I almost never look at NVG - maybe once every six months, if I'm especially procrastinating - it's weird to think that I most likely would have missed this news.
ADZ124 (Adz, pronounced short for Adam, as he will forever be known to me - I couldn't believe when I first heard his name pronounced Aye dee zee) - was a notable figure in my personal poker history. He's one of my most played opponents. When I first used to log onto stars, I saw him sat on every table, usually across a slew of 25/50 tables with massive stacks, sometimes 500bb+. I looked at him and thought "I wanna be that guy". At the time, he was
the guy. The king of Pokerstars.
When I made it to 25/50, I remember playing with him finally. The pot I remember best was a 7bet CIB flop bluff which worked against him - this was the moment I knew I had finally got my foot in. Winning a hand against Adz - I posted the hand to my friends on a minor forum, bragging about how far I'd gotten.
Adz played a very weird style, often using small betsizes and unorthodox bluffs that didn't exist in most players toolboxes. Whatever he did worked very well for a very long time, and he was also able to execute across multiple tables with an astonishing grind ethic.
A bit later when I really had entrenched myself, I remembered seeing Adz as a weak spot - not for a major lack of skills, but because of his soft skills. He was playing 3 different opponents on at least 10 tables HU. I thought, this will be easy money, so fired up 4 tables of HU against him.
I'm not gonna say he played amazingly, but he held his own and didn't show any sign of timing out, which is astounding in itself. Eventually I quit. He wasn't worth the stress. I don't think I've ever seen anyone play such a deranged amount of tables so well since that event, 10+ years ago.
I don't think it would be right to write about Adz without mentioning the chat - ADZ was constantly befouling the chatbox and in and out of chat-jail with the site. He had something funny as his location, when they used to let you type it in yourself (probably he was part of the reason they changed that). He told me he performed the "sour cream angel" on my mother a few times which I thought was hilarious (still not sure what it is, but I have an inkling). Another time he told me he'd break both my legs if he ever met me.
A year or so later I did actually meet him. I was taken to one of those big buildings where all the poker players used to live, to a massive flat high up - I didn't know what to expect. Honestly, I can't remember a more enthusiastic greeting than when this guy met me - I replay the moment unprompted sometimes. He was delighted. He wanted to get a picture with me, Rich, Altrum and someone else who I forget as "a starting 25/50 lineup" (Not present - bullitos or Pacuno). The dude really treated me like royalty - I had a great night chilling in his apartment (then housing about 20 bros), playing table tennis and mingling - and regret not having more nights like that. Whenever I see people being murderous online I always think about when I met this guy and smile
I only met him a couple times after that I think in passing, and then parted ways with America. He loved talking loud about the glamourous life and being the best, so I think it's sad that his presence in poker faded, but as time wears on everyones light comes to an end.
I lost a bit of sleep last night wondering if I was in the wrong for laughing at his braggadocio and general antics, as I'm sure many people have. But I think there are two factors at play. For one, Adz was completely unreserved in his obsession with glamour. He seemed to know this, and at least for me, he lived out something that I deeply repressed, and the completely unabashedness with which he threw it in everyones faces is just funny, because it's not often you see someone with such blatancy - most people will show some modicum of reservedness, but he had none. Perhaps the opposite of down-to-earth could describe him best. It's not the most attractive trait, but it's not worthy of the shaming that it receives - which I think is largely derived from a lot of people wishing they had what he had, or could sometimes be as unreserved as he was.
The other thing is, I think we would not (and did not) laugh at him if we knew he was unwell. I think the scorn is underlined by a layer of respect - you laugh at him for the madness, but you gotta respect a guy that was that good at what he did, and I think without that respect it wouldn't be as funny to see him be the zany, coarse, bawdy glamourpuss that he was.
There was a time in poker history, where ADZ was a legend, and for many he always will be. Even the brightest stars fade, but his memory lives on. RIP ADZ