If your state is part of super Tuesday, you just have to get out there and vote. If you are voting for Obama, that is, otherwise you can stay home 🙂
I’m inspired by Barack Obama more so than anyone I’ve seen on television or come across in as long as I can remember. He represents a real change for this country. He has unparalleled charisma, is extremely intelligent, and I think he can not only bring this country together, republicans and democrats, but he can also have a positive impact on the world. Unlike the president who refuses to talk to the enemy as Clinton, Reagen, and even his father did before him, Obama will be a strong and powerful voice that is willing to sit with our enemies. Not to surrender, mind you, but to try and find solutions to the worlds problems by going to the source. No candidate is better equipped to do that than Barack Obama. No one.
I am glued to the television these days in anticipation of super Tuesday. Obama has all the momentum now and is neck and neck with Hillary Clinton right now. The more people that vote, the more likely we are to have a president that turn things around for this country. A president you can really be proud to say he represents you.
As a poker player, I also find it pretty neat that he plays poker also. The only candidate to admit that he’s played poker for money. He doesn’t have a clear opinion on online poker as of yet (neither do the other candidates), but seeing as he understands the nuances of the game, he won’t be naive when the question is asked: is poker a game of skill?
Whether he played poker or not, that’s not at all why I’m so inspired by this man. I’m inspired by him because he can bring people together. He can cross party lines and gets things done. He is the man for the job. The thing is, for many of you there is little time to decide. Tuesday is a crucial day, and I really hope you see the man I see and vote Obama.
A couple clips to leave you with:
A Super Tuesday promo
Obama Promo
Yes We Can (the song that was created based on his powerful victory speech in South Carolina)
Yes We Can
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I couldn’t sleep or write so I popped in season 3 of Lost and can’t understand for the life of me why some critics didn’t like it? It’s a great season so far. I ended up waking up late, somewhat by design to be able to excel later in the day and I think it worked out just fine.
I showed up to the tournament with 8 minutes left in the first level and proceeded to lose the first three pots I played where my opponents flopped gin. I was down to 6625 of my 10,000 but wasn’t ready to quit. I made some “sloppy” pay offs but they were both cheap, and VERY informative and that would help me throughout the day and were well worth it, just for the looking price.
I ended up having a few hands hold up and was able to end the day in great shape with 59,900. Last hand of the night was a doozy:
300-600 blinds with a 75 ante all fold to me in the SB and I get K-4 off and raise to 1500. Don’t normally do that but was trying to take advantage of what I perceived to be timid play from the BB- he called.
Flop Qs 10c 9s. I didn’t like the flop much and considered waving the white flag so I checked- he checked. Turn Qc, I decided to take one stab at it since he was short on chips and bet 2800. He studied for a bit and called.
River Qh, I check and he goes all in for like 4900. I look at him and say, “Dude, that’s the most ridiculous bluff I’ve ever seen, lol. You can’t have anything. You can’t have aQ and call the turn, you wouldn’t bet a 9, and you wouldn’t bet a straight. Problem is, I can’t beat much either, lol. You probably have 55, but you might just be bluffing with the best hand or something.”
I decided to fold the King high despite wanting to call SO BAD I even said those words. He turned over 22! Even though he got away with the bluff, I left the hand happy, in that, my radar was solid, I just neglected to follow through. When my radar is working, and I trust it, I’m a tough man to beat out of a pot.
I think I am in 8th place with about 200 players left and feel good about my chances…
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After the days play I decided to have my first “German Beer” at the bar with some friends. I ended up having a fabulous time and the company couldn’t have been better. Since joining PokerStars.net I’ve met lots of people who work for the company in one facet or another, but the group I sat with were essentially “the meat and potatoes” of the operation (I’m sure they’ll love being referred to as meat and potatoes, lol). Working on anything from marketing to logistical stuff. I get along so well with all of them and I feel like we vibe so well together. They “get me” and that makes me feel like a part of the team in an important way. They treat me with respect, like a peer, and that goes a long way with me.
