I currently coach for 100/hr and can have some people vouch for my value at that rate as well.

tyty.

******** Part 6 ********
"My Vegas Experience"

If you are looking for stories of debauchery or degeneracy, you won't find either here.

I'm pretty much an enigma of the poker scene. Not only am I not heterosexual, but I also don't drink alcohol (I really dislike it and have never been drunk) and I don't smoke (never had cig's/pot/cigars). Also while I'm not a complete social pariah, I'm not someone who enjoys heading out to clubs or house parties (some exceptions of course).

My idea of a good time would be a nice night out with friends and my boyfriend, see a show, have a good dinner, relax and chat.

While I didn't go out and party or anything, I did experience a number of Vegas restaurants and shows and had a really good time.

Below are some short reviews of most of the restaurants and shows I have visited in Vegas.

The Shows

So far in vegas I have seen the following shows:

Cirque Du Soliel "Zumanity": Zumanity is a reasonably priced (the cheapest Cirque I believe), lewd, and funny show on human sexuality. It has awesome feats of human acrobatics and was very entertaining. Definitely worth going to, and worth a little extra for the best seats. One of the best value shows we went to.

Blue Man Group: Interesting show of human expression, comprised of unique music and "weird" creative skits. It's a show that you could either greatly enjoy or really dislike. Worth going to.

Jabbawockeez: Really cool music show with awesome dancing. Good music, great dancing, and has some comedy as well. Definitely worth seeing.

David Copperfield: Complete waste of money. DO NOT SEE. If you want a good magic show, go to Penn and Teller.

Penn and Teller: These 2 are amazing. Great comedians and magicians. They are very up front about what they do, and sometimes even show how they do it. It was a very entertaining show, and easily the best one we saw.

Restaurants

Vegas has a plethora of amazing dining. The only thing I found lacking with the food scene, was a lack of a good burger. Although I am fairly spoiled as I'm used to burgers from Wisconsin.

Best Buffets: Aria and The Cosmopolitan had the best buffets in vegas by far. They were both around 35$/person and worth it. (The Bellagio is supposed to be good as well, but it's as expensive as Aria/Cosmo and not as good)

The Rio buffet isn't bad, but it isn't worth what they charge. However if you are on a WSOP dinner break and need something quick to eat, poker players can skip the main line and get in and out quick.

If you desire a cheaper buffet with reasonable (food for the price), I'd suggest the Gold Coast.

Memorable Restaurants/Food:

Lotus of Siam: One of the highest ranked Thai restaurants in the country with a ridiculously huge menu. Was a nice experience and reasonably priced. Check it out if you love Asian Cuisine.

Hash House A-Go-Go: Very creative take on a mid-western diner. Huge portions, interesting items, and very good. Check it out if you haven't eaten there before.

Fogo De Chao:Delicious Brazilian BBQ with all you can eat meat for only 50$/person. Has some of the best meat you'll ever try.

Sao Paulo Cafe (Rio): Over priced dump. DO NOT EAT HERE.

Martorano's (Rio): Reasonable Italian food that was overpriced. Don't bother going to it IMO.

Otto (Venetian): Amazing Italian food. While it isn't a cheap restaurant, it is definitely worth the price.

Grand Lux Cafe (Palazzo): Owned by the "Cheese Cake Factory" it has a very similar selection of food and quality but a little more expensive than normal.

Sports Deli (Rio): If you want something quick and greasy and are playing the series, the sports deli in the Rio is a good place to go. While a bit overpriced, if you want something quick and delicious, it's definitely worth it.

Serendipity 3 (Cesars): This place was amazing. The food was great and reasonably priced, and the deserts are ridiculous. They have a wide selection of frozen treats, and they are not only unique, but they are good as well. "Deep Fried Oreo Sundae" just the name of this single desert is all you need to know (it was delicious)!


Om nom nom!
]


Other Vegas Experiences:

Staying At Aria: Our first 5 days in Vegas we stayed at Aria as we were able to get an amazing rate for it on Hotwire (around 100/night). The room was large, had floor to ceiling windows, was very modern (everything controlled by a remote), and the bed was amazingly comfortable (feather bed and pillows). It also had a very nice bathroom.

