"house Of Bets And Bluffs" Documentary

[Potsie P 0]

So last summer when a bunch of dudes from FCP decided they were renting houses together for the '09 WSOP, my first thought was, "Sausage fest." But then I thought, "Hey, maybe I could go visit these clowns and shoot some video of them under the guise of a "documentary" so I can learn their systems! (Oh, and convince the wife I needed to be in Vegas every weekend in June...that was key.)What I ended up with was a bunch of new friendships, a much bigger appreciation for how good these guys are, and a chance to see Phil Hellmuth bust into DN's VIP suite at the RIO so he could take a shit (alas, this did not make the video...too much overexposure IMO).Anyway, this was the little gem that came out of all that filming last summer...and a helluva lot of procrastinating on the editing. BUT, the good news is we have a doc ready, just in time (sort of) for the 2010 WSOP!http://vimeo.com/12159824A couple notes:1) We had to go the vimeo route because at almost 20 minutes, it was too big for one YouTube file. I don't love vimeo and have had my share of probs with it but I've found if you: a) sign up for the basic version of vimeo (free), 2) click "HD is OFF" in the upper corner and c) let it fully buffer (gray bar all the way to the end) BEFORE trying to play it, it actually plays pretty well without too much stuttering. Don't know why but just trying to play the vid without an account gave me probs that I no longer had once I signed up (go figure).2) We'll probably add a two-part YouTube version in the coming days. Just wanted to have something up that was (hopefully) viewable for the first WSOP weekend.Thanks to DN and the FCP crew last summer. ENJOY!-Potsie

[FCP Bob 1,312]

I like it.The video worked fine for me without creating an account. I just clicked the play button and it was fine.

[Biff Goods 0]

Nutzbuster is pretty freaking hilarious...."a bunch of rich guys...that suck..."I liked it too by the way...

[MaxStPolish 4]

Very neat!

[Shark527 0]

Great video, nice job.

[I_fold08 1]

+1think it would be a lot better if it was longer.

[grocery_mony 8]

+1think it would be a lot better if it was longer.

Thats what she said

[Potsie P 0]

+1think it would be a lot better if it was longer.

Thanks and agreed. There were a lot of factors that limited the scope for us, but overall it was a helluva lot of fun and we learned a lot (both in poker and in how to make a film) so we're really happy with it. I figured at the worst we'd have a good, fun recap of the guys' WSOP experience, and I think we exceeded that baseline which we originally set for this.

[Potsie P 0]

I like it.The video worked fine for me without creating an account. I just clicked the play button and it was fine.

Thanks! Glad you liked it, and good to know the vimeo version is OK. I think it was just my screwy home internet connection yesterday (was playing online later that night and averaged about 42% connectivity for some reason).Again, thanks Bob.

[profxavier9 0]

that was great!! the site worked fine for me too. I'm waiting for your next installment sir

[mrpaddyx 13]

Really enjoyed that.

[yahaw 0]

Great vid, enjoyed it very much.

[Shark527 0]

add women with big tits next video

[sandwedge 30]

I was just wondering about this documentary the other day. Haven't watched it yet, but will in a few. I wonder if it shows BG, Nutz and my incredible ability to knock it to two feet in the scramble, and then each of us miss the putt (and several more attempts after that).

[rcgs59 15]

well done

[wildspoke 2]

Nice job. An awesome time capsule for all the guys that were interviewed/involved. It was interesting matching up the person with their FCP handle.

[CoolHandKai 0]

Cool video, I enjoyed that.

[Potsie P 0]

I was just wondering about this documentary the other day. Haven't watched it yet, but will in a few. I wonder if it shows BG, Nutz and my incredible ability to knock it to two feet in the scramble, and then each of us miss the putt (and several more attempts after that).

LOL! Would have loved to include the golf footage but there really weren't many spots to put in b-roll once we got the questions going. But yes, there were some priceless moments from the course. I personally loved someone's tee shot that was immediately followed by, "I think that just hit the Suncoast." Some really just horribly, horribly horrendous swings out there...

