Well another long time since my last post and even longer time since I done any sort of personal update and since it’s pretty much the end of summer it seemed worthy of update. I’ve mentioned this previously that I probably wasn’t going to update often because i’ve stopped playing poker and so don’t really have a focus for this blog anymore.
From the end of last year I planned a trip across the U.S.A travelling from NY to LA on a bus with an organised tour group of 13 people i’d never met before for 3 weeks in the summer. Then i’d be topping it off with a week in Vegas meeting up with my parents and the rest of the NPF crew. It’s been ages since i’ve been back and was planning on doing a proper trip report but fell into the trap of couldn’t be arsed territory so instead i’ll just give a brief overview.
Some of the places I managed to go to:
- New York
- Washington DC
- Tennessee
- New Orleans
- Houston and San Antonio Texas
- Colorado
- Monument Valley
- Grand Canyon
- Zion National Park
- Vegas was also on the trip which meant I had an extended stay there as I decided not to finish off in LA.
There were some other stop offs and a some other national parks but were more of a stop off point along the way and not really any decent time spent there. Some of the highlights included:
Whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River in Tennessee. Going up to class 4 rapids which is very rough. For the record I can’t actually swim but thought fuck it and did it anyway. Did not fall out but someone pulled me in on the still bit not knowing I couldn’t swim. Nearly didn’t get back in the boat like. Then after doing it I find out someone died on that river a month before hand. This was quite an amazing experience and would recommend it to anyone seeking a thrill ride and has an opportunity to do it somewhere decent.
New Orleans. An amazing place and defo a must place to visit when in the U.S. Really cool and chilled out place and great to just walk about there’s just a good atmosphere about the place. Probably couldn’t spend more than 3 days there though unless you are an uber party person. The famous bourbon street not really too my taste but can see why people love it. Loads of music type bars instead of clubs so much more friendly and intimate. Loads of tramps and got a bit too seedy late on. You could not really tell it had been hit by a hurricane just a few years ago with the main city not really being affected and still having that New Orleans vibe that it is famous for. There’s a Harrah’s casino there as well which is just like Vegas, $12/hour rake on $1/$2 though and managed to win $100 for a couple of hours.
Mountain Biking in Colorado. Basically drove to the top of a massive mountain which took half an hour then biked down a dirt road. Loads of fun despite not being confident on a bike and there were some amazing views. The not fun bit was riding a bike with the suspension not working. I run so bad.
Monument Valley was amazing and done a jeep tour round the monuments. Met some Navajo people but was not really authentic because it’s still very touristy.
Hiked 12 miles into the Grand Canyon and helicopter tour. We were camping in the park for 2 days so that meant we got to see sunset and sunrise. We done a thing where we had bags over our heads before we saw the canyon and didn’t take them off until we were at the edge so that was a really cool way to see the canyon for the first time. Other than that it was just ‘hmm Grand Canyon, nice’. The next day we were doing a hike into the canyon at 5am to a place called plateau point which is in the middle but not at the bottom near the river. This was pretty fucking intense since the gradient is ridiculously steep, stupidly uneven terrain and 100°F+ when the sun comes out. I was completely fucked after doing it and wanted to die towards the end but in the end it was worth it just because of the achievement and was an experience that so few people will do.
On the 2nd day I did a helicopter tour over the Canyon. Was not really arsed about seeing the canyon but I just wanted to go in a helicopter and since I was there the Grand Canyon seemed like a good place to fly a helicopter over. If you’re in Vegas and want to see the Grand Canyon then you might aswell just do the helicopter tour. It’s a bit pointless to just go there and see it from a cliff edge since there is only so much rocks you can see before it all looks the same and gets boring. So you might aswell get an extra experience out of if you’re not staying overnight in the park to enjoy it more.
Then went onto Zion National Park which is apparently amazing but did not do the morning hike because too fucked and then the 2nd day was raining so didn’t see any of the park so bit gutted. Then onto Vegas for 2 days where I did a limo tour which was cool and then we got pissed in O’Sheas.