I’ve been very impressed with the people I’ve dealt with here in Germany and I think they are all a big reason why PokerStars is the biggest, and most successful online poker site worldwide. A brilliant group of people that seem to really care a great deal about the jobs they do. Despite the extremely short time I’ve known them, I consider them friends- and that’s been rare for me in the past few years as I rarely “let people in” anymore.
I had an absolute blast. Good company, good beer, good times. I really needed that, especially after being sick, etc.
Anyway, it’s like 7am here now and the tournament starts back up at 3pm. I’m ready, I’m hungry, and I’m reading people very well. I haven’t made “all” the right moves so far, but that’s OK. Perfection in poker is impossible, you can only strive to do the best you can.
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I should be writing right now, but being sick and tired makes it hard to do that. I am tired all the time and am either getting up or feel like I should be napping. I did a show in Munich and despite sneezing throughout the show, I think it went very well. Since then, I’ve been stuck in my hotel room sleeping all day and being up most of the night. Not good for the tournament, especially since we are doing 8 levels tomorrow starting at 3pm. I’ll do my absolute best, but fatigue could play a role.
Since I have been here I have done nothing but have breakfast with Sorel Mizzi, Big Egypt and Chris Harden?… dude sorry man I also screw up your name. Anyway, we talked about all kinds of stuff, JJProdigy, online players versus live players, etc. It was the most fun I’ve had since I’ve been here!
Sorel and I were blabbing and came up with a hypothetical tournament involving five online players he chooses versus five live tournament players that I choose. First four that came to mind were myself, Ivey, Cunningham, and J.C. Tran.
Format would be something like a 10 man sit n’ go with 90 minute levels, 20,000 in chips, and blinds that go:
50-100
100-200
100-200 (25 ante)
150-300 (50 ante)
200-400 (50 ante)
250-500 (50 ante)
300-600 (75 ante)
400-800 (100 ante)
500-1000 (100 ante)
600-1200 (200 ante)
800-1600 (200 ante)
1000-2000 (300 ante)
1200-2400 (400 ante)
1500-3000 (500 ante)
2000-4000 (500 ante)
In that format, we argued who would have the edge and I feel strongly that my five, not five live pros he picks, would do quite well in a live setting with very slow moving blinds. It was a fun discussion, but it probably would never happen anyway.
Then I asked them what they knew of the kid JJProdigy. They actually felt really sorry for him, felt that he said stupid things in the interview, and that he was extremely nervous.
I think it’s human nature to forgive and to feel good about it when you do. You simply can’t forgive a cheater who doesn’t seem willing to take a stand against what he’s done. He’s 18 years old I guess, and I firmly believe that when he matures he may grow out of his childish ways and behavior. In the meantime he deserves all the scorn he gets from the poker community that he has duped again and again.
I would ask him: are you lying when you say that you aren’t playing on FTP or Stars at the moment? I don’t believe him. I don’t believe him at all. I’d love to watch the lie detector needle skyrocket when he claims that he isn’t playing on some kind of account right now. My hope is that he is just playing ONE account for once in his life!
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It’s 4:30am here in Dartmund right now and I have a tournament to play at 3:00pm. Problem is, I woke up closer to midnight. Ideally I’d like to find a way to get back to sleep by, say, 7:00am and sleep until about 2:00pm. If I can do that, I should be able to fight through it.
I took some funky European medicine for my cold, and man did that stuff work. Cold is pretty much gone and headache seems gone too. There is precisely one English channel on the TV here, but the good news is that it’s a channel I enjoy watching: CNN. The race is getting is a little depressing as Hillary continues to lead. I don’t have a problem with a women president, I just have a problem with this particular woman. If Obama doesn’t win the nomination I’ll be devastated, but that’s life I guess. If it does come down to Hillary vs. McCain I might end up backing McCain despite the fact that he’s not exactly “poker friendly.” Too bad they couldn’t settle all this at the poker table. Obama does play poker and I think he would pwn.
Anyway, I’m going to get back to doing… well, nothing, lol.
