What’s better on a hot summer day than sharing a six pack with your friends? Well that’s what bigdogpckt5s, Ship Happens, Basebaldy, AJKhoosier1, Bond18 and Apestyles can do this Labor Day weekend. The only thing is, they won’t be tossing back brewskies, but rather sipping on some smooth Crown Royal. Each of these six players completed the Pocketfives Triple Crown in the past 10 days, making August of 2007, officially the hottest month on record in Pocketfives history.

Eleven of the 56 players to complete the Triple Crown under the current rules did so in the past month. We were averaging just over two Triple Crowns a month prior to this unprecedented August. Even now, it rests at about 2.6/month. What made this August so special? Once again I have to credit a large part of this surge in Triple Crown wins to the August PLB challenge. Five of the 11 crowns this month were won by competitors in that challenge- Ship Happens, AJKhoosier1, moorman1 and two crowns for apestyles.

For the record, AJKhoosier1’s Triple Crown will officially fall in September, since he completed it on 9/1. Nonetheless, this will be an August to remember for its hot temperature and hotter poker. I had the chance to talk to a couple of these players. I am sure all would have been happy to comment on their wins, but frankly, I can’t keep up with these guys.

The first in this string of six winners was bigdogpckt5s. He started off his Crown in rather uneventful fashion by winning the $15k guaranteed on Absolute Poker. The only reason this is uneventful, is because bigdogkckt5s, absolutely owns Absolute. He has been at the top of their yearly TLB for the past several years. The second leg of his crown was an impressive win in the $100 rebuy on Stars for $33,413 and he sealed the deal on UltimateBet with a win in the $33 rebuy.

I was a little disappointed to find out that Casey “bigdogpckt5s” Jarzabek’s screen name has nothing to do with our beloved website. The seasoned online pro was playing long before he registered with Pocketfives, and even before Pocketfives.com existed.

“People have always called me Big Dog, so when I won a live tournament five or six years ago with pocket fives, someone said, ‘Nice hand- bigdog pocketfives’, and the name kind of stuck with me.”

Bigdogpckt5s has been a profitable player online for quite awhile now. The mainstay of his career has been the soft sitngos of Absolute Poker, but he feels that his game, “has just now turned a real corner. Six weeks at the WSOP talking with some of poker’s superstars has made a huge difference in my MTT game.” We tracked six MTT wins for the bigdog this month, and he was very close to completing a second Crown at the beginning of August. His results were not too shabby before, by any means, but he definitely seems to have taken his game to a new level.

One thing that really stood out for me in my conversation with bigdogpckt5s was the way he seemed to be truly enjoying the poker lifestyle. Most poker pros enter the industry out of a desire to “be their own boss”, but many end up being the worst kind of boss. Too many online pros put in long hours with no relief. According to bigdogpckt5s, “The greatest thing about making my living this way is the freedom to do pretty much what I want, when I want. Even if it is just to go golfing in the afternoon, I have nobody to answer to but myself.”

This Labor Day, Casey “bigdogpckt5s” Jarzabek is spending a leisurely weekend at his cottage, fishing for some walleye and relaxing. He shared these very wise words with me, “Enjoy life man, it’s the key to everything.”

Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin finished his Triple Crown in style by winning the $100 rebuy on PokerStars for $26k. I had a chance to talk to basebaldy about his win and he had this to say, “It’s kind of funny to win the Triple Crown like this because I was playing so many weird $10k+ tourneys today that I don’t usually play, then I take down the nightly rebuy.” Baldwin was very happy about the three wins, and the big cash from the rebuy made it that much sweeter. “I had plenty of time left to complete the Crown, but I was looking at the all-time lowest TC score before the $100r win,” he said, a little concerned that his first two wins were a measly $3 and $5k each.

Basebaldy is starting to put in a higher volume of play in recent weeks and is quickly amassing a sliding PLB score that makes a compelling case for him to be ranked. He usually flies below the radar for such honors because he is so low key. Among the cast of characters that make up the pro-poker circuit, Eric Baldwin may take the “average joe” award. He is one of the most normal guys I have ever met at a poker tournament, and I mean that in the best way possible. Don’t let that fool you, though. Behind the baseball cap, the all-American look, and the friendly demeanor is a razor sharp poker mind.

The other three recent winners of the Triple Crown are also to be congratulated. Apestyles, who actually completed two Crowns this month will be featured in an upcoming piece. Ship Happens has continued to post impressive results and this Triple Crown is just the latest of many. Bond18 and AJKHoosier finished their crowns so recently I actually discovered them while writing this article. The Triple Crowns have come fast and furious this month. We’ll see if things cool down as August slides into September.