The WSOP is in full swing already. A lot of my friends are already out there in Nevada, spinning it up, posting selfies, and generally living the dream in one form or another. Sadly, history has taught us that few will last the full distance, either due to bankroll, life commitments, or blowing up and burning out too soon and having to leave. Occasionally there is a success story, and it's always heart warming to see good things happening to good people. It never fails to raise a wry smile from me, how so many people are so pumped up about Las Vegas and the WSOP, they are super excited, full of hope and ready to have their winners photo taken. A few short weeks later, many of those very same people simply can't wait to get out of the place, and back to the normality of the day to day life. This comes under the somewhat ambiguous heading of "poker does funny things to people", and it's equally foreboding sub-heading "Las Vegas does even funnier things to people". I guess I'm lucky that I know the ropes very well by now, and have a pretty stable framework in place for my yearly trips and my tournaments schedule. A lot of people say things like "you must be excited to be going to Las Vegas?". Sadly, the answer, the honest answer nowadays, is not particularly. I consider this to be a bit of a shame if I'm truthful. Being excited about stuff is generally a good thing. But I guess I've been so many times and played so much over the years, that it's now pretty routine for me. I'm sure there will be highs and lows along the way. I will see good friends, eat some wonderful meals, and play a lot of poker, but the novelty factor really isn't there any more for me. Honestly, I truly wish this wasn't the case. but it is what it is. Of course, when it comes to getting into character, suiting up and having a run at winning something, now I AM excited. The place is just too familiar for me to get fired up about seeing say, the Bellagio fountains.
The groundwork is pretty much all complete for me now. Shares are all sold, investments are collected, money changed up where needed into dollars (I managed to avoid a disaster after the UK election by having most of it already changed up). My accommodation, flight, rental car etc are all arranged. When I arrive I tend to buy in for most of my set and bigger buy in events early if possible, and put surplus funds into my US bank account. It's just tidier, and most poker players have crappy admin skills and never learn that standing in a 400 player deep line to buy in on the morning of the event in which you wish to participate is not too bright, and is also easily avoidable. Little things like this make a big difference day to day on the trip.
The groundwork is pretty much all complete for me now. Shares are all sold, investments are collected, money changed up where needed into dollars (I managed to avoid a disaster after the UK election by having most of it already changed up). My accommodation, flight, rental car etc are all arranged. When I arrive I tend to buy in for most of my set and bigger buy in events early if possible, and put surplus funds into my US bank account. It's just tidier, and most poker players have crappy admin skills and never learn that standing in a 400 player deep line to buy in on the morning of the event in which you wish to participate is not too bright, and is also easily avoidable. Little things like this make a big difference day to day on the trip.
I work for a living nowadays..oh, the horror. But whilst the appeal of a lie in on a daily basis until the dizzy heights of 9 or 10 in the morning for the next 3 weeks or so IS pretty exciting, the prospect of leaving some of my work projects in the hands of others whilst I'm away is not so thrilling. I may have fallen a little into the trap of taking my work home with me of late, which is OK, but of course with an 8-9 hour time difference between the US and UK, plus me trying to play a bunch of tournaments, the smart move is to just switch on the voicemail, hand the jobs over to others, and simply focus on the task at hand whilst playing poker. I'm not sure how good I am at this, as I think sometimes maybe other's don't care as much as I do. Or maybe, I care too much. Meh, whatever. I have a small number of work people I do trust with my jobs whilst I'm away, so hopefully all will be well and my distractions will be minimal or nonexistent.
Overall I have to say, I'm feeling pretty good. While life certainly isn't perfect, of late there has been far less unwanted drama for me, and I feel more like I'm gradually "getting my shit together". I'm most certainly not where I want to be (if I knew exactly where that actually was it might help of course, watch this space and I'll let you know if I ever figure it out). However times nowadays are a lot less dark, there is a far smaller amount of drama and negativity around me now, and I feel like I'm moving forward from bad choices and moves I made in times past. Whilst life certainly isn't as interesting as it used to be, there is less sadness also, so I'll take that. I've discovered a few very kind and supportive people around me, occasionally from some very unexpected sources, and it has restored a little my faith in good people out there, even though I'm still heavily skeptical of most, which is probably not about to change any time soon for me. The lucky part of this, is tat the poker is pretty much automatic, and whatever life throws at me I would say 99% of the time I have managed to get separating poker from emotion down to a fine art. Since I played the Wynn in October 2016, I've got myself back into regular running, I have been playing some occasional golf, and I'm making an effort to see and spend more time socially with the people who deserve some effort. I'm 2 stone lighter than I used to be last year, and I am pretty chilled out about whatever life currently throws at me day to day. I'd say that's not too bad a place to be in the run up to a sizeable Las Vegas poker trip. I guess we'll see soon. As always, the support of my friends is always important, and regardless of how the next month turns out, that support is always appreciated, and I thank you. You know who you are.
Overall I have to say, I'm feeling pretty good. While life certainly isn't perfect, of late there has been far less unwanted drama for me, and I feel more like I'm gradually "getting my shit together". I'm most certainly not where I want to be (if I knew exactly where that actually was it might help of course, watch this space and I'll let you know if I ever figure it out). However times nowadays are a lot less dark, there is a far smaller amount of drama and negativity around me now, and I feel like I'm moving forward from bad choices and moves I made in times past. Whilst life certainly isn't as interesting as it used to be, there is less sadness also, so I'll take that. I've discovered a few very kind and supportive people around me, occasionally from some very unexpected sources, and it has restored a little my faith in good people out there, even though I'm still heavily skeptical of most, which is probably not about to change any time soon for me. The lucky part of this, is tat the poker is pretty much automatic, and whatever life throws at me I would say 99% of the time I have managed to get separating poker from emotion down to a fine art. Since I played the Wynn in October 2016, I've got myself back into regular running, I have been playing some occasional golf, and I'm making an effort to see and spend more time socially with the people who deserve some effort. I'm 2 stone lighter than I used to be last year, and I am pretty chilled out about whatever life currently throws at me day to day. I'd say that's not too bad a place to be in the run up to a sizeable Las Vegas poker trip. I guess we'll see soon. As always, the support of my friends is always important, and regardless of how the next month turns out, that support is always appreciated, and I thank you. You know who you are.