Sensei’s Poker Dojo

I didn’t play in the main event this year. I was lazy and procrastinated registering for it before I went to Seattle, and then I got back to Vegas Sunday night and went straight home, planning to head over and register in the morning. When I arrived at the Rio Monday morning around 11, it was mobbed (to be expected) but particularly around the entrance to the registration room. The security guard indicated that registration was no longer open. My compatriots in the angry mob confirmed that fact, and we collectively spent a few hours milling about and hearing rumors until finally some officials came and confirmed that they were at capacity. It turned out to be a rather big issue that a few hundred people weren’t let into the main event, but on my end it was just a frustrating and disappointing drive back to the house.

I stayed in Vegas a few more days and visited the 2 Months 2 Million house with the rest of the DC crew. It was a fun evening, though I guess I can’t tell you what happened on account of non-disclosure agreements and such. Suffice it to say that the house was ridiculous and after having been there I don’t really want to be filmed for a reality show ever, heh.

Wednesday I flew home and immediately became rather sick with what is jokingly referred to among poker players as the “Vegas aids” but which was more accurately confirmed by a doctor to be “influenza A”¹. Anyhow, I was laid up with that for the better part of a week. Fortunately my job allows me virtually unlimited sick days, so I was able to loaf around for a few days without sweating it. I played no cards during these days, as I learned long ago not to play poker when I was quite sick.² Once I recovered from the illness it was back to the regular grind, more or less.

I spent a long weekend in Boulder playing ultimate and hanging out with my lady friend and such. I got to play 9 holes of golf with my friend John³ and learned that the ball travels much further at altitude. I hit some amazing iron shots and some horrible tee shots, but overall it was a great time. It has been too long since I played golf, even though I have my clubs out here in SF.

Since then I’ve basically just been chillin and grinding at home. I’ve been playing a lot of triple draw and mixed games and have been crushing it quite consistently. It has been a long time since I had a stretch like this of consistent wins, but I’m enjoying it immensely. One of the best parts about playing tripledraw and mixed games is that you can really only play a few tables at once, so you can do something else at the same time. In my case, that something else has been rewatching The Wire. I’m through the first three seasons now over the last few weeks, and will presumably devour the last two just as quickly. I could probably go on for a while about how awesome it is, but I’ll just say you should watch it if you haven’t already.

1. probably swine flu [↩]
2. When your brain functions are working below capacity, you can quickly become a losing player. [↩]
3. KasinoKrime on DC [↩]