*** OFFICIAL *** Get to Know Dan Druff Thread ($20 contest)

[Sanlmar]

Is Dan Druff a lefty or a righty

[Forum Wars]

BBBDAAA

[country978]

c
a
c
a
b
a
a

[LegalizeMeth]

CADDCBA

[Texter]

Be funny if the answers are abbacab

We all know Druff is a big Phil Collins fan

[JimmyG_415]

When I saw this post I thought I'd know them all, but I don't know one.

But one thing is for sure, like Dodger Stadium, Todd obv agrees w/me that
the Forum was the most dangerous place to watch a Basketball game, too.
Only people from LA consider it a risk just to go watch to a sporting event.
I'd just stay home if I was a Laker fan and things were this bad.

[Kuntmissioner]

1. C
2. A
3. B
4. A
5. D
6. B
7. B
8. C
9. A

[Jayjami]

When I saw this post I thought I'd know them all, but I don't know one.

But one thing is for sure, like Dodger Stadium, Todd obv agrees w/me that
the Forum was the most dangerous place to watch a Basketball game, too.
Only people from LA consider it a risk just to go watch to a sporting event.
I'd just stay home if I was a Laker fan and things were this bad.

My family had Senate seats back in the day. I’ve been to probably 100 events at the Forum over a 40 year period. Never had a problem. Just don’t head east afterwards though! The Forum Club was the shit. Lol at the Homie who “had” to show me his new 9mm Glock outside in the smoking area though.

[Walter Sobchak]

Out with it Druff we’re getting blue balls here.

[nunbeater]

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H

[Dan Druff]

I delayed the reveal so more people could pahticipate in the contest. Here are the answers.

I'll do it one post at a time.

1. What mundane event in 1993 led to me becoming a poker player eight years later, and eventually a poker pro?

A) Tried very low stakes poker during my first Vegas trip at age 21, got super lucky as a fish, wanted to take another shot years later.

B) Lee Jones was my boss' cousin, and his book was reccommended to me in 2000.

C) One day before my then-girlfriend and I broke up, she introduced my brother to an acquaintance who later got us both into poker.

D) I asked a college professor for extra time on an assignement, he gave it to me, and we became friendly. Seven years later he got me into poker.

In 1993, my then-girlfriend was at my parents' house with me, and saw my brother. She said, "Oh, there's a guy I know who I've been meaning for you to meet. You're a lot alike and I bet you two would become good friends." My brother was a bit perplexed by this, but reluctantly said okay, and he gave his number to her to pass to him. She was actually right. He and my brother did have a lot in common, and they became really good friends. I became friends with him, as well, though he was closer to my brother's age (he was in between our ages) and had more in common with him. The girl and I broke up the next day, and in fact she had just barely caught my brother, as he came home while we were leaving.

About 6 1/2 years later, this guy bought "Winning at Low Limit Holdem" by a then-unknown Lee Jones. He enjoyed the book, and suggested my brother also buy it and they'd go take a shot at poker at the Hustler Casino. My brother did this, and they both came to really like limit holdem, and started playing semi-regularly. I was also told to get the book and learn, but at the moment, I didn't have much interest.

In late 2000, after learning how to count cards and play +EV blackjack, I became more interested in learning to be a winning poker player. I bought Lee's book and ended up playing my first hand of holdem at the Hustler at a $3/$6 table in January 2001.

So who was this poker player? Would you know him? Maybe. He was known as "Good Eats!" on Pokerstars. As a further butterfly effect side note, Good Eats was supposed to be in the 2005 $3000 Limit Holdem event at the WSOP, but he ended up taking too long to leave, and realized he'd show up too late. He ended up not coming. Had he shown up, it would have changed all the cards and the course of the event. That was the event I won, and there's a high chance I wouldn't have won if he had planned his time better that day.

Correct answer: C

[Dan Druff]

2. For four years, I kept my identity of "Dan Druff" a secret, and didn't associate that name with Todd the live player. What changed that?

A) I made the televised final table of the $1500 Limit Holdem event, and decided I wanted the NWP forum to follow my progress.

B) A Pokerstars employee, who disliked my typing of "g-a-y" and "site-joke", let it leak out who Dan Druff really was.

C) The girl I met from True Poker in 2001, and spent the weekend with in Vegas, told some people years later, after seeing me on TV.

