Hey guys,
For the past 2 years I've considered this blogspot blog my 'real' blog and copy/pasted each entry to other poker sites to increase the readership. I've decided now however to just update my CardRunners blog. Why? Quite simply, the CR blog format is so much easier. I can copy text from Word without having to reformat it here, and I can paste photos without having to resize them all manually (and insert them in reverse order). I can also attach YouTube videos much more easily.
So yes, basically I'm moving it because I'm being lazy. With lots of photo blogs anticipated in the future it's just too much effort to go through the whole process every time on this blogspot blog. So, if you'd like to follow my travels in Europe in 2010 and whatever the future holds for me in 2011 (the year I play as a pro), please follow my blog here:
www.cardrunners.com/blog/jcl
Thanks for reading, and adieu!
Showing posts with label Poker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poker. Show all posts
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Two Weeks till Freedom...
I'm getting pretty psyched...few days until World Cup begins...and then in two weeks time I'll basically be free for 1.5 years!
I'm getting really excited for exchange too. We had a pre-departure session last week and Lund sounds like it has the most amazing student social life. I have a friend who's there now and he said the time went by so fast...
My trip has also been completely finalised...
• 9th July – leave Sydney
• 10th-17th – Paris
• 17th-23rd – Barcelona
• 23rd-29th – Marseille
• 29th -3rd August – Nice
• 3rd-8th – Florence
• 8th-15th – Rome
• 15th– fly to Copenhagen
• 16th – Arrive in Lund
During semester we'll go to Oktoberfest, visit Utrecht and Amsterdam, and go up north to hopefully see the Northern Lights. We'll also probably see Stockholm and some other places if time permits.
Then next year I'm basically going to be playing poker full-time! I'll obviously be focusing on cash but I'm planning to take tournaments up again since I'll be able to play every Monday (Sunday in the US) and all the FTOPS/WCOOP/SCOOP for the first time. As for big live events, I'm looking to play a decent schedule at the WSOP (I was initially going to just play the 5K 6-Max, Main Event and possibly whatever big NLHE event they come up with next year but I think I might play the small events that are running while I'm there as well), WSOPE, EPT London, and APPT Sydney. Aussie Millions 2012 should round out my poker career.
As for general holiday trips, I want to go to Tokyo, Kyoto, Pompeii, Venice, Athens, some Greek Islands, LA, San Diego and San Francisco, and possibly NYC and Shanghai as well.
So, what's between me and all those places? Two weeks of copyright, trade marks, and private international law...
Argh...back to the books...
I'm getting really excited for exchange too. We had a pre-departure session last week and Lund sounds like it has the most amazing student social life. I have a friend who's there now and he said the time went by so fast...
My trip has also been completely finalised...
• 9th July – leave Sydney
• 10th-17th – Paris
• 17th-23rd – Barcelona
• 23rd-29th – Marseille
• 29th -3rd August – Nice
• 3rd-8th – Florence
• 8th-15th – Rome
• 15th– fly to Copenhagen
• 16th – Arrive in Lund
During semester we'll go to Oktoberfest, visit Utrecht and Amsterdam, and go up north to hopefully see the Northern Lights. We'll also probably see Stockholm and some other places if time permits.
Then next year I'm basically going to be playing poker full-time! I'll obviously be focusing on cash but I'm planning to take tournaments up again since I'll be able to play every Monday (Sunday in the US) and all the FTOPS/WCOOP/SCOOP for the first time. As for big live events, I'm looking to play a decent schedule at the WSOP (I was initially going to just play the 5K 6-Max, Main Event and possibly whatever big NLHE event they come up with next year but I think I might play the small events that are running while I'm there as well), WSOPE, EPT London, and APPT Sydney. Aussie Millions 2012 should round out my poker career.
As for general holiday trips, I want to go to Tokyo, Kyoto, Pompeii, Venice, Athens, some Greek Islands, LA, San Diego and San Francisco, and possibly NYC and Shanghai as well.
So, what's between me and all those places? Two weeks of copyright, trade marks, and private international law...
Argh...back to the books...
Friday, May 28, 2010
That Was Not Pleasant...
34.5K down from my peak...
Played two 20K+ pots and lost both of them, one with AA for 250bb's at 25/50 in a 3-bet pot on 9633Q (he had 66) and one for 100bb's with QQ v AQ preflop at 50/100.
I actually finished the session up in big blinds too...
Month looks lame now, just 12K in winnings after hitting a peak of 47K (although recovering from a low of -33K too). Also no longer have 100K in winnings for the year.
