Darth Vader getting some camera time at the EW Capetown Film Fest.
Darth Vader at the 30th Anniversary screening of Return of the Jedi.
Jabba the Hut
The EW Capetown Film Fest at the Egytian Theatre.
The TCL Chinese Theater (formerly Mann’s Chinese Theater)
Spiderman guards the movie star maps outside Madam Tussauds.
Star Line Tours, Ironman and the Hollywood sign, all in one shot….
The El Capitan Theatre
Goodnight from Hollywood….
I’m in the 4th row, 12th from the left….
Yes, that is me and a young fan….
Top image and video courtesy of Lucasfilm
“Am I to understand that you lot will not be keeping to the code, then?” - Captain Jack Sparrow
I get asked a lot about how to best manage and maintain a Twitter account, so much that I actually do it for a living. That being said, a few topics have arisen in my timeline that made want to address the issue of how to manage your personal Twitter account. But, I can’t do that.
Your personal Twitter account is just that, personal. There is nobody (friends, co-workers, marketing and SEO “experts” or even me) that can properly tell you how to run your account. It’s yours. You have the ability to mold it to whatever you want it to be. The best piece of advice I can give you:
There is no spoon….
Sure, I can make suggestions based on what you would like to accomplish. But in the end, you must do what you feel is best.
I use Twitter as my source for all things including news, weather, sports, entertainment and almost anything else. Rarely do I even turn on the TV to find out information because I can get it first on Twitter.
It has become such a part of my day that if you gave me the choice of my iPhone or never being able to use Twitter again, I would snap toss my phone in the trash.
Luckily, I don’t have to make that choice and my Twitter machine (iPhone) remains at my side. I have even strategically place the Twitter icon in the lower right of my phone for quickest and easiest access with my thumb.
There are a few simple rules that I use for my personal @WhoJedi Twitter account. Well, they are more what you’d call guidelines than actual rules (okay, no more Pirates references).
Posts
You may have noticed, but I don’t post a great deal. This isn’t necessarily by choice, but more of the fact that maintain upwards of 50 or more other accounts normally takes most of my time.
I do, however, make a conscious effort to post information that my followers might find interesting, useful or amusing. If it is none of those things, I feel there is no need to post it.
Retweets
This is a topic that actually made me write this blog. I recently read a post by John Scalzi regarding his policy on RT’s. It was great and I found that I subconsciously was doing the same thing.
Given the number of retweet requests I’ve gotten recently, it’s a fine time to repost my RT policy: whatever.scalzi.com/2011/11/26/my-…
— John Scalzi (@scalzi) December 7, 2012
I rarely RT. When I do, you know it is something that I find very important. I do not and will not RT something just because somebody asks me to. Nothing irks me more than a bunch of charity RT’s showing up in my timeline, only to find out that it is a fraud.
Do some research on your own. If it is something that you feel is important to you, then put your own post up.
If you ask me to RT something, odds are I won’t. Nothing personal, I just don’t do that.
In the past eight months, I have exactly RT a total of five posts. FIVE!
If you post something I feel is something that would be of interest to my followers, I normally reword it in a way that shows why it means something to ME. Personally, I think that is the best way to go about it.
I like this policy and I think it works for me.
Who I Follow
I follow a lot of accounts. Mainly because I pull all information I need from Twitter. People often wonder how I can keep up with it, but it isn’t that hard.
Some of the people I follow are only for a short time, like for a specific event. Then, they get the unfollow click. Again, nothing personal, I just have to manage my account to some degree.
While I don’t RT many things, I follow a number of people who have the same interests as me who do.
This allows me to do two things.
1. It lets me see posts or links that I know will be of interest to me.
2. Helps keep my Following list more manageable.
For example, my friend Bonnie Burton RT’s quite a bit, but I have found that I have interest in almost every one of her posts. It’s almost like I am letting Bonnie, and others like her, search for me.
Thank you Bonnie.