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Michael Jackson was on 60 Minutes a while back, it’s actually a bit that Chris Rock makes fun of. Ed Bradley throws up some real softball questions to Jackson, stuff like, “Michael, do you think it’s Ok for a 45 year old man to sleep in the same bed as young children?” Michael goes… “YES!”
After listening to an episode of PokerRoad.com that’s the first thing that came to my mind when they had this kid on there who’s been caught playing multiple accounts, and once being caught… just did it even more. No remorse whatsoever, no genuine I’m sorry, just basically a, “Screw y’all I’m blackballed anyway so I might as well stay gangsta’.”
I was really disappointed with the show, as Poker Road is probably the one, most unbiased opportunity for a site to be completely honest about poker issues and not have to sugar coat things. They normally are excellent in that area, but I think they really dropped the ball in this interview and let this kid off the hook by being, way, way, too nice.
Let me start by saying this: I don’t know the kid. He may grow up some day and be an upstanding citizen, but he SHOULD have a lot of work to do in order to earn any kind of acceptance in the poker world. His ban at both FTP and PokerStars are totally just.
You see, this isn’t a kid who got caught cheating, realized it was wrong, apologized, and then turned a new leaf. No, this kid went balls to the wall and did it even more. He said that in the interview. To be capable of that, you couldn’t possibly care about “doing the right thing.” You couldn’t possibly have legitimate remorse for what you did.
Again, I don’t know the kid, but my instincts just from listening to him actually speak about the issue is that he is a liar that still has no idea what he is going to do about what he’s done.
Bart Hanson was asking him questions like, “So was it cooler to win with an account in your name or an undisclosed name?” He’d start questions with, “I don’t mean to put you on the spot, but..” Why not? Why not put him on the spot, that’s exactly what you should be doing Bart! I felt like they tiptoed around this kid like he was some poor, innocent victim.
Questions should have been more direct, a la, “What is wrong with you? You cheat, get caught, give the poker world a lame apology, only to go right back at it and keep cheating? Why should anyone believe you are suddenly reformed? Why should live poker events even allow you to play?” Those are tougher questions posed in such a way that isn’t all mushy. The tone from all of the guys was just way too apologetic to this kid.
I’m not going to slam the boys at Poker Road anymore. I like the show and think it’s great for poker, just being objective here when I say that I wish they would have manned up a little bit in this case.
At the end of this interview, this kid essentially ADMITS that he can’t make any promises that he won’t cheat again..next month! He has a lifetime ban from FTP and PokerStars but flat out said that he can’t promise he won’t be playing there in a month or two? Are you kidding me? This guy needs to hire Michael Irvin’s PR agent.
Comparing this kid to Justin Bonomo is akin to comparing apples and oranges. Justin was also caught some time ago. Since then, he actually made a very genuine apology, understands now that what he did wasn’t cool, and has been accepted by the poker community as a stand up guy. He has a completely clean slate with me.
Bart called JJProdigy a “stand up guy” for coming on the show and I was like, huh? Man, so if OJ came on your show and said I probably killed her, but I don’t think I’m going to be doing that sort of thing anymore… would he be considered a stand up guy too?
Gavin said in the end that he had nothing to gain by being on the show, that’s completely false! He could have, instead of sounding like he didn’t really care all that much, instead of trying to justify why he cheated more, he could have been genuinely remorseful and apologized in a way that’s even remotely believable. If you truly aren’t remorseful, though, I guess that’s difficult.
Truth is, you listen to that interview and you are left thinking, “This kid only feels bad because he got caught.” TWICE!!!
As I said, I don’t know him. All I have to go on are his written words and his appearance on that show. Based on those things, I can be left with no other opinion then this kid is a liar, a cheater, and that his behavior is very unlikely to change.
I don’t even know the kid, so I don’t hate the kid at all. I have no real personal feelings about him one way or the other, but c’mon, kid needs to realize that he’s not going to get off Scot free with interviews like that.
It is a real shame that the poker world hasn’t advanced enough so that we can keep a kid like that from playing in live events. It’s a shame that we can’t keep him from playing online. It’s a shame that there are no concrete penalties for what he did.