I think now would be a good time to self-exclude, take a break and concentrate on study. See you in four weeks...
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Final Day at Sydney University!
Tomorrow is my final day of classes at Sydney University...kind of scary, four and a half years have gone so fast.
Afterwards I have 3.5 weeks to study for three exams and to write one 4000 word essay...then I'm off to Europe!
My plans for Europe have changed a bit...I'm now adding in three days each at Nice, Venice and Florence and cutting shorter my time in Rome, Barcelona and Paris. Should still be amazing!
In terms of poker my 10/20 6-max goal has been going nowhere and I've been breaking even there over the last 40K hands or so. Pretty annoying...I'm sitting on 135K out of 207K at the moment so I still need another 36 buy-ins. I was hoping to clear it before I left but that seems an impossibility now. I have however cleared 100K for the year now so that's one goal out of the way I guess. May so far:
Finally, I've finished my 1/2 deep ante series so hopefully those videos will go up sometime in the near future. That series will be my last series until I guess February next year when I get back so make sure to enjoy them and ask a lot of questions whilst I still know what I'm doing – next year I'll probably be useless and completely out of date lol.
Good luck at the tables.
Afterwards I have 3.5 weeks to study for three exams and to write one 4000 word essay...then I'm off to Europe!
My plans for Europe have changed a bit...I'm now adding in three days each at Nice, Venice and Florence and cutting shorter my time in Rome, Barcelona and Paris. Should still be amazing!
In terms of poker my 10/20 6-max goal has been going nowhere and I've been breaking even there over the last 40K hands or so. Pretty annoying...I'm sitting on 135K out of 207K at the moment so I still need another 36 buy-ins. I was hoping to clear it before I left but that seems an impossibility now. I have however cleared 100K for the year now so that's one goal out of the way I guess. May so far:
Finally, I've finished my 1/2 deep ante series so hopefully those videos will go up sometime in the near future. That series will be my last series until I guess February next year when I get back so make sure to enjoy them and ask a lot of questions whilst I still know what I'm doing – next year I'll probably be useless and completely out of date lol.
Good luck at the tables.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Won $40K Pot, Bad Month, Never Playing 5/10 Again?
I saw a mark at 50/100 today and sat down. On literally the first hand he doubled through...
No-Limit Hold'em, $100.00 BB (2 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($8000)
Hero (BB) ($20000)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 10
, 10
SB bets $150, Hero raises $700, SB calls $600
Flop: ($1600) A
, 2
, 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $1600, Hero calls $1600
Turn: ($4800) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $5600 (All-In), Hero calls $5600
River: ($16000) K (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: $16000
Results:
SB had 10, K (one pair, Kings).
Hero had 10, 10 (one pair, tens).
Outcome: SB won $15999.50
No matter though because 5 hands later I scooped my biggest pot ever!
No-Limit Hold'em, $100.00 BB (3 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($10000)
BB ($20946.50)
Hero (Button) ($20500)
Preflop: Hero is Button with 7, 8
Hero bets $300, 1 fold, BB calls $200
Flop: ($650) 8, 7, 7 (2 players)
BB bets $650, Hero calls $650
Turn: ($1950) 5 (2 players)
BB bets $1950, Hero calls $1950
River: ($5850) A (2 players)
BB bets $5850, Hero raises $17600 (All-In), BB calls $11750
Total pot: $41050
Results:
Hero had 7, 8 (full house, sevens over eights).
BB didn't show
Outcome: Hero won $41049
I then sat at some 5/10 tables because nothing higher was running and I wanted to play my rush. I've played less than 6000 hands of 5/10 this year and I quickly remembered why – I can't take the damn limit seriously anymore. After twice 5-bet jamming preflop with AJo, once into a cold 4-bettor who had QQ and the second time into a back-raiser who had AK, and having neither win, I was officially on tilt. I proceeded to donk off two more 5/10 buy-ins before quitting about 7K down from my peak (the other 3K I lost in standard spots at 10/20).
I always try to take something from my bad sessions, and from this session I think the lesson is clear: don't play 5/10 anymore Joey! Of course, I doubt I'll be able to avoid 5/10 altogether (especially if certain famous fish are sitting) but I'm going to do my damn well best to try. What I'm definitely not going to do is do what I did today and that is play a genuine 5/10 session. I've only played about 3 of those this year and I'm pretty sure all of them ended up in the red. I think it's fine if I supplement my normal 10/20 tables with 5/10 tables, but if I'm playing 5/10 exclusively or even predominantly I end up trying to win every pot and become a -EV, FPS-monkey.