My Followers
One thing I firmly believe in for my personal account is not skewing my Followers number. My people follow me because they want to, not because I ran a contest to get followers or bought them.
If you want to do that, fine. It’s your account. But, your Twitter account is only effective, influential or meaningful if your followers actually read it.
Let me repeat that, your Twitter account is only effective, influential or meaningful if your followers actually read it.
Favorites
Okay, this is where I allow myself to geek out a bit. I know I don’t use it in the proper manner, but that is my choice.
This is where I put posts where I have been mentioned or RT’d by somebody on Twitter. It’s kind of like my personal Twitter trophy case.
I run all kinds of accounts on Twitter: actors, athletes, television shows, movies, businesses and events. They all require different levels of assistance and guidelines.
But, your personal account is just that, personal. Do with it what you like. Post what you want.
If people criticize you about it or complain, who cares? The problem is theirs, not yours. You have the right, the ability and the creativity to do whatever you want.
Don’t forget that, no matter what anyone tweets to you….
Savvy?
I get asked a variety of questions repeatedly when I am on the road covering a poker tournament: “Can I get a copy of that picture?” “Can you get me Verified on Twitter?” “How did you get your nickname?” “Can you charge my phone?”
However, one gets asked considerably more than any other, “How did you get into poker tournament reporting?”
So, here it is….
After attending the U.S. Naval Academy and Purdue University, I worked in mortgages for about ten years. Cubicles, dress codes, working on commission and the whole nine to five gig. I then took a job with Monster.com in their Indianapolis office. Great company and work environment but still a commission based job in an office. I was also doing some online work for the poker industry that included starting up and managing the CardPlayer forums. So, I wasn’t a total virgin to the poker industry.
At the same time, I had been dabbling in online poker, playing on Paradise and UB back in the day, eventually adding PokerStars and a few other sites. Things were going well and I decided that it was time to give poker a shot (keep in mind this was years before it was “cool” to say that you were a professional poker player).
Things were going well and I had transitioned primarily to PokerStars. It was going so well that I decided to try and satellite into the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. At that time it was a World Poker Tour event and the dream was to play in one of those.
So, on October 7th, 2005, I entered the very first satellite they were running, a $30+$3 with Rebuys Qualifier with one seat guaranteed. It only got 202 players, which meant only one $12,000 package would be given away. Well, five hours later, the final leaderboard looked like this….
So, I won the first satellite they ran and was off to my first big live event. As you can imagine, I was like a kid in a candy store when I arrived at Atlantis. Funny thinking about it now because most of the people I was being a total fanboy over I am now good friends with. I even went up to Daniel Negreanu while he was in line to check in so that I could introduce myself.
Day 1A starts and find myself sitting directly on the left of Isabelle Mercier. Great, nice start. I had been hoping for a table full of satellite qualifiers and got the exact opposite. Nerves had kicked in and I didn’t really get involved in a pot for a while because I didn’t feel ready. Finally, I settled in and started playing my game.
I slowly chipped up and was playing well. Called a river bet for almost half my stack with ace-king high, knowing it was good, and it was. Continued to build and was fortunate enough to double up one of the final hands of the day to end up with a top ten chip stack.
After Day 1A, it was a surreal feeling. I knew B.J. Nemeth, Scott Huff and the CardPlayers guys from my work on the forums. B.J. had me in the player list with updates and Scott Huff even interviewed me at the end of play that day. It was like I was an established player in the poker community when, in reality, I was just soaking up every minute of it.
Friends were following me at home and I even had a few people come up and introduce themselves to me. It was incredible. I had the good fortune of meeting Brad Willis for the first time as well. Brad was in charge of the PokerStars Blog and even got a small piece up about me. To this day, Brad is still one of the best in the business and I am fortunate to have since become his friend.
When Day 2 got underway, the final numbers were in: 724 total players with top 130 spots cashing and first taking home almost $1.4 million.
Wow….
I took my seat on Day 2 and one of the weirdest things happened, Isabelle was directly to my right AGAIN. Today though, it was a good thing. Isabelle and I had talked quite a bit so I was very comfortable with her at my table. It made my draw seem not quite as bad.
