HBP Greatest Hits of 2014

Is it really 2015? Was talking yesterday to Vera about how our five-and-a-half-year old nephew, should he live as long as our nonagenarian grandmothers, actually could make it to the 22nd century. What kinda science fiction izzat?

Last week I wrote a little about those “end-of-year” lists ranking top stories, then yesterday I promised something today looking back at the past year of posts here on Hard-Boiled Poker. For many years I’ve written lengthy, three-part posts summarizing and highlighting everything covered here, but today I’m just going to post a list of the 20 most-viewed HBP posts from 2014.

Here they are, in chronological order:

“Borgata Brouhaha” (Jan. 17)

“Niagara Falls! Slowly I Turned, Step by Step, Inch by Inch...” (Feb. 21)

“On the Bubble Boy” (Mar. 13)

“Delving into Dealer’s Choice” (Apr. 7)

“Ivey on the Edge” (Apr. 11)

“2014 World Series of Poker Schedule (Day-by-Day)” (May 26)

“Rounders and Roundball” (June 2)

“Couldn’t Have Played It Any Better, Mike” (June 25)

“Dispensing With the Drama: Watching the ‘One Drop’” (July 29)

“Reagan, Carter, Ford, and Nixon Play a Hand of Draw Poker” (July 31)

“A 2006 WSOP Time Capsule” (Aug. 6)

“Here Comes the Flood: Newsweek on Online Poker” (Aug. 14)

“Colman, Chomsky, and Irrational Attitudes of Submission to Authority” (Aug. 18)

“Rambling, Gambling Willie’s Card Trick” (Aug. 21)

“His Side on the Edge Sorting: Ivey To Appear on 60 Minutes Sports“ (Sept. 30)

“Spinning and Going” (Oct. 1)

“With No Warning, Fifth Third Bank Closed My Account After Nearly 11 Years (And They Won’t Tell Me Why)” (Oct. 8)

“Ivey Loses, Spin & Go Spins, and Johnny Carson’s Poker Game” (Oct. 10)

“Not Watching Poker” (Oct. 28)

“Railbirding RAWA” (Dec. 10)

As I say, those were the 20 posts (out 275 total) that were viewed the most this year, a criteria that technically favors earlier posts than later ones, although I think works well enough to highlight a decent variety of topics.

Older posts continue to get a lot of views, too. In fact, a post I wrote about Bret Harte’s 1869 short story “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” was the most viewed page of any on the site this year. Not what I’d have predicted (were there a lot of junior high students writing papers on Harte’s story this year?).

Anyhow, click above if you missed any of these “greatest hits” and the titles are at all curious to you.