Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas...
The OCD side of me just noticed that The Paris Hotel/Casino in the picture above are in fact nowhere near the famous "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. Someone's telling lies. Meh,
After a somewhat stressful day or two before the commencement of my trip, I'm finally here and eventually unpacked. Sort of. Almost missing the 8.17am coach to Gatwick airport when the driver shot past me 15 mins earlier than he should have been, followed by a drug and drink-fuelled sleep on VS043 that made a 10 hour flight into a far more manageable 2 hour one don't always make for simple and easy travel, however here I am, and ready to crack on.
My good Las Vegas pal Heather, partner of Chad and mum to liittle Olivia very kindly picked me up at McCarran, and got me over to grab my rental car. Disappointingly I don't have a Mustang convertible just yet due to stock being low, so I'm slumming it in a Buick for a day or two whilst they shuffle things around for me. I've come to realise I'm most certainly a creature of habit, and I like the same car, the same layout when I unpack, the same bubble bath with a movie on the iPad, and the same cup of milky Sainsburys Red label tea here in the mornings to enable me to function with some sense of normality. Not very jet-set.
It's slightly worrying that before I left the UK I thought to myself "Oh...I'd better take a few new t-shirts with me, just in case". Once I'd unpacked everything, I counted approximately 40 (I shit you not) t-shirts alone in my US collection. I think that may possibly be too much, especially as I have one wardrobe of clothes here, and another probably twice as large back in the UK. Luckily the Ferris Bueller waistcoat is also ready for action. More on that soon of course.
Anyway, that's a potted history of my clothing eccentricities for those who always wondered. Maybe I just needed a ramble. Not a great deal of poker for those of you hungry for tales of my upcoming joy and pain. Sit tight, it'll be along soon enough. For now it's just unpacking, getting organised, and catching up with a few friends whilst I find my Las Vegas feet for a day or two.
Thanks to all who pinged me with messages and various words of encouragement for the upcoming madness. It's a pretty long trip and undoubtedly fraught with pitfalls and heartbreak, and hopefully some triumph, but I'm an old campaigner and have done it many a time. The poker will be just fine I think. Staying sane in an insane place can sometimes be the bigger challenge, but I've never been one to lose a screw when Las Vegas turns around to bite you in the ass, which it's prone to do at any given point. After years of tweaking, I've got a pretty good set up here with my accommodation, transport and a network of very good friends both in and out of poker. I'm hoping the next few weeks will allow me to relax a bit after the numerous stresses of life in the UK, and just focus on the WSOP and playing as well as I know I can.
Watch this space :o)
The OCD side of me just noticed that The Paris Hotel/Casino in the picture above are in fact nowhere near the famous "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. Someone's telling lies. Meh,
After a somewhat stressful day or two before the commencement of my trip, I'm finally here and eventually unpacked. Sort of. Almost missing the 8.17am coach to Gatwick airport when the driver shot past me 15 mins earlier than he should have been, followed by a drug and drink-fuelled sleep on VS043 that made a 10 hour flight into a far more manageable 2 hour one don't always make for simple and easy travel, however here I am, and ready to crack on.
My good Las Vegas pal Heather, partner of Chad and mum to liittle Olivia very kindly picked me up at McCarran, and got me over to grab my rental car. Disappointingly I don't have a Mustang convertible just yet due to stock being low, so I'm slumming it in a Buick for a day or two whilst they shuffle things around for me. I've come to realise I'm most certainly a creature of habit, and I like the same car, the same layout when I unpack, the same bubble bath with a movie on the iPad, and the same cup of milky Sainsburys Red label tea here in the mornings to enable me to function with some sense of normality. Not very jet-set.
It's slightly worrying that before I left the UK I thought to myself "Oh...I'd better take a few new t-shirts with me, just in case". Once I'd unpacked everything, I counted approximately 40 (I shit you not) t-shirts alone in my US collection. I think that may possibly be too much, especially as I have one wardrobe of clothes here, and another probably twice as large back in the UK. Luckily the Ferris Bueller waistcoat is also ready for action. More on that soon of course.
Anyway, that's a potted history of my clothing eccentricities for those who always wondered. Maybe I just needed a ramble. Not a great deal of poker for those of you hungry for tales of my upcoming joy and pain. Sit tight, it'll be along soon enough. For now it's just unpacking, getting organised, and catching up with a few friends whilst I find my Las Vegas feet for a day or two.
Thanks to all who pinged me with messages and various words of encouragement for the upcoming madness. It's a pretty long trip and undoubtedly fraught with pitfalls and heartbreak, and hopefully some triumph, but I'm an old campaigner and have done it many a time. The poker will be just fine I think. Staying sane in an insane place can sometimes be the bigger challenge, but I've never been one to lose a screw when Las Vegas turns around to bite you in the ass, which it's prone to do at any given point. After years of tweaking, I've got a pretty good set up here with my accommodation, transport and a network of very good friends both in and out of poker. I'm hoping the next few weeks will allow me to relax a bit after the numerous stresses of life in the UK, and just focus on the WSOP and playing as well as I know I can.
Watch this space :o)