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 March 9
It looks like I have failed miserably at keeping up with my journal. Things have been pretty hectic for me as far as business is
concerned. I have some exciting things going on with poker-babes and will discuss it in more detail when things get finalized. I am
also working my butt off on my other site, Poker Vibe. More on that soon.
Since I didn't post a journal entry during the LA Poker Classic, it was safe to assume I didn't win anything. I played in five
tournaments and I finished fourth in the HORSE event. That was the extent of my tournament series. It's kind of hard to even think
about tournaments when I am so busy working on other projects. The bulk of the work should be finished by the WSOP so I can focus on
those tournaments and winning a bracelet. There are five events that I am definitely planning on playing in. If I do well in any of
them, I will probably play a few more like the 10k HORSE.
I will try and post a new journal entry sooner next time around.
February 2
I played in the HORSE tournament at the LA Poker Classic and finished 4th out of 171. I realized a few things while playing it: one, I
sometimes don't give myself enough credit and two, I still have a LOT to learn.
Tournaments are so difficult on me because I am so hard on myself. I am never happy with my results. If I bubble the event, I wish I
would have at least cashed. If I cashed, I wish I would've final tabled. If I final tabled, I wish I would have won it. You would
think that if I won the event, I would be satisfied, but NOPE. Last year when I won the HORSE event, I wasn't happy because I agreed
to make a deal heads-up.
This time, I thought I had a better understanding of ALL five games combined than my opponents. There were players that might have been
better in specific games, but overall I thought I had the edge. Just when I thought, "I really have a shot here," I screwed up a
hand that cost me my tournament. Since then, I have been kicking myself in the ass thinking, "If I had raised on third street, I might
have won this whole fricking tournament." Instead, I am at home waiting anxiously for the next one. Yeah, tournaments are rough, but I
love them.
January 21
I tried out FullTiltPoker's newest game Rush Poker
the other night and let me tell you "Rush" is an understatement. Those games move so fast and are a poker, adrenaline junkies best friend.
Although I only sat there for ten minutes, I really enjoyed myself and will most likely play again. This sort of game is more of a recreational type
of thing for me because it goes against what I define as poker, but it is fun for sure! If you are interested in reading more about it, see
Skye Pinson's
Rush Poker article on Poker-Vibe.
On a total separate note, take a look at Brad Willis'
newest article
on the cost of having a baby at St. Francis Hospital. He wrote the story because he wanted to get the news out there and I figured linking to his
article is the least I can do for a good friend and fellow blogger.
January 13
I am finally home from the PCA. The trip home was a long one especially since I had a hangover from the night before.
Our last night there, we invited our friends to join us for dinner at Nobu. As I have stated many, many times, the friends we have
made on the tour are amazing, but they do have one HUGE drawback (probably their only drawback)... they all work for Stars and the
media. So when we went to the tournament room to invite them, they all declined our invitation because they were working.
Halli and I had dinner by ourselves and then went to the Coral Lobby where everyone promised to join us. It was about midnight before
they all showed up and Halli and I were feeling pretty good by this point because we had shared a bottle of wine at dinner.
We spent another three hours hanging out and having a blast before calling it a night.
Our trip was fabulous and profitable. That's a great combination. This year, I hope to have many more profitable poker vacations. For
now, I am reflecting on how lucky I am to be able to have these experiences at all.
January 11
We woke up this morning and decided we had had enough of the Bahamas. We have enjoyed our stay tremendously, but it's time to go home.
I screwed up our reservations when I originally booked them. We had our room covered until the 12th (with the package I purchased),
but our flights were booked for the 14th. When I noticed my error, we decided we would make our decision on what day to go home once
we were in the Bahamas. Today we finally made our decision and swapped our flight for tomorrow. This gives us exactly enough time to
celebrate our final table!!
January 10
Halli and I both had a nice finish today. I was eliminated (by Halli) in fourth place and cashed for $6680.
Halli Pinson got heads up with
Vanessa Rousso and ended up coming in second after a two
hour battle. Her finish earned her almost $14k in the PCA Ladies Championship Event.
After playing for so many hours today (and yesterday), we didn't have the energy to do too much celebrating, but tomorrow night is
another story!
January 9
Halli and I played in the Ladies $1k buy-in event today and we both made it through to day 2. 91 players started the day and there are
26 people left. I am feeling fantastic about making it through especially since I was down to $3k in chips about an hour before the
day ended and worked myself back up to about 25k before breaking. For more details, read my
2010 PCA tournament trip report.
Tonight we are going to the PokerStars party where Kelly Rowlands is set to perform. It should be a great night because a whole group
of us are going. I gotta make sure to keep things low key so I have the energy to kick ass tomorrow.
