ok so, i was unsure whether i should expand on my travels in this blog as it's so far been purely related to poker, albeit not a whole lot, and looking back on a lot of it, it's mostly coming from the naive young child inside me.. but, as poker has afforded me the opportunity to travel and experience this beautiful world i guess i can go ahead and be naive enough in this blog to think that this little journey is worth reporting.. soo, there's no reason why i too shouldn't become a self indulgent godshite like so many before me and bore all you unfortunate folk with a few light heartedscribblings of my travels ..
first up, where i left off, a recap of vegas and california, summer 07..first night i landed, blinded by the lights, i decided to take it easy downstairs at the lower limits of the hotel i was staying at.. i had just bought in for the table max, $200, and was sitting comfortably when i looked around and wondered why everyone on the table had huge deep stacks that dwarfed mine and even bigger smiles on their faces?.. a random aussie guy beside me (who i'd later go travellig with) pointed to an asian lady sitting directly opposite and quickly informed me how she had busted through $5k in the past 2hrs and that she refused to leave until reclaiming each and every chip.. 30hazy hours later that same lady was wondering why she didn't leave only 5k down when i cash out for just over $3k and finally get to use my $200 room for an hour for a quick shower until quickly racing back to the games.. this was the point where the world series, the main reason for my being here in vegas, quickly began to take a backseat in my summer plans as i spent the next month religiously and somehow insanely profitably grinding most of the cash games along the vegas strip..
(however, i did play 2 $1k satelites for the main event, the first of which i arrived over an hour late soaked with sweat like you've never seen and burnt to a crisp as i'd overlooked how tiring it was going to be dragging my silly ass a mile over the road to the rio in the blazing desert heat)
aside from the poker vegas was a dream for the few weeks i was there.. the food, clubs, shows.. everything ridiculously spectacular and over the top which is absolutely amazing.. for a short time.. 1month was definatley enough though as i could see it all getting old pretty quickly had i stayed any longer.. in saying that, i'll likely be seeing it all again this summer for another quick fix of that oh so famous vegas buzz..
l.a was our next stop and the commerce casino literally became my home for the next 2mths.. 5/10nl was my game of choice for my time there with the rare flurry into 10/20nl and even rarer, thankfully, drunken bursts into 50/100 stud..
possibly the easiest/best games i've ever sat in were at the commerce.. huge winrates combined with winning 2 bad beat jackpots (2k each) and being the biggest winner, apparently, over the summer at 5/10nl,had me almost clinging onto my seat hoping i could find a way to remain in the country over my 90day visa period..
before i headed for home though i needed to get away and it was a welcome change to begin enjoying some new experiences; the games were good but being enslaved in a casino environment for a whole summer regardless of money, is not good for you!
for my last 2weeks myself and my girl took a roadtrip throughout california.. san fran for the groovin' (yeah, i said groovin') night life, big sur for the amazing scenery and camping, napa valley, san diego, santa barbara.. an absolutely unbelievable trip into and through the mouth of america..
my last week i spent living in the back of an art gallery with a musician i'd met along the way.. it was a pretty chilled week of wining and dining around la.. la cita became our pary home for the week, a funky reggae place which catered for many of my more fun times in la..a few of us took a quick roadtrip to vegas for one last blowout before i finally had to say goodbye to my newfound good friends, and california, where on my first journey alone, i had learned more about myself and much else about life than my previous 21years back home.. so hey, thank you poker i guess..
although i don't want to get too empiremaker2 like here, i feel the below crap needs to get written down, if only just to warn my silly ass not to be such a careless gobshite..
soo.. for all you aspiring degenerates out there, here is a rather small list of the dumb/ridiculous shit that happened to me along the way: (there's obviously way more but there's a delicate balance in being so wasted and trying to remember it..)
(edit, first one is fine looking back)
getting it all in with Ah4h on a 6h5h7h board for a $4.5k pot at a $400max table..i turn over my hand but the other guy won't reveal.. i'm silently praying for a heart and the board not to pair.. the dealer slowly reveals the turn and river as bricks and i'd imagine if you'd have looked hard enough, you'd have seen a single tear roll down my sullen face..until i hear my opponent from across the table whimper "take it" and mucks Kh8h face up.. i'll always remember the shout of the fat guy opposite who leaped onto his chair and bawled, "Ahigh takes down $5k pot!" in true honest humoured american fashion..
playing a game i had no clue about, paigow, at the rio for $200/point, and losing.. a lot..
at the commerce on the only night over the whole course of the summer that they had only 1 table of 5/10 open.. get's down to 3handed so of course we all decide to go allin preflop 3times and run it out for $500 a pop, i lose, all three..
playing craps for the first time wasted in the gold coast with sean, who apparently has the game figured out and can make me a fortune.. drop $500 in 5mins..
spilling a beer over my new $3.2k laptop the very same night i bought it rendering it completely unusable..
spending aver $2k on 5 pairs of sunglasses throughout the summer, all of which i lost..
..winning the bad beat jackpot twice in the commerce, at just under $2k each (hey, nice to see i don't run bad all of the time..)
i learned quite a bit about my poker game last summer and realised it would be fairly easy for me to stay out there and grind out a healthy live profit, building a decent bankroll all the while having a pretty fun lifestyle with santa monica but a stones throw away.. however, the live scene gets fairly monotonous very quickly and i've realised that playing online whenever you want, in your own comfort zone and having much more free time to do other things is a waaay more, firstly profitable, but also healthier and fun way to 'do it'..
(also, if any of ye guys are heading out that way in the coming months just hit me up for any advice on the california pokerrooms as i've played in the majority of them throughout the summer..)
next week, thailand :)