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Anyway, bored in my hotel room in Munich. Doing a show here in a few hours then flying to Dartmund for the EPT event there this week.
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I kinda made a couple late boo boos in the tournament in Tunica by getting involved in some big pots with a new player who just sat down at my table drinking whiskey. Normally I do very well against drinking players and although he beat me on hand one, I made the correct lay down. On hand number two he made an absolute kamikaze play and bluffed a monster pot. He limped early for 400, I limped with Kc 3c for 400 and both blinds called. The flop came Jc 3s 2c and Smokey bet 1200 from the big blind and the drunk guy called. I could have raised here but thought it would be better to try and spike the K, 3 or the club. The small blind also called. The turn was a Qh, both blinds checked and drunk guy fires 10k. I called the bet thinking I had 14 outs and would be able to double up if I hit any of my cards. That, plus I may have the best hand. The river was a 7d and he put me all in for 20k. I felt like it could be a bluff, but was worried that his bluff may have me beat anyway so I folded. He tabled Ks 8s for a random berzerko bluff! My last hand I flopped top pair against him and he over bet the pot with middle pair. Rather than go all in as I should have, I just called and got beat when he made trips on the turn. My bad, I could have played him better but made a mistake. Oh well, there is always Germany! ***************************************************************** I got home and watched some Tivo, an HBO special called Friends of God, and then I watched an old movie, the Preacher’s Wife as I have Denzel Washington movies on my watch list. After that, it was time for the most heated debate I’ve ever watched. Hillary and Obama really went at it pretty hard and in the end I think Hillary behaved poorly, even getting boos after yet another attack on Obama. Edwards did good to point out how silly the bickering was, but he doesn’t have much of a shot anyway. Every time Hillary opened her mouth tonight she annoyed me. She was on a mission to trash Obama, but was left with egg on her face, mostly because her assertions were just not factual. If you didn’t watch it, there was one particular sparring of words that was pretty serious. Barack saying, “I was working the streets while you were a corporate lawyer on the board for Walmart.” Hillary fired back with something like, “While I was doing such and such you were working for a slum lord.” More and more I dislike the idea of Hillary being president. I liked Bill Clinton… but she’s not Bill Clinton. I like Edwards a lot too and would love to see Obama and Edwards team up for the Dems. As for the other side, I don’t like any of them all that much. Don’t trust Romney, seems shady to me and ready to snap at any moment. Huckabee is too conservative for my taste, and McCain isn’t much of a poker fan. I’ve been glued to CNN, and even Fox News which is hard to watch, for hours everyday and I’m left with only one candidate that I really like. Well, that’s not entirely true, Edwards is a solid guy, IMO, but he doesn’t have much of a chance against Hillary and Obama. I really hope that Obama gets enough support to represent the Dems, because if it’s Hillary, bleh. She just annoys me and tonight she was at her peak as far as the bitchiness meter goes. ***************************************************************** I have a week at home which will consist of writing, writing, and more writing. That, and playing some $200-$400 on Stars.]]>
A positive attitude can change your life. Seriously. Spending time thinking about being kind to strangers and avoiding the bad habits of being complainers or whining about the silliest things goes along way towards reaching a happy place.
I have always had a bad habit of wasting energy complaining about a wide variety of unimportant things. I don’t want to do that anymore, it’s not all that productive.
I’ve had some experiences recently that have changed my outlook on life in a positive way. I’m happy all the time and consciously focus on making sure that when I meet people they see that, and hopefully, it rubs off on them. In the past I know that I have been stand offish with strangers at times. Sometimes they were really annoying and deserved it, but other times it was just me being a little too pompous and maybe a little arrogant too.
I got to the point where I was reluctant to make new friends. Instead, just spending time with my close friends from back in Toronto. In fact, Ted Park is the last close friend that I’ve made and that was quite a while ago.
Aside from Ted, Rob and Amber are probably the only “new” people in my life that I really enjoy hanging out with. Me, Jennifer, Rob and Amber went to the Palazzo grand opening together and it was an absolute blast. We drank champagne and talked all night. Frankly, it didn’t even matter where we were, we were just enjoying each others company.
