Gavin Griffin will always hold the dubious distinction of being the first player ever to win an EPT, WPT and WSOP title. Griffin completed poker’s triple crown in 2008, when he added a WPT Borgata Winter Open victory to his 2004 WSOP $3k PLO and 2007 EPT Monte Carlo titles. Since then, other players like Bertrand Grospellier, Jake Cody and Roland De Wolfe have also joined the triple crown club, but Griffin will always be the first.

The days of his triple crown achievement must seem like ages ago because Griffin is just like the millions of other low stakes grinders out there trying to make a living with the game. He blogged about this at Cardplayer by writing the following:

It’s my first time in this poker room with the beach murals on the walls. I came here to avoid familiar faces. I’m embarrassed. 2011 shattered many of my dreams and most of my ego. I was in a bad place mentally all year and that made for some bad decisions in my poker career. I managed my bankroll poorly and by the end of the year was playing some uninspired poker. I need to find a way to fix this. So, I’ve decided to drop down in limits, fix my game, and rebuild.

It must be odd for a man who’s earned $4,634,067 over his live poker tournament career to be sitting with the average Joe Grinder at some unassuming poker room. But it’s also refreshing to know that Griffin isn’t like some of the other poker pros who would just as quickly avoid the game after going broke, rather than drop down to lower stakes and grind their way back to the top.

In any case, you can take a nice piece of advice out of Gavin Griffin’s journey back to the top since he listed some very important questions that he asks himself after every session:

1. How well did I control my emotions?
2. Everyone makes mistakes, but did I learn from the mistakes I made?
3. Did I game and seat select aggressively?
4. Did I honestly evaluate my mental state and energy level?
5. Did I go on “auto pilot” at any point or did I actively think about decisions?

The game is tougher today than Griffin’s glory days of the mid-2000′s. However, poker is still beatable for those who put the work in, and it sounds like Griffin has committed himself to doing what it takes to reach the top again.

Despite being one of the most iconic figures in poker, little has been heard from Doyle Brunson as of late. Of course, that tends to happen when you skip the WSOP and haven’t cashed in a poker tournament for over five months. But this isn’t to say that Brunson’s dropped off the face of the earth, or died like those annoying rumors often allude to.

Instead, he’s been playing poker at the Las Vegas Aria and doing quite well for himself. Via his new blog, Brunson wrote about his latest cash game escapades with the following:

Poker is going strong in Vegas. There is two or three medium stake poker games every day. The games aren’t nearly as high as they were before “Black Friday”, but at least they are going every day. The games are 3 hundred six hundred at the Aria and 6 hundred twelve hundred at the Bellagio with the stakes going a little higher sometimes. There seems to be lots of players because there is usually a waiting list.

I’ve been playing everyday 8-12 hours each time despite having high blood pressure I’ve been feeling good and have been on a heater winning 14 out of the last 15 days.

The Texas Dolly goes on to write about a number of other issues in his life including the following:

- He’s given up salty foods for his health.
- Mitt Romney should win the Republican nomination in the US Presidential Race.
- Brunson is currently trying to swim 600-800 yards every day.

It’s good to hear something from Brunson again because there’s been a news drought regarding him lately. And don’t expect to hear any news about him at poker tournaments these days because the 78-year-old doesn’t travel much. But hopefully he’ll at least keep his cash game play up at the Aria.

By now, anybody who skims through the poker news on a consistent basis is aware of Viktor Blom. The Swedish high stakes poker phenom burst onto the scene in 2009 when he began taking on poker’s biggest names as a 19-year-old. His super aggressive playing style, huge swings and overall fearlessness have made Blom a poker household name.

Interestingly enough, there’s another 19-year-old Scandinavian on the rise these days, and his name is Ole-Kristian Nergard. Some people have already begun comparing the Norwegian to Blom since he’s shown quite a bit of resolve by joining the big cash game in Macau. Nergard tweeted about his foray into the world’s biggest live poker game by typing:

Back in Macau. Played some 5k/10k plo today. Won some then left at peak. Feels good

To put this into perspective, the comparatively-inexperienced Nergard had the balls to sit down with some of the world’s best poker pros in Gus Hansen, Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan. This being said, it’s no wonder he’s already drawing some comparisons to Blom. So are these comparisons warranted?

Well the two aren’t exactly the same because, while Blom’s early experience came from grinding online cash games, much of Nergard’s experience has been spent playing online poker tournaments. So far he’s earned a healthy $375k in winnings, but this is a far cry from the multi-million dollar bankroll swings that Blom experienced at the same age. On the other hand, you have to consider that Blom was never reported at any huge live games such as Nergard.

Another big difference between the two is that a lot of the Norwegian’s bankroll has come from inheriting a $28.8 million share of his father’s fishing company. That said, Ole-Kristian Nergard is able to compete with the world’s best poker players from a financial perspective at just 19 years of age. But only time will tell if he does well enough against these players to live up to the Blom comparisons.