View from Aria:



Kiss Mini-golf: A really cool in-door mini-golf course. It has a dark interior with everything lit up by neon and black lights. A fun golfing experience for any mini-golf fan.

Freemont Experience: Something everyone who visits vegas should checkout at least once. Freemont street is 3 blocks or so of casinos along a street that has a massive LCD screen going the entire length and width of the 3 blocks. They play light and music shows every hour after sundown.

Queen On Freemont


Freddy Murcury on Freemont


Bellagio Fountain:This is a really cool sight to see at night. A massive fountain lit up and set to music, what's not to like?

Bellagio Fountain


Insert Coin: A really cool Retro Arcade bar that is near Freemont. They have a bunch of arcade machines from the 70's-early 2000's, it has a really cool atmosphere and is worth checking out.

Cool Bar!


-------------------------------

Hope you all enjoyed reading this section on the scene in vegas.

Working on Parts 7, 8, and the final 9th parts now. They will entail my backer's WSOP FT, my own WSOP Ft, and the rest of my summer in vegas.

Thank you all for reading so far!

Nice read so far indeed.

tyty ^.^

really busy over the next few days, hoping to have this finished by mid next week.

glad you are liking it so far

This is a really awesome thread Protential. I'm just getting started(hopefully for a long time to come) in the world of poker. I have a small amount of experience in the game however I'm already extremely passionate about it. I made a thread in PG&C as well, I'm definitely subscribing to this one and very much look forward to updates/new stories. Keep up the hard work and discipline.

******** Part 7 ********
"2nd Half Of Summer/Awesomeness"

I recovered from my disappointment of my VDS bustout fairly quickly, in large part because my boyfriend Chris had left vegas to see his sister's graduation ceremony in Wisconsin and was now back in town. Seeing him always fixes my mood and motivates me. It also helped that I was way too busy to stay annoyed for long, and knew that I had a long summer ahead of me yet with many chances left to do well for my investors.

I was back on the grind the very next day, a WSOP 1k. It wasn't a long event for me however; It ended up being the shortest I've lasted in an event as I busted with in 20 min. I wasn't too deterred though, and went to the Venetian to play in that day's $400.

Playing in the $400 ended up being a wonderful decision, while i didn't cash I was fortunate enough to play with and have long discussions with John Morgan (Billionaire from MN who played in One Drop). I was supposed to have dinner with him as well, but he busted right before dinner break.

The very next day I had another WSOP event, it was a large field $1500 event on a Monday. It was my last WSOP event for my first package of the summer.

I did 3 packages for the summer, 2 had 11 wsop events with 5k in each set aside for side events and the 3rd was just for the Main. At this point I was down around 11k overall so far and needed a deep run to save it.

I wasn't expecting anything interesting when I walked up to my table and saw the draw. It was a pretty average draw of mostly amateurs and and middle aged+ men.

There was an empty seat on my right as I sat down though, and while it piqued my interest momentarily I didn't think much of it; Until I saw Antonio Esfandiari make his way to the seat and sit down.

I was ecstatic when I saw he was going to be on my direct right. I have been a fan of his for a long time, and always enjoyed watching him on shows like "High Stakes Poker" and "I Bet You". I am also a fan of the prop game "Lodden Thinks", that he and Phil Laak are well known for "inventing" (it's one of my favorite games, had loads of fun with it with friends in college).

When he arrived it became apparent quickly that he acts the same at the table as he does on TV. He was a very affable and energetic person to play with and was a lot of fun. It was a pleasure and an honor to play with him, and was very glad to see that he won One Drop.

Interesting Hand:
Background Info:We are around 5k effective at 25-50. The villain in this hand is Antonio. We were about 90mins into the tourney, and had lots of banter back and forth (we were joking around a lot and needling each other). While we each had been playing a lot of hands, we hadn't really battled at all, and neither of us had 3bet yet.

