You know why St. Louis is like the roach motel?

You know why once you go in, you don't ever leave?

Neither do I.

But, I know that I have had a hard time leaving, and you know that many of you and/or your parents have had a hard time leaving.

Don't know why. Just know that's the case.

I read last week in the Post-Dispatch about Jamal Mayers, the former Blue who has spent his entire career in St. Louis and who is now getting ready to move to Toronto and begin life with his new team, the Maple Leafs...the team he grew up cheering for as a native of Ontario.

Yet, after 13 seasons here, Mayers said he's a St. Louisan...and he and his wife, Natalie, will live here in the offseason...because St. Louis has become home.

Why?

Mayers said St. Louis feels like a community where people pull for each other.

And, I experienced that first hand over the last couple of weeks. Still, to this day, more than a week after getting psychologically ravaged by my elimination from the World Series of Poker Main Event, I'm blown away---absolutely stunned---by the amount of support I had from people around town (yeah, I called the 21st-ranked TV market "town").

I recall reading one poster on the insideSTL.com message board explaining why he was so into my poker run, and his answer was something along the lines of, "He's from St. Louis, and so just like Ryan Howard or just like an Olympian competing on the big stage, I pull for him."

Comparing me to an Olympian or Ryan Howard...or even Clint Howard...is absurd. But, that wasn't his point. The point was that many of us do, indeed, pull for each other if we leave our little den of safety in the Midwest and go out and represent St. Louis on the national or global stage.

That's why I was getting email after email from people expressing their support for me in the WSOP...even though many of them couldn't tell you if 2 pair beats 3 of a kind. It didn't matter. I was *their* guy in the competition...because I am one of them.

You won't find that in Chicago, Atlanta, or Dallas as much. Those are transient cities. People move in and out of those places more often than people move in and out of Lindsey Lohan.

We may have crappy weather, schools, and narrow-minded old bats, but damnit, we will celebrate others who have experienced the crappy weather, schools, and narrow-minded old bats.

And, that explains why I was on a high yesterday in the 8 o'clock hour of The ITD Morning After on Team 1380.

Two St. Louisans had experienced huge accomplishments on the biggest stages in their respective games, and I, perhaps like many of you did with me last week, was living vicariously through them...because they're one of us.

And, we were fortunate enough to have them on the air courtesy of the hard work from Producer Joe and Iggy.

Dennis Phillips is a salesman who sells commercial trucks at Broadway Truck Centers. Or, at least that's what he did do.

Yesterday morning at about 6 a.m. St. Louis time, Dennis officially made it to the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event...as the chip leader. By making it to the final table, he is guaranteed a minimum of $900,000...and that's only if he finishes in 9th place. Considering he has 26 million chips and the guy in 9th place has just 2 million chips, odds are Dennis isn't going to be finishing in 9th place.

The final table will be played (almost) live on ESPN in November, and at that time, Dennis Phillips could walk away from the World Series of Poker Main Event with $9.1 million.

You would think that means he's getting ready to shut it down and submit his resignation to the good people at Broadway Truck Centers. You'd be wrong. He plans on going back to work next week.

"Honest to God. They're some of my best friends down there. The owners. The general manager. They're great guys. I'm still going to do it, because I enjoy the job."

You could hear the sincerity---and enthusiasm---in his voice. This is a good, down-to-earth man, and he's an outstanding representative of St. Louis.

I have received more emails over the last couple of days about this gentleman telling me not only how great of a player he is, but how great of guy he is. While some guys can be Grade A pricks in the poker room, Dennis Phillips has a different approach...and he's in heaven.

"The thing is...this is my hobby. This is what I enjoy doing. And, they pay me to do it. What more could you ask for? Good grief. How could you not be happy?"

I actually played against Dennis 15 days ago at Harrah's. I had no idea he was as good of a player as he is. I just knew that one of my friends came over to the table before we started the tournament and said, "Hey, beware of the guy with the beard. He's an incredible player."

It turns out that Dennis had won the last 2 tournaments at Harrah's and had been to the final table at 2 of the 4 World Series of Poker Circuit events in Tunica he played...which does for the "poker is a game of luck" argument what Jim J. Bullock does for the "homosexuality is a choice" argument.

Somehow---mainly because a nitwit was playing and raising any and everything---Dennis got bad beat and was short-stacked when I played against him. I thought I was going to be able to take him out when I was in the small blind. Action folded to the nitwit on the button, and naturally, he raised. I looked down at AK suited, and I reraised. Dennis, to my left in the big blind, pushed all-in. Nitwit folded after about 2 minutes of drama ranking on the necessary-scale somewhere near a soccer player rolling around on the ground in "pain."

I called.

Dennis had AJ. He was dominated by my AK. But, Dennis caught a straight of 9 to K, and he was still alive. I noticed the table grumble. Everybody out there knew about this guy...and if I ever got off of playing online poker, I would've known about him, too. They liked him, but they would've liked him to get knocked out of the tournament...because he's so damn good.

About 2 hours later, sure enough, he's still hanging around...and even though we moved tables, once again, he sits down to my left. This time, I got him, but only because, once again, he was short-stacked.

