OK, I have been critical of Starlite before, hell, since the beginning. I see a trainwreck in progress. I tried offering advice. He wouldn't take it. He has exhibited pathological behaviors. He invents calamities. He very much perceives himself as the underdog that will take on the world. It has become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I don't know Kenny from Adam. I did not see the PM. I have read many of starlite's posts across several forums. If you want to keep up with him, just look in one of these places:

http://www.texasholdemforums.com/journa ... urnal&j=30

http://www.internettexasholdem.com/phpb ... 14009.html

http://starlightcoast.blogspot.com/

I believe that there are others.

His blogspot profile says that he is 38 years old, so I would not consider him a "kid". I don't want to sound overly harsh, since he gets enough of that. I just hope that he stops, reflects, and considers some of the things that have been said here. I worry for him.

The PM was overly harsh Kenny (Kenny posted it in the mods forum).

I think what worries me about SC's posts isn't his results per se - he's up about $1k in 6 months playing at low stakes I think so at least he is a winnning player - he isn't going to end up a loser financially taking poker in isolation - it's his rather intense focus and planning his life around becoming a poker pro when he is still at such low stakes.

He is basically already grinding 30 hrs/week on top of his day job (and he has a wife - I'm not suire about kids). Part of me really admires that dedication and certainly the ability to grind out the hours like that is a pre-requisite to going pro at medium stakes - but it must be taking a toll on his health and social life and he can't know yet if he can win at high enough stakes to support his family.

His focus and self-belief aren't in doubt - but most of us don't even get to the 'dreaming about going pro stage' til we've won 10 times what he has managed - and my concern is that he has a rather naive understanding of how hard it is to move up stakes and that he is too stubborn to admit defeat if it doesn't go his way..there is a genuine concern amongst a lot of the pros and semi-pros that we are watching a slow motion trainwreck here...

I've read most of the posts, other than Star's deleted entries of which I vaguely remember. I agree, it did not seem like he would take other's suggestions well, as others did seem very encouraging. But it should not be our duty to outright criticize and in some instances say things like "Psychological problems" or displaying "pathological behaviours". From what I can tell, it seems like he is very dedicated to poker, and one day wants to play on a fulltime basis, enough to cover his bills. I think it is up to us, as a forum to not only support a player trying to move up through the ranks, but when we see signs of failure, it seems that some people look at it as a cause to attack someone. I clearly don't agree with this approach as everyone will not take it in the right way. We displayed the same behaviour with SNGnoob. An aspiring player, but did not really take our advice, in terms of BR management and strategy. Then, after a really long and hard session (I believe he played 18 hours), the knives came out for him.

We are a forum, the BEST poker forum on the internet. In my opinion, it doesn't do our reputation any favours when it becomes known that we make fun of people that can't quite cut the mustard yet. As for what Kenny said to Star, I don't know what was said, but perhaps it was a pretty harsh message. Kenny, I hope that message does not become public knowledge. As for the rest of us, let's continue to encourage new players to learn from us to they can accomplish their poker goals.

You have to much time on your hands, but this is friggin hilarious!