Epilogue

I'm writing this in my room the morning after my day 2 main event exit, which was just before the dinner break. Busting out of the main changes a few things. I had a fair bit of flexibility with the trip, and there are still lots of other events going on in town, but since I've opted on the site for a pre-set tournament package that culminated in the WSOP main event, that's it for me for this trip and it's now time to make plans to arrive back in the UK on the 11th and not extend for another week or two to keep on playing. I've been here for about seven weeks, though it wasn't all poker, and I'd happily stay longer, but all good things and all that. Everyone who had a share of various sizes in my A package has some return to come from cashes in a few events, and I'll be in touch with you all personally shortly. Not as many cashes as we'd like of course, but hopefully the shareholders got a decent sweat for their buck along the way via the updates, and a shot at something big even if it didn't materialise in the end. It often doesn't in poker tournaments, I made my peace with that simple truth many years ago, and though of course I'm not over the moon to not win something substantial, I still like to think that I'm always learning something and adapting for the better as I go along. Time will tell I guess. It's a very long game.

I love the weather out here at this time of the year, a lot of people can't handle it, as it's mostly uncomfortably hot during the days (we are in the desert after all), but I can't get enough of it. As always on these trips, I missed out on the chance to catch up with far too many good friends here because our schedules just weren't in sync. We all get that, and in the future I'm sure we'll cross paths again here, eat food, talk rubbish, get drunk, and hopefully laugh at the absurdity of life from time to time, which is one of my favourite things of all. If any of this happens off the back of a decent tournament win then it's always so much the better. I met some really great new people here this time around, all either interesting, funny, kind, crazy or flawed (or a mix of all of these) in their own unique ways. It has most certainly prompted me to want to get out in the world and meet more new people, and experience new stuff, as it's generally managed to get a smile out of me on more than one occasion, or at the very least, prompt me to rethink stuff in my own life a little bit. 

This trip was mainly about poker of course, but I'm glad of the fact that I took rest days and did other stuff in between. I know a ton of people that come here for two-three weeks, and just cram as much poker into that time-window as they possibly can, and have zero down time. For me the experience is always far better for spreading the trip out, and I think it was beneficial to my game when I did sit down to play to do so more focused and relaxed. As I said, I still think it's a huge learning curve, and no one ever fully learns. Sometimes the planets just line up for you anyway, and it all goes right, but you still have to give yourself the best shot you can here. I've certainly come away this time with lots of stuff to think about and some new thoughts for approaching the future, which is most probably October/November here for me if I return for the Venetian/Wynn tournaments in the Autumn.

If I reeled off a rambling list of thank-you's, it'd sound an awful lot like I'm accepting an academy award, so let's just not go there until I actually do. I will however express my sincere gratitude for the not inconsiderable number of people who have kept in touch whilst I'm over here, and have pinged me assorted voice/email/text/etc messages of kindness and support. You have all kept me sane at times, made me laugh, made me think, and have shown me that whilst I am admittedly very jaded about the nature of people, and of poker people in particular (I still am by the way), there are some good friends, kind souls, and grounded people who care about me a lot, despite my many faults. Put away the tissues at the back.

Home it is then shortly for me. No brass band waiting to strike up at Gatwick arrivals when the plane touches down, no one meeting me with a bunch of flowers or a fluffy soft toy (shit, what would I do with either of those things anyway?), and no limo standing by to whisk me back into London. Glamorous stuff. A jet set life indeed. But nevertheless, I'm sure I'll regroup and be cracking back into it again very shortly in the future no doubt. For now though, thanks for reading my diatribe, and until the next one, good luck, be grateful for what you have, be nice to each other, and try to be happy and positive. I certainly will x