Pro Websites, Part V

Paul Wasicka Since finishing 2nd in the 2006 WSOP Main Event, Paul Wasicka has been showing the poker world that he's no one-trick pony. In a span of less than two weeks, Wasicka finished 4th at the L.A. Poker Classic and followed that up by winning the 2007 NBC National Heads-Up Championship. Wasicka has stated that he wishes everyone in the poker world would be less pretentious and quit with all of the self promotion. Of course, that mindset isn't about to stop him from having his own personal vanity website! online poker 468x60 The URL to Paul's website originates from his online poker screenname, "Kwickfish". Here you can find a regularly updated blog, something most poker professionals seem to fail at maintaining. Paul does a good job keeping the focus on poker in his blog. Readers can gain a lot of insight into the thought processes of a top tournament player thanks to thorough hand histories from the major tournaments that Paul plays. In addition to the blog, Wasicka's website contains a schedule of his upcoming events, media publications, an "Ask Paul" section where he answers fan e-mail, and, of course, plenty of photos for the ladies of Paul on random vacations sans-shirt. All in all, this is a better-than-average pro poker player website. Katja Thater Those who do not understand German can skip on past Katja's website. Katja, the pride of Germany's female poker scene, only offers her website in German. Lucky for me, I once sat on a train next to a guy from Deutschland, so my German-language website deciphering skills are wicked good. The highlight of Katja's website is her blog. Assuming my guess that "Juli" means "July" in German, it appears she updates her blog quite regularly. Currently her blog has an image of an Advil marketing poster, which contains a drawing of a naked woman. She starts the paragraph below that picture with "Howard Lederer..." It's times like these I really envy you Germans, because that sounds like a fun entry to read. Following this year's WSOP, Katja should be expecting her website to receive a lot more traffic. Not only did she navigate past 1,280 fellow females to finish 5th in the ladies-only tournament, she also won her first career bracelet in a $1,500 Razz event just a week later. Need anymore proof that she's cool? When Eskimo Clark was experiencing some health troubles at that final table, she vowed to take all of his chips so he could go receive medical attention, and did just that. I'd love to tell you more about Katja's website, but unfortunately my German skills only work during the last week of every month, and I'm under some pretty strict publishing deadlines. Michael Keiner Still don't speak German? Go ahead and skip past this entry too. Here's another 2007 WSOP bracelet winner who caters his website only to those who comprehend the dialect of Deutschland. "Dr." Michael Keiner (I put "Dr." in quotes because I'm not sure if that's his nickname or if he's a real doctor) won a $1,500 7-card stud tournament at this year's WSOP, defeating the likes of Barry Greenstein and Greg Raymer along the way. Keiner is one of Germany's most popular poker figures. He maintains a very thorough poker blog that is updated about once a week. Not short on content, his website also has a biography, photo gallery, media publications, TV appearances, traveling schedule, and a database of his tournament results. Joe Sebok Perhaps no poker player on Earth has a bigger disparity between the excessiveness of their personal vanity website and the mediocrity of their lifetime poker results than Joe Sebok. Certainly, Joe has had his fair share of successful tournament finishes, but the "Playboy of the Poker World's" website is awesomely over-the-top. My favorite part of Joe's website is the "Prop Bets" section where you can watch videos of the zany bets he and partner-in-crime Gavin Smith have made. They took one bet so far that the loser was required to get a tattoo to commemorate the loss. Also, on Joe's website is a blog that is perhaps updated more often and more thoroughly than anyone else's on the poker circuit. Seemingly every tournament in which he participates, a blog entry is dedicated to re-hashing the action from his viewpoint. Barry Greenstein raised Sebok, though he is not Barry's biological son. While you're at his site, check out some of the pictures of Barry from when Joe was a kid. Let's just say I'd imagine the moustache and oversized glasses did wonders for Barry getting the ladies to come back to his pad. Lee Watkinson Humble poker pro Lee Watkinson maintains a flash-based website that is, graphically, one of the best poker pro websites online. Lee's lifestyle away from poker makes him something of an aberration amongst poker pros. He is putting his poker winnings towards other investments. For example, he recently starting a record producing business as well as a clothing company named Criminal Mind Clothing. Lee is also very involved in the Cortland Brandenburg Foundation, which helps provide humane living conditions for chimpanzees retired from their careers in front of Hollywood cameras. So dedicated to the cause of chimpanzees is Watkinson that his website features several photos of him interacting with the primates through his work with the charity foundation. His "How to Become A Poker Pro" page is a comic-book style dialogue where he teaches a chimpanzee how to play poker. Lee's website is almost as impressive as his stellar reputation in the poker world.