The Blogfiles: OddJack
Intro: For our latest Blogfile, we talk with two of the wagering wonks that make OddJack what it is, AJ and BG. For shits and giggles, we'll intro this in movie-trailer format. Why not? Here it goes: (While reading the following, think of seeing earth’s horizon followed by sweeping landscape shots that then quickly zooms into a computer monitor.) “In a world where many blogs look and sound the same, there is a blog that rises against mundane virtual conformity and uniformity. This blog dares to be heard, even if it pisses off Tomer Benvenisti and Josh Arieh. The producers of Gawker Media, who brought you, um, gawker.com, now proudly present their latest project: OddJack.”
If that teaser doesn't get you to buy a ticket into the Q&A, nothing will. So read, among other topics, their so-called "feud" with Josh Arieh, polling poker babes, and who will win the upcoming UGA-UT and ND-USC games. Enjoy.
WCP: First, give us the background on how OddJack got started.
AJD: Well, I have no idea how it got started...
...I think Gawker thought there was a huge online gambling market and a lot of room to run with this particular marketplace and they could offer their own special brand of commentary about the industry, etc. It's coming along--lots of dings, doinks, and utter humiliations aside, I'm pleased with the direction it's headed right now.
WCP: Now your site claims that OddJack is, "a euphemism for tantric sex with home appliances." As connoisseurs of home-applianced-tantric-sex, Wicked Chops Poker has never heard of "oddjacking someone". So really, where’d you get the name OddJack?
AJD: Again, that's a Gawker thing. I believe they have this name aggregator plugged right into Nick Denton's left brain and they just spit out.
WCP: Should gambling be legalized across the board in the US?
AJD: Absolutely. As should cocaine, prostitution, slavery, and bestiality. Wouldn't our country be so much 
more fun if we didn't have all of these oppressive "laws" to deal with?
WCP: What’s the strangest prop bet you’ve made?
AJD: Strangest? Hmm...well we used to play this variation of Jenga for money. Anytime a person would pass out at a party a couple of friends of mine would bet how many pieces of food we could put on the lame guy before they woke up. It got pretty intense. I once made $120 because I made a Cheez-Whiz mustache on a guy.
WCP: A number of our readers (and co-founder, Chops) went to UGA. Any thoughts on the Dawgs big game against UT this weekend? How about Notre Dame (where Snake is an alum) against USC on the 15th?
AJD: Tennessee's been good to me all year and I think with Rick Clausen running the show their offense will continue to stabilize. Yet, there are huge numbers on Georgia this weekend. I still like the Vols by a touchdown. Sorry Chops. And I really like ND in the USC game. Hopefully both teams will continue to play well and that could prove to be the game of the year. And that just seems like the type of game where Charlie Weis can outsmart Pete Carroll. So, I like ND.
WCP: You once had a poll on your site asking readers to vote for the poker babe they’d most like to bang. What woman of poker would you least like to bang (and why)?
AJD: What a misogynistic thing to say! I have nothing but the utmost respect for the women who play poker for a living. They are not objects, they're people. Shame on you, Wicked Chops Poker.
WCP: Please ante up and answer this question: More annoying, bad beat stories or the overuse of poker metaphors?
BG: I'm really torn on this question. On one hand, you've got hundreds of narcissistic assholes with a LiveJournal feigning shock and acting all aghast when some moron at their nickel/dime table plays a three-gapper for thirty cents pre-flop to crack their aces, and on the other you've got Steve
WCP: Ok, quick word association...we'll throw out a person/place/thing, you answer with the first thing that pops into your head. Here goes:
Wager: Anytime Las Vegas: Mecca
Harriet Miers: Fetus-eater
Bloggers: Underrated
The Year 1857: Pre-Seinfeld
Full House: Lori Laughlin (that would be her on the left)
The Nuts: Filberts
Backdoor: Odds are never good enough to draw
Josh Arieh: Airport Pastries
WCP: What would be your dream 6-person table, living, dead, or ficticious?
BG: Seat one? Richard Nixon. Not only did he finance a campaign with poker winnings, but everyone else would automatically assume he was cheating all night, so he'd be all defensive and with his stammering and protestations his jowls would just be flapping around, which would be its own form of comedy. Seat two would be the balancing counterpoint on the political spectrum, Bill Hicks. My dream, my table, and I'd need someone there to call Nixon out on his bullshit, as well as someone to keep things light. Seat three is Bill Clinton. I've got a gut feeling you could throw him a couple of PBRs and he'd loosen up enough to tell you who killed Kennedy and where to find the best ass in all of Topeka. Seat four belongs to current poker pro Carmel Petresco, just to keep Billy C. distracted all night long. Seat five is Stuey Ungar's, and I'd put a big heaping plate of the white stuff within arm's reach just to make sure he was properly keyed up for the evening. Just off to my right in seat six (I'm in seat seven dammit) I'll draft Tom Wolfe, who can write one of his witty stream-of-consciousness beat essays about the evening for his next collection, and we can rag on him for wearing a white suit after Labor Day.
WCP: You know, we couldn’t really tell by reading your site, but something gives us the impression you have it in for Josh Arieh. Give us your thoughts on the guy...
AJD: That got a little out of control. I didn't really have it in for the guy on a personal level. He was just easy to make fun of because of some of the crap he'd put on his blog. He was an easy target, admittedly and I just played up the whole obsessive nature of it just to because I wanted something to follow everyday. Some people got the joke, some people didn't, but that's the risk you take when you start ripping on people for no good reason. So, I stopped because I thought it was taking away from the stuff that BG was doing poker-wise, but I miss it and I miss him everyday. There will always be a little place in my heart for Josh Arieh wherever he and I end up in this crazy, mixed-up world.
WCP: Finally, how would you complete this sentence: In two years, OddJack will…
AJD: …be much more than it is today and be the center for all things gambling related on the internet and the new home of Josh Arieh's Journal. Or it'll be dead in six months. Right now, I'm giving myself +124 for the latter.
WCP: Thanks to AJ and BG for the great Q&A. If you're not reading OddJack, you're missing out. Bookmark the site and make it a part of your regular routine.
Oddjack linked one of my blog posts. That makes them ineffably cool in my book.
Posted by: Beck | October 08, 2005 at 08:15 PM
as an ND alum i do hope the game lives up to its billing. If we walk away with a win look for brady quinn to be at the top of heisman lists. he may even be up there if he out-stats leinart and covers the spread.
and Oddjack is my only must read poker/gambling blog, besides this one of course...since you have to read to write. Keep it up.
Posted by: Snake | October 08, 2005 at 02:46 PM
That OddJack is the shit, thanks for intro WCP. Also, appreciate for the link.
Posted by: iPod | October 08, 2005 at 10:06 AM