Life after the WSOP

It was so nice to enjoy some time off after the six week WSOP rush. I didn't play much poker the last few weeks and just had some ME time, which means lots of yoga, working out, shopping and time with family/pets/friends.



Last week I took a mini vacation to Utah with my daughter and we enjoyed a bunch of outdoor activities. We had an amazing time. We went shopping, to the movies, to the mountains and to a water park. We also tried a bunch of vegan restaurants, including a vegan pastry shop (City Cake and Cafe) that had a huge selection of vegan sweets, so we were pretty much in vegan heaven. My daughter is the one who turned me vegan by showing me some video's on animal abuse. I really enjoy spending time with her. We are on the same page on so many issues and we have a great Mother/daughter relationship.



While in Utah, she suggested that we go to a homeless shelter to play with the kids and read them bedtime stories. So we did. It was heartbreaking to know the kids where homeless. However they were happy, they looked at us with the biggest smile on their face. Most of them were excited to have us there and spent as much time as they could with us. I will never complain about a bad day, especially after seeing these kids make the most of their situation. It was a very humbling experience.


I am now back and planning on working a tight poker schedule. There are a few online tournaments that I am planning on playing on a daily basis; in the evenings I will concentrate on cash games (online and live). I also want to improve my mix games; I am really into Razz right now. Obviously, Sunday will be all online tournaments. The nice thing is that I will be home a lot more. I’ll be working a crazy amount of hours, but that doesn't bother me.
I already had a few cashes and two final table, including one win, in the last two days so it's definitely a good start.

WSOP 2010 coming to an end.

I played the WSOP main event last week. I was so excited to play and felt so good about how I would do but somehow, I ran so bad that day and nothing was going my way. I actually can't remember the last time I had such a bad day in poker! AA then KK cracked, Top 2 pairs were no good, draws would not come, I missed most flops and my bluffs were getting called or raised. I lost pots after pots. The worst part is that I had a really easy table draw. Except for Michael Binger, none of the players at my table were pro's and I really was wondering what a few of them were doing playing a 10k event as they were pretty bad players! But luck was on their side not mine. Even though I kept positive that everything would turn around and stayed focused, it didn't and I was eliminated on day one after dinner break.

I took the week off from poker to regroup and relax. Except from playing a few online tourneys when I got really bored, I mainly focused on catching up with friends and spending time at home with my pets. I needed that... The last few weeks have been crazy and exhausting to say the least!



I did go to a few WSOP closing party last week end. Poker Listings was hosting a house party for the departure of Lara Miller last Saturday. For those who do not know Lara, she is a personal Publicist. Her list of clients includes some of the big names in poker such as Phil Helmuth, The Brunson's and Erica Schoenberg just to name a few. She is totally addicted to adventures and has decided to leave everything behind and go on a world trip, where she is going to volunteer and help people in need. I admire her for her courage to just turn the page and do something that she truly wants. You guys can follow her blog at http://www.vagabondlara.com/. It was a beautiful setting, the party was great and a lot of people came to give her farewell. She will be missed!

The following night I went to the Pokerstars private WSOP ending party with special guest Snoop Dogg. It was held at Rain nightclub at The Palms. I went with Tom McEvoy, His beautiful wife Yolanda and my girlfriend Demetria. The place was packed! It definitely was a lot of fun, Snoop's Performance was great and to top it off, at the end of the night as we were leaving, Demetria and I got invited to meet Snoop Dogg. So we met him, took a few pics, but to be quite honest, it was not our scene! There were about 20 groupies in there wanting to meet him, the room smelled of... Hum, hum... you know, this "thing" he is known to enjoy smoking and it was a bit awkward. So we left shortly after meeting him, happy that we did. It was just a fun night overall and I am glad that I went and caught up with friends.




I have a few friends still going strong on day 6 of the main event WSOP. I think it would be awesome to see Michael Mizrachi win another championship bracelet this year but I am also rooting for Adam Levi, David Benyamine, Jean Robert Bellande and Joseph "subiime" Cheong. I can't wait to see who will be the final nine!

I am taking the week off and will be back at online grinding after the week end. I am excited about a few things to come in many aspects of my life. I will keep you all posted as they develop.

This year is a good one!

Living the dream!

My head is spinning trying to think of everything that's happened since my last blog!

Well, for one thing, there was lots and lots of poker. But what else is new? Oh yes, I got back to practicing yoga... And it's totally awesome! I find that when I go through stressful periods and I have lots on my mind, all I need to do is just go to a yoga class and through stretching, doing the poses, breathing and meditating, everything seems to clear up and then it becomes obvious as of what I should do and where I should put my focus. It's hard to explain but as I let go of what's on my mind, the answers come to me. I used to do heaps of yoga and the 2 studios I liked going closed down so I stopped practicing. I found a few new places lately that I have tried and liked and I am definitely back into it. I feel so much more empowered and relaxed after a good class!

I have also tried very hard to get into the WSOP main event. From backing deals to trying and satellite my seat. I did not want to spend 10k on a seat, as much as I believe in myself, a lot can happen in a tournament that is beyond my control and the price of that tournament is way over what I allow myself considering the size of my bankroll!!

So this week, I grinder my way up...I played a one table satellite for $175 and chopped it where I got about $800 and decided to invest in the $550 mega satellite. I didn't do too well in the first one but tried the same routine the following day. Now, you guys have to understand that lately, I have been doing a lot of visualization about the WSOP Main Event and I could actually see myself playing it. I felt very strongly about this to a point that it seemed nearly impossible that I was not going to make it. I was extremely positive about playing it and doing well at it. Well, sure enough, as I was playing my second Mega, I got a text from a friend with an offer for a full backing deal for the WSOP Main Event. I was very happy and accepted the offer! Then, of course, with all this boosting, I went on and did really good in the tournament. We made a deal at the end when we reached 27 players and split the total prize pool for $8700 each with a little less for the short stack and more for the few bigger ones (out of 500 entries, 23 players were supposed to be getting a 10k seat). I couldn't be happier! A good cash and a full staking deal on the same night!!

I am obviously all pumped up as I am writing this and can't wait to play day 1-D of the Main event at the World Series on Thursday! In the mean time... Yoga, positive thinking, visualization (I actually am gonna sleep with a bunch of chips in my bed to feel being surrounded by them! No joke!) I am totally grateful for all the opportunities that are coming my way and my friends who are cheering for me!

Life is goooooooood!