Death of a Pundit: Andrew N.S. Glazer (1955-2004)

Of all the labels Andy Glazer could have used to describe his profession, it's revealing that he chose the word "pundit." A pundit is defined as a "specialist" or an "authority." Glazer was certainly both a specialist and an authority, and a lot more – much more.

He was known to most of us primarily as a writer and poker player. To thousands of devoted readers who savored Glazer's regular columns and reports in magazines and newspapers, and on websites all over the world, he was a witness, a guardian, and a voice – all wrapped up inside a 6-foot-5-inch, 270-pound giant of a man who looked more like an NFL linebacker than poker's most perceptive analyst. He was the "collective conscience" of an entire industry that became considerably bigger during his lifetime, in part due to his remarkable tenacity, incessantly raising important questions at the risk of ridicule and derision. Glazer never looked for easy answers. He sought the truth. Indeed, Glazer's name became synonymous with integrity in poker journalism and he set the very highest standard of excellence in tournament reporting.

Andrew Norman Glazer was born on Dec. 28, 1955, in Massapequa, New York, a suburban Long Island community perhaps best known for producing other talented names, including actor Alec Baldwin and comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Eager to broaden his horizons, Glazer surprised family and friends somewhat by enrolling as a freshman at the University of Michigan, despite several offers to attend prestigious colleges closer to home. Glazer parlayed his early interest in journalism with sports and eventually earned the top job as sports editor of the student newspaper, Michigan Daily. He also did radio color and commentary for the University of Michigan basketball and hockey teams while attending school.

"I remember when Michigan was competing for the national championship in both basketball and hockey one year," recalled longtime friend Howard Ring. "Andy was so excited, he could hardly contain himself. He loved sports and was very competitive by nature."

Glazer's competitive instincts drove him to get more involved in the games he enjoyed. It was not poker, but backgammon, that won Glazer's earliest affections as a student. He read and digested everything on backgammon in the school library. By his junior year, Glazer was playing backgammon for money and was, more often than not, winning.

After graduating with honors in 1977, Glazer was accepted to Emory University Law School in Atlanta. Once again, he demonstrated a keen interest in writing and eventually became editor of the school newspaper. Glazer earned his law degree, and at the age of 25, he seemed to have the world at his fingertips. He could, figuratively and literally, do anything he wanted.

Glazer accepted his first regular job as a law clerk for Judge Dorothy Beasley (who later became an appellate court justice in Georgia), where he learned the subtle nuances of the justice system. Next, Glazer turned to criminal law, where he began a career as a defense attorney. He became one of Atlanta's most promising young legal stars. Within two years, he was representing defendants in major drug cases. Although it was lucrative, Glazer had moral difficulties with using the justice system to free clients he knew to be guilty. Defending guilty clients posed such a serious ethical dilemma that it finally reached an impasse. In his final case as an attorney, Glazer's client, a drug dealer, beat the rap and avoided an indictment by a grand jury. During the testimony, Glazer used a chancy but highly calculated legal maneuver to free his client that brought praise from his peers. But the burden of his conscience was far too much for Glazer to take, and in a stunning personal decision that shocked Atlanta's legal community, he quit his job and turned his back on the legal profession.

Rather than fall into a career abyss, Glazer decided instead to utilize his creative writing skills. He began writing and marketing academic manuals for the Law School Aptitude Test (LSAT) and produced a series of instructional videos. A documentary about the law school experience, written and produced by Glazer, appeared on The Learning Channel. Although not as commercially successful as he had hoped, the experience of independently writing and creating content on a mass level was enormously rewarding.

Glazer never accepted failure. Determined to learn more about business and finance, he applied to (and was accepted at) the Stanford Business School in its prestigious MBA program. However, after some serious contemplation, Glazer decided to bypass enrollment (probably one of the few prospective students ever to reject an acceptance letter to the Stanford Business School), presumably concerned that working as an executive in a corporate boardroom might pose moral and ethical challenges similar to those in the legal profession. He took an even greater interest in games and game theory, including backgammon and poker. In 1985, Glazer was on a four-person team that won the World Team Backgammon Championships at Paradise Island in the Bahamas. The win propelled him to write regular articles for a popular backgammon newsletter.

Over the next few years, Glazer continued his writing – concentrating more on fiction. He wrote several short stories and one-act plays – some of which found their way to the stage within various community theatres. He also served as technical advisor on the television show The Client, based on the best-selling John Grisham novel.

Fatigued after years of working at a breakneck pace, Glazer decided to take an entire month off and relax at the world-famous Esalen Institute in Northern California. This spa-resort would change Glazer's life in many ways. Although born and raised Jewish, Glazer considered himself to be agnostic. But at Esalen, making spiritual connections was part of the prospectus. Glazer immersed himself in daily rituals that included meditation, yoga, and classes in Buddhism. In fact, the Esalen Institute may have shaped Glazer's life more deeply than all the years spent in college or law school. He spent the next 20 months at Esalen, converting from guest to resident therapist. If happiness meant contentment with the present, Glazer had finally found internal bliss by working in a simpler, more relaxed environment while continuing to write.

