From Flush Draws to Family Drama... Part 1- The Glitz

Hi guys n gals.

I know it's been a long time since I've last written. Let's catch up!

The new year has brought with it some amazing opportunities and also a bit of drama.
For the sake of weeding out rants of my personal life, I'll dedicate this blog to mostly the topic of poker and will cover some more personal topics in my next blog(coming soon!).

The goal after WSOP was to grind hard, which as you all probably know, I did for most of the fall season. The fall brought me a victory in Hammond, IN's WSOPC, good for my first WSOP jewelry... and it also brought me a deep run and another shot at 700k+ 1st prize money in the WPT Montreal Main Event.

Early into the new year, I played what is probably my favorite series ever, the Borgata Winter Open WPT. While it was a fun series, it didn't prove as fruitful as I would have liked. Thanks to WPT for making the trip a great one, as I got to do coverage for the live stream of the BWO WPT Main Event final table, alongside Tony Dunst and Jon Little.

I also got the amazing chance to take part, as a guest trainer, in Lee Childs' "Inside the Minds" training course held at the Borgata. This was a great experience for me. I found that I thoroughly enjoy teaching others. I hope to do more in this area as opportunities present themselves. The close of the BWO meant it was time to pack up the home I'd lived in all winter(in AC), and that it was again time to hit the road for my spring schedule. Sadly, along with the move, I had to deal with losing someone I thought was a friend.




                                                                   (Inside the Minds, BWO 2013)


The spring began with a trip down to Hollywood, FL to play the WPT Hardrock. I used to, and still do kind of dislike the idea of traveling long distances to only play one big event.... but as I was a WPT "Ones to Watch" this year, I did feel a bit more obligation to follow the tour's Main Events. While the tourney there didn't go so well, I did end up having an amazing time in Miami. The weather was beautiful, and the rental home I scored was probably one of the sickest negotiations(deals) I've ever made for a home. I also took a few days to scour the town in search of some hidden pockets of color, and boy did I find it! A great place for any who are into it, Wynwood offered the most amazing street art I've ever seen!


 
 
Once Miami finished up, I packed the car again, me and my Boozer(the cat! ...follow him @TheReaLBoozie) trekked out to LA for the LA Poker Classic. The series was mostly comprised of bigger buyin mtts. I played probably 10 events, making the final table of one, a $1,100 turbo. Several familiar faces paved this final table, including one person who you've all likely gotten to know a bit this year, Ryan Eriquezzo.



While at LAPC, I again got to do some filming with WPT for a new upcoming segment. It's unlike what they've done in the past. I can't really say much about it... so you guys will have to stay tuned in for the new footage. Schedules for the national airing of WPT on tv can be found on their website, WPT.com.

At the close of LAPC, I again packed up my cat and my bags, and made my way north en route to the San Jose area. I took the coastal Route 1(Pacific Coast Highway) up from LA to Santa Cruz. It was an amazing drive. Camera in lap and my foot ready to slam the gas petal at the sign of a great shot. And man-oh-man did I find some amazing ones! Check out my FB for full albums of my photos from the trip!



After some gajillionaire busted me from the event, I made my way back to my rental. Mid-drive home, I enjoyed a moment of intro and retrospect. I recalled my tough childhood, my journey through college, and what has come of my life ever since. Back when I was young(er), I had almost nothing. I dreamed of my hopeful future successes, despite the fact that my dreams were unclear and at the same time sat seemingly out of reach. I never would have thought that a few years later, I'd be sitting in a room with the guys who made Google, Facebook, etc.

 I was reminded of the "6 degrees to anyone" concept. For those who don't know, it's a concept that states that each person is only 6 degrees(or personal connections) away from any other given person in the world. For IE- I know my mom, she knows her lawyer, her lawyer knows a lawyer overseas, that lawyer knows the royal family. It means that I'm within 6 degrees(or chain of people) of knowing the royal family. This concept hit home for me when I put it into context of my own life. Those days back way when, I dreamed of my bright future, but never had imagined being so closely linked to such powerful people. Perhaps I was, at that time, 6 degrees from them. My intro and retrospection brought to light the bountiful progress that I've made as the years have passed. I've gone from a place of never ever even dreaming of meeting such people, to being only 1 degree from them. I consider that amazing progress!

It offers me amazing personal perspective, and provides me with a sense of achievement that I may have, in my past, feared unattainable. My goals stretch far beyond just that which is achievable in the poker community... and getting to mix and mingle with these titans of the modern world gave me hope that I'm on the right path to getting to that dreamy place that I wasn't sure really existed.

The following day I had another amazing opportunity, thanks to Mr. Matt Savage (and all those who weighed in on my behalf), to play in the Bay101 Shooting Stars Event as a Shooting Star bounty. Playing with a bounty over your head can definitely put you in some precarious spots. I got into such a spot vs David Williams, who ended up "getting there" on me to bust me on my 1st bullet.



I busted right before dinner break. I had planned on coming back in after dinner break to re-enter. However, on this break, I received a distressed phone call from a relative which ultimately kept me from playing out another bullet in this amazing event.

That bullet, fired in on March 5th, 2013 was the last time I played poker. It's been over a month now. I rushed home after the distressed phone call and have been stuck here ever since. My life has flip-flopped upside-down the past month, and has left me no time for poker. Care to hear about my personal life? Check out my next blog!!