may the best player win!....or at least, come close!...grin

[jonathankaplan]

I’ve been an avid poker player for a very long time.
I studied and practiced and thought about the game, and I knew that one day I would be champion of the world.

The first time I played in the WSOP final was a highlight in my poker life. Sitting down at the final tables of that tournament was so very exciting, like the moments right before you

Comments

[fun160]

Lee Munzer obviously missed this post before naming you one of his Top 100 Players to Watch in Card Player magazine:

“JK” is a relatively unknown player simply because he rarely plays in anything but the WSOP main event and the WPT $25,000 Championship. I have watched him play well and we have discussed poker periodically. I'll give Jonathan one of my long-shot slots because I keep thinking of the intellectual similarities between Kaplan and Greg Raymer.

[jonathankaplan]

During the Women's WSOP event I was wandering in that area of the RIO floor, looking for my wife Cathy. Lee was taking photos and memo-ing his report of that tournament. We talked for a little while. He told me he had written about me in an upcoming Card Player special issue, and what it was about. When I told him I wasn't playing this year, he was very disappointed, almost as much as me, like I was a fantasy team player that was letting him down...smile.

My wife really liked my inclusion in that top 100, but then, I did have to sign a few autographs (tourists trying to get all 100 names, I think), so it was kind of a wash...smile.
The whole "famous poker player" thing cracks me up.

[fun160]

I had to sign a few autographs (tourists trying to get all 100 names, I think).

If Lee compiles a similar list if/when I qualify to play in the Main Event, I'll offer to sign autographs as Unknown No. 1: "This is a player who enters the WSOP championship through satellites on the Internet (the way Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer played their way in the past two years). By graduating through a series of 'qualifiers,' he or she will have shown the ability to take necessary risks and will be a dangerous player, given a decent run of cards. Expect to see at least two of these players at the final table."

As an aside, how in the world did Lee leave Mike Matusow off his list?