i didnt even realise he was so popular on here, i used to talk to him on aim loads . so shocking that your gone, RIP Paresh

RIP...just like everyone else I really enjoyed and learned a lot from reading his posts...too young, very sad

At first I was unsure of his name, but I was certain I knew it somehow. Then, it dawned on me quickly. I played in a bunch of MTTs with him and remember cringing every time I saw his screen name at my table because he was so visibly nasty. He was one of those few players I couldn't help fearing because he was just a monster over me.

My note for him is "sharktastic...stay the F*** away"

R.I.P.

RIP

this is really sad , rip

RIP... playing with him always was soo much fun... he aimed me a while back appeared to be in good spirits and. My thoughts and prayers are with his family... I'll open more pots in his honor... it's what he would've wanted... and techno music.

sad news

Ugh this is terrible. Obviously played with him a lot and my freshman year roommate at Virginia Tech went to High School with him in Roanoke and was pretty good friends with him.

Hey all, this is Andrew Li aka azntracker on PS.

I'm not used to dealing with the passing of such a loved one as Paresh, and so I may be rambling at times so I apologize in advance. Also, I think I'll have a hard time putting his essence into words because it seems bleh to summarize his life in only a few paragraphs, but I'll try my damndest. Hopefully I won't be in tears by the end of this post although I can already feel them. And I'm not sure whether to use 'was' or 'is' in reference to him, so **** it I'm gonna use 'is.'

I met Paresh 7 years ago when we first started at the University of Virginia together. We were both SNG donks back then (I guess I still am lol) and he was back then, and remains now now, my best poker friend as we helped each other quickly learn and grow as poker players to crush all those silly games back in the Party Poker days. His regimen and approach to thinking is beyond admirable and I learned that pretty early on. He is an absolute delight to hang out with, talk strategy, play MTTs with (both $20 frat tournies and eventually Super Tuesdays and such), and just plain party with. He has met many of my high school friends through me and others, and together, we have a core group that exists today and transcends poker. As luck would have it, my best friends now are actually his best friends from the small town of Roanoke in Virginia that I would never have met otherwise.

This dude is seriously the craziest, most fun-loving, adrenaline junkie, and all-around great buddy anyone could ask for. We went skydiving in college, jet-skiing at the PCA (we were the only two ppl from our group that would go), and definitely wanted to do much more. After college, we went on two separate sweet trips to South America which embodied all that is awesome about him. Who else would randomly go with me to the Amazonian jungle in Manaus (Brazil) with me? On the other trip, we randomly rented a car in Montevideo, Uruguay, drove ourselves to the LAPT in Punta Del Este, and actually came close to having a serious accident as he drove 110 kmh over a pretty steep hill on a bridge to get some air! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vk2Tpwl6eE, notice techno blaring) We severely bottomed out the car, punctured the radiator, and the car instantly started overheating haha. We had to get help from some old dude in a bar at 2am who didn't speak a lick of English, and all we could muster was an "hola" or "gracias." My friends think we are insane.

We also hit up Europe a couple times (EPT Monte Carlo and most recently the EPT Madrid). We went on a sick drive last year that started in Geneva, Switzerland, went through the French Alps and Italy, and ended in Nice (France). My other buddies were like "wtf we're gonna fly, have fun you idiots" so it was just Paresh and I. And most recently, we hit up Madrid just cruising around randomly both at night and during the day. However, I was stuck in the tournament for a while and didn't get to go around with him like I had planned to (doesnt everyone bust Day 1?) Oh how I'd give up my winnings in a heartbeat to just spend 3-5 days more with him.

Oh and the music. As someone mentioned above, he is ALL about rockin sick beats, house, trance, techno, hip hop, mashups, anything fun and exiting with a beat. We were roommates for the last year, so Apartment 1912 in Arlington, Virginia was definitely the place to be if you wanted to rock out to techno beats blasting from both of our rooms. We'd grind poker during the day together and then I'd sweat him in his nightime MTTs sometimes while he played. Little known fact - when he is deep in an MTT, he loops the same song he's on literally 30 or 50 or however many times until the final table is over. Just incredible passion. Here are a few of his favorites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay8zFH5a59Y, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L1zqyUwefs, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqY-Q32wPv4, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5ezEcaZz6Q. Listening to these are going to make me well up everytime. ****.

I hope you all now have a more complete view of the guy that is Dana Gordon. I could probably talk and write for hours more about him; he is just that special to me. I feel blessed to have met him, shared some of the most fun moments of my life with him, and simply being associated with him (and I'm not even religious!). I'll save the clichés because he is as far from a cliché as one can be. My thoughts and prayers go out to his parents, his brother, and the rest of my friends (hang in there tuttle, chuc, natt, ben, leb, gabe, cara and all). Goodbye, and may you rest in peace PJ.

spwwacewwwavy!!

this, exactly. he was my fav hsmtt poster, i've told horses to read his posts and had long arguments with people about whether he was good or not.

great post...thanks for sharing a little insight for some of us that didn't know him so well...very sorry for your loss.

Wow great post Azn. Just added those 4 songs to my grind list, <3333.

Also Andrew, I'd assume you'd have the access of linking his family to this thread? I think it'd be a good thing for them to see how he was such a beloved person on this forum and how he had an impact on many people that he didn't even ever meet IRL (and in some cases people he had never even talked to before)

Great post Andrew, thanks for sharing.

sad day for our community, rip

RIP

Very sad news...great post Andrew. My condolences. RIP

RIP Paresh.

I met Paresh when he visited Costa Rica with Andrew Li and really grew to enjoy his company. His energetic spirit and sense of humor always made me laugh, no matter what was going on in my life. To hear of his passing at such a young age leaves me at a loss for words.

Condolences to his family and all of his good buds in Arlington. This is truly a sad sad day for poker.

RIP Paresh, may you be in a better place now.

man

other than butting horns a few times at the tables and smiling a lot at his posts, I never knew Paresh, but somehow still incredibly affecting

Be at peace, sincerest sympathies to family and friends

wow this is so sick...
played a lot of 6max with him in 2009 i guess, never forgotten his name

he was a great pokerplayer, lot of respect for the man

RIP DANA

RIP Dana Gordon.

So sad and shocking. His posts were utterly awesome and was always fun to play with. RIP sir and my thoughts go out to his friends and family.

Id always search him on pokerstars because he was the most entertaining player to watch. RIP so very sad

+1, my thoughts are with his friends and family. so sad

Thanks for your post Andrew. Here's one from 2009 to add to the PJ playlist: Bluetech - White Magnesia

I lived with Paresh during the WSOP a couple times, including this past summer. Though we only saw each other a couple times a year, I considered him one of my truly good friends. I had so much fun grinding with him, he had such an awesome attitude. He'd always say to the monitor, "WHAT U GOT BUDDY!?" Brings a smile to my face picturing it.

I always enjoyed talking with him about poker and about life. He was extremely smart, loved to be challenged, and always brought a positive energy to the table--both literally and figuratively. Perhaps one of my favorite things about him was that from the very beginning, I felt I could always be myself around him, talk about anything, and I'd like to think the feeling was mutual. He had a very kind soul, was extremely open minded, and was never judgmental.

My mind is so cluttered with thoughts and emotions, putting them into words is a difficult task. To say the least, he will be deeply missed by me and so many others.