Having been the bureau chief of
Card Player Europe for almost two years, I am sad to say that this will be my last month in charge. I was thrilled when, at the end of 2005 during the
Master Classics of Poker in my hometown of Amsterdam, I was asked to take over from Jesse May, who had done such a tremendous job ever since the launch of this magazine. Having been a longtime columnist for
Card Player, and having already written a few cover stories for
Card Player Europe, I was not all that surprised to be asked - but I was very flattered, nonetheless.
I was flattered because when I started my career as a professional player,
Card Player was the information source for poker players. Only if you were really someone were you allowed or asked to write for this magazine. Yet, there I was - a young kid from Amsterdam, strictly a cash-game grinder who was almost never in the spotlight, who suddenly had become a part of the exact same magazine that I always had looked up to.
Having said that, it was not my goal to keep
Card Player Europe as it was; it was my goal to make the magazine much better than it already was. My two main goals were getting some more high-quality writers on board, and taking away the dominance of England and Ireland in order to make
Card Player Europe truly European. I basically combined these two goals into one - through the creation of my brainchild, the European news section. Every time I read this section, it makes me proud, because I genuinely believe that all of the people who contribute to this section (Jen Mason, Roy Brindley, Michael Keiner, Benjamin Gallen, and Ola Brandborn, to name a few) are the very best in the industry when it comes to analyzing the happenings in their own countries. I am also proud that ever since my takeover, the circulation of this magazine has absolutely skyrocketed. Of course, I am humble enough to know that simple market developments, plus the involvement of the people behind the scenes, have had a much bigger impact in this respect than the presence of this bureau chief - but, of course, that doesn't make me any less proud of it.
Yet, as I said, the time has come to say goodbye. The next issue of this magazine will be in the capable hands of Brendan Murray, who is a very kind and gentle man - and, perhaps even more importantly for this magazine, is very good at his job. I have no doubt that he will continue to keep
Card Player Europe at a high-class level, and possibly even come up with a few improvements here and there. I will remain involved in the magazine through my "Poker Authors Analyzed" series, and in addition to that, I will of course continue my strategy column in
Card Player.
So, I guess it is "goodbye" from me, my time here ending with a thrilling story about one of the greatest players in the poker industry, Phil Hellmuth. I was a firsthand witness of how he wrote absolute poker history by capturing his 11th bracelet at the latest
World Series of Poker - and the story behind it can be read in this issue. Enjoy!
