+1 He is a true player

Alright, alright, alright!

Thanks guys, hope to put in good work & improve going forward to justify any such status of compliment on things past, and continue to perform well in professional fashion for 2016 & beyond.

It's definitely hard to even construct good goals, game-plan, process approach, etc. Then trying to remotely execute such on a Wednesday afternoon in reg-filled games when you've been going bad and are on your B- game and just not feeling it...

Hoping to put even more focus on those mental-game aspects this year. Think especially having to (likely) play on a bunch of different sites in different games may require more clarity + mental-consistency than even a very difficult SNE grind (that is at least laid out in front of your what your goal is). Hopefully the work will be helpful, either way.

Feel like one of my strengths has always been a good perspective/approach away from the tables. Just like Amaya is trying to covert a higher % of deposits to $$, and old-man-grinder aspires to covert a higher % of good process plans to action/reality on the tables in 2016+...? Or something.

Lolol, so now I'm going as a foreign-man-TV show-mechanic for Halloween next year?

Happy New Year Everyone!!

Ha, nice pics. I just watched that movie for first time in forever over Christmas break. GL in 2016!

Gramps what and where are you playing now in 2016?

He's on a trip around the world right now! Been loving the pics btw Gramps, I'm assuming at some point you'll post something in here...enjoy the rest of your trip!

Nice, I gotta go back and watch it again myself, been like 5+ years. Such a polarization of charismatic acting and awkward teenage casting, and brings back a few memories!

<<Confirmed sick person who is eager to get back and start working on the 2016 grind.



Not quite sure about 2016, depends on so many moving parts. Going to finalize some process goals (poker & otherwise) for 2016 by the end of January, and probably multi-game & multi-site like pre-BF days (at least to start). Most important, work to keep improving while staying flexible on the grind schedule (all while working to maintain clarity on process & pursuit).

That's the plan, at least. Going to be an interesting year.

Glad the FB pictures are well-received! Will post a few in here with a brief summary upon return to TJ. Pretty crazy experience to be pulling all of this off on a tight time schedule.

How hard do you think it would be to multi site?

It'd be a lot less hard if Table Ninja, et. al. worked well b/n the top 5+ sites.

Having to manually click buttons, + your brain having to decipher different graphics/colors is the main issue for me. Would love to do it more, it's just not very easy (for an old-man brain, at least )

Will post a full writeup of the 10 MM VPPs trip w/pics later this week. Started working on it a while ago, but when you only put in work at the end of a long grind day here-and-there, it gets pretty over-detailed/rambly real quick.

Will still post it all for the 2 1/2 people that might skim through.

Do not lose heart, we're at least 3 1/2 people reading it.

Make it 4 1/2

5.7

So, that makes a quorum?

My blog-ish posting skills/speed are about the same as my software/programming skills, so I'm just gonna post the finished product and get back to grinding.

Back in July, this long-time grinder was getting within range of 10 million VPPs and on pace to hit it by November. Decided the smart play was to inquire ahead about whether the "Lifetime Experience" trip was still in existence, what it entailed, etc. Had only heard about it maybe a year (?) before, and just assumed that it likely had been quietly scrapped post-Amaya LBO. Best-case scenario they were keeping it around for a little longer, with a ~$5k budget, mas o menos.

The Stars VIP response back was that the trip indeed still existed, and that the budget was $20k.

Me: Are you sure? If I get 10 million VPPs by the end of the year, it will be locked in.

Stars VIP rep: I'm sure.

Me: Sure as in 100% sure?

Stars rep: I'm 100% absolutely certain.

Me: Awesome, I'm going to start booking this thing!!

Stars rep: (a short time later) By the way I'm leaving the company....

Me: [Hoping to not book a $20k trip and then not get reimbursed]

My girlfriend is slowly grinding out her graduate school program, so the chunks of time to go on a big trip (and utilize the budget > half-well) were limited. Plus she hates the cold. A month in Europe it wouldn't be then.

Decided if we half-bailed on family X-mas () we could take off the morning of Dec. 26th, our due date back being January 17th (couple days to recover before her new semester started). I've done a lot of travelling over the past 10 years, so was weighting it heavily to her getting to see/experience the World. She'd only been to Mexico & Brasil, but is a person who's read widely and capable of appreciating a lot of different cultures and experiences.

Checked out a ton of Southern Hemisphere places & flight prices. Was narrowing it down to a few spots in Asia, a stop in Africa, etc., then realized it was actually possible to start flying West and keep doing so til we got back home. With the $20k budget, it was even going to be possible to fly Business Class on a couple legs (in and out of Africa where it's cheaper) to help ease the jetlag.