I started to feel more open to the idea of being positive and less stand offish in the Bahamas. At the PokerStars opening party I made a point of going around the whole room and talking to everyone instead of just sitting in th corner. I met lots of guys I played with and I can honestly say that it made me feel really good to know that they didn’t hate me for whatever reason. You never know with people, sometimes they just hate on you for nothing.
I even made a new friend in the Bahamas. I never expected to really, as I was just going out there to work, but because I was more open to the idea I met a really positive person who has been a very positive influence on me.
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So that takes me here to Tunica. A place where I’ve often acted like a spoiled child and complained about any and everything. Many of my complaints were warranted, but that didn’t excuse my behavior and I’m honestly embarrassed about the way I acted, and also the things I’ve written in the past after trips here.
I mean, rather than focus on the fact that for three years in a row I’ve scored a 3rd, 1st, and a 2nd place finish, instead I focused on the food situation, etc.
This year, I came prepared. One suitcase for clothes and another suitcase full of food and cooking equipment. Now I’m all set for the week.
I must add something else, this place looks MUCH better than it has in the past. They renovated the poker room and it really does look great. Also, I’m staying in one of the newer rooms that are a lot more modern. Sadly, they still don’t have high speed internet in the rooms but they are working on that for next year.
I’m as prepared as I can be for this week. I even followed ALL of my tournament rules: no drinking, no socializing, and I unpacked all my bags immediately and put everything away neatly.
I expect to play the best I can tomorrow and if all goes well I hope to have another deep run here in Tunica. I’ll be texting updates on my cell phone and you can find them in the General Forum at www.fullcontactpoker.com. There should be a stickied thread there with updates.
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Good news on that front. Little Matt is a competitive kid and loves sports. Since his accident and all of the surgeries he’s had it’s been impossible for him to really be on a team as a player or anything like that… until now. He’s on the basketball team! I can’t imagine how excited he must be to play. He is going to start out as the sixth man but he’ll definitely play thanks to the assistant coach… his pops, Big Matt. I was really happy to get the e-mail because I know how happy Matt’s got to be about being able to play ball. I’ll let you guys know when he records his first double-double 🙂 ***************************************************************** As for me I have working pretty hard playing online at PokerStars, the $200-$400 limit hold’em games have been crazy and I also have been playing a few of the $5k sit n’ gos. Last night I had the boys over for a round of golf, we played Pebble Beach till about 2:00am, then switched to backgammon, pool, and ended up playing Golden Tee until 7:30am. I chipped in for Eagle on number 18 for all the money baby, woohoo! Eat some of that TED!!!! I bet you thought you had me sucker, BOO YA! 6 skins on the line and the superstar comes through in the clutch. That’ll make you sleep really good. ***************************************************************** Tonight I’m going to the grand opening of the Palazzo at the Venetian. Jay-Z opened up a club there and there is a private party tonight also. Boston Rob was over at the house golfing last night and he’s going to the party so at least I’ll know “somebody.” I really have no clue who is going to be at the party or what I’m supposed to wear, but whatever, it’s hockey season so maybe I’ll bust out my Corey Perry jersey. Or not, lol. Nah, I’ll probably do the suit thing I guess. ***************************************************************** I’ve been writing pretty regularly and am trying to push the turbo button so that I can get the book finished and edited by February 15th. I need to make that date for a 2008 WSOP release. My writing is essentially done, but the hard part is editing through some of the work written by other contributing writers. It’ll be tight but I can do it. As for my dreams of making SuperNova at PokerStars this year? I’m ahead of schedule and found a neat little trick that’ll help me get there. For every $5k sit no go I play, I get 500 VPP’s. That’s pretty strong, one of those a day I’m Nova baby, yeah! ***************************************************************** What else, what else… well, I’m insanely happy on all fronts. My poker game is as good as it’s ever been, oh, and not that it matters, but I’ve been winning. The golf game is struggling but thats just from lack of practice. I’m being productive with my time and looking forward (seriously) to going to Tunica and then of course to Germany. Most importantly, things in my personal life are going very well. I’ve got a really positive outlook on life, I’m smiling all the time. My friends hate it. They are used to me cursing them out when they beat me at pool or backgammon, and now they get, “Great shot Sam. That was clutch, good job.” I think they take more pleasure in beating me when I throw the 9 ball at their head when they fluke it on me! I’m a pretty cool customer on the poker table, but when I play backgammon with Sam it’s a mistake to leave any blunt, or sharp objects near me. When he rolls the perfect number three rolls in a row, I can’t help but try to decapitate him. Anyway, I have to jump in the shower and get ready for the party. Peace. ]]>
I had a blast, an absolute blast. I go to the PCA (PokerStars Carribean Adventure) every year, but this year was different, I had more fun than I’d ever had in the Bahamas before.
