Want to be a Big Time Poker Photographer? Better Think Carefully Before Answering

So you think being a big time poker photographer is a really great job? Moments after taking the above photo of eventual winner Jerry Yang I was told to stop with the picture taking, put the cameras away and let poker history go undocmented, at least my views of poker history. Apparently Benny Binion’s Poker Baby, something I’ve been following and photographing for three decades, now requires much more than a love and desire to just document the game and its unique characters…and that ‘much more’ is apparently related to greed money.This year was so difficult (rules concerning photos changed daily, sometime by the minute) that I’m considering leaving the game to the “I can hire a photographer on any street corner and turn a handsome profit” crowd. I just don’t have the stomach right skill set and I don’t like the slimey feeling I get dealing with the whinning lowlife.

A couple of days ago, I pondered briefly on the state of poker journalism. Sounds to me like what I suspected. Too bad for future pokerers. Flipchip is a true pro, and consistently produces the best photography from the tiny little poker universe. Pauly and other bloggers consistently produced the best writing about the tiny little poker universe. Now they’re shut down? If the 21st century has taught us anything about the interwebs, it’s that trying to control the story will get you nothing at all, yet that’s what the Harrah’s & WSOP Mahogany Row guys want to try to do. They’ll figure it out, sooner or later.