The Blogfiles Returns With:: Bill Rini

“I'm not sure you can call ‘Rush Rush’ the best song about poker but it's certainly up there.  It's definitely the one people think about when they think Paula Abdul and poker.” – Bill Rini

After a brief hiatus, Wicked Chops Poker is, in PR parlance, “pleased and excited” to bring back our Blogfile feature.  To kick it off again, we’re, uh, pleased and excited to showcase the always entertaining and insightful Bill Rini.  Enjoy.

WCP: Soooo...you're pretty new to the so-called "Internet" thing, aren't you?

BR: I guess you can say I've been around the block a few times.

WCP:  Billrini.com had a few iterations before finding its groove as a poker blog…what’d you do with the site before focusing on poker? 

BR:  It was mostly just a place for me to experiment around with software until about 2001 when a friend and I decided to actually do something with it.  We were sitting around over a few beers laughing about some of the absurd boo-hoo stories the press was writing about the dotcom bubble bursting and we decided that there was a need to offer a more balanced view.  The result was RINI.org (rini.org and billrini.com both go to the same site today) which stood for the Real Internet News Initiative.  Once the press figured out that the sky wasn't falling, I no longer had anything fun to write about so I was in search of a new theme.

WCP:  Once billrini.com made the leap into pokerblogdom, you uncovered one of the greatest mysteries since Geraldo unlocked Al Capone's vault…and that was the secret poker-themed lyrics to Paula Abdul's opus "Rush Rush." Do you consider “Rush Rush” to be the greatest song ever about poker?  If not, what is? My vote goes to “A Boy Named Sue” (loose poker tie-in, sure, but Sue's daddy was playing a game of Stud in it).

BR: I'm not sure you can call "Rush Rush" the best song about poker but it's certainly up there.  It's definitely the one people think about when they think Paula Abdul and poker.

A lot of people write songs about poker but Paula really makes you think about poker.  I mean, my game has just taken off once I really understood some of her songs. For instance, "Knocked Out" taught me a great deal about tournament strategy, and her classic work on extracting the most out of an opponent in "Straight Up" puts at least 2 or 3 big bets per session into my pocket.

WCP: You've played some homegame poker with Phil Gordon.  Who's dreamier…Phil Gordon in this pic at right from eBay or Keanu Reeves in the “Rush Rush”
video?

BR: Wow, now that's a tough question.  Keanu Reeves has spent a lot more time in front of a camera than Phil has so there are so many more dreamy pictures of him.   At the same time I think you would be hard pressed not to admit that that's a pretty dreamy picture of Phil Gordon.  If I had to make a choice though, I would pick Phil.  Both have superpowers but I'm fairly certain that, unlike Phil, Keanu cannot divide by zero (or any other number for that matter).

Maybe a better question would be to pick the dreamier of Keanu Reeves and Christopher Reeves.

WCP:  If you had to compare a woman to the hold'em starting hand of 7-2o, who would it be?

BR: Hillary Clinton.  Not much to look at but depending on the flop (i.e. the next election) could become the most powerful woman in the world.

WCP: I lost to three one-outers in about a three-hour period last month playing a PLO cash game.  So obviously, online poker is rigged, right?

BR: Every time I hear someone say that online poker is rigged I have two different, yet simultaneous, reactions:

1.  I pity the future of humanity.  If we're still producing people this stupid after several million years of evolution . . . there's just no hope.

2.  Hey, I want to play poker with this guy!

Editor’s Note: For Bill Rini’s full take on the rigging of Internet poker (or better put, the non-rigging), read this or these.

WCP: What are your favorite online poker sites/why?

BR: Well, Full Tilt Poker is my favorite.  I know a lot of the pros involved with the site and . . ..well, we'll just leave it at that.

Party used to be my favorite for grinding it out but every site has grown so rapidly recently that juicy games can be found on most of the larger sites. The Party games are still juicy and the ring game selection is unparalleled (at the moment) but I've really become disappointed with them in terms of how they treat their customers so I'm moving on.

I've actually been in the process of transferring some Party money over to Poker Stars.  I think they, along with Full Tilt, have put together a very solid WSOP offering.  I would like to satellite into a seat for at least one event so that's where my focus is right now.

WCP: Would you rather, a) be a successful professional poker player, or b)
have a multi-platinum album?

BR: Interestingly, those were the two choices my high school guidance counselor presented me with.  Unfortunately, I think I'm getting too old to trash hotel rooms so I'd have to opt for becoming a successful professional poker player.

Besides, being a pro poker player these days is a lot like being a rock star.  The only thing missing is railbirds throwing their panties at the players.

WCP: As someone at the forefront of...um...the Internet...you got any other cool new projects in the works?

BR: I'm working with some of the more well-known poker bloggers to put together a really unique project.  It started after many, many discussions with other bloggers about what's missing in the poker blogoshpere.  We're hoping its something that people will be able to really enjoy.  We're
getting pretty close to launching it so keep an eye out for it.

WCP: Who would be at your dream 6-person table to play with…can be living,
dead, or fictitious.

The list:

1s Daniel Negreanu
2s Gus Hanson
3s Myself
4s Howard Lederer
5s Jennifer Harman
6s Jessica Alba -->

WCP: Thanks again Bill...and all, keep an eye out for an Iggy-file sometime in the near future.

Comments

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[tinman]

great interview.
btw, having gus, howard and negreanu at the table would make it hard to concentrate on what was really important at Bill's dream 6-handed table, and that is Jessica Alba.

[u-v]

listening to paula abdul on your ipod while playing poker would seem like a good idea to ensure poker success. this blogfile changed my life. well done.