D) I told Micon in confidence, and he accidentally blurted it out while high.

I had never planned upon revealing Dan Druff's identity, and given that I didn't like tournament poker and had no desire to play them, I figured it was never necessary to link Dan Druff to Todd the live player.

That all changed in June 2005, when I played my first WSOP event ever, and made the final table. I was a very active NWP poster by then (though not a mod yet), and wanted the forum to rail my progress. I couldn't keep quiet any longer, so I told Micon to reveal who I was. (I had met Micon in person a very short time before that event, and swore him to secrecy regarding my identity -- which he kept.)

I was glad I did, as the forum was very excited for me, and it was great to come home and read all of it. I couldn't see it as it was posted, because there were no real smartphones in 2005.

Unfortunately, my excitment to have NWP watch me led to an out-of-context comment on TV which ESPN used against me. In my exit interview, I said something like, "Prior to this event, nobody knew who Dan Druff was online. I was a very well known online player, but an unknown live player. I can't wait to get home and see what they're saying about me on the internet. I finally told everyone who Dan Druff is. I'm not anonymous there anymore."

They cut out the last two sentences, and it made me look like a freak who just wanted to see what the internet was saying about him. The removal of the last two sentences (as well as the first) removed the context that I had just revealed that I was attached to that well-known online poker identity, as a result of this final table.

Correct answer: A

[Dan Druff]

3. As a kid in AYSO soccer, I was the best goalie in the city, in my age group. Why do you never hear about my exploits as a great soccer player?

A) At age 12, I had a collision with another kid which knocked me out cold for 2 minutes, and I was never able to play with confidence again.

B) Other kids eventually improved and became better than me, and I was only mediocre by the time I got into high school.

C) This never happened. I was average, at best, in all sports I tried.

D) An error placed the city's 2nd best goalie on the same team as me one year, and the position went to him when I was sick at the beginning of the season.

One common misperception about me is/was that I had no athletic ability. That was very far from the truth. I was better at some sports than others, but overall I was an average athlete.

However, because I was average, I didn't shine in any particular sport I played -- except one.

1970s and 1980s AYSO attempted to put a known goalie on each team. For whatever reason, my otherwise good second grade team had no goalie assigned to it. They took a random shot and asked me if I wanted to play goal. I said yes. Despite zero experience playing goalie, I was a natural at seeing the ball, moving to it, and blocking it or grabbing it. I allowed one goal the entire season -- one kicked to the top-right corner of the 8-foot goal, which obviously was out of my physical reach. Every other ball shot on goal was stopped by me. Amazingly, we didn't finish in first because they placed me in goal only half-to-3-quarters of each game, and they placed another kid the rest of the time. He sucked, and gave up a lot of goals, so we finished in second.

The following year, in third grade, I was designated the goalie. I did even better, allowing zero point zero goals to score the entire year. Again, when they played other kids in goal for other portions of the game, a number of goals were scored, so again our team wasn't in first place.

At this point, having allowed just 1 goal in 2 years combined -- by far the best record of any goalie in the city -- I was convinced that I had a lot of talent at playing goalie, and imagined myself playing all the way through high school, at the very least. I was very excited to play in 4th grade.

Unfortuantely, during the first week of soccer practice that year -- when the team meets and everyone gets their positions assigned -- I was sick with a flu-like illness. I showed up the following week and told the coach I was ready to play goal.

"Jeff is our goalie," the coach told me. Indeed, I had heard of Jeff. He was the only other known good goalie in the city, besides me. I wondered how we both ended up on the same team, as they specifically tried to spread the goalies around. Why put the best two on one team?

Even stranger, the coach hadn't heard of my exploits the previous two years. I tried to tell him, but I was dismissed as a delusional kid. "I'm sure you'll do a great job at halfback", he told me. "Jeff is a great goalie. We already had him playing goal at practice last week, when you weren't here, and that's where he belongs."

I should have made a big deal about this to my parents, because I was devastated about the situation, but for whatever reason, I just mentioned it in passing, and they never knew how sad I was that I lost the position, despite being so good the prior two years.

I also sucked at halfback and was one of the worst players on the team that year. I went to soccer camp the following summer and improved on the field, and while I was no longer playing goal, I was one of the better players on my 5th grade team. However, it was short lived, as the players in 6th and 7th grade passed me in ability, and again I was one of the lesser players on the team. I gave up at that point, and never played again.