Yesterday, we had our first full day of sun and we spent it at the pool enjoying the waterslides. I remember last year, my favorite
part about my trip was hanging out on the Lazy River and riding the slides. I had a blast doing it again this year. It really sucks
that the weather has been so bad that we have only got to experience the pool and slides one time this trip.
January 7
The weather in the Caribbean hasn't been fantastic during my stay this year. Today was nice enough to take a walk on the beach, but it
was definitely not warm enough to get my bathing suit on and take a dip.
A few of my family members flew in last night to spend five days with us, so the whole group not only walked on the beach, but also
spent some time looking at all sorts of things the resort has to offer. "The Dig" was one of my favorite things. It is a maze of
tunnels and chambers with ruins and underwater inhabitants depicting the lost city of Atlantis. The whole attraction was
fascinating, but my favorite part was the jellyfish tank.
This evening we went to the marina and dined at the famous restaurant, Carmines. They serve their plates "family style" which means
"ridiculous proportions." We all shared two plates; breaded artichoke and vodka penne pasta and there was still a ridiculous amount of
leftovers. The food was great and even better was we felt like we got good value for our dollar which isn't an easy thing to come by
at this resort.
January 6
I played my day 1 today and unfortunately that is where my main event ends. Of course, I am disappointed that I couldn’t have gone
farther (that first prize of over $2 million would be nice), but I played fantastic which helps ease the pain a little bit.
 January 5
The party was a blast as usual. It is just so nice when I go on these types of trips and hang out with my friends. They are the nicest
group of people and they never fail to make me laugh.
As soon as Halli and I were ready, we headed downstairs to meet up with Melina and Thomas. They both were working, but were hopeful
they were going to be able to spend some time at the party. No such luck for them, but we did hang out with Alex who is a damn good
substitute for his sister, Mel. We also enjoyed the company of Brad (our favorite blogger), Joe the photographer, Stephen (who also
writes for writes for the PokerStars blog), Rich Korbin (one of the marketing directors), and we even met a few other nice guys.
The great thing about the party this time is I didn’t have to play the following morning which was a really good thing. I had all day
to recover from my long, exhausting flight and from the alcohol I drank (which wasn’t as much as expected).
January 4
Our flight didn’t go as planned. In fact, it was hell trying to get to the Bahamas, but we are here finally. And we are exhausted.
The first portion of our itinerary went fantastic. We were scheduled to fly from Long Beach to Fort Lauderdale, Florida before taking
another flight from Fort Lauderdale to Nassau. When we arrived in Florida, we checked the board for our gate number and it said
“flight cancelled.” There wasn’t a delay, it was just cancelled Jet Blue didn’t do much to help us out either. While standing in
line, we were advised to book a flight on another airline ourselves and then they would refund the portion of the flight we didn’t
use. I immediately went to Bahamas Air to try and book a flight before the other passengers arrived. I was able to book it and I
thought things should go okay from there. Our flight ended up being delayed for several hours with people getting irate. When we
finally boarded, we were seated in the last row of the smallest piece of crap airline with a crying baby sitting directly in front of
us. The thirty minute flight was the worst flight I have ever taken (and I have been on 12 hour flights before) and I was closer to
vomiting than I ever have been on an airplane before.
 When we landed, I was relieved,
but needed to get off the plane as quickly as possible. There was no chance of that happening since we were in the last row. And to make
matters worse, I had this bitch from hell in front of me who couldn’t get her bag out of the compartment and yelled at me when I told Halli
to go around her. I originally tried to help the woman, but she still couldn’t get her bag down and I was feeling more nauseous by the minute.
I normally wouldn’t even stand up until the people in front of me are starting to move, but this was extraordinary circumstances.
We took a taxi to Atlantis and arrived around 3pm which gave us enough time to take a nap for a couple of hours. Now we are heading to
the PokerStars Welcome Party and I am hoping to see some of my close
poker friends (most of which work for Stars or some sort of media outlet).
January 3
I am heading out tonight to play in my first live tournament of the year;
PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the
Bahamas. I scheduled to play day 1B of the main event. I also qualified for the Ladies event that included weekend accommodations, a
$250 spa certificate, and poker boot camp taught by Vanessa Rousso. There are a few other events that I am interested in if I have the
time for them. I have been working on my eight game mix and I can finally say that my Deuce to Seven Triple Draw game doesn’t suck
nearly as bad as it used to. Our flight leaves shortly (9pm) and if things go as planned, we should be in Paradise by 9am tomorrow. |
