Test

Just testin.

Final Thoughts

Well the second half of my time here wasn't quite as successful as the first half but it was still a lot of fun. I played a WSOP event on Tuesday and went pretty far but didn't quite cash. It was a really up and down day and ended in a flash when I got my money in bad against a super aggressive player. I got to play against a tonne of pros this time which was kind of crazy. It's hard not to be at least slightly intimidated when you put in a 3-bet against people you've watched over and over on tv. I think I held my cool reasonably well but I definitely didn't play my best. Ah well... there's always next year. There was definitely a bit of culture shock when I first arrived here less than two weeks ago. When I sat down to play for the first time, these two guys on either side of me were trash-talking each other relentlessly. Usually stuff like that doesn't bother me but this time it became really irritating. I was just thinking, chill out, there's more important things in the world than a poker game. I think I've maintained that attitude the whole time. I've never been too affected by a bad beat or whatever, but that was especially true this year. Anytime I got rivered by a two or three outer for a big pot, I was able to get over it almost instantly and move on to the next hand. Isn't that the way life should be approached in general? Shit happens. You get over it. You're lucky enough to live another day. Stop complaining. Life is too short. On that note, it's time to board the plane soon. See you next year!

2009 Midpoint Update

I'm back for a shorter amount of time in 2009. I returned from Ghana last Thursday and felt like death, after going almost three years without so much as a cold. Fortunately it only lasted for about a day, and I was feeling fine for my flight here on Saturday. I'm here for the beginning of the series this year, and I specifically came to play in the $1000 Stimulus Event #4. It had a great structure and there was bound to be schools and schools of fish coming out for this event. To my disappointment, Day 1B was already sold out (6000 people) the afternoon before when I arrived. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise since instead of playing in that event, I signed up for one of the megastack events at Caesar's and made it to the final table. I thought there would be a lot more internet kids in the event that also missed the stimulus tourney but it wasn't the case at all. There were a lot of inexperienced players and I was able to grind my to 5th for a payout of about $5500. (The buy-in was $340.) So it was nice to have a solid result to start off my stay here. I told myself I wanted to play more tournaments this year and now I won't have any problem doing just that. On Tuesday, I met up with a friend and we checked out the clubs at the Palms. I was able to get free admission and it turned out to be a really fun night. The last couple of days I've been playing mostly side games and a megasatellite at the Rio. Today I'm switching to IP and am waiting to check in. I spent the entire morning trying to figure out a way to watch the French Open semifinal between Fed and DP. It wasn't being broadcast on any of the ESPN channels, the internet connection in my room didn't work, and the wireless connections at the convention centre and IP cost hundreds of dollars for 24 hours! So I trekked up to the Wynn where they have free wifi in an ice cream shop here and I was able to catch the final set of the match. Is it strange that I get more nervous watching a tennis match than playing at a final table? Weird. Anyway, Fed came from behind so I'm happy. There's not much happening for me tournament-wise until Sunday so I will most likely play some cash until then. Tuesday I'll playin the $1500 Pot Limit event, after which I'll send out another update. Ciao!