Folds to Antonio in the HJ, he raises to 125, I have QJss in the CO and 3bet to 300 (I realize that flatting is generally better), folds back to him, he tanks and makes a wry comment and 4bets to 600, I call.

Pot = 1275

Flop: K94ss

He asks me if I'm comfortable and like my hand and if I want him to bet. I tell him honestly that I love my hand and that flop and don't care if he bets or not as I was going to if he didn't.

He bets around 900, I tank for around 30 seconds while we banter some more (I was debating raising and getting it in, or whether flatting looked stronger), and I decide to call.

Pot = 3075

Turn:8d

He checks pretty quickly, without saying anything, I look at him wryly and check behind quickly as well.

River: 6s

He shoves All in, I snap call.

He shows a set of kings, I bust him and win the pot with my rivered flush.

End Hand

Even after busting him he was in a good mood and affable. He shook everyone's hand and even took the time to take a picture with me.

(Note: I Wish I could remember more of the conversations I had with him, and with others. However I didn't take any notes while at the series. I do believe that for future TR's that I do I will take notes at the end of each day So I may have more detailed and interesting posts.)


After busting Antonio


While I was having fun and running good in my 1500, my backer was building up a huge stack in the previous day's 1k. It was his first WSOP cash ever, and ended up being a truly great one.

I however did not last much longer in the the 1500 I was in, and busted before day 2 once again.

The next day I played an $1100 VDS event and is only really relevant due to a fairly interesting hand that occurred while playing it.

Interesting Hand:
Background info: 2nd level of the $1100 VDS event, about 1-2 hours into it. Blinds are 50-100 and we are 200-250bb effective. Villain is a competent and aggressive European whom I have played with for 2-3 hours previously in the $600 VDS I ft'd. We each have been fairly aggressive at the table as well so far.

(Note: Due to the nature of the hand I am going to go over my thought process during it. I am not saying that what I did is necessarily correct, just what I thought at the time. However I do believe I would play the hand the same way again if the situation occurred )

I raise to 300 In the cutoff with KQo, Villain is in SB and 3bets to 800.

After a long tank and deliberation by me I decide to 4bet to 2000 (tanked 1-2 min). I 4bet as KQo has pretty bad reverse implied odds vs villain's 3bet range (IMO), thus I felt my options are either 4bet or fold; folding may be better here.

I also believe that me having blockers to AA/KK/QQ/AK is important here, and I wouldn't make the play unless I had a specific hand read and information on villain.

After I 4bet, villain tanks for 2-3 min and 5bets to around 4400.

After I tanked for 2-5min I came to the conclusion that their 5bet range is generally much wider than their call-4bet range (thus if they flat my 4bet I more strongly believe they have QQ+/AK than if they 5bet).

I also felt that their 7-bet shoving range would be static no matter what size i made my 6bet.

Thus I decided to just over click it back to 6900.

Villain shoved for 20-25k pretty quickly after I 6bet.

I face-palm and say "Guess you have AA. Oops" and fold.



End Hand

I did not last much longer in this 1100, and busted before dinner break.

However, luckily for me, busting this tourney fairly early ment that I could rail my backer at his first WSOP Final Table! He made the FT with 2 of 2+2's own, "pokerjammers" and "basebaldy". After a long and hard fought FT, jammers took 2nd, my backer took 3rd, and baldy took 5th (I believe he took around 5th).

Dirty.brasil FT


Railing this FT was an absolutely awesome experience, it was fun to chat with everybody on breaks and was really motivating to watch. Everybody handled themselves very well and were great examples of how to be a professional.

******** Part 8 ********
"Journey To The Final Table"

My first WSOP event of my 2nd package could not have gone much better. It was a 1k, Event 33, and was the first WSOP event I cashed last year. As you can also imagine, after railing the FT my backer made, I was pumped to try to get in another deep run myself and wanted to prove even more strongly than before that I was a good horse and that it was a good decision for him to back me.

3k starting chips, one hour levels, with not much room to work from the start (only 125bb to start) and a type of structure that requires you to build quickly and early.

So that's what I did.

