Slacking off, working hard, house parties and catching up.
Wow, so a LOT has happened since that last post even though I am still peeling from the sunburn at Bolinas beach. I'll start with the most recent and work my way back.
FINALLY had a housewarming party at the new place and even put on a little poker tournament for the folks that stuck around late. I BBQed ribs, burgers, veggie-patties and turkey sausages to hopefully fulfill the dining needs of a diverse crowd whilst the side dishes and deserts were well covered by the attending guests. Some of you need to cook for me more often!! James Malins, in his first poker tournament, bested Mary G. (of course in her first tournament as well) to take home the winners prize in the end. Funny, considering the table had 5 veteran players out of the 8 entered and the 2 that finished were the newbies that seemed to have some great game theory and brains on their side. Beginners luck? Maybe, but Mary and James were gunning to win from the first practice hand all the way to the end!
I am struggling to get enough vacation to visit everyone and do what I need to do so allow me to stick a note in here to apologize to those that are missing me or are hoping I'll be able to fly everywhere again this holiday season. I'm afraid I will have to decline and open my doors to visiting family this year. My 9 year streak of visiting everyone that will have me has come to an end, but the good news is you can finally visit me in foggy/sunny Northern California!!
Going back another week, work took me to Las Vegas again and on my nights off I was, you guessed it, playing poker. Which turned out to be a very good thing!! I won the 7pm freezeout at Caesar's Palace for a nice chunk of cash and them played HORSE and various mixed games at the lower limits with some friends and acquaintances in town (purely coincidentally) at the same time. (Funny story, I called to brag that I was on 'The Strip' and the reply was..."really? I'll be there tomorrow.") Best of luck to Taj and the Zombie Jack.com team in their quest to get their business kicked off and sue the hell out of the rep that screwed them. People like that should be shot. In the stomach. Then left to die slowly. In a hole filled with scorpions. And offal. Lots of offal.
Went to the Olympic Club with the Young Entrepreneurs Organization a few weeks ago and met some truly interesting and inspiring people who just happened to know of a very cool club near by that I will be stopping by at again. Le Colonial in the Financial District in San Francisco needs to be seen! The, thankfully, have a website for those of you in other areas
http://www.lecolonialsf.com/.
Below are some wrap up pictures. If you are wondering, that is a tower built out of about $1300-$1500 worth of chips in these picture. Then we knocked it down! Best beer holder ever for Constantine (aka Stoli4Me).
The Tower of Constantine...plus 1 Sam Adams.
The final table at Caesar's Is Stylin'!
The View from the Caesar's Tournament Room and out onto the main floor. Note the pics of the past WSOP Champions over the door and top pros around the rooms. I think I look crappy in leopard print, but you could convince me to be up there.
First place money is purty!
Boyle (left) and Taj (right) let their freak flag fly in Vegas...sporting Zombie Jack's original designs.
As you can see, a very professional set up....a folding table top on top of a folding table. Chips are nice though. That's me with the bad dealing mechanics.
The final four were given their choice of hats to wear from my odd and unusually large collection of big brims. Why? Because a cool hat makes you a better poker player, stupid!
Cool Hand Mary relaxes with the vino. I think she read most of my poker library back there while I wasn't looking.
John TAKES IT DOWN!! Ship it to Britain baby!! Gin and Onions.
