Human Zoo

Last month my wife and I drove up into one of the beautiful canyons that surrounds LA to see a house for lease. As we pulled into the driveway the rental agent came over to warn us that inside the place was a mess.

Then with a slight smirk she added:

"Two professional poker players live here."

Just imagine the thrill for my wife and I to be in the presence of professional poker players.

Normally one might have to move to Vegas, or at least visit the Rio during June to experience such variance. And here it was happening to us, just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean.

I can't help it if I'm lucky.

Inside the living room were two desks, each with a computer monitor on top. Both screens displayed a certain popular online poker site. It was a Thursday morning and apparently the gentlemen who lived here were hard at work.

For those who have taken safari rides through African jungles, perhaps you can explain to the other folks reading this the richness of observing bohemian tournament poker specialists in their natural yet evolving E-habitat.

I didn't recognize the first guy but the second gentleman definitely looked familiar. And not only because he looked like a young Eric Bogosian. No, I was sure I had seen this guy before.

Thanks to the World Wide Web ("WWW" as I commonly abbreviate it) I would later figure out that I had unintentionally visited the home of Shane Schleger.

Sorry for the inconvenience dude.