Every day the poker world is inundated with more news, reports, and gossip, than any of us can read. At PokerNewsBoy.com we understand that there are only so many hours in the day, and only so much time you can set aside to follow all of the stories taking place, so we have come up with the Daily Grind as a solution. The Daily Grind will make sure you don’t miss any of the more obscure poker stories, wrapping up the day in poker in one neat, concise, column.

Today I’ll take a look at a number of stories including Viktor “Isildur1” Blom’s red-hot start to 2013; Agent Marco’s decision to leave QuadJacks; and Amarillo Slim getting a nod in Sports Illustrated.

Marco Valerio leaves Quad Jacks

QuadJacks first came to prominence during Black Friday when the little-known podcast decided to stay on the air for days during and after Black Friday. But the site’s principles have come to find that fame (or what accounts for fame in the poker community) doesn’t make things any easier and seems to strain relationships.

In the past year the roster at www.QuadJacks.com has undergone a dramatic change, with two of the three principle players now counting the QuadJacks show as a past employer: Thomas “SrslySirius” Keeling, who left the show amidst some controversy earlier in 2012, and now Marco “Agent Marco” Valerio, who announced his resignation this past week.

Here is the message Marco posted on his Facebook page, which was met with many well-wishers from the poker community:

Hi guys,

 

Over the years, especially while working in poker media, I’ve had to read many people’s “resignation” notes, and I’ve often wondered what it would feel like if I ever had to announce I was leaving QuadJacks. Today I am in that position.

 

I am no longer working with QuadJacks, the site with which most of you have associated me since I made my debut in the poker (media) world, in the summer of 2010.

 

QuadJacks has changed my life, and leaving it is not easy. I am a better person today than I was two and a half years ago, and without a doubt, I have QJ to thank for that. As people change, however, so do relationships. I no longer feel like QJ is something I can keep giving to, or steer in the direction I would like to see it go in. Therefore, I think the best thing for me to do is to excuse myself, wish everyone the best, and leave.

 

If you need to reach me from now on, please email me at this address: agentmarco87[at]gmail.com

 

Thanks so much to all of you who supported, encouraged and inspired me throughout the years. It has been the highlight of my life, and I will never forget it.

 

Good luck to everyone in 2013 🙂

 

Marco Valerio

 

Viktor “Isildur1” Blom starts 2013 off with $1,000,000 heater

According to the tracking website www.highstakesdb.com, Viktor Blom has been on a tear in early 2013, up well over $1 million in the early days of 2013. Blom’s profits have come in a variety of games, against a number of different opponents, and it seems that the young Swede has taken a fancy to 2-7 Triple Draw, perhaps a signal that the out of favor game will be this year’s PLO?

Amarillo Slim mentioned in Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated took the opportunity to use the calendar change from 2012 to 2013 to list some of the notable losses the sports world suffered in 2012, and among the listed names was one Thomas Preston, AKA Amarillo Slim.

SI offered a heartfelt write-up of the life of the gambler/poker player, perhaps bringing his exploits (both real and imagined) to a whole new generation.

 

Tags: Amarillo Slim, Black Friday, Controversy, Debut, Dramatic Change, Fame, Gossip, Leaves, Many People, News Reports, Nod, Podcast, Poker World, Principle Players, Prominence, Quad, Red Hot, Relationships, Resignation, Well Wishers

This entry was posted on Monday, January 7th, 2013 at 8:22 am and is filed under Poker News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.