TL;DR
The mentions of people omitted from categories (e.g. Bellande from Twitter, MissClick from Breakthrough Performance) makes me think we should figure out our favorites among those NOT nominated.
I'll start:
1. Favorite Poker Announcer: The poll essentially hit all the popular American shows, but I actually prefer McEachern's straight man to Norman Chad's jokester. Lon could do the broadcast without Norm (although it would be less entertaining) but Norm couldn't do it without Lon.
2. Favorite Poker Hostess: I must ask, does Kristy Arnett count in this category? Her role doesn't seem any different than Gloria Balding's, but I admit I don't watch enough of either to make that call. Besides what's listed, who else is out there? Leeann Tweeden? She is beautiful and charismatic overall, but she still strikes me as being out of place in the poker world.
3. Favorite Poker TV Show: From what little I've seen, Full Tilt's Million Dollar Cash Game is pretty sweet. It looks like Bluff went with a very U.S.-centric list (hence "favorite" rather than "favourite"), which is fair given its readership.
4. Favorite Web-Based Poker Show: Despite my overall fondness for PokerRoad Radio and as much as I'd like to show my support for Tyresias and Spartan, my favorite show not on the list is Bart's Deuce Plays. I'm still catching up a bit, but he has done a very nice job if you can get past the way he pronounces "eight" (eet), "ace" (eeess) and "call" (ca-hall).
5. Favorite Poker Blog: . I don't read any blogs regularly, but among players Terrence Chan's ranks high among those I do check out. I also like AlCantHang (Full Tilt?). Again, very, very small sample size given how little I read blogs, so I move on.
6. Favorite Poker Forum: There's one on which I'm nearing 7,000 posts, but I can't think of what it's called...
7. Funniest Poker Twitterer: Given his inclusion in two other categories on this list (and to a lesser extent, a third), Joe Stapleton absolutely qualifies as a poker twitterer now. No, Stapes rarely opines about poker, but neither does Seidel. Also, Joy Miller's and Phil Hellmuth's Tweets have been unintentionally funny.
8. Favorite Online Poker Site: I don't play on any other site than two of the four listed, but it would be have been pretty funny (and maybe not that unreasonable) to list Facebook's Zynga Poker.
9. Favorite Las Vegas Poker Room: No idea. I've been in two (Bellagio, Caesar's) and played in one. Although it might have been clever to throw Rio's Amazon Room and/or Pavilion in as a poker room just for the month-plus each becomes one.
10. Favorite East Coast Poker Room: I've been to the East Coast a dozen times in my life and never to a casino. The only other card room I can think of from my opposite coast is Turning Stone, which should merit inclusion because it allows under-21 players. Also, has the Trump Taj Mahal gotten so bad that it would get left off Bluff's list? I feel like that used to be the Atlantic City poker Mecca, but maybe that's from too many viewings of Rounders.
Also: if there was a write-in option, would Court Harrington list his home game? Where else can one rightfully say they play against Johnny Moss?
11. Favorite California Poker Room: Also no idea. I've been in three and played in two, one of which isn't really a poker room but rather a bar with a poker room in the back. I really need to take advantage of having so many rooms within driving distance, especially if there is an online blackout caused by the Reid or Frank bills.
12. Breakout Performance of the Year: It's a little boring, but any WSOP Main Event winner should be included among the nominees for a year's breakout performances unless he/she was already a household name prior to that win. But doing this would ruin the poll, which is probably why Bluff doesn't do it and why I'm forced to do so here.
I also like the panel's idea of thinking outside the box by putting other non-player entities (like Sam Chauhan) among breakout performances. In that regard, I might include Rush Poker as a breakout performance. More of a Rookie of the Year, but we don't have that category.
13. Favorite Online Poker Resource: As a reference, I use Hendon Mob more than any other site. Also, Cardrunners should have been placed in a category of Favorite Poker Training Site along with Deuces Cracked, PokerVT, LeggoPoker, etc. It seems wildly out of place on this list.
14. Favorite Moment of 2010. Obviously, it's not big enough on a mainstream scale to warrant inclusion on a Bluff poll, but Gavin Smith and Chris Bell winning bracelets within days with each other will stand as my highlight of the year from a personal, fan-boy standpoint. I remain incredibly envious of Willing2Die that he was there for Ole G Smith's win, too.
Finally, there is one category Bluff perhaps should consider adding in future polls: Comeback of the Year. Of course, Grinder would be the prohibitive favorite for 2010 (with draw games being a distant second). But every year, a player who we haven't heard from in a little while makes a fresh splash on the poker scene.
Next year's winner: Jimmy Fricke, who will take down his first WSOP bracelet (whether he gives two sh*ts or not). You heard it here first.
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