I always wondered what would have happened if Jeff hadn't been placed on my 4th grade team.

Correct answer: D

[Dan Druff]

4. Which lie did UCSB tell, which would have caused me to attend a different college had they told the truth?

A) They claimed there was a free bus to and from Los Angeles every weekend. When I got there, I found out that had been discontinued 2 years earlier.

B) I was promised a "guaranteed" scholarship which wasn't actually guaranteed, and I ended up getting nothing.

C) I was promised at a college fair that all computer science graduates were guaranteed jobs in industry through a school placement program. This turned out to be completely false.

D) I was told that there was no pre-major program which required you to be accepted into your major in your junior year. Turned out there was such requirement.

I was accepted into every UC (University of California) school which I applied.

I eliminated Berkeley and Santa Cruz both becaue they were too far, and the culture there didn't really match my personality.

I elimited Riverside because I didn't care for the area. This left UCLA, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCSD, and UCSB.

I elimiated UCLA and UC Irvine for being too close to home. This left Davis, UCSD, and UCSB.

I was leaning toward UCSD, but found out they had an annoying "pre-major" requirement, where you had to achieve a certain GPA in certain courses during your freshman and sophomore years, and then be re-accepted into the regular major. I thought that was bullshit. I already got into college -- I didn't want to feel like I was under pressure to be accepted all over again, after 2 years. I elimited UCSD, as Davis and UCSB didn't have that requirement.

I then eliminated Davis because I decided it was too far, though I was close to selecting them.

UCSB was the winner. I got there and found out that they had an identical pre-major requirement to UCSD, but were just more scummy about it and didn't disclose it to prospective students. Had I known, I would have gone to either Davis or UCSD. It ended up not impacting me, as I did complete the requirements, and graduated in computer science as expected.

Correct answer: D

[Dan Druff]

5. I met my current girlfriend at UCSB in 1991, but we didn't date, and in fact weren't even friends for most of my remaining time at the school. What unexpected event caused us to become friendly?

A) She and I ended up in the same obscure general ed class, and I was letting her copy my notes when she missed lectures due to a conflict with another class.

B) My good friend at school had a crush on her, and while drunk, slipped an inappropriate poem under her door. She and another girl called me to get me to act as the middleman and stop his behavior.

C) By coincidence, when my roommate stole an unlocked bicycle, it was hers. I recognized the bike, tracked her down, and we both went to the police. My roommate was arrested and kicked out of school, and she and I became friends.

D) The girl who gave me a ride back to LA through the ride-sharing board was her best friend, and when the car broke down, she came to rescue both of us. We got to spend time together and got to know each other better.

I first met my current-girlfriend through a mutual female friend in late 1991. However, while I saw her around campus sometimes, we were not friends. I thought she was very pretty, but I never tried pursuing her, especially because I thought she didn't seem to have much interest in me.

One of my good college friends, "Brad" (not his real name), had a huge crush on her. I told him that she didn't seem particularly interested in either of us, but he kept insisting that she was so pretty and that he liked her so much, and that she'd get to like him better if she just got to know him. Brad was being delusional, and I told him that, but he didn't ever directly hit on her, other than telling me occasionally how much he liked her.

Brad and I were invited to a party of this mutual female friend's in late 1992, and my current girlfriend was there. Nothing much of consequence happened there, but Brad got drunk, and after he and I parted ways, he scribbled out two perverted poems, and slipped one under each girl's door. He signed the poems, so they knew they were from him.

My phone rang that day, and it was the two girls on 3-way calling. They wanted me to be the middleman and stop Brad's inappropriate behavior. I told them that I agreed that the notes were creepy and Brad shouldn't have written them, but I said I didn't want to get involved. "I'm not his father", I told them. "I can't control him. I agree this was inappropraite, but I don't see why this is my issue to deal with."

They kept begging me to say something, and I kept saying that I didn't want to get involved. However, eventually I reluctantly agreed to talk to him about it, and the three of us stayed on the phone for 90 minutes. This was the first real conversation I had with my now-girlfriend, and I liked her much better, finding her to be smart and easy to talk to. However, I had a girlfriend at the time, and even though that relationship ended shortly afterwards, I still didn't pursue her.