A few hours in, our table broke and I took my seat at my new table. I immediately recognized the reigning WSOP Main Event champion Joe Hachem as well as internet wiz kid Ozzy Sheikh.
However, the first big pot I played was against somebody else. I knew I recognized him from somewhere but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I picked up queens and took a really odd line with them on purpose. It paid off as I was able to get him all-in and my hand held up to eliminate the good looking, quiet player. Only later did I find out that his name was none other than Patrik Antonius….
Just moments later I picked up queens again and called the all-in of Hachem, who held pocket nines. However, Hachem spiked a nine on the turn to double up.
Finally, I was moved to a new table with a maniac on my left, literally raising every hand. He raised under the gun and I looked down at pocket kings as we approached the money bubble. Long story short, we got it all-in and he woke up with aces.
So, that was it….
I finished about ten spots short of the money in a pot that would have given me a top ten chip stack on the bubble.
I look back at that hand a lot and think about what my life would be like now if I had won that pot. The $10,700 min-cash would have been life changing for me, let alone if I would have went deeper. But, I was very happy with my play and my experience.
Later, I would attend the PokerStars party and mingle with the poker elite. Joe Hachem and I had a Kalik and talked about the day. Joe would go on to cash in the event after I doubled him up and I am proud to say that we have become good friends since that day.
Brad Willis and B.J. Nemeth were both there and I had a great time really getting to know them for the first time. We would even play a sit-and-go later where B.J. and I invented the “Poker Caddy” (this is where one person, who is more than likely drunk, makes decisions but their “Poker Caddy” then handles their chips for them since they are in no shape to count them out).
Among those in our sit-and-go were Wil Wheaton, Gavin Smith, Isabelle Mercier and Paul Hannum (far left in the picture of B.J.’s aces). Paul was the cameraman for the WPT and one of the nicest people in the business. Paul tragically lost his life later that year while his wife was pregnant.
During the trip, B.J. and I had an interesting conversation. He was leaving his duties as tournament reporter for CardPlayer and wondered if I would be interested in the position.
Um, yeah….
That was it. I took over the role of tournament reporter at CardPlayer and the rest, as they say, is history.
Oddly enough, my career choice has left me little time to actually play much poker. Every once in a great while I get to play some. I won a small event in the Bahamas in 2008 and last year, I even won an event at the L.A. Poker Open. I often think about where I would be if I would have just continued playing as opposed to working in the poker world.
I want to get back into playing more. But, I do like to think that I have brought something to the poker community in my time here. Whether it be updates, photos, interviews or assistance with Twitter, hopefully you guys have enjoyed what I have done and continue to do out on the road.
That is my story of how I got into this crazy business. It is now my livelihood and career.
It’s what I do….
I don’t claim to be the best photographer in the world. As a matter of fact, I am far from the best photographer in the poker world alone. There are some amazing talents in our industry and I am proud to have the pleasure to not only have worked with most of them, but also learned from them.
In the poker industry, there are a limited amount of different shots you can get. Experimenting with different shots has become my new passion. I know, personally, I don’t need to see another picture of a guy sitting at a table with chips. While there is always going to be a need for those shots in our industry, branching out for new, unique perspectives is what keeps our work fresh.
For a few years now, I have focused more on landscape shots as opposed to portraits. Not only does this give us a new way to look at our favorite players, but tends to be more “blog” friendly. The emotion on somebodies face can tell you more than a picture with their chips.
That is what we, as photographers, are supposed to be doing, right? Showing the feel of the moment, the vibe of the poker room, the tension in air, the emotion of winning or losing a big pot; these are the things that make a picture a photograph. A moment of time forever captured for the fans to witness.
Sometimes those pictures are tough. Like this photo I took this summer at the World Series of Poker just moments after Phil Collins was eliminated from the Main Event. The pain of elimination still on his face while the ESPN cameras close in on him….