By dinner break (end of level 6) I had 10k in chips and was steadily and slowly building. By 2nd to last level of the night (400-800) I was up to 40k and had won a key flip and a 70-30 to help keep my stack growing. We were nearing the money at this point and I had a soft and fun table draw.

Interesting Hand:
Background Info: Blinds are 400-800, we are 40k effective. I have been at the table for 1-2 hours. Villain has me covered by a lot (he had over 80k), and is an amateur who is talkative and playing wildly and running great (we have been bantering playfully a lot and having a good time). I have not been playing very aggressively and have been waiting for spots to abuse the bubble (we were under 10 away at this point). I have J4s in the cutoff.

Folds to a younger opponent who is utg+2 and raises to 1650, villain is in HJ and raises to around 4k, I tank for around 1min and 4bet to around 8900, it folds back to the villain who 3bet and he tanks.

He then makes a speech about how much respect he is giving me and how he thinks I'm doing this just because of the bubble but isn't certain that a kid in a pink hoodie is man enough to do it (last part was a slight needle and not ment in a bad manner).

He finally folds and shows JJ.

I causually flick my hand up as I rake in the pot and say "Fear the pink hoodie."

The the table bursts out in laughter, him included.



End Hand

Not long after this hand we were Hand-4-Hand, and soon after that we were in the money. I ended the night with about 80k, and had nearly 2x avg.

My first day 2 table draw was an interesting one, as my draw included Andrew Frankenburger. Andy was coming off of a huge heater (leading player of the year), and had just beat Phil Ivey Heads-Up to win the 10k Pot-Limit Hold-'Em WSOP event.

He was a very nice guy, and took all the compliments he received very graciously. Also, while he was running good, his heater could not withstand clashing with my own heater.

Interesting Hand:
Background info:We are 50k effective (I have 90 he has 50), it is the first level of day 2, nearing the end of the level. Villain is Andrew F., we have not played a pot together yet, and neither of us have been playing a lot of hands yet. I have 67o in the CO.

Folds to me, I raise to 3200, Andy defends BB.

Pot: ~7k

Flop:345hh

Andy quickly leads for 3500, I tank for around 30 seconds and raise to 7900, he quickly goes all in for 40k more. I snap call and we show our hands. He seems disgusted when he sees what I have and sighs.

He has 57ss, and needs runner runner Full House or runner spade flush to win, and a 6 to tie. I dodge the outs and win the pot putting myself up to 140k and one of the big stacks in the tourney.

End Hand

Not long after this hand I correctly 3b/folded QQ to a 4bet from an old amateur, I showed my fold (with gasps from my table) and was awarded by him showing me AA and congratulating me on my play. To say I was in the zone would be an understatement.

To say I was running good would also be an understatement. It's not that I was sucking out a lot, or even winning lots of flips, I was running good by not only timing bluffs well, but also by having nut strength hands with villains getting aggressive with weak holdings.

The following hand reported by pokernews gives a good example (as did the Andrew F. hand). It aslo moved me up to chip leader with just less than 100 left! (3x avg stack)

It also gave me the largest physical stack I've ever had in a tournament.


The Day 2 Castle


From that point it wasn't too difficult to make the final 18. All i needed to do was stay around even and try to keep slowly building, and I managed it. Although I ran into some fairly tough competition, and my stack experienced some bad downswings, going into the final 18 I was around average stack.

I was unbelievably happy with how everything had been going. I was also receiving an incredible amount of support from friends, family, my boyfriend and my backers (MadMarvin, Galen Hall, Noctus, Dirty.brasil, etc.) and felt that I was mentally prepared for anything, good or bad.

Interesting Hand:

At this point in the tourney, we are nearing the end of play for day 2, and there is around 15-18 people left in the night. My rail is fairly small at the moment and includes Marvin and my boyfriend, there are a few 2+2ers on the rail also, as their friend Dylan Hortin is in the final 18 as well.

The dealer finishes her shuffle and starts dealing the cards, I am on the button, around 25bb deep. The first card I receive is an Ah, the dealer keeps dealing and as the final card is about to reach me, instead of staying face down on the felt, it hits the button and flicks face up. That card being the Ace Of Spades.

