Vancouver and Rain

The first day I got here it was beautiful and sunny. Since then, the rain has not stopped for even a second. Normally that would probably annoy, buy I’ve spent almost everyday indoors. I’m actually having a great time despite having to work pretty hard. I’m working on a project out here that calls for long days and late nights but it is well worth it and the final product is going to look just awesome. There are some other poker players in town also apparently. Last night Brad Booth texted me and asked me if I wanted to hang out with him and some of his friends. His condo was just two blocks from where I’m staying so he picked me up and we headed over there. I didn’t know anyone at his place outside of him, but his friends were all really cool, laid back people so I felt at home pretty quickly. We hung out at his pad for a little bit before heading to a night spot called Caprice that was within walking distance. Brad had a “hook up” at the club so we were able to get everyone in and took over the VIP area. Joining us later was Van Nguyen and Tuan Lam, second place finisher in the main event this year. After talking to Tuan about the tournament, while obviously disappointed in not winning, he didn’t sound too broken up about it and genuinely seemed extremely happy for Jerry Yang. Noah and David Williams also showed up, they are in town for a wedding apparently. So bizarre that so many poker players are in town for random reasons? I hear that Phil Laak will also be here playing against a computer. Brad got me hooked on a new drink, it’s called a Vodka Expresso I think and it went down real smooth. I honestly didn’t know Brad all that well before last night but seeing him with his friends, the way he treats them, and the vibe they have together, you can totally tell that he is a really, really, good dude. Entering the VIP room later in the night was NBA MVP Steve Nash and his “crew.” He is from Vancouver and is doing a charity basketball game tonight. I spoke with Raja Bell for a bit, but didn’t approach Nash at all. As you should know from previous blogs, “I just don’t do that.” I left the club at who knows when, and had to be up at 7:30am for a quick photo shoot. When I woke up, I’m pretty sure I was a little bit tipsy as Brad and the owners of the club were continuously force feeding me Vodka Espresso. It was a lot of fun, but man, did I pay the price this morning! I have a day off today from work which is really nice after steadily working long days. The plan is to hang out in the room and probably play on Pokerstars. When I got to Vancouver I had my laptop with me and actually put a ton of hours in playing online when I had any downtime at all. In fact, with just $200 in my account I decided to see whether or not I could “run it up” by playing in small games. I started out pretty high actually, playing $3-$6 pot limit Omaha which is a game that’s way too big for a $200 bankroll. I won a couple hundred in the game, though, and took that to some other games. Anything from: $15-$50 Stud H/L
$30-60 Omaha H/L
$30-$60 Stud H/L
$20-$60 H.O.R.S.E.
$30-$60 2-7 Triple Draw
$5-10 No Limit Hold’em
$5-10 Pot Limit Omaha
$50-100 Limit Hold’em
$100-$200 Stud H/L I was able to run it up to about $5000 in about a day and a half and I think I’ve got $4600 in my account now. The safest game for me to play and protect the bankroll while trying to double it, is guaranteed the $100-$200 Stud H/L. If you are bored and want to rail, it’s easy to find me. From the lobby you can click on requests and then click on “find a PokerStars Team Member.” That will take you to any table I’m on as well as any other PokerStars guys you might want to rail. The ultimate goal is to get to $20,000 at which point I’m going to try and play in the $25-50 No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha games. On that note, I’m going to head over there now…
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