The best shots aren’t set-up. In the picture above, I just happen to be at the right place at the right time. Crouched on the floor trying to stay out of ESPN camera lines when Phil just happened to walk in my direction after busting. I hate that he is looking at me. He saw me, he knew I was trying to capture the moment. To his credit, he took his elimination well and never said a word to me.
To be honest, I almost didn’t even post this picture during the summer because of the emotion in it. But I did, because that is what we do. Hopefully I will be able to get Phil on the other end of the spectrum soon.
Another example of capturing the emotion of the moment is this photo that I took of 2012 WSOP Main Event Champion Greg Merson after he won the $10,000 No-Limit Six-Handed event for over $1,100,000.
Little did anyone know that this was just a precursor to what he would do in the Main Event. Overcome with emotion, Merson sat quietly in tears after he was awarded his first bracelet.
I have also tried to portray moments away from the table. Some of the most candid shots take place while players are up walking around between hands.
In the first one, I lov
e this shot of Daniel Negreanu and Kevin Pollak talking in between hands at the WSOP Main Event Feature Table. This dynamic is so much better than just showing them at the same table together.
The second one is a rare case when we can see the lighter side of Tom Dwan. 
While the photo at the top of the post is my absolute favorite of Tom, this one is a close second. Tom jumped up from the table after watching Mikhail Smirnov fold quad eights during the One Drop event.
Fact is, you don’t even need to have players in the shot to capture a moment. The atmosphere of the room can sometimes be a character in itself.
I sometimes find myself posting photographs that I personally like, not taking into account what the fans might want to see.
I don’t know if it is the best way to go about doing poker photography, but I want to do something different. I feel like if I am not trying to do new things, then I am not doing justice to those who I am fortunate enough to have follow my work.
Luckily, I essentially work for myself, which allows me the flexibility to make creative decisions with my photographs that I normally might not have.
The downside to that is I don’t make a lot of money being an independent tournament reporter. But, that is the sacrifice I have decided to make in order to do what I love. I work my gigs, pay my bills and go home feeling very proud of the work I have done.
I know I’m not the best photographer in the business and I am constantly impressed with the quality of work that the more skilled of our craft consistently produce. In the meantime, I will continue to try and bring some new, fresh perspectives from the poker room to you.
Hopefully, you enjoy checking them out as much as I enjoy taking them….
Watch the brand new #WorldWarZ Movie trailer starring Brad Pitt bit.ly/WWZtrailer
— World War Z Movie (@WorldWarZMovie) November 9, 2012
I love to read and am fortunate enough with my travels to have some time to do so. While I enjoy new material on a regular basis, there are a few books that I read at least twice a year. They include the likes of The Art of War by Sun Tzu, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, I Am Legend by Richard Matheson and Battle Royale by Koushun Takami.
There is, however, one book that I consistently read over and over….
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks.
While you may not be a fan of zombie material, this book might be the exception to the rule. Much like the popular series, The Walking Dead on AMC, World War Z focuses more on the stories than the monsters.
The unique writing style of the novel makes it very easy to keep your interest. Each chapter is a new story with new characters, telling the story of the rise of the zombie epidemic and the struggle than ensues as the world tries to reclaim itself from the living dead.
A few years ago, plans were announced to produce a movie based on the book. While this might be difficult based on the flow of the novel, I had faith that it would be done as close to the book as possible.
Now, as the the summer 2013 release date quickly approaches, I am getting more and more excited about the possibilities of this film. When production company owned by Brad Pitt, Plan B Entertainment, won the rights to the film and announced Pitt as the star, I knew it would be big.
Despite rumors that it won’t be staying true to the novel, I still feel that this movie has the potential to be the first true blockbuster zombie movie (sorry, I Am Legend doesn’t count after how they portrayed the infected, not to mention the fact that they aren’t supposed to be zombies, but a form of vampire. How about we just hold this topic for later and a totally separate ranting blog, okay?).
Needless to say, I am more than a bit excited. Only time will tell, but I have a good feeling about this one.