Glazer's life was about to make another drastic turn. A chance encounter with a brash young poker pro by the name of Phil Hellmuth introduced Glazer to the notion that poker writing might be an interesting pursuit. Coincidentally, Hellmuth was a guest at Esalen and struck up a conversation with Glazer, who just happened to be sitting in a hot tub one evening. Glazer vaguely recalled Hellmuth as a name and face he had seen on television. Thus began an enduring relationship that was based on mutual respect and genuine friendship.

By 1995, Glazer was covering poker tournaments part time. He joined the staff of Card Player and quickly established himself as one of the magazine's most respected columnists. That led to a weekly gambling column with the Detroit Free Press. Glazer continued to write tournament reports, which quickly became the standard for poker journalism. He was later named tournament editor for Card Player and posted reports regularly at numerous gambling websites. His daily reports from the World Series of Poker (1998 through 2004) stand as the most comprehensive chronicle of any poker events on record.

In 1999, Glazer published his first book, Casino Gambling the Smart Way. Patterned after his previous instructional manuals, his book was well-received both critically and publicly. Finally, Glazer had achieved popular acclaim. More important, he could be proud of his work and not be faced with a moral crisis.

To the contrary, Glazer's "tell it like it is" style was a beacon of light to an industry that wasn't accustomed to scrutiny or criticism. He refused to mislead his readers by reporting so-called "official payouts" when he knew that financial deals had been struck in private. He wrote openly about player misbehavior and other less than flattering incidents in the world of poker. Instead of ignoring problems, he confronted them.

Glazer crafted a unique writing style that was entirely his own. No writer was as precise with the facts, yet as creative in the storytelling of how a final table progressed. He could make the most routine, runaway tournament victory seem like metaphor for personal struggle and triumph. Often duplicated but never matched, a typical report with an "Andy Glazer" byline included references to pop culture, sports figures, and Star Wars – one of his favorite pastimes.

"Andy wrote the longest reports I've ever seen," remarked one fellow writer who asked to remain anonymous. "They were just so packed with information that sometimes you'd forget who even won the tournament. In a Glazer report, you might not remember the winner's name, but at least you might learn something about Darth Vader and R2-D2."

One of the least known, but most enlightening details about Glazer is how he came to decide on his unusual pen name – using not one, but two initials. Glazer used the byline "Andrew N.S. Glazer," causing some confusion and even some speculation as to what the initials meant. Fellow Card Player columnist Jan Fisher explained, as follows:

"I was having a drink with Andy in Costa Rica. He was telling me how tired he was of people looking for him and finding the highly publicized author 'Andrew Glaze' in their search. He needed to make his name stand out and be different. He manufactured initials he hoped would suit his needs, disposition, and personality. 'N.S.' stands for 'No Sh-t.' It was a wonderful afternoon and I gained such respect for Andy that day. He wanted to be known on his own terms, and wouldn't 'take any' to get there."

In recent years, Glazer appeared as a commentator on the Discovery Channel and ESPN. He was also featured prominently in the best-selling book by James McManus, Positively Fifth Street. Glazer continued to play poker instead of merely write about it. He made it into the money in several major tournaments and won consistently in side-action games. Oddly enough, in a cruel twist of fate, when he made a tournament final table, there was no one around to write about it and celebrate his accomplishment.

Early on, it looked like 2004 might be "The Year of Andy Glazer." In January, he racked up not one, but two tournament victories at the Australasian Poker Championships in Melbourne, Australia. Two months later, he covered the World Series of Poker for a new website (www. FinalTablePoker.com), and then traveled to Dublin, Ireland, to attend a major tournament. His first column for ESPN magazine appeared in June. With numerous magazine columns and websites in his repertoire, and poker more popular than ever before, Glazer had earned his status as the vanguard of a new international phenomenon.

However, Glazer's long and winding road to a rewarding career came to an abrupt end. On July 5, 2004, the poker world was rocked by the tragic news that Andy Glazer had passed away at his home in Los Angeles. He was 48 years old. The reaction to Glazer's untimely death was a mixture of profound shock and deep sadness.

"I live two blocks away from where Andy once lived," wrote Max Shapiro in a recent tribute to his close friend. "I walked by his house (one night) to pay my silent respects to my friend and noticed for the first time that his license plate read 'UTFORCE,' an obvious reference to his beloved Star Wars. No, Andy, you were the force – a giant force in poker writing and a giant force in unimpeachable honesty and integrity; a force combining qualities that we may never hope to see again in the poker world."

Virtually everyone involved in poker – players, dealers, floorpersons, executives, and fellow writers in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere – had come to know Andy through his writings. A privileged few had come to know Andy on a more personal basis, as a mentor and inspiration. Although a majority of his readers had never met Glazer, many remarked that it was as if a close friend had passed away. With his death, the beacon of light that Glazer had brought to poker through his words and actions suddenly went dark. He was buried at the New Montefiore Cemetery in West Babylon, New York – a short distance from his birthplace. Glazer's long journey had come full circle.

Andy Glazer leaves the poker community and the material world a better place than when he first arrived. If only everyone on this earth could make such a "small" difference. He had the unique ability to see things that others did not see, the conviction to right wrongs that others would not dare challenge, and the moral fortitude to follow his conscious. There will never be a pundit quite like him.