Time to travel around the World!



Dec. 26th - San Diego > Hong Kong (via SFO)



Long day of travel, and flying across the Intl. Date Line we arrived in Hong Kong the night of the 27th. A great gateway to much of Asia, while still having (for a Westerner) that familiar, organized, and comfortable structural setup. It was the first city outside North America I ever visited, and still awakens a multitude of senses upon touching down the way few other spots on Earth can.

Hit a bunch of good food spots, rode the escalator, had tea at the Peninsula (after waiting 2 hours ) got (legitimate) massages and generally tried to rest/prep up for a big NYE night out (then more flying ).

Peninsula Hotel



Day trip to Macau including seeing the new Star Wars movie in a VIP Theatre (@ Galaxy)



Gambled on booking an expensive NYE event/table (literally one of my least favorite/generally lowest-value-for-$$-spent things to do) - figured if you're in Hong Kong on NYE once in your lifetime and there's a sick fireworks show on the Harbour, overpay to be (hopefully) in a good spot. Fortunately our hand held up.



Jan. 1st - Hong Kong > Koh Samui

After the long initial travel to HK and a big NYE out, I wanted the next stop to be a short flight away to a chill beach spot. Had been to Phuket twice before, but the hooker/ladyboy density was higher than I thought my GF might enjoy. My buddy who lived in HK & all his married friends would fly to Koh Samui for family getaways, so decided to give it a shot without doing too much research.

We (overpaid) for an upgraded room at the Sheraton, hoping for it to be the one "sick accommodation" of the trip. Instead, it was a recently-purchased and meh-remodeled room that we had to climb up an awkward staircase to get up-and-down from bed. Guess not getting to do adequate research on account of having to (over)-grind out SNE cost us here a little. At least the pools and beach were nice to relax by.
__

1st thing my California-instincts noticed in the below pic was how strong those waves/currents were. Tourists (even w/kids ) were jumping right into the water. It culminated with two "swimmers" a ways down the beach ~50m having to be rescued by surfers (they were still lying exhausted on the beach 15+ minutes after being saved). Read the next day two people had drowned on that stretch of beach. Pretty sad-but-not shocking given the danger + obliviousness.



@Chaweng Night Market



Apparently the IP protections in Thailand are about on par with that of China:



Would have some better pics, but I got sick for a few days here. Probably the best location for it to happen, as we didn't have much planned (except relaxing), and the albino-looking bearded-guy wasn't going to be very active in the hot sun & humidity anyhow.

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Jan. 5th - Koh Samui > Kilimanjaro/Arusha

From Koh Samui, we headed to Africa - Serengeti!! Our connections were Bangkok & Qatar, arriving in Kilimanjaro airport, followed by an ~hour ride to Arusha. My girlfriend had never flown business class before this trip, so to say she was excited like a girl on Christmas morning was an understatement.

It paid dividends right away as the economy check-in in Koh Samui was about an hour long (we waited for ~5 minutes before the bearded guy realized we could go to the other check-in ). It still took 30 minutes and 4 phone calls to get checked in as we only had a 1-way ticket to Tanzania, and had to prove that we were (eventually) heading back home (after 2 more stops ).

I've used miles a fair amount to upgrade to Business over the years (and used the Stars concierge service wayyyy back in '06 to book a BA Business class ticket to Monaco for the '07 EPT), and have to say the leg from BKK > Doha was the nicest flight I've ever been on in my life. On a $2,100 (each) ticket.



On both legs in-and-out of Africa, I booked a massage on layover (in Doha and in Dubai) to try and help our bodies manage the travel. Doha airport was both crazy new/nice, and a really strange layout. Your normal stores at one far end where you enter the main Terminal, then nothing but luxury good stores & kiosks between there and our Gate (which was a good 1+ mile away).

Oh, and a giant teddy bear on display that's owned by the Qatari royal family.



After 24 hours of travel, we arrived to about ~90 degree (~32 C) weather in Tanzania. Booked the airport transfer through our safari company, so there was no A/C in the car either (same Land Cruiser we were using on safari (where fortunately it was higher altitude and cooler)). Would have been worth the extra $25-50 after 24 hours of travel.



Always love the visuals that hit you when you touch down in a new place, to remind that things are not like your home. Lots of dirt roads, hustle-and-bustle, buildings constructed out of wood/sticks, etc. People in general having to be resourceful on basic items, like the dude on his motorbike hauling...(building material, for cooking, ....?).



