Jamaican Poker
Saturday, July 08, 2006
As I perused the activity list given to us when we arrived at Sandals, I couldn't help but let out a little chuckle. My eyes gravitated to one word, "Poker".
Thus began what was fortunately a short-lived conundrum. Tuesday night was Casino night. Wifey Kim and I are not much for these organized affairs, prefering each other's company over that of a bunch of fellow tourists, so we didn't actually get to many of the Sandals-organized events. However, as Tuesday came closer, I was faced with a difficult dilemna. How was I, a man on his HoneyTwo (wifey Kim and I dubbed this a 2nd Honeymoon, since 80% of the people we met were just married), rationalize sneaking away at 10pm to play some form of bastardized Poker at a Sandals resort. Sure enough, Tuesday at 9pm, I glanced over the list of activities on the daily activity board. Noticeably absent was the "Poker". I brought my querry to the man at the desk, "Excuse me, is the Poker event happening tonight?" "No, mon, it's cancelled, but there is blackjack at the club." I was actually relieved. Temptation averted.
Aside from that minor trial, the poker content on my vacation was rather light, as expected. That is not to say that it was non existent. I finished "Swimming with the Devilfish," a book by Des Wilson that was sent to me in a promotional copy. A full review will be forthcoming. I also listened to several podcasts of The Circuit by Cardplayer Magazine, including one in which hosts Joe Sebok and Gavin Smith (along with Scott Huffman) mentioned the "charity event in Philadelphia", which, interestingly involves Sir AlCantHang's Bash at the Boathouse and, of course, ForPeyton.com. I couldn't help but do a double take in my hammock when I heard the reference.
And let me say, the Circuit is one hell of a podcast. The team of Smith, Sebok and Huffman are informative and entertaining. I plan on listening to their podcasts regularly. I also enjoyed some Full Tilt Lessons from the Pros podcasts, which, while short, pack a lot of punch as far as tips are concerned. I still have some Lord Admirals Card Club loaded up too, and I look forward to finally hearing it for myself. Whatever the case, thank god for my iPod, or the poker content of this trip would've been nil.
As I type, I'm actually in the Jamiacan airport. My flight, scheduled to leave at 5, was pushed back to 8:20 without any explanation. As a result, wifey Kim and I know this airport like the back of our hands. Fortunately, we stopped caring about money and used this kiosk and a credit card to occupy ourselves. I have 5 minutes left, so don't be too surprised if I cut this off abruptly.
Facing tomorrow, I really wonder what this 7 day break will mean for my game. Wifey Kim thought it was a silly thought, and maybe it is. But I don't think I took more than a few days off from poker in a long while. I'm actually excited to get back to it and see if there is any ring rust. I'm hoping that, if anything, my game will be improved, what with the tips from the pros and a little bit of time to reflect. Whatever the case, you'll hear the results here.
In other great news, I have decided to bite the bullet and definitely enter a higher buy-in live tournament by the end of the year. The plan is to see what the WPT and WSOP Circuit schedules look like and then take some of my blog-earned dough for the sole purpose of (mentally) freerolling myself into an event. I've decided that the time has come. So, by the end of the year, I plan in playing in one of their $300 or $500 events, and then by the next year, I want to seriously consider an actualy WSOP event (or at least a higher buy-in Circuit event). It finally occurred to me that I have won thousands of dollars from a mere $50 over the last 2 years. It's time to take that slow move into the deep end.
The computer tells me i have a minute. So, adios.
posted by Jordan @ 6:45 PM,