I wince visibly when I see it flip up, and sigh when the 2nd card I receive is an off suit 6. I stay calm, and patiently wait for it to fold to the cut-off, they raise, I fold and get up from the table and walk over to the rail.

I be-moan my bad luck to my rail quietly, and after a quick chat with Marvin go back to my seat in time for the next hand.

As I sit down someone asks me what my first card was, I say "Ace of hearts, pretty brutal." The guy in the cut-off says "Really, I had QQ that hand, would have been bad for me!"

I sigh and roll my eyes.

The guy on my left says "You really would have had AA? I'm surprized you didn't show any emotion/get mad."


To be honest, while I did nothing special in the above, while I didn't win a pot, nor lose much money. The above situation is one of the proudest moments of my life.

I have had massive issues in the past with tilt and emotional control (as showed a bit previously in this TR), and one of my main goals for 2011/2012 was getting my tilt in check and being more in control of my emotions.

Poker isn't about winning or losing. It's about making correct decisions, and being able to handle yourself mentally no matter what happens.

Also, I honestly feel that much of life comes down to the above as well. As human beings, no matter what we try to do or how well we do it, there will always be factors we cannot control, and often times it will be things that make life hard for us (emotionally or otherwise).

Being able to accept things as they happen, and approach life's trials and tribulations with a clear head and heart, in my opinion is one of the keys to having a happy and fulfilling life.

Thus I am happy to see that I am on my way to having a great mindset about things and am proud of that.

End hand

After the hand I kept calm and kept on the grind. I was close to my 2nd WSOP FT, and wanted it so unbelievably badly.

Before I knew it, there were 14 people left and we were on the final hand of the night. I ended the night by running AK into Vincent Van Der Fluit's KK, I was fortunate to have him covered however and thus squeezed into Day 3 as the shortest stack in play.

I was obviously still happy to be in, and excited for what the next day may bring.

(Here is the Pokernews article on the end of day 2)

http://www.pokernews.com/live-report...ost.205834.htm

******** Part 9 ********
"WSOP FT"

After a rough night's sleep and a few anxious hours of waiting I was walking back into the Rio for Day 3. As I made my way back to the Amazon Room to my seat, I had Nicki Minaj, and Eminem playing loudly in my headphones.





I was trying my best to keep my mind off of how close I was to another FT and how much that could mean for me. I was trying to also remind myself that it was just another tourney, and I knew what I was doing and was capable of playing a great game. Obviously I failed pretty hard at staying completely calm and was very nervous as I sat down at my seat.

My table draw was very entertaining once again. It was not an easy final 14, the majority of the field was made up of young professional grinders.

Matt Stout (all_In_At420) is a loud, affable, skilled, beefy Canadian with a great sense of humor and is a pleasure to play with (and a boss at poker). Vincent is a mild mannered, ridiculously skilled, European phenom, who has a quick wit. There were also great players like Max Steinberg and Dylan Hortin left, and they were a pleasure to play with as well.

While it was not an easy table, it was one that allowed me to relax pretty quickly at, as it felt more like a home game than 13 away from $440k and a dream come true.

The second hand we played I picked up AA and held vs AJ for a clean double up. Within an hour from the start of play, we were down to 11, and the hand to bring us to the Final Table.

(Note: Play goes down to 1 table at 10 left, the official final table begins at 9 however.)

Interesting Hand:
Background Info: 200k effective, blinds are 8k-16k, I have villain covered and have 300k. Villain is Vincent. I have 66 in the SB

I get delt my cards and patiently wait for it to fold around to me, I look down and 66 and move all in after pausing quickly for 15-20 seconds.

Vincent looks me over and peaks down at his hand, purses his lips, and tanks for around a minute.

He then muses aloud to himself, "I know this is normally a call, but I'm uncertain as to whether I should take this spot considering the situation." He then looks again at me and says "What do you think?"