Checked into our hotel in Arusha, paid the final $$ on our Safari, and went back to crash out pretty hard. Our safari was the exact same one I did 5 1/2 years ago after the World Cup, and had been a great experience that was smoothly executed. Seeing that we'd be pretty jetlagged, TIA, in the middle of Serengeti, etc. I was logistically mostly concerned with having a decent+ experience, so had gone with the low-risk plan of booking same company & tour again.

There was even a new road on the first leg from Arusha to Lake Manyara, so instead of ~4 hours of rough driving, it was a smooth 2 hours til we hit our first viewing spot.





Safari season in Serengeti is a very polarized thing. Apparently June (the month I went in 2010) and maybe some of May/July is slammed, with the lodges totally booked. The rest of the year....not so much.

The 3 nights/lodges we stayed at, we were 1 of 3 rooms, then the only people, then again 1 of 3. In places with 100+ rooms, lol. It was clear they hadn't invested in infrastructure since the last time I was there, but it didn't matter much. Glamping+ level, and gorgeous settings for each lodge we stayed at. Plus the food was good and the staff were friendly without being too intrusive (people to talk to!! ).

My girlfriend tried to learn a little of the local language each place we went, and she got the most "eyes-lighting-up" from the lodge workers upon using her Swahili. I was surprised that the basics were pretty easy to learn (I still remember pombe = beer & kahawa = coffee ). Old trading culture/language, warm & welcoming, with a lot of "please, thank you, welcome/you're welcome" when they were literally translating to English.

Where we stayed, you realize right away (if you forgot ) that you're in Africa - there be animals everywhere. And now we are sure what a baboon is (there was a miscommunication earlier by our guide who spoke <half-way decent English).



Sun rising over Lake Manyara.



Countryside on way to Ngorongoro Conservation Area (and then Serengeti)



The driver has to register & pay the park entrance fee for each National Park/Preserve you enter, so good time to take pics and stretch.





Ngorongoro Crater itself - we drove past on Day 2 (of 4), to come back to spend the 3rd night at the rim of the Crater and drive around down in it the last day.



An idea of the dirt-road driving we did once we entered Ngorongoro & Serengeti.



And everywhere you look, there's Masai herding their cattle & goats on & across the road.



And finally, the Serengeti Gate. We drove farther into the park a ways before reaching the point to pay & register.



From here (and even a little before) you're frantically pointing your (cell phone ) camera in every direction, trying to get all these awesome scenery & animal shots....until your realize that's standard background, and to save it for the (really) better stuff.







Considering future travel options @ Seronera Airport.



At the end of the 2nd day, we had the Lodge in the Serengeti all to ourselves, lol.



By now it had rained and cooled off a bit, to the point where it was a nice (daytime temp of) ~70 F (down from the 90+ when we arrived in Arusha). Really helped adjust from all the travel, and fully enjoy the amazingness around us.











On our way out of Serengeti (again, driver has to stop to sign out), there was a trans-Serengeti bus carrying loads of passengers (Moses said it was probably people that live up North but work in Arusha, coming home for the holiday). Noticed everyone dressed in their best clothes and thought maybe it was a wedding party, going to a festival etc. Turns out, people just follow the old tradition of putting on their best clothes when they travel. (In this case on a non-A/C bus through the hot dusty Serengeti. )



A couple hours after leaving Serengeti, we arrived back on top of Ngorongoro Crater, our hotel having a pretty spectacular view.





My girlfriend heard a family (one of the other 2 group of guests ) speaking in Portugese and we struck up a conversation (in English). Turns out they moved from Brasil to Mozambique in 2000, and it was pretty cool to hear their insight about places on the continent, etc. They were happy to practice their English (which was much better than our Portugese/Spanish! ).

Have to say the next morning was my favorite of the tour. Probably that Scottish/Irish/English/IOM blood in me - it was in the 50s with a cool mist in the air. The Crater floor was green with all the new growth grass - made for a spectacular feel & setting (and no dust, after several days of dusty driving ).











Through binoculars, we were also able to see 3 Black Rhinos in the very distance (supposedly there's only 13-14 in the whole crater). But a camera phone doesn't quite capture that, now does it.

Here's some video of driving back through one of the towns just outside Ngorongoro. TIA. Apparently the mini-buses self-brand/let people know their route by the colors/logos/displays on the front & back of the vehicle.



Back to Arusha, got a great night of rest + late checkout/loungefest before another long (~24 hr) day of travel.

___

Jan. 11th - Kilimanjaro > Lisbon (via Nairobi & Dubai)

We were flying Business on Emirates this time (for ~$1,750 ea.), with a massage appointment in Dubai on layover. First though, we had to catch a prop plane to Nairobi before boarding our Emirates flights.