I was supposed to finish off the tour in LA but since I was staying in Vegas for another week it seemed pointless to go and come back and I did not make any really good friends to say goodbye too properly. This turned into a bit of a regret as I was a bit bored at the start and ended up having too much time in Vegas where it would have been good to have a break up and seeing a little bit of LA.
Up to this point I had not played any poker for months (apart from a tiny bit of cash in New Orleans) so despite being in Vegas I still had no desire to play any poker. It was not until halfway where a lot of the NPF crew said they were playing the Binnions Poker Classic $200 on the Sunday so thought i’d have a crack at it since the tourney suited me with a 30 min clock and 15k stack.
I was really not enjoying the start of this tourney and started wishing I hadn’t played it. Did not like the naff surroundings and then there were some turd dealers which I had to stop myself from tilting. Then I just couldn’t get a hand despite a ton of fish to pick up chips. Managed to grind out my normal tight game until I see i’m the last NPF left out of like 15 of us and by this point i’m feeling really comfy and actually quietly confident about winning this tourney.
The NPF rail had been getting drunk at the bar and went for some food before coming back seeing me with a massive stack and looking cert for FT. I lose a big flip after a good call for a huge chip lead but manage to keep with it and make a Binnions final table. I was still very confident about winning with a big NPF rail behind me I get to heads up and somehow manage to bink a decent tourney for just shy of $5k. 
I played well and ran normal winning flips when I needed to and loosing flips when I had the chips. My biggest score to date and took home a trophy left the fucking trophy in my room which Aria could not locate so some Mexican cleaner has it on her mantlepiece. Proper gutted and is just something I never do.
For most people after a big score they’d have a big confidence boost and want to play more but not for me. Played just 1 Aria tournament then the Newcastle Club Championships at home and that’s it, the last game I have played. No more desire to play anything else and quitting while i’m ahead with a nice wedge of USD.
Before I left for my trip I was in the middle of a big project at work with a new computer system which was planned to be finished before I left and have the trip as a reward. Of course things don’t go exactly to plan and have ended up 3 months behind and just now we have gone live with things starting to settle into place and I can start to make progress with the things I want to do.
During this time I was busy doing this project the forum had taken bit of a back seat although still taking up a lot of time and big distraction. There’s been quite a few conflicts this year and numerous times i’ve been so close to closing the thing down completely and actually had some serious conversations about doing it.
The most recent conflict was between Pads and the admin which had actually built up over a much longer period of time. At first I had never had any problems with him and infact had staked him more than once in the past. The second time was a chance for him to prove his ability in poker and to show how he appeared to be on the forum. Turns out he messed this up. Then he had a run in with a new person on the forum and ended up calling him low life scum which he is now appears to be bezzie mates with. Then there was that thing about people wanting a big pat on the back for genuine hard work. Over time with numerous comments i’d come to the conclusion that he was a complete faker and hated reading his total bollocks and arrogant attitude. Eventually he left the forum. Whether this was down to my pressure or because of a cushty new job I don’t know and don’t care but him leaving was the best outcome and a huge weight off my shoulders. Of course it’s a totally selfish point of view as many people still got on with him and liked him. I could have just banned him but truth was he didn’t really do anything bad enough to be banned. He was just a really annoying itch that wouldn’t fuck off and the more you scratched it the worse it got.
Work is now a big priority with some big things happening in the next 2 years. I don’t know if the forum has reached some sort of plateau right now but finding it harder all the time to move it forward. I know I still really have to develop the blog on the home page by writing loads of new and useful articles but just waste too much time and never seem to get anything done. I really want to target more new players because since starting the forum, all the decent tournaments are so tough now because of all the good players. That is one of reasons for the blog home page because a lot of new players are put off by forums so i’m hoping to attract a much larger audience. I’d like to get a regular tournament organised by NPF but so much competition out there right now it’s hard to tell if it would be a success or not and sometimes the work/reward ratio does not pay off.
For my personal life i’ve still been stuck in a bit of a rut and lack motivation in areas. I’ve managed to gain over 2 stone since June 09 (intentionally) because I was so skinny and have been doing a strength training program but have skipped so many workouts and been lazy with my diet i’ve not reached my goals. I’m nearly 22, have some clear paths ahead of me but i’m really going to have to stop waiting for things to happen.
{ 2 comments }