I say truthfully "I really don't care what you do," I then add playfully, "but I'll tell you this, if you call you will be going home." Then I wink at him and strike a stoic pose and wait for his decision.

After another few minutes of thinking, he finally sighs and says that he calls.

http://www.pokernews.com/live-report...hips.31284.htm

End Hand

I shook his hand, and wished him a good game, and he professionally and calmly left the table to receive his pay out. After he left we were told we needed to rack up our chips and make our way to the Main Final Table Area there in the Amazon room (also named appropriately "The Spaceship" by many regs).

After setting my chips down and was set up in my correct seat, we had a short break.

I ran up to my boyfriend who was seated near the rail and hugged him vigorously and shouted with joy.

I had made the 2nd WSOP FT of my career, was now guaranteed profits for my backers, had proven I wasn't a random lucksack, and had the opportunity of a lifetime; The chance at 440k and a WSOP Gold Bracelet.

After calming down again, and a quick pep talk from MadMarvin and Galen, I was back in action and ready to give it my all.

Me At FT


Another FT picture


I wish I could say that I continued to run great and went on to win my first bracelet, that I managed to achieve the goal I've been dreaming of since I first started playing this amazing game; However it was not meant to be.

With 7 left I had the following hand occur:
http://www.pokernews.com/live-report...hips.31322.htm

I accepted the loss calmly and professionally, and was actually still fairly happy after I busted. While I was obviously very disappointed to not top 3, I also believe that anyone who is depressed for long after winning 56k from a poker tournament is in the wrong industry.

I went to sleep that night knowing that my WSOP investors would be happy, my new backer would be happy, the feeling that I once again accomplished something awesome in the game, and the knowledge that I had dozens of friends and family, and an amazing partner giving me support.

How could I be anything but happy and content?

******** Part 10 ********
"2nd Half Of The Summer"

After describing my FT and the events leading up to it, I feel as though it will be difficult to surpass that or keep up with it as far as entertainment goes; Thus I will much more briefly describe my final weeks in Vegas than I have the rest of the TR.

For my WSOP package I ended up bricking the rest of the events I played that summer. However I did manage another WSOP cash.

NLHE is my best game, and my favorite game, however only by a little bit. My 2nd favorite game is Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Or-Better (PLO8). I find it to be a very deep and interesting game, that requires a lot of thought, however can be fairly low variance due to the nature of it. Much like PLO it is a very post flop oriented game, and a pleasure to play. I also consider myself to be a fairly competent PLO8 player and thus desired to play the 3k WSOP event that year. So I had my backer take some of the action and sold the rest to investors.

The event began on July 3rd and took place in the Amazon room. At the same time the event was running, the One Drop was on day 2 and had reached the Final Table. Thus while I was seated at my table for the event, I was watching a near by TV on the wall that was displaying the ESPN feed from the One Drop near by. By listening to the crowd I was able to know what was going to happen on the screen by who's cheering section was cheering the loudest (the footage was on a 15min delay).

To be in the same room as the largest buy-in tournament in the history of the game, while playing in a WSOP event was an experience i'll never forget. To say it was awe-inspiring barely does it justice.

One Drop Opening Ceremony


As play in my event continued through the night and One Drop played down to the winner, I noticed that Phil Hellmuth had sat down at a table near mine.

That's right, after taking 4th in a $1,000,000 tourney for a cool $2.6 mil, Hellmuth was now playing in a 3k buy-in with under 1k runners, and less than 300k for first.

Even with knowing that he was backed for One Drop, and that he likely didn't get more than 500k of the score, you have to give the man respect for being willing to play in a significantly smaller and less important tourney that same day.

Whether you like the man, whether you respect him and his game, you have to admit that he has heart and drive, and is a true legend of the game.

Day 1 was fairly insignificant for me in the 3k plo8, I ended the day with around 18k (from a 9k start) and was happy with how I was playing.

Day 2 started off wonderfully for me as well. The 3rd time I was moved I ended up getting a table draw that had Scotty "The Prince of Poker" Nguyen 2 to my left. While the man has received a bunch of bad publicity due to his 50k FT, and other antics he has had, I have to admit that playing with him was a pleasure and he genuinely came off as a nice and intelligent guy. He was also very talkative and outgoing, and was happy to get up to sign autographs and take pictures with fans as they came to rail the table.