Didn't snap any pictures in my awake-in-the-middle-of-the-night haze, but the Emirates lounge in Dubai was an entire floor running the length of the Terminal. Quite sick. Basically, you just go to the section near your gate (there's a number of stations that are fully stocked up with all the food/drink/etc.), and settle down there. When your flight is boarding, you actually check in on the Lounge level, then take the elevator down to the plane. $$ combined with great logistics (unlike Doha which seemed more $$ w/so-so logistics).

Fortunately the massage apt. was only 30 minutes this time, so we got to actually use (nap in ) the sick lounge (had to miss out in Doha as we were shorter on time and the Gate was far away).

8 more hours of flying from Dubai to Portugal, and...

Lisboa!!



My girlfriend speaks a little (very little ) bit of Portuguese, Portugal is one of the least-cold parts of Europe, and I wanted to hit the continent. Plus the flights from JRO were <$2k business (and we could get a super-cheap flight to spend our last night in London, then catch a direct back to SD). So, Lisbon it is!!

Our Lisbon setup was how I like to do logistics when travelling. Stayed at a studio we rented through Airbnb for about $100/night. Was in the Chiado part of Lisbon (where we wanted to stay), walking distance to everything. Cool old historical building, yet the flat had been nicely remodeled (outlets, bathroom, etc.) to make living in it very functional and up to modern needs.

No big frills, but would still prefer such a setup than your avg. hotel costing twice as much. Plus the place had 50+ reviews so you could read the details to be sure it fit what you were looking for.

I lived in San Francisco for 10 years, so when I heard that Lisbon had a cable car line - sold! It's also a good way to get up to São Jorge castle. Let's go!



View once we got off the cable car, a little ways below the castle.



View from the castle/fort. Portugal has had a lot of invaders & rulers over the years - apparently Celtic, Roman, Moorish, etc. have used & added to the structure.





One of my favorite things in all my years of travels is to get out in the country by train, car, boat, etc. You get away from the tourist centers, and get to vibe off the topography, layout, infrastructure, signage, people dress & manner, etc. Peel-back-the-layers of a country a bit, while being able to still relax and energy conserve, if you so choose.

Long way of saying I was looking for places to day trip from Lisbon, and realized that Spain wasn't too far away. Merida has some old Roman ruins, and was only a 2 1/2 hour drive, so we rented a car to hit the countryside and overnight there.

5 minutes into the trip, we get a warning light that our front right tire was low. Get out, check it, seems mostly fine. Something to pay attention to as we go. Then, 20 minutes later on the freeway, the back left tire blows out. Glad we got the Cadillac insurance!!





They offered to just fix the tire, or take us to get another car. Ahem, new car please (after the warning + blowout ). Our taxi driver was Moldovan, spoke decent English and was gracious about the bearded American's questions about his homeland and economic travels. Learned they speak Romanian there!

When you travel in Western Europe (with the EU rules allowing people to work in different countries) there's a lot of Eastern Europeans working in lower-to-medium wage jobs who are very sharp/educated/ambitious/intelligent people, but for whom there's not a whole lot of opportunity back home (kind of like how being a low stakes poker grinder can pay as well or better than a doctor in some places, etc.). I always nerd out off of that stuff as a tourist - economics/political policy in action and how does it really play out for people?

As you drive through Portugal and into Spain, there's constantly signs for various castles in the countryside (often of Moorish origin). We stopped in Badajoz at one to stretch our legs.

(This fortress dates from the 12th century or earlier)



And Merida, Spain. It was more about the journey getting there than the destination, but the town had a slow charm to go with the standing Roman ruins.

It's known for an old Roman Theatre - but it was raining outside, the line was quite long, we were going to have to pay to get in, and the sun was setting....so an old arc, bridge and fort will have to do!!











Drove back to Lisbon (without incident ) the next day, and got ready to head to London for 24 hours. We had several amazing meals in Lisbon which were a nice bonus (last-minute internet research ftw).

It was a trip that was 4+ months in the making, and you're now w/in 48 hours of being back home. Something you've put so much thought and energy into, slowly fading behind in the mirror with the realization of such fully kicking in (not wanting it to stop, still enjoying the moment & excited about the next day's events, looking forward to sleeping in your own bed, a lot of partial energies co-existing)....

___

Jan. 16th - Lisbon > London



My kind of trip - 67 Euro ea. for a 1-way flight, including one checked bag. My girlfriend (who hates cold) got really excited at the suggestion of London, but I knew that as soon as we got there, the weather was going to be an issue. So decided to hit it for 24 hours, get a couple of "Londony" things in, and then fly back to warmer climes.

