serge 904 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 I have always wanted to write a book about my life and even though it may not be too exciting for some people I think its just fun to write about. Even though there is a lot to write about, I will just concentrate on two of my hobbies that are very important to me POKER and HOCKEY. I was born on August 24 , 1972 in Istanbul, Turkey. This was one of the first signs that I would become a major hockey fan. Even though hockey was thousands of miles away from Turkey I came into this world during the Canada/Russia summit series. Even though I was born in Turkey I am not Turkish. I am proud to say I am Armenian, one of the oldest nationalities in the world. If you aren’t familiar with the history between Armenians and Turks its not a pretty one. It basically goes back to 1915 when the Turks committed a major genocide and massacred 1.5 million Armenians. To this day , more than 90 years later, this event is still a big issue. It has recently caused some conflict between US and Turkey relations as the US has finally gotten around to recognizing the Genocide.Growing up Christian in a predominantly Muslim country was not easy. My father being a successful doctor was not looked upon very positively by the anti Armenian extremists and we received constant death threats and were forced to leave and immigrate to Canada..On May 20,1980 we arrived in Canada. Once again a very ironic date as this was the night the Islanders won their first Stanley Cup. I remember coming home from the airport to my grandparents place and seeing this game on tv, I was instantly hooked and my passion for hockey was born. Another ironic thing was that the coach that lost the Stanley Cup that year was Pat Quinn. He would be a major part of my favourite team about 20 years later.Growing up I instantly became a Leafs fan early on in the 1981 season and instantly became the number one fan of Rick Vaive. I idolized him and he was my hero. The next year he went onto score 54 goals , a record for a Maple Leaf that he still holds to this day. On school nights when I had to go to bed early, I would usually watch two periods and then would sneak my radio into bed and listen to the end. There were a lot of losing years back then, but my love of the leafs and Rick Vaive never died. My father took me to my first game at the Gardens that year and it was amazing. The first Leafs game I went to was against the Colorado Rockies, yes I did say Rockies. The Leafs won the game 2-1 and I was elated. Growing up I never actually played ice hockey and I regret that to this day. I did play a lot of ball hockey on the weekends, modeling my play after my idol Rick Vaive. I would stand in front of the net and screen the goalie and also patented my own slapshot coming down the right side. Those were some fun days where we used to play hours on end in the cul de sac I lived on, after school till it got dark.My love of hockey continued as I got older and I would go to about 5-10 games a year at the Gardens. Me and my buddies would always wait outside and get autographs or just talk to the players. Over the years I met a ton of players from Gretzky,Lemieux and Guy Lafleur. Of course the main goal was to meet the Maple Leafs and we did every night.One memorable story I have was one night me and my dad went to the game and parked our car in the parking lot right across the street. When we left the game we realized that we were blocked in. We waited almost an hour after the game and finally the owner of the car comes by and apologizes for blocking us in. It was non other than Borje Salming. I have tons of stories like that , the players were so much more accessible back in those days, today they just go underground to their cars and you never see them.A day I will never forget was back on Sep 3 1987 I got the news that my idol was traded to Chicago. I was in tears and couldn’t believe it. From that day on I would listen to all the Black Hawks games and then the Sabres when Vaive got traded to them later.Poker came into my life right around the time of my second or third year at York University. I had been dealing blackjack at the charity casinos to earn some extra cash and we got word that this new game called Texas Holdem was going to be introduced into the charities. I had played poker before with my buddies, and made several trips to Atlantic City and Vegas but never played holdem. Well it was a game I fell in love with right at the outset. I started playing 5-10 and started off losing $600 right away. Then a couple of friends and I decided to order the book HOLDEM POKER for ADVANCED PLAYER by David Sklansky. Read the book cover to cover in less than a few hours and then went out to test the strategies. It was unbelievable we couldn’t lose. The games back then were so easy and so loose that just a basic understanding of the game would make you tons of money. I soon graduated to 10-20 and quit my job as a dealer.Going to school full time and playing poker for a living was an amazing time. The first year I started playing I made $35000. Now