[nutzbuster 7]

[x] Getting tested for Tourettes

[rcgs59 15]

Potsie would like a follow up done this year , that would be great or another video with players like kobe, and a few others wandigo etc. and see how there year progressed.

[dna4ever 2]

[x] Getting tested for Tourettes

ROFLMAONice Job Potsie

[weishan14 0]

Enjoyed the video. Great job.

[Suited_Up 2]

Potsie would like a follow up done this year , that would be great or another video with players like kobe, and a few others wandigo etc. and see how there year progressed.

Too bad.

[Potsie P 0]

Thanks, all. FYI we're talking about editing a couple of "extras" vids. Hopefully some outtakes from golf and the hofbrauhaus, plus a really informative interview with an old FCP'er, ObeyTheDog--lots of good stuff in this. Stay tuned.

[Potsie P 0]

Here are a few things I took away from this project that I think are worth mentioning:1) I know it's easy to hear the responses to some of these questions and laugh, particularly when the answer appears to be a very confident or even borderline boastful one "in a vacuum." But in defense of those (and there were many across interviewees--several of which didn't make the doc), I will say that if I learned ONE thing about poker pros, it is that a LOT of self-confidence is an absolute must. It's what puts you in the right frame of mind to play the stakes you play. It's what helps you through the inevitable downswings. It's what allows you to spend/enjoy at least some of what you do win--this unwavering belief that you are one of the best, and that if you made it once, you can make it again. So what sometimes came across as boasting, to me, was simply the most obvious and necessary answer.2) We had asked a couple questions about goals (short and long-term) and ultimately had to nix them for a few reasons, but I will say that I was struck by how similar the long-term responses were. Most interviewees admitted that they wanted to get to stage financially where they didn't have to play anymore so they could pursue other things. To a poker hobbyist, I wasn't expecting this, because in my world, I'd love to get to a financial place where I could play more poker. This and the confidence mentioned above are two big things that separate the pros from the hobbyists IMO.3) I'll also say that, despite this commonality in long-term goals, the HOW portion of these answers were all over the map. Yes, everyone had a long-term goal of being financially independent, but some have goals that follow the SMART acronym to a "T", while others really have no plan in place yet (or they just haven't decided to follow it really yet). On that note, we got a great interview that was all about the BIG PICTURE from Brian (ObeyTheDog from FCP) and his buddy, both of whom pretty much quit poker full-time right AFTER their best year ever financially. I found this incredibly interesting, and it really put the goals answers I was hearing earlier in a new light. We didn't use any of Obey's interview because it really was it's own beast (not to mention a much more somber/cautionary tone than the rest of the doc), but we want to do another vid that is ALL this and nothing else. Why? Because I was realizing as we were making this that some 19-year-old kid could see our first doc and get enamored with the idea of being a poker pro without realizing the work (and the potential pitfalls) of it. So I feel a certain obligation to make sure I'm telling the story from the other side...that is, from someone who was there and chose to be no longer, regardless of the reason. So wait for that!4) Special thanks need to be mentioned because we didn't in the actual doc. Big thanks to Mark for helping garner early support for the project on both FCP. He basically vouched for me and I appreciated it. Also to Nutz, who really helped keep me in the loop during the WSOP and also made Roy and his buddy welcome at golf that first weekend I couldn't make it. Big thanks to Matt for allowing us to interview him when the wounds were still fresh, so to speak--he didn't have to do that and he did. And lastly to Fluff, without whom we wouldn't have gotten to Daniel, which was not only some serious cred for the doc but also was really important in our mind since he is sort of the Godfather of FCP. In fact, we passed on the idea of filming any other "celeb players" because the only one that made sense for this particular project was Daniel. And we only achieved that goal once Fluff got on board. So special thanks to all those guys.Whew...that's it for now. Hope that all made sense!