The first couple days there the weather wasn’t great but it improved quickly and got to be pretty nice. I had my cousins with me, 14 year old kid who looks about, oh, 22, and also my 20 year old cousin was there with me too. Unfortunately due to the tournament and then having some other responsibilities I didn’t get a chance to hang out with them as much as I’d like.
It’s amazing how the weather can play such a role in one’s outlook. The first few days there were kind of, bleh, but then the last couple days there it seemed to be sunny all day and night.
I played well in the tournament once again. Day two was a direct contrast to day one where I played lots of hands. On day two, I was dealt very few playable hands and was also at a tougher table which forced me to play a little more carefully. This is how my day two started:
Played three hands in the first hour: AQ, A10, AQ. I raised all three times and the flops came Q-10-2, 10-7-2, and A-K-5, giving me top pair and top kicker every time. Easy game, as my opponent folded on the flop every time. Aside from that I got nothing to play at all and the players at the table were definitely noticing which put me in an interesting spot: I looked like I was playing super nitty.
That’s not the truth really, but I realized that my table image would be greatly affected by the cold cards, which should help explain the following two hands:
A player raised under the gun and I called with JJ from second position. A big stack (I was a big stack too) re-raised from middle position and I laid down the hand. He had AK, and I’m totally fine with the lay down as I knew he had to have a strong hand.
The very next hand I raise under the gun to 3k with AK suited and “Big Egypt” re-raised me to about 9k from second position. I folded that one too, and he showed AK suited. Once again, I figured his range could never include a hand that I was ahead of, he was either paired up or had the same hand, but being out of position against a good, young player with chips, I figured folding was the best play.
I didn’t get any real hands all day and kind of anted myself off for the whole day, finally going bust in the last level of the day when I made a stand with Qc Jc and a player behind me picked up… AA. I waited, and waited for the right situation or the right hand to come up, but it just never happened. I finished about 170th out of the 1135 player field which didn’t pay, but was still a decent result.
After the tournament I decided to host the PokerRoad radio show, and ended up doing so with Justin Bonomo as the guest. There has been loads of talk about online players versus live players and I felt like Justin had a lot of good things to say in the interview.
If you haven’t heard the show you should definitely check them out. I’m a big fan of the “mom and pop” sites having a chance to cover tournaments, etc. as you know, and I think PokerRoad is a quality site that helps the growth of poker. I try to do whatever I can to help out, whether it was PokerWire, PokerRoad, or any of the other smaller sites that provide content for the poker community. I think it’s really important that these kinds of sites continue to thrive and a site like PokerRoad already seems to have built up a huge audience in a relatively short period of time.
So after doing the show I figured it was time to let loose and have some fun. Up until this point in the trip it was pretty much a typical PCA trip for me, hanging with some of the younger guys, doing a couple interviews, etc. But now that I was essentially done with all of that I had the opportunity to take some time for myself and do the things that I wanted to do: truly enjoy what this vacation had to offer.
If I wanted to take a nap, hey, I’d take a nap. Speaking of naps, I didn’t sleep too well the first couple of nights because they have soft pillows and I like a firm pillow. Mental note: on my next vacation or tournament make sure to bring a pillow. I’m very picky when it comes to pillows and if it’s not JUUUUST right, then I don’t sleep nearly as well.
