It is with great sadness that I let you know that Frank Jerome (Buzz) passed away last month.

I never met Buzz personally, but he and I were internet friends for 12 years. He taught me more about O8 than anyone ever.

I know, as the game moved into the internet 6-max era, some considered his strategy opinions to be inapplicable to the game being played on line today. But he was always trying to help. Always. And unlike me for sure, he always treated everyone with respect.

Rest in peace Buzz.

(Thanks to Mullion for bringing to my attention that Buzz had not logged on to 2+2 for more than a month. With some help, I tracked down Buzz's son, who confirmed that his dad passed away last month.)

Very sorry to hear this. He was extremely helpful and I enjoyed his comments. He will be missed.

Very sad news. He was probably the most helpful and considerate poster this forum had. RIP.

rip, seemed like a real solid dude.

very sad, he was well liked here, and was always helpful to newcomers.

It seemed to me like he had led a full life, maybe that is some comfort for his friends and family.

I will toast his life and passing tonight, thanks for the help Frank Jerome.

RIP Buzz.

Frank/Buzz (he didn't care which you called him) was my roommate for every 2+2 party. It started at the Golden Nugget, when I for some reason (don't recall why now) didn't have a room there for the last night so I was going to book somewhere else, and he suggested I stay with him since he had a room by himself. Stayed with him that night, and then each year I contacted him ahead of time and arranged to share a room for the 2+2 party. He'd usually wait until traffic was quieter, leave LA late at night, and show up in LV at 2 or 3 in the morning. He was a night owl like me, and we had many late night chats. Most days, he'd be off somewhere to play Omaha while I did other things, and we'd usually cross paths back at the hotel room at some point in the evening. Met him down in LA one year as well; he took me to see a couple of the poker rooms there, and we had a picnic lunch with some friends of his. I think he also joined us when I met some other 2+2ers there one night including LFS and Private Joker, IIRC.

Buzz had lots of health issues and big dietary restrictions as he certainly wasn't a young man (young at heart, though), but he didn't let them slow him down. Really great guy; he'll be missed.

I just know Buzz from his posts in the mod forum where he always seemed like a great guy. Condolences to his family and friends.

RIP.

I too only knew him from here but he stood out as he treated every post and question with respect and actually offered advice in great detail(pretty much the exact opposite of what we all do here.)

Buzz seemed like a great guy from the way he posted and modded. Class act, old school in the best way.

Very sad news. He will be missed.

I knew him mostly from his posts in the Probability Forum that were universally cheery and comprehensive. And he always had a nice word to say about others.

RIP Buzz!

I just heard. Thanks niss.

Buzz let me stay at his house a couple of times when I first moved back to LA, and we roomed together for the 2+2 WSOP meetup a couple of times. Nothing but the nicest guy and totally willing to do anything for anyone. What you saw here in the forum was how he was.

He was well into his 80s and I think he'd had a heart attack years ago. He didn't drink and was really serious about his diet - not because he had any specific restrictions but because he wanted to live for as long as possible. And he walked - a lot. That was his exercise. He owned like the first starter home built in the Palisades with the most amazing view of the ocean and the stars.

He was an academic - I think his last job was dean of Santa Monica College.

I regret not keeping better in touch with him. I've had a lot of stuff going on these last few years and poker has taken a bit of a back burner. If I'm lucky, some day people will think of me the way they did of Buzz. You can do a lot worse.

For real. I'm sorry it took us so long to find out. I think I might have liked to go to his funeral. His family probably doesn't even know about the hundreds or thousands of people who know him from 2+2.

His son told me that he was aware that his father had friends in the cyber world and was very appreciative of the friendship we had with his dad.

For sure. I don't know that he had a lot of friends out in the world. His time with us kept him sharp.

And he loved this game that we love- it was never about the money. Really, I never saw him play/risk more than $100, and if it was gone he quit. It was totally analytical.

I think he was a world class bridge player back when people played bridge. He told me a story once about how he wooed his wife the first time he met her playing a variant of bridge where you play your hand out and then run it back with your opponents' cards (or something like that). He killed it because he remembered what everyone had from the first time the hand was played .. and described it as a "fun parlor trick." You know, no big deal.

Sad to hear, I'll miss his posts

He described the bridge thing here(among other things lol) -

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/44...-buzz-1328607/

I liked this part, I guess because he rarely seemed to brag and he just had a way with words -
"I won the local weekly Omaha-8 tournament in one casino four weeks in a row. First place. There were probably 60 to 80 players each time. Then they stopped having Omaha-8 tournaments. Probably was partly my fault for winning too much."

I will miss reading Buzz. I agree with the op. I KNOW I learned more about o8 from reading his posts than any other source.
Maybe one of you guys who are in touch with his son would send them a link to this thread. He can see just how many people buzz has touched over the years.
FLY HIGH BUZZ!

I posted this earlier in another forum but I would like to repeat it in this forum that was so well moderated by Buzz.

Very sad. I was forutnate enough to meet him in real life once and played cards with him for a short time. I found him to be an extremely nice guy and a true gentleman.

He will certainly be missed!

ive met him and became friendly. too bad, ill miss buzz.

Buzz,

You were awesome and will really be missed.

RIP, Buzz, and condolences to your family. You will be missed.

Lee

Always seemed positive and respectful. RIP, sir.

Great thread, thx.