Bags are packed, jars of harissa and packets of digestive biscuits are safely stowed away in my luggage, and I'm at Gatwick ready to step on VS043 and attack Las Vegas for the next 3 weeks.
Only problem is, it's now 11.00 a.m, and we're still sitting in the lobby whilst the flight was supposed to depart at 10.35 this morning. Technical problem, innit. Therefore we're delayed by at least an hour whilst we wait for an aircraft part to arrive. I'm hoping it's not a wing or something.
I suppose realistically I'd consider this to be running good as opposed to running bad. The "Brits" here, easily distinguishable by their football shirts and terrible jewellery, have for the large part already had a good old moan about airports, Virgin Atlantic, and the general unfairness of life due to the delay. Personally I'd rather we didn't drop out of the sky like a stone at 37,000 feet as we're over the Atlantic... so I'd rather they fixed the bloody thing whilst we're still on the ground. So that's my viewpoint I guess. I don't generally have a fear of flying, but I guess if I'm honest I do have an aversion to hitting the ground at high speed instead.
The trip has taken a bit of leg work to get organised. A max of $20k of events, with the $10k main included in this package. I've had a few new investors, a few who decided not to go with it this time. It's all good. My last trip was pretty horrific in the poker sense, as nothing went right, and even the stuff that went badly felt like it wanted to go worse than it did. I saw one guy I know recently post on Facebook bout how much coaching he's had, and how much the game is now clearer to him. A few weeks into the trip he's sounding a bit punch drunk, as he's played a chunk of events and not cashed in anything at all, and sound like he's struggling to come to terms with it. I guess luckily I don't have this problem. I know I can play, and I know I can win. I just have to be in the building when the planets line up and this happens again in a significant way. It sounds trite maybe, but although things like the last trip are a disappointment, I really don't let them get to me, I just reset, and start over again next time. I suppose i consider it a strength, however it could be that I've been doing this for so long that I'm simply dead inside. Who knows?
Only problem is, it's now 11.00 a.m, and we're still sitting in the lobby whilst the flight was supposed to depart at 10.35 this morning. Technical problem, innit. Therefore we're delayed by at least an hour whilst we wait for an aircraft part to arrive. I'm hoping it's not a wing or something.
I suppose realistically I'd consider this to be running good as opposed to running bad. The "Brits" here, easily distinguishable by their football shirts and terrible jewellery, have for the large part already had a good old moan about airports, Virgin Atlantic, and the general unfairness of life due to the delay. Personally I'd rather we didn't drop out of the sky like a stone at 37,000 feet as we're over the Atlantic... so I'd rather they fixed the bloody thing whilst we're still on the ground. So that's my viewpoint I guess. I don't generally have a fear of flying, but I guess if I'm honest I do have an aversion to hitting the ground at high speed instead.
The trip has taken a bit of leg work to get organised. A max of $20k of events, with the $10k main included in this package. I've had a few new investors, a few who decided not to go with it this time. It's all good. My last trip was pretty horrific in the poker sense, as nothing went right, and even the stuff that went badly felt like it wanted to go worse than it did. I saw one guy I know recently post on Facebook bout how much coaching he's had, and how much the game is now clearer to him. A few weeks into the trip he's sounding a bit punch drunk, as he's played a chunk of events and not cashed in anything at all, and sound like he's struggling to come to terms with it. I guess luckily I don't have this problem. I know I can play, and I know I can win. I just have to be in the building when the planets line up and this happens again in a significant way. It sounds trite maybe, but although things like the last trip are a disappointment, I really don't let them get to me, I just reset, and start over again next time. I suppose i consider it a strength, however it could be that I've been doing this for so long that I'm simply dead inside. Who knows?
Anyway... I'm full of my trademark familiar mirth and optimism for the weeks ahead for which you all know and love me, for now at least. I chatted with one of the few people with whom I ever discuss poker recently, and a few weeks back I put a few quid online on one of the sites, not to try to win a fortune, but more just to see how the kids are playing now, and if anything has changed much. My experiment showed me it generally hasn't, save for people calling off even lighter that before, and also badly overrating their own sub standard hands and being willing to play for their tournament life with them. This is all good. As I've said, people pay their money, they can play how they want. You get the same amount of money for busting 788th with K7 suited as you do for busting 20 off the money nine hours later with Queens, so it's a puzzle everyone's trying to solve in their own way. I think I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve, so let's get there and make it happen.
Luckily work were happy enough to honour my prior Las Vegas commitment when I started the new job. We've had to do some fancy footwork with wages and holiday entitlement (I've only been there 3 months!) but since the new gig has (I think) generally been going well, albeit tiring, though this is for me not a "holiday", 3 weeks of looking at cards and sitting for hours is kind of relaxing by comparison to sales and dealing with customers who don't know what they want, want it yesterday, and don't want to pay for it... Funny, most non-poker people would imagine it to be the other way around.
I'll be there in a few hours. OK, more like half a day. Watch this space once I get my car and settle into my new abode. First event will follow once I've got myself sorted.
Luckily work were happy enough to honour my prior Las Vegas commitment when I started the new job. We've had to do some fancy footwork with wages and holiday entitlement (I've only been there 3 months!) but since the new gig has (I think) generally been going well, albeit tiring, though this is for me not a "holiday", 3 weeks of looking at cards and sitting for hours is kind of relaxing by comparison to sales and dealing with customers who don't know what they want, want it yesterday, and don't want to pay for it... Funny, most non-poker people would imagine it to be the other way around.
I'll be there in a few hours. OK, more like half a day. Watch this space once I get my car and settle into my new abode. First event will follow once I've got myself sorted.