it might not seem like a lot of money to most but as a university student living at home it was a ton of money. Looking back now I am sure I was nowhere the player I am today and had a lot to learn about the game. As the players got better so did I and I was still crushing the games on a regular basis. I was making about $37 an hour playing 10-20. Now those aren’t huge numbers but I was happy with it.I continued to play poker for the next 3 years till I graduated University. Overall as a “pro” during school I made roughly a $100000 playing poker. Almost always played 10-20 , playing 20-40 on a handful occasions when I went to Atlantic city or Vegas. After I graduated I took a life changing trip to my homeland Armenia.My trip to Armenia was an eye opening experience and I think I grew up a lot there. We were there on a mission to help run a camp for the kids that were left orphans in the major earthquake in the early 90s. Watching those kids was an amazing experience, back at home I played poker for a living and these kids were so pure and were happy just to spend a few minutes with you. When I left them I am humbled to say I actually cried for one of the few times in my life.Shortly after coming home I met my future wife in a very interesting way. Back then I was a member of AOL and frequented the Armenian chat rooms. In those chat rooms I ended up talking to a girl from California, that girl happened to be the cousin of my future wife Nadya. Now it seems weird meeting a girl from the internet and I know you have heard horror stories, however it ended up that her family was the same background as mine and actually knew a lot of mutual people. I went out there 3 months later and we were married 2 years later. We have been married 7 and a half years now.The next chapter in my life is my wonderful son Adrian. He is an unbelievable kid and I would do anything for him. For all you fantasy owners , Adrian’s draft year is 2023 and he has already demanded to his agent(me) that he will not report to Montreal or Ottawa or Quebec(if there is a team there by then).If you have read this far I commend you, there is just too many interesting stories that I just didn’t have time to write about. However I promise when the Leafs win the Cup my book will be published…Working title MY LIFE GROWING UP IN THE LEAFS NATION Link to post Share on other sites
rinswun 6 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 firstedit - nice read serge. good job crushing the games back in the day, do you still play now? also, how did you come to be in the AHL, and how did that league originate? Link to post Share on other sites
Zach6668 513 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 nice Link to post Share on other sites
thehidden 0 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 finally he hits 5000good read...it was interesting, i dind't think you were armeinian, I for some reason thought you were Italian?is playing in those days where you met DN? Link to post Share on other sites
serge 904 Posted November 29, 2007 Author Share Posted November 29, 2007 firstedit - nice read serge. good job crushing the games back in the day, do you still play now? also, how did you come to be in the AHL, and how did that league originate?I do play now but recreationally...Since I am happily married with a kid now, and have a job, not too much time to play..So I play mostly online and couple of times a month live...The leauge originated with Darrell our commissioner and most of the original guys are poker players...ie Daniel, FCP BOB...We all played poker together back in the day and thats how I was invited to join.. Link to post Share on other sites
troyomac 0 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 Holy shit that's long. I'm not reading all that. sw Link to post Share on other sites
thehidden 0 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 Holy shit I'm illiteritz. I'm not reading all that. sw fyp Link to post Share on other sites
gruven 530 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 nice post serge. congrats (i think) on 5000..... Link to post Share on other sites
troyomac 0 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 Yeah nice read. Kinda scary the life you had growing up. Glad you're safe in Canada now Link to post Share on other sites
Whiter Sr 0 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 I continued to play poker for the next 3 years till I graduated University. Overall as a “pro” during school I made roughly a $100000 playing poker. Almost always played 10-20 , playing 20-40 on a handful occasions when I went to Atlantic city or Vegas. After I graduated I took a life changing trip to my homeland Armenia.Nice read.Better hope no one from Revenue Canada is reading this. Link to post Share on other sites
Fenxis 99 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 Nice read.Better hope no one from Revenue Canada is reading this.2 User(s) are reading this topic (0 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)2 Members: Fenxis, TaxLawyer71On the other hand he knows where to get some help Back then I was a member of AOL and frequented the Armenian chat rooms.Nice story, just wanted to write "lol, aol". Link to post Share on other sites
