LA Baby! Broke Phil?!? My UB short winning Sessions

Last Saturday I went to watch Corey Pavin play golf at Pebble Beach.  I must be recognizable (partly because I'm tall), because I got mobbed by the fans.  I even was offered a ride across the golf course by a rules official (nice guy), and I gladly accepted the ride.  Corey didn't play that well, as he made bogies on four out of the last ten holes, and he missed the cut.  Still, Corey was in good spirits as we hung out for an hour or two after the round.  Corey and his wife Lisa are really great people, and Corey is LOVED by EVERYONE on tour as he is a nice guy.  Afterwards, I drove back home and went to a wine tasting with my wife.

I have been working out almost every day, because I believe that it will maximize my chances of winning the Commerce WPT, the NBC Heads Up Championships, and a host of other tournaments that I'm playing in the next few months.  I started playing online poker again a few days after I lost $43,000 at UB, which was my entire account balance.  I log on to UB each day with a "Goal."  Maybe it is to win $6,000, or $7,000, or $10,000, or $4,000.  And win I hit that goal I quit for the day!  Many times I hit the goal in 20 minutes or less.  I like this system, but then I have to quit on the downside at a decent level as well; maybe $10,000 a day.  On Saturday I won $9,200 (goal was $7,000), then the next day $8,400 (goal was $6,000), then the third day $8,100 (goal was $7,000), and then I took two days off, and won $5,400 (goal was $5,000) late Thursday night.  On Thursday afternoon Robert Williamson and I went to watch Corey Pavin and Paul Azinger at the L. A. Open.  Then we met with Robert's wife and her friend and we hit "Tony's" Restaurant in Hollywood, and the food was great.  Afterwards we went to the "House of Blues" Foundation Room for a drink.  It was a fun day.

Friday I got up, did a photo shoot, then a long interview, and then I wrote this BLOG.  At 6:15 we took a limo to the L. A. Lakers game, and we sat in Jerry's Busses box.  Because the poker players are in town, Mike Matusow, Layne Flack, Brandon Cantu, Scotty Nyugen, Miami John Cernuto, and I were all in the box, and Jerry looked pretty happy.  I mean, we are his people.  Jerry has been a great poker player since I met him in 1988, and he loves the game, and the poker players in the game.  And we all love Jerry Buss, especially Layne Flack and I.  I noticed John Hennigan and Nick Shulman sat on the floor, and those seats are like $3,000 a pop.  Yosh Nakano has season tickets in the first row, and he was right behind Hennigan and Shulman.  Basically, there were poker players everywhere you looked!  And what a basketball game: the Lakers were down three points with 20 seconds to go, and Derek Fisher hit a three with 12 seconds leftand the crowd went berserk--to take it into overtime, where the Lakers pulled out the win.  Then Layne, Scott Ian, Brandon Cantu, Casey Thompson, and I headed to "Beso," which was packed at 11:00 pm!  We met Liv and Katie there.  FYI - they made me take my hat off at the door, and we nearly left because of it.  I'm not a bad guy or a Primma Donna (well maybe a little bit!), but I figure if I have to take my hat off or if I have to wait to be sat down, then that's a restaurant that I shouldn't be at, period.  I'm not mad when they ask me to take my hat off or wait, and I don't act badly.  I just say, "No problem, I think I'll eat somewhere else tonight."  And then I always have a great meal wherever I land.  But Layne wanted to eat at "Beso," and I really do think the world of the part owners of the place--Eva and Tony Parker--so I took off my hat and we went inside.  The meal was excellent (I had a perfectly delicous Rib Eye steak), the service was excellent, and we stuck around when the director of marketing (Dino) told us that he had a nice table for us upstairsand that I could wear my hat.  The upstairs "Beso" nightclub, although pretty small, is one of the hotspots in L. A. right now.  We ordered some Dom and some Grey Goose, we danced for awhile, and now I'm off to bed.  Saturday at noon (in nine hours) I play the WPT at the Commerce.  I will sleep in, and then I'll decide whether or not I should take a run before I sit down to play, or after I finish playing Day One.

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