect for the person or appreciation for your work. There is no tangible loyalty or opportunity to discuss the situation. There is no room to negotiate or find a compromise situation. The employer seeks a quick and clean break attempting to minimize any business "messiness." The employer effectively also seeks to avoid any possible ramifications of their decision. They look to surprise you and shut off access to prevent any possible removal of information or customers as the employee departs. I personally have experienced the online version of this unceremonious departure on more than one occasion. But much like in Margin Call, there is no such thing as a clean break without ramifications. It can take months or years to recover from the swift dismissal of key personnel and what they brought to the business. In Margin Call, some of the work of a dismissed employee, Mr. Dale, (portrayed by Stanley Tucci) will initiate a spiraling of events over the next 24 hours that will shake the entire financial industry.

I highly recommend you see Margin Call. It has some great acting from the likes of Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci, Paul Bettany and Jeremy Irons. The low budget independent film by J.C. Chandor was shot over just 17 days capturing well the swift and intense hypothetical portrayal of events one night in New York City that led to the financial crisis of 2008.

Although I don't want to spoil the movie for you, I do want to share a couple of exchanges from the powerful board room scene where the billionaire chairman, played by Jeremy Irons, holds court after flying in by helicopter in the middle of the night.

He expresses that there are three ways to make a living in this business...

1. Be first
2. Be smarter
3. Or cheat

"and I refuse to cheat." His advice translates to most businesses, although his resulting decisions might call into question whether he didn't ultimately cheat his friends, customers and the industry. He asserts that his entire job consists of being able to see into the future for his business so they can maneuver correctly.

At some point in the meeting, long time executive Kevin Spacey objects to his plans by saying "You're selling something that you know has no value"

To which Jeremy Irons vehemently explains, "...so that we may survive!"

In that moment it becomes clear what ultimately motivates a cutthroat corporation, survival. Survival at all costs, regardless of the harm it causes to employees, customers or innocent bystanders. Margin Call is a gripping film and gives great insight into the culture of the financial industry and its inexhaustible thirst for profit. The film also highlights one of the weak underpinnings of capitalism and our society in its lack of respect for the workers and their role. They aren't simply a commodity easily fired and replaced. There is no such thing as immediately erasing an individual and their contributions. Each employee has value and has given value to their employee. Finding a more optimal means for managing the transition is something corporations could invest more time and effort into.

For this week's Social Director column, I caught up with the latest exploits of Sam Trickett (@Samtrickett1) and David Sands (@Doc_Sands) on the tournament felt and on Twitter. Both players have had a tremendous 2011 and continue to make strides in their game.

With the holidays approaching, my contract writing is slackening so I will try to write a couple blogs that don't just pimp my article writing...

I'm currently looking for a new project to get involved in. The last couple years I've been focused on creating quality poker content, but the poker writing world is very unsteady right now and I'm ready for new challenges. I miss the range of responsibility and stimulation that comes from growing a business online as I did in the early days of CardRunners and PokerCurious. So those of you who have enjoyed my writing and know of my business acumen, feel free to contact me at iampokercurious@gmail.com and pitch me! (it doesn't have to be poker related)

Onto an excerpt from this week's Social Director column...

"One of the interesting aspects of Twitter is you don't know what you are going to find. While there are certainly some very structured and reliable tweeters, many poker pros are more unpredictable. Some will have bursts of tweeting around a tournament or some personal activity. Others are content to have their occasional impulsive tweets speak for them. Then there are those pros that experience a sense of tweeting mania. The tweets flow with reckless abandon sharing an almost unfiltered stream of consciousness."

Read the rest of this week's EpicPoker.com Social Director column to hear about Kathy Liebert's Manic Twitter Monday.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Our small family tradition is to go see a family-oriented movie while the turkey is in the oven (Puss and Boots this year) then return for the feast. Another of our traditions is to briefly give thanks for something or someone. No grand speeches or forced eloquence, simply an appreciative gesture on a day when we enjoy a wonderful meal and the company of family.

Despite being without a full time job and my back acting up again, I'm very thankful for a loving wife and family. I'm thankful for an agile mind and industrious spirit that enjoys diving into new projects. I'm thankful for my new ride after a recent minor accident caused my beloved Civic to become a total loss. I posted a picture of the new ride on Twitter if you want to see it (@pokercurious). Lastly, I'm thankful to evilgaba who kindly reminded me on my last blog that he misses my old blogs where I told stories with passion. I hope to return to that "space" again soon.

This week's EpicPoker.com http://www.epicpoker.com/news/blog-pages/2011/11/social-director-soliciting-twitter-advice.aspx">Social Director column focuses on soliciting good twitter hand advice. Context is key.

The example I illustrate with features David Paredes, @gaucho2121, a 31-year-old respected East Coast cash game and tournament pro who received feedback from Mike "Timex" McDonald and other pros during his recent Borgata Fall Poker Open tournament.