serge 904 Posted November 29, 2007 Author Share Posted November 29, 2007 nice post serge. congrats (i think) on 5000.....Thanks ..I am saving the really juicy parts for post 10000 Link to post Share on other sites
Belanger25 3 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 Nice post Serge really interesting to see how you became a Leafs fan. So when you come out to LA are you going to make a stop in Glendale?http://youtube.com/watch?v=FsRiy-1PZ8w Link to post Share on other sites
serge 904 Posted November 29, 2007 Author Share Posted November 29, 2007 lol...Some of those Armenians in California give the rest of us a bad name... Link to post Share on other sites
Belanger25 3 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 lol...Some of those Armenians in California give the rest of us a bad name...The guys that do that video are not Armenian but a lot of people still think it's funny. Also the Kings have a large Armenian following. It's kind of odd. Link to post Share on other sites
serge 904 Posted November 29, 2007 Author Share Posted November 29, 2007 my cousins who live in the valley, are huge Kings fans...I am surprised how much about hockey they know..not as much as you but still huge... Link to post Share on other sites
Ottawa_Biatch 288 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 Nice read man Link to post Share on other sites
Rated-R 0 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 I was born on August 24 , 1972 in Istanbul, Turkey. This was one of the first signs that I would become a major hockey fan. Even though hockey was thousands of miles away from Turkey I came into this world during the Canada/Russia summit series.I spent some time there in 2000. One of my favourite places. Link to post Share on other sites
jack24bauer24 0 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 Vaive was a solid player, but my god he had to be the worst hockey analyst in the history of the sport. Link to post Share on other sites
strategy 4 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 I'm pretty sure I'd be thrilled to win $35k at poker in a year even now. Maybe the cost of living here is especially low or something. Link to post Share on other sites
FCP Bob 1,312 Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 Serge was fun to play against. As he says you didn't have to play well to beat the charity 10/20 games and Serge's results prove that point.Serge is very weak tight and if you think he goes nuts when the Leafs lose you can imagine how he reacts when his AA is beat. I will give him credit though, he might have gone nuts but he didn't go on tilt other than he would start to play even tighter.Serge's friend "L" on the other hand we always worried would come to the casino and Columbine everybody when he got bad beats. My farourite "L" hand was when he had KK and the flop came K rag rag. Betting was capped on every street and the river paired one of the rags giving the other player quads as it was set over set over set on the flop. I've never seen anybody literally start to foam at the mouth before but "L" did on that day. :icon_eek:Oh and P.S. Serge married up. Link to post Share on other sites
serge 904 Posted November 30, 2007 Author Share Posted November 30, 2007 L was a crazy man...Apparently he is changed now...I was a lot younger back then , and I would ridicule a player if he gave me a bad beat...Looking back that was just silly.... Link to post Share on other sites
ajs510 122 Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 Good stuff Serge, congrats on 5k. Link to post Share on other sites
gruven 530 Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 They can still play a little too.... the games we had at Darrell's super bowl party were actually some pretty good poker... Link to post Share on other sites
sleuthis 0 Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 firstedit - nice read serge. good job crushing the games back in the day, do you still play now? also, how did you come to be in the AHL, and how did that league originate?The AHL is actually the 3rd league of its kind..........I originally developed the rules sometime around 1985 while living in Oshawa - the league was 7 teams then (scheduling nightmare) and the rules werent nearly as advanced as they are today.After moving to Toronto, I started a new league which lasted about 6 years. This one became far more advanced and the rules and regulations are much like they are today - it was this league for which I developed the contractual system we now use - that became the cornerstone of this league and probably the most important thing about it.That league disbanded and I restarted the following season with more solid owners and a long term plan. We started with 6 teams in the first season and quickly expanded to 10, then 12, then 16 and then to 20 which we have today. Link to post Share on other sites
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