I didn’t do anything extraordinary exactly, went to the comedy club, walked the beaches, went to the club, watched a movie, etc., but I think it was just the fact that I felt carefree, not bogged down with work, or anything like that. I’d been playing a lot online (for me anyway) and doing some writing, so this last few days was an opportunity for me to really unwind and soak it all in. To really appreciate the vacation. In the end, as much as I miss being home in Vegas, I really didn’t want to leave at all. I felt like I was just starting to really have a good time out there and then, bam, time to go home. Oh well, I’ve promised myself that I’m going to make sure that I get more out of these vacations from now on. Poker is awesome and everything, but we travel to such beautiful places it would be a shame to continue wasting these opportunities.
My next trip is to the beautiful and fabulous Tunica, MI. where I usually go every January. I have no idea what it is about that place, but I seem to always run really good there in January so I’m not about to skip that tournament. From there, it’ll be off to Germany for my fourth shot at an EPT title in Dartmound. Then in mid-February I’m headed to Copenhagen followed by Los Angeles.
The trip I’m most excited about, though, is San Remo, Italy. I have some special plans for that trip and just can’t wait to get out there! I’m thinking about staying out there a little bit longer so I can soak it all in before going to Monte Carlo a week later. After Monte Carlo, it’s back to Vegas for the WPT Championship.
Those are basically all of the travel plans I have on my schedule for now, but that could all change too. I’m in a very strange place right now where I might just decide to take off for a week to somewhere quiet.
In the meantime, I’m going to golf, continue with my writing, work on PokerVT, and also brush up on my German, Italian, and Spanish.
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2. Erik Cajelas 54,100
3. empty
4. Sean Brudler 12,850
5. Rhett Buttler 81,800
6. Daniel Negreanu 93,950
7. Joseph Elpayaa 72,800
8. David Benefield 53,550
9. Justin Rollo 75,450
As you can see I’m the chip leader at my table but surrounding me are a couple of healthy stacks. I recognize a few names, Erik Cajelas and Rhett Buttler and I think I may have heard the name Justin Rollo from the online world but I’m not sure. Aside from that, I have no clue who the other guys are at all, but since I’m up early I’m going to do some research and see if I can find out anything at all. It’s great when you have time before facing a table to figure out a game plan.
I think one of the other reasons I can’t sleep is that I’ve been dreaming about poker. Just had a really weird one too: I was in a poker game with a terrorist, Barack Obama, and a few young children. The terrorist was trying to recruit me to collude with him against Hillary Clinton when she busts in the door with troops. They were trying to get the terrorist dude, but I ended up defending him for some odd reason.
Then I had this long skinny hair in the palm of my hand that I couldn’t rip out. I kept trying but couldn’t do it. I started talking to the troops and the powers that be and was attacking Hillary for something, I can’t remember. Barack agreed with me and then John Edwards did too.
Eventually I fled the scene when a snowmobile crashed right through the building and caused a smokescreen. I then followed the women and children to the hills for cover.
Hey, it was a dream, no one ever said they have to make sense, lol. In the hills I ran into Annette_15 and we were going over a hand. She was vehemently defending her play to five bet a guy with 10-J suited and I wouldn’t budge. I kept telling her in the dream that a play like that would endanger the world and she needed to come to the good side of the debate. Barack Obama agreed with me that at this point in time we can’t think about making a play like that, it’s too risky, especially when we are leading in the polls.
So where did all this stuff come from? Well, all I have been doing since I’ve been here is:
Playing the tournament
Chatted with Annette about that exact hand!
Watching CNN and the New Hampshire debates
Talked briefly with Sorel Mizzi (the terrorist 🙂
Where the hair on the palm thing came from I’ll never know… I probably don’t even want to know! LOL.
Anyway, got to try and get back to that dream, I just know Hillary has something up her sleeve and she’s going to find me. Luckily Barack and Edwards have my back.]]>