He also gave some pretty sound advice after one of the younger players at the table had mentioned playing in the event with Jennifer Tilly. The guy had stated that she was one of the worst players he had ever seen, and how he found it impressive that she kept playing events. After telling a quick story about a hand she played, pretty much everyone at the table started calling any trash hand they received "Tilly's", and when we showed a bluff we would say we "Took it down with a Tilly".

While I found the above table antics amusing, and was guilty in joining in myself and having a little laugh. Scotty eventually ended up stating maturely how even though we found it amusing, that it was terrible to behave in the manner we were. He stated that we should always go out of our way to think about and treat all fish with respect, and that it was because of them that we were able to play the game. He said it was our duty to be entertaining and to be ambassadors of the game.

While we found it ironic that it was coming from him, we all agreed heartily that he was correct and stopped using the "Tilly" terminology.

As we neared hand for hand, played really began to slow down, especially when hand for hand began. We ended up having close to a 2 hour bubble, and in order to pass the time a couple of us had a prop bet to see how many times Scotty would say "baby" at the table during the length of a dealer (30 mins). With the stakes high, at 5$ , the line was set at 28 times.

While that seems like a fairly high line, Scotty managed to say it 26 times over the course of that 30 minutes, even with the stipulations in place that neither party in the bet could try to converse with him.

Due to a bubble flip that went in my favor, I managed to squeeze into the money. Unfortunately I could not muster another FT, and busted in 37th place. I ended up being very happy with the event overall, and was glad to have gotten in my first non NLHE cash of my WSOP career, and my first cash in a MTT with a buy-in over $1500.

The next day I had the last event of my 2nd WSOP package. I was not able to make a deep run, and failed to cash. Thus I ended my 2nd package up nearly 30k for investors (40k in total buy-ins between the 2).

I was glad to have done so well once again, especially as the investors this year were people whom I looked up to and whose respect and trust I greatly desire to have.

******** Part 11 ********
"Main Event and Closing Thoughts"

Unfortunately I failed to make it past day 2 in the main again this year. Also this year I didn't really have any overly interesting hands occur (I did correctly check/fold post flop with QQ on 289dd in a 3-bet pot though ), so don't have much to say about the main expect for this:

Busting the main even is like being 11 years old, it is Christmas morning. You are getting everything you ever wanted, and find out that Santa Clause is actually real and you get to meet him.

As the final minutes before meeting him tick away, instead of getting to have the massive pile of presents that are located near your tree, an electrical fire is started by a bulb shorting out and everything catches fire and burns. Instead of Santa Clause meeting you, he is instead hit by an airplane and is killed. Merry Christmas...

Even so, 7 months from now I'll begin to get excited for the next WSOP. I'll set up renting a house/apt in Vegas, and plan what events I want to play, and how I'll end up playing them.

As I once again saunter up to my first event of the summer, I'll still be beside myself with excitement. Not because I haven't been there before, and certainly not because I'm not skilled enough to be there. But, I'll be excited for the same reasons everyone else at my table will be; A stack of chips, 2 cards, and a dream of a gold bracelet.

And while busting the Main Event outside of the money is every poker player's worst nightmare, and I've done so back to back years; I'll once again be seating myself for the Main Event in 2013, even thought I know that it will end in heartache way more often than not. Even so, I know that with a right amount of patience, skill, and luck, I could be a part of something amazing.

Who's with me?

--------------------------------------------------

Thank you all for reading this. It has been a pleasure to write it, and I hope you have found pleasure in reading it.

I'd like to thank everyone in my life who has assisted me to get to the point where I am in my career, while there are too many to list, they know who they are.

Finally I'd like to thank the love of my life for being so supportive, for without him none of my last 2 years of success would have been possible.

good stuff here op, nice read.

Thanks!

Been awhile since i've given an update as to what I'm doing and what I have planned for the next few months, and goals and **** that I have.