I happened to see her on the campus UNIX system in March of 1993, and started a conversation there. We started e-mailing back and forth, and finally became friends. We actually had really good chemistry, hung out a few times, and I thought she might be attracted to me, as well. However, I was too close to the end of college to want to start pursuing a relationship with her. In addition, by this point Brad and I had a falling out (unrelated to any of this), and were no longer talking to one another.

However, Brad was still visiting my apartment, as my roommate had become friends with him. When Brad would come over, we would just ignore each other.

In June 1993, shortly before I graduated, I was on the phone with my now-girlfriend and I heard Brad's voice in the other room. I came up with a plan for a good prank.

"You want to get back at Brad for the note?", I asked her. "I have an idea."

My plan was for me to quickly go pick her up, and we would pretend to be dating, and then both go into my room and make him believe we were either messing around or having sex. This would shock him, because he never even knew that she and I talked. We both figured he'd be super jealous upon seeing this.

I picked her up, and we did the act. I guess we were both convincing, because Brad fell for it, and believed the whole thing. When I brought her to my room, I wished the whole thing was real -- and that we weren't just fake boyfriend-and-girlfriend -- but I didnt' say anything about it, especialy because I'd be graduating in about a week anyway. Brad was eventually told by a mutual friend that we had pranked him.

She and I kept in contact by e-mail for 6 more months, and then she lost comptuer access after moving out of her apartment, and we lost touch. I always wondered what would have happened if I had asked her out, but figured I'd never get my answer.
However, I found her again in 2009 on Facebook (as a suggested friend), and somehow life imitated the prank.

Brad is still not aware that she and I are actually together, and have a kid now.

Correct answer: B

[Gordman]

When I saw this post I thought I'd know them all, but I don't know one.

But one thing is for sure, like Dodger Stadium, Todd obv agrees w/me that
the Forum was the most dangerous place to watch a Basketball game, too.
Only people from LA consider it a risk just to go watch to a sporting event.
I'd just stay home if I was a Laker fan and things were this bad.

Im legit surprised you didn't work the term "Fox News" somewhere into one of your posts.

[Dan Druff]

6. What led me to the phone/computer hacking world of the 1980s?

A) I met an Aspie-type kid at a summer camp who everone made fun of, and I was the only one nice to him. He eventually told me about computer bulletin boards and phone hacking, and it sounded exciting to me.

B) I watched WarGames, convinced my parents to buy me a computer and modem, and immediately went to look for the hacking community.

C) After hearing that phone hackers could dial "900" and "976" pay-per-call numbers for free, I obsessively seeked out how to do this.

D) I accidentally dialed a wrong number, ended up on a free area party line, and met some other kids who were into phone hacking.

I was sent to a Jewish summer camp in 1985, which traveled around central California and we camped at various sites.

"Steven" was a very eccentric kid a few years older than me, and everyone made fun of him. I felt bad for Steven and never joined the other kids taunting him, and in fact I found him somewhat interesting and quirky, so I started talking to him. Thinking back, it's almost 100% that Steven had/has Asperger's.

Steven told me about computer bulletin boards (BBSes), and how he was also part of the phone hacking world. All of this seemed cool and really exciting to me. I already knew how to program in BASIC and loved computers, but didn't have a modem, nor did I know anything about this crazy online world he described.

The other kids at camp liked me enough not to pick on me despite my budding friendship with Steven, but I also didn't quite have the balls to come back at the other kids picking on him. In some cases, I did go as far as asking some of the meaner kids to back off with bugging him, and I had some moderate success there.

When I got home, I begged my mom to buy me a modem. She bought one several months later for my birthday. From there, I found the computer/phone hacking community, and became part of that, as well.

I stayed moderate friends with Steven and visited him a few times over the next 2 years, but we never got that close, and some things about him got to annoy me. He was a bit too much of a goody two shoes for my taste. We never had any falling out, but we just faded away and weren't communicating anymore after I was about 16.

Correct answer: A

[Dan Druff]

7. Which unexpected event took place when I attended my first Lakers game in 1988?

A) I was sold counterfeit seats outside The Forum. While I was arguing with the ticket taker, Pat Riley overheard the commotion, just having come over to the entrance area to assist a relative get a complimentary seat. This person had dropped his name at another ticket-checking aisle, insisting Pat would allow them in free. Upon noticing I was just a teenager after overhearing the situation, he told them to give me and my friend comp seats as well, and we sat 4th row center court.