Stay up to date on all things World War Z by following their Twitter account, @WorldWarZmovie.
In the meantime, here is the new trailer for World War Z, which was released today:
Hard to even grasp what has happened today as far as the @starwars news goes. Very excited. Might even write my first ever blog about it….
— Jay WhoJedi Newnum (@WhoJedi) October 30, 2012
You might be asking yourself, why would Jedi be writing his first ever blog today of all days….
I make my living in the business of poker. It helps pays my bills, allows me the flexibility to do what I love and lets me express myself in this specific world. Tonight, a new World Series of Poker Main Event Champion will be crowned. Mainstream television coverage on ESPN will allow millions to watch history in the making on pokers biggest stage today.
However, this blog has nothing to do with poker.
Today, something historic happened. It was announced that Disney has purchased Lucasfilm for over four billion dollars. More importantly, they get the rights to the Star Wars franchise. They immediately announced plans for the release of Episode VII in 2015.
Wait, what? Obviously some elaborate hoax. Some Twitter genius had clearly started this rumor and it had somehow gained momentum overnight before I checked my Twitter feed. I mean, this couldn’t be real. We, as Star Wars fans, had been told by George himself that the Star Wars movie franchise was over after Episode III. We had grown to accept that. His franchise, his decision and I was okay with that.
I grew up on Star Wars and it became a part of who I was and am today. You might not understand that and you don’t need to. I don’t understand why you post 47 pictures of your dog on Twitter everyday but that doesn’t mean it is my place to make any judgments about it.
Anyway, it is part of me. Everyone knows it, even in the poker world. I mean, more people know me as Jedi than they do as Jay (yes, that is my real name). My username, WhoJedi, has essentially turned into my name. I have worked at Star Wars Celebrations (for you non-Star Wars people, it’s like Comic Con but only Star Wars stuff) for Lucasfilm and got to handle artifacts from the movie. My youngest sons middle name is Lucas. I have a diverse family of Star Wars friends that are totally separate from the poker community (except for B.J. Nemeth, who is a crossover like myself). Needless to say, I am Star Wars geek and proud of it.
So I started digging….
One confirmation on Twitter, another confirmation and yet another. Things were looking good. I wanted word from the Official Star Wars account, but none came. But after about another hour of searching, it finally became obvious that this was no hoax.
This was real, this was happening.
Possibly the biggest day in the history of Star Wars and we never thought it would happen. So, the big question is, what does this mean to the franchise?
The simultaneous announcement of the purchase and the movie release caused an immediate uproar. A new Star Wars movie from Disney in just three years? This leads me to believe that they have been working on this deal for sometime now as well as developing some ideas for a new movie.
Will they have notable actors or unknowns in the roles and, more importantly, who will direct them. Can you imagine a Steven Spielberg, Joss Whedon, Brad Bird, Jon Favreau, Chris Nolan, J.J. Abrams or Kyle Newman directed Star Wars film?
I can, and it is AWESOME!
The actors I honestly don’t care as much about because Star Wars has always been about telling the story, not the acting (thank god). However, I would be lying if I didn’t think that the idea of geek legend Nathan Fillion as an older Han Solo didn’t at least intrigue me. Also, what does this mean for the Indiana Jones franchise? Will we see some new projects along those lines?
However, despite all of this, there is one development from today that is more important than any of these other things….
I will be able to grow old with my two boys, and one day their kids, in a world where Star Wars isn’t “that old movie that my Dad saw” or “the one with Jar Jar”.
Now, I will be able to share the excitement of going to a movie release the day it comes out, standing in line raising money for a good cause while waiting in anticipation of getting into that theater. We will be able to watch new Star Wars programs on TV, have new games to play and more attractions at Disney World that are Star Wars themed than we ever thought possible (a whole theme park, maybe).
It isn’t so much about the movies as it is being able to believe in something bigger and share that with the world.
This is, after all, what Star Wars is really about. A story of good versus evil in a galaxy far, far away that we can share with those who we love….