Paid a little more for a hotel right next to Hyde Park (we were arriving around 2 or 3, so there was only going to be a little daylight to sightsee with). Also sprung for a bigger room that included this toilet:



We were a short walk to check out Kensington Palace, hit a highly recommended Polish restaurant (the best meal of the trip), and see a performance at Royal Albert Hall - opening night of a new Cirque Soleil show.













Our last meal before heading back home was at a fancier breakfast spot in the Mayfair neighborhood (@ The Wolseley). Could only get a reservation (a week before) for right after they opened (fortunately, we needed to eat early to catch our plane ).

My favorite part was when the father/son next to us were being seated, the father audibly said, "[muffled unhappy sound] They're seating us next to a couple of tourists." Kind of made for the full experience - really wanted to be that "loud/this-isn't-like-back-home" kind of American tourist for the lolz, but we weren't really offended by it. Kind of made for a more authentic experience.

Had never tried haggis, and figured a place like this would make it as tasty as possible, so haggis w/duck egg on toast it is (with a strawberry donut, lol). Was actually quite tasty.





Ended up really pleased that the logistics on our tight London schedule worked out so well. The Cirque show was fantastic, had two great meals in great settings, and got to vibe off Hyde Park & Kensington. It was a good final note to end our Travel song on and head back home...

Jan. 17th - London > San Diego

Always a challenge to adjust back to your time zone/normal schedule after flying across an Ocean (or several ). Normally I can only sleep 4-5 hours for several+ days (and oddly enough am wide-awake 1-2 minutes after getting up, vs. being still groggy an hour after rising ). This time however, could sleep pretty well right away, and got re-adjusted after only a few days.

Reading the plane-ride Economist back in Tijuana while trying to refuel with some healthy eats (and coffee ).





Setting up the tab with AmayaStars

So even once the 2016 VIP Club changes were announced (confirming that yes, the 10 million VPP trip would be honored through 2016), there was still the lingering uncertainty in the back of the mind that I would get "New-Stars'd" when it came time to send in receipts. I.e., not that I wouldn't get reimbursed, but that they might push back on some of the trip, etc. My plan ahead of time had been to try to book a trip with $20k in solid receipts (i.e. flights, hotels, safari, rental car, etc.) and then spend food, NYE, etc. above that amount. Instead of an actual $20k trip and maybe only getting $15k back.

A couple days after returning home, someone posted in a Skype chat group that he had been quoted $25k by a Stars rep as the budget for the 10 MM VPP trip....and copy-pasted that statement as proof.

Long story short, I had a little over $24k in receipts for the trip, emailed Stars about my expenditures and the figure the other (still employed by ) Stars rep had quoted and got reimbursed for the full amount. Pretty awesome bonus in the end when the initial budget itself blew away my expectations.

Thank you to Old Stars for the (now disappearing ) VIP Program & the 5 million & 10 million VPP achievement awards, and thank you very much to new/Amaya-Stars for honoring such awards (when you clearly didn't have to). The "old days" of iPoker have been long-gone for several years, so to get a bonus like this truly Lifetime-experience trip was astounding.



Right before Black Friday I figured I was done with my extensive travels for ~10 years or so (lol) and was content to settle into a comfortable NorCal life. Being forced back out abroad (and actually having to live there! ) has made travel seem almost a normal part of life now. If I'm in the same place/at home for several months+ with no new adventure on the horizon, I can feel myself starting to get stale and antsy for new experience and difference (though always to return back "home" after a while, rinse-and-repeat).

I'll definitely be looking back on this trip and all it's pictures/videos/memories many years from now. Just the fun of planning (now, being more travel-experienced/skilled ) this trip, imagining all the logistics, and experiencing the full range of success/mediocrity/failure is awesome to look back upon (let alone the actual travel experience itself).

And with that...onto the next adventure(s)!!!

Outstanding recap, great pics. Congrats to giving Stars enough money over the years, I'm legit jealous I only got to 3.5 M.

Great TR. Thanks for posting.

Sounds like an amazing trip. Thanks for taking the time to share it!

Thanks guys, the positive feedback is much appreciated (and Jdawg too in another thread ). That trip report was the never-ending work in progress, but wanted to do it right if it was gonna be done at all.

Time to get back to giving Stars more $$ (this time for "free-er" )

Awesome TR, looks like I need to work on my trip planning skills... =). Thank you for sharing gramps and congrats on the 10mm mark.

What are your goals this year now that sne is gone?

Awesome report ! Reminds me of my own trip to the serengeti (but then from kenian side). Insane views that are impossible to truly capture with a camera.

Long time to lurker just wanted to say I really appreciate the detail you went into in regards to your trip, awesome read!