Years ago I messaged Chad on fb about getting some Mtt coaching (at a time when he could have been charging 100s/hr). He ended up helping me with a few hhs, gave me his phone number, invited me to his house to sweat him etc and never asked for anything in return...just a super nice & giving guy. Rip

Pretty cool of him to do.

RIP....

yES, we all feel sorry for his family etc . . . but i never understood the idea that we aren't supposed to discuss things after someone has passed ... maybe if people weren't so ashamed of their mental problems or drug issues and there wasn't such a stigma attached to them WHEN THE PERSON IS STILL ALIVE we could dodge some of these people dying so young. Maybe if people were more accepted for their demons and personal strife there would be less people taken from us too soon.

so i would like to say thanks to barryg and gamballer for posting

i knew lil holdem, not that well, and i won't sit here and say he was my favorite person. we had an issue and didn't speak for years, and when i saw him this summer i confronted him. He apologized and we made peace ... and i am not one who it is easy to make peace with, but i realized something was different about him and I felt genuine concern for his well-being. I see now that I wasn't imagining this. It's a shame what happened, and I wish more of the people who cared about him and were has friends would have known what he was going through and given him help. But with some people, truthfully, there is nothing that can be done.

Sad story. I hope others who have similar issues may see those in themselves and get help or get healthier.

Your body is all you have, regardless of how much money, talent or whatever else you have, it's the most important thing to take care of. I shudder myself thinking about the way I've treated myself over the years, be it through laziness or drug abuse or eating bad, etc. Let's not pretend that life is some pleasure cruise and that "tragedy" like this just happens.

Every day is a battle. Good luck to everyone, even the people I hate. We all have families and people that care about us, and it's important to not JUDGE someone, even if they behave in a despicable manner, because you have no idea what they might be going through. Calling someone "crazy" or writing them off just makes things worse. If you see someone going through something why would you just pile on with insults? Why would you judge them instead of trying to reach out? Think about the people you encounter in your daily lives or may have pushed out of your life because of their behavior and maybe wonder if that was the right thing to do. When I get acting a certain way I hear people say things to me like "hey slayer ur crazy" or "i can't deal with you anymore u ***** cokehead" etc... let's say it's true, and that i was crazy or a drug addict, how are you, my supposed friend or peer helping me by shaming me for my behavior? Whether its the case or not, either way, you are still an azzhole. People rally behind bad people who get cancer, bad people who get aids, but if a "bad person" is crazy or mentally ill? we write them off as a society, even. In all walks of life. And it's shameful. Because mental illness and depression are more common than both those afflictions, and they ruin peoples quality of life daily. Remember that when you "normal happy people" judge someone or try to put them down for being different. that's it im done.

Good post Kramerica.

thanx. just really pisses me off when the same people who are so sad now i bet u could find posts of them making fun of chad or other people on these forums for being different/erratic/on drugs etc. The stigma attached to mental illness and drug abuse is truly disgusting and makes me sick. We can't even talk about it in death because the family has to be ashamed of what others might think. Burying problems doesn't solve them, that's for damn sure.

But it is OK to voice the religious belief in the first place? Seems like a double standard to me, as usual.

Anyway,

Played with him back in the early to mid 2000's online quite a bit. Had some battles, looks like he finally lost one of the many battles he has taken on.

RIP

Nice post Kramerica

The thing is Drugs are Drugs & abuse is abuse. Addiction is a disease( I believe) & mental illness is a disease, if only america would end the drug war & spend the $ on treatment it would save the taxpayers a lot a dollars. When america is spending more than 70% of the drug war $ chasing weed charges then its time to wake the **** up & smell the coffee.





RiP Chad & my condolences to the family & friends.

You achieved many thing in life that most can only dream of.
A true legend of online poker.

Great points. V well said.

yeah good post kramerica

RIP

Who doesn't remeber this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx8iTPKfiEI

Chad and Bryn same FT

He drank himself to death because he was an alcoholic.

Drunks end up in three spots...Locked up, Covered up, or Sobered up.

RIP, sad to see this terrible disease take a talented young man.

Sad. Didn't really follow online MTT grinders, and don't really know anything about lilholdem but have been following this thread out of curiosity.

All I wanted to say is when I pass if people take notice and start a thread here (which I highly doubt) and Barry Greenstein takes the time to leave a thoughtful reply (which I doubt even more) please don't let anyone criticize him for it.

Most everyone is flawed in some way. Whether it be physical, mental or emotional there's something wrong with everyone. Sometimes these flaws and/or the flaws of others combined with some bad luck can lead to a tragic fate. Quite often it's the inability of the person themselves or those connected to them to acknowledge those flaws that precipitate events until it's too late. While that may or may not be the case here, talking about it may help others.

Weird.

thanks for this. nice to see his play with hole cards exposed

Good words Kramerica(as always), keep doing your thing, you've got a lot of silent fans that enjoy you for who you are(“I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.”)

It's silly to speculate on the hows and whys, what matters is that Chad is gone from this world too soon and that is tragic. The amount of support and respect(which has been both surprising yet not surprising at the same time) shown for Chad over these past few days has been very heartwarming, and hopefully it has helped those closest to him cope some with this terrible news.

I hope this can be a good reminder to anyone that is struggling to realize just how much people truly do care about others. I'm not sure how much, if at all, this applies to Chad, but everyone has their own inner battle, and no matter how angry or sad you can get, you will always surprise yourself by just how much people do care. One of the toughest things to do in life is to have the humility to reach out for help. Don't be afraid. People truly do care so much, and it's so easy to fall into a rut of hopelessness and loneliness. It's a tough world out there, but it's even tougher to do it alone.


RIP Chad, your impact on the poker world and those that knew you will never be forgotten

Well said.

RIP. Very sad to hear this.

RIP

Only talked to him for the length of a cigarette break but he left an impression, i knew he was a beast player but wasn't expecting him to be so nice and talkative.

I was trying to post the picture but it won't let me so here is the info

The family of
Chad "lilholdem954" Batista
Would like all of his Family and Friends
to join them for a celebration of his life
Saturday, September 12th
At the POMPANO PIER off of
Atlantic Boulevard
222 N. Pompano Beach Blvd
Pompano Beach, FL
Meeting time will be at 8 PM
on the south side of the pier
at life guard station #4
Any questions please email
Chadbatistaquestions@gmail.com

Talked to him a few years in the rio hotel reception line. Was really nice and jovial towards me. We exchanged our online screen names and he said how he wakes up then drinks and plays . It's sad that it led to his death.

RIP

Thank you for posting that here. If I could go, I would. Again, I'm very sorry for your loss.

http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news...iday-says-aunt

He was a legend. People cared about him, very successful at poker. I was almost on ICU in 2014 but quit drinking and abusing anything that would put me to sleep fast(NyQuil,Tylenol pm, hydrooxyzine) depression and poker can be such a brutal thing. I think I will end up killing myself in the next year or so.

That's an excellent candid interview that his Aunt did. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.