B) On the drive home, I inadvertently angered some gang members, by accidentally cutting them off and not letting them into my lane when theirs was ending and becoming a parking lane. They kept trying to pull up along side of me, and I was terrified, as was my friend. They then attempted to follow us wherever I went, no matter which direction I turned. I lost them by pretending to turn left, and then jerking my vehicle right in front of a long line of fast-moving traffic, preventing them from following me further.

C) My car was stolen while I was at the game, and I was sure that I had just forgotten where my car was. After finally calling the police, I learned my car had been used in a drive-by shooting in Inglewood, and it took 9 months to get back. My parents had to buy me a new (used) car in the meantime.

D) My seat was that night's "lucky seat", and I won a $30,000 new car. The celebration was short-lived when I learned that you had to be 18 to qualify for the prize, so they re-drew the seat and awarded someone else.

In 1988, I had made a new friend on a BBS, who lived somewhat nearby. We were both big Lakers fans, and he somehow got 2 tickets to a game in November of that year. He invited me to use the other ticket (for free). Even though we both were able to drive, somehow I ended up being the one driving, even though he was closer to The Forum, which was located in a very bad neighborhood.

The game was good, and the Lakers won. We both enjoyed it a lot, and in fact it had been the first Lakers game for both of us.

On the way back, still in Inglewood, the third lane on the street turned into a parking-only lane. I was in the center lane, and wasn't even paying attention to that. Four scary-looking young black dudes were in a car in the right lane, and tried to get out of it. I was inadvertently blocking their way, and they almost hit a parked car. As you can imagine, they were furious at the young white boy who had just almost caused them to get into an accident.

They sped up, got alongside of me, and started all yelling at me. My new friend was terrified that a drive-by was imminent, and he ducked down and got on the floor. I had no such luxury, as I was driving! I was very nervous that shots might ring out at any second. Keep in mind that late 1980s Inglewood was a very violent place, and shootings in the area were common.

I tried to yell out the window, "I'm really sorry, I didn't see you guys", but they weren't having it. They still shouted all kinds of obscenities at me and were super pissed.

I tried to avoid them pulling alongside of me after that, and it became very clear that I was scared of them. They started following me everywhere I went. Anywhere I turned, they turned. My friend kept saying, "We're gonna get shot, I know it! We have to get away! It's gonna happen any second now!"

Finally, I had an idea to escape. I pulled into a left turn lane, and so did they. I waited at the red arrow, though the light to keep going straight was green.

"What are you doing?", my new friend asked. "They're turning, too, and this street you're turning to is quiet and isolated. They're gonna execute us here!"

"I have a plan, just watch...", was my reply.

A big line of fast-moving traffic was approaching, including some big trucks. I waited until the last second, then floored it and popped out in front of that whole line of vehicles, which was led by a large truck. The dudes didn't have time to react and do the same, and they were stuck in the left turn lane. I looked back and saw their mouths agape with shock (I'll never forget their expressions, it was kinda like that Dee Gordon gif I always post).



I then made a bunch of random turns to get off that road and made myself hard to locate. Indeed, they never caught up, and we got home safely. Looking back, I'm proud of this maneuver I pulled at the age of 16, while under incredible stress.

I'm still friends with the guy to this day. I do wonder what would have happened if I didn't ditch them like this.

Correct answer: B

[Dan Druff]

CADDBAB

BCR: 4
garrett: 3
v12cl: 2
jsearles: 3
HoodedN: 6
Cerveza Fria: 1
IamGreek: 3
Texter: 3
Walter: 4
JoeD: 3
dmdkutr: 3
Flipper_Fair: 2
Forum Wars: 2
country978: 4
LegalizeMeth: 4
Kuntmissioner: 3 (with 2 bizarre extra answers)


Congrats to HoodenN, the winner of the contest, who easily beat everyone else. Nobody else got 5 or more.

Honorable mention to country978, who was the only person to guess #6 correctly! That was the toughest one, as 15 out of 16 got it wrong.

In general, most people got #1, #2. The four harder ones were apparently 3-6. #7 was gotten by the majority, but surprisingly some of you went for the Pat Riley answer, which I thought wasn't going to get many bites.

I'm pretty shocked that only one person got #6 correct -- even the winner HoodedN (who got everything else right) missed it.

[Walter Sobchak]

Now that it’s over I think you should cancel this contest and run it again next week.