So far the plan is as follows:

Leave for Cabo San Lucas on Aug 19th. My bf and I have a 2br apt set up right near marina, we have a beautiful view from the 6th floor of ocean/marina (will post pics later). I'll relax the first full day back, and plan to be back grinding on ps by Aug 21st.

WCOOP starts sept 2nd, and from Aug 21st to sept 2nd my plan is to slowly get more n more used to playing online again and thus be on full form by the time it starts.

I'm allowed to play pretty much anything I want for mtts (up to 200's/30r daily, can play sunday 500 and sunday 109r and everything up to them, and can even play supertuesday if i want), however to start off i'll likely only play the softest stuff up to big 162 daily, and while i'll still play sunday 500/109r, i'll keep a fairly soft schedule overall. I think that by keeping a softer/lower variance schedule to start my return to the grind that it should keep my confidence high heading into WCOOP and help me regain my grinding mindset.

For WCOOP I'm planning on playing everything up to 500$, and for over 500$ i'll only play NLHE events (maybe 1-2 exceptions). The only NLHE over 500$ i'll skip are the HU, and the 10k highroller (likely playing 40k or so in buy-ins). I also will be aiming for TLB champ in sept, and thus will likely take less than 3 days off that month.

After Sept i'll be taking 2 days off a week, and will be using those 2 days to hangout with my bf, and to get in coaching hours. We plan on leaving Mexico Nov 21st or so, and will do holiday stuff in the usa. After that I don't really know what our plans will be, likely we'll end up heading back to Toronto until just before 2013 WSOP.

Goals For Next 3 Months:
[ ]Clear 30k In make-up by end of Sept.
[ ]Top 20 WCOOP Leaderboard
[ ]Play 1750+ sched. MTT's In Sept
[ ]Win Monthly TLB at least once
[ ]Profit 100k before I leave Mexico
[ ]Play 4500 MTT's In Mexico
[ ]Workout 5 times/week for at least 30 min each day.
[ ]Have a wonderful 2nd Anniversary with my BF

I believe that all of the above goals are realistic and very achievable, I'll be somewhat disappointed in myself if I don't accomplish at least 6 of them (4 are completely in my control, the others should follow as well).

Thank you for following!

Best of luck at the tables!

glgl!
cya at the tables

Thanks for taking the time to write up the reports. Nice Job at the WSOP and enjoy Mexico!

Great trip report, Well played, and an inspiring read!

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it ^.^

Getting down to Cabo was pretty easy and hassle free. The real-estate agent we have has made moving into our new apt really easy and worry free.

We have a great location, a large place, and an amazing view. I'm sure it'll help make the months we are here much less stressful and much more relaxing and enjoyable.


My first day back grinding went decently. While i added around 900$ to make up, I did make 2 FT's (with 1 win for 1k), and I played the Super Tuesday for my first time ever.

I am very happy with how i played overall (i def made mistakes and am rusty yet), and am excited for what the next 6 weeks will bring.

Results In Mexico:

Games Played:52

ABI:$51

ROI: -%43

Profits: -$950

Current VIP Level: Silver

Monthly VPPS: 1070

Yearly VPPS: 73695

Gl during wcoop, hope to see u at a FT!

Thanks! I hope so too . Will need to run pure! GL2u2!

FT of the big 162, my 6th ft of the day. 4/7 with 19k ftw!

GO GO GO!

Please update this thread a bunch for those of us who cant rail

GL!

.COM Windows version:

http://77.87.180.178/PokerStarsInstall.exe

.COM Mac version:

http://77.87.180.182/PokerStarsInstall.pkg.zip

If you want to rail, the above are links for recent PS download. Can be accessed from in the usa (can log in even, just wont let you play at all or w/e besides for play money).

glgl

Took 3rd for 10.2k very happy with the result!

Already have had 8 ft's in 2 days of play :O, up around 9k since getting here.

Pretty awesome.

Had 8 ft's today, a personal best. Have made 18 ft's since getting here (4 days of play).

Will do a full update monday.