He reraised me all-in with A4, and I called with 33. Even though he caught trip 4's, I had a full house, and that was it.

I remember the hand...because I remember the reaction of the table when he got up to leave. It was like the reaction of the NBA when Jordan announced he was shutting it down in 1993.

I was like, "What the hell? What's with the celebration? Did I just knock out the best player in the world or something?"

Well...

...maybe he is the best player in the world.

He's been St. Louis' little secret for the 3 or 4 years he's been playing the game, and now the rest of the world gets to see him...and just look what he's done.

And, for the record, unlike some people I know who sold out and wore PokerStars stuff at the WSOP, Dennis turned down numerous offers from PokerStars to wear their gear...because he wanted to keep his Cardinal cap on.

"They came to me. They wanted me to wear their stuff. I said, 'To heck with that. I want to keep my Cardinal hat on.' And, that cost me some major bucks."

He was so steadfast on keeping the Cardinal hat on that eventually PokerStars gave in and said he could keep the cap...just put a little PokerStars sticker on it...and so he did...and got paid what he called a "comfortable" amount (my guess is $100,000). But, the money wasn't the priority. He wasn't taking off that representation of St. Louis.

There's something about this place...

Just ask Jay Williamson. The 41 year-old St. Louis native nearly captured his first PGA Tour title this past Sunday...all while making sure his caddy kept his St. Louis Blues cap on during the final round of the John Deere Classic.

After coming so close to winning his first Tour event last year at Hartford...but losing in a playoff...Williamson was in position to take down his first tournament Sunday at around 5:30 p.m. when he was in a 3-way sudden death playoff, which included the-best-player-casual-golf-fans-have-never-heard-of Kenny Perry. When the other member of the playoff, Brad Adamonis, knocked his second shot in the water, the door was open for Williamson to focus on Perry and win the tournament.

But, with his first PGA win on the line, JW inexplicably went from perfect position in the fairway to out of the tournament by hitting his second shot in the water. Once again, many St. Louisans who couldn't tell you who the difference between a birdie and bogey felt the pain of a stranger who had come up short...only because he lives in the 314 area code.

But, there was a hell of a consolation prize. Because Kenny Perry didn't want to go over to the U.K. so he could defend his title at the Greater Milwaukee Open, Williamson got Perry's exemption to the British Open. And, so, tomorrow, he will tee it up in his very first British Open...giving St. Louisans another horse in a global race.

JW joined us---while playing his practice round on Royal Birkdale---and was, much like Dennis Phillips, on cloud nine.

"I can't tell you what an experience I'm having so far."

I know Jay better than I know Dennis...albeit not all that well. And, I can tell you that he is, much like Dennis, one hell of a guy. He's battled. He's had to battle. And, he continues to battle...all while chasing the dream of landing a big score to prove himself worthy of being out there with the game's best players. He's a competitor, and he's first class.

Williamson went out of his way to come on the show, so much so that he actually had to have his caddy hold his phone so he could hit a shot in the middle of his practice round.

Despite the acknowledged disappointment that came with Sunday's sudden death loss, Williamson hadn't lost sight of the great fortune he had to be able to participate in his game's most historic major championship for the first time.

"Guys, I'm standing by the Irish Sea, and I'm about to play in the British Open."

And, my guess is that if he is able to make it to the weekend, the very same people who will be watching poker on TV for the first time in November when Dennis Phillips attempts to bring home the World Series of Poker Main Event will be up early in the morning watching the live coverage of the British Open.

Why?

Because Jay is one of us. Dennis is one of us. And, here at the roach motel, when one of us escapes and lets the world know that our little town has more to offer than baseball and an arch, we feel like we all get a piece of the win.

Congrats to Jay Williamson and Dennis Phillips...and best of luck the rest of the way.

New Stuff

Today, we're debuting 3 new forums on the insideSTL.com message boards:

1. Maggie's Back Door: This is where STL Ladies legend/columnist Maggie Barlow will take your questions and comments...and communicate directly with you, the insideSTL.com creep/reader.

2. H-Ball: insideSTL.com Rams' Reporter Howard Balzer hosts this forum in which he'll actively participate in discussing the Rams, NFL, and fantasy football. You can fire off questions and comments, and Howard will be all over talking it over with you. No one enjoys talking about the Rams and NFL more than Howard Balzer.

3. The STL Poker Room: This site has become poker heavy over the last few months...and, to my surprise, the traffic has gone up with the poker columns. With Dennis Phillips' run, Dan Nassif's run from a couple of years ago, and casual fans getting on board with my run, St. Louis could very well be on the verge of a poker boom...especially if that ridiculous $500 loss limit is voted out in November. Area poker player Doug Fieselman and I will moderate this section and actively participate.

Over the next couple of weeks, we have some other major---and I do think they're worthy of the term "major"---announcements to come regarding events and new additions to the site, but we'll start it all off by allowing you to talk poker anytime at The STL Poker Room, talk Rams with Howard Balzer, and have some candid sex talk with Maggie Barlow.

What are your thoughts on Dennis Phillips and Jay Williamson? Log-in and post your comments below, or you can always email me at tmckernan@insidestl.com.