In other news I'm running pretty badly this month, but I've run well this year so I can't complain too much. I just want to make sure I still finish up for the month because I really don't like having negative months. It makes you feel like you've gone backwards...
No-Limit Hold'em, $100.00 BB (2 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($8000)
Hero (BB) ($20000)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 10
, 10SB bets $150, Hero raises $700, SB calls $600
Flop: ($1600) A
, 2, 3 (2 players)Hero checks, SB bets $1600, Hero calls $1600
Turn: ($4800) Q
(2 players)Hero checks, SB bets $5600 (All-In), Hero calls $5600
River: ($16000) K
(2 players, 1 all-in)Total pot: $16000
Results:
SB had 10
, K (one pair, Kings).Hero had 10
, 10 (one pair, tens).Outcome: SB won $15999.50
No matter though because 5 hands later I scooped my biggest pot ever!
No-Limit Hold'em, $100.00 BB (3 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($10000)
BB ($20946.50)
Hero (Button) ($20500)
Preflop: Hero is Button with 7
, 8Hero bets $300, 1 fold, BB calls $200
Flop: ($650) 8
, 7, 7 (2 players)BB bets $650, Hero calls $650
Turn: ($1950) 5
(2 players)BB bets $1950, Hero calls $1950
River: ($5850) A
(2 players)BB bets $5850, Hero raises $17600 (All-In), BB calls $11750
Total pot: $41050
Results:
Hero had 7
, 8 (full house, sevens over eights).BB didn't show
Outcome: Hero won $41049
I then sat at some 5/10 tables because nothing higher was running and I wanted to play my rush. I've played less than 6000 hands of 5/10 this year and I quickly remembered why – I can't take the damn limit seriously anymore. After twice 5-bet jamming preflop with AJo, once into a cold 4-bettor who had QQ and the second time into a back-raiser who had AK, and having neither win, I was officially on tilt. I proceeded to donk off two more 5/10 buy-ins before quitting about 7K down from my peak (the other 3K I lost in standard spots at 10/20).
I always try to take something from my bad sessions, and from this session I think the lesson is clear: don't play 5/10 anymore Joey! Of course, I doubt I'll be able to avoid 5/10 altogether (especially if certain famous fish are sitting) but I'm going to do my damn well best to try. What I'm definitely not going to do is do what I did today and that is play a genuine 5/10 session. I've only played about 3 of those this year and I'm pretty sure all of them ended up in the red. I think it's fine if I supplement my normal 10/20 tables with 5/10 tables, but if I'm playing 5/10 exclusively or even predominantly I end up trying to win every pot and become a -EV, FPS-monkey.
In other news I'm running pretty badly this month, but I've run well this year so I can't complain too much. I just want to make sure I still finish up for the month because I really don't like having negative months. It makes you feel like you've gone backwards...
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Sometimes You Just Gotta Chase...
Was down 12K at the trough. Was super tilted after a dude at 25/50 peeled my c-bet with 90bb stacks in a 3-bet pot with 44 on Q73hh v my AhAx and binked the 4h on the turn (I missed the redraw obviously).
I decided then and there that I was going to keep playing until I got even but once I did I kept winning so I stayed on and voila!
I decided then and there that I was going to keep playing until I got even but once I did I kept winning so I stayed on and voila!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Euros, Help Me Travel Europe!
So I booked my flights! July 9 from Sydney to Paris and August 15 from Rome to Copenhagen. The question is, what is the best way to get from Paris to Marseille to Barcelona to Rome? I presume I can catch a train from Paris to Marseille but from Marseille to Barcelona and especially from Barcelona to Rome I'm not entirely sure (train, plane, ferry?). Any advice would be awesome.
On the poker front, I haven't been able to play much these last few weeks. I had an exam last week and have one next week and after that I'll still be busy right through till the end of semester so unfortunately it's looking like I won't be able to finish my yearly goals by July. However, that's not really a concern for me anymore because I've decided that I will take my RSAs to Sweden and at least give myself the option of playing poker while there. Initially I was reluctant to do this because I wanted to make sure I made the most of my exchange experience and didn't just grind in my dorm room the whole time. However I decided that letting my game age by 7 months was not a good idea, especially since I'm now definitely taking a year off next year to travel and play full time. I definitely don't want to start next year rusty or behind the times. Also, even though I won't be playing very much, I'll still probably be foregoing about 100K by not playing for those 7 months, and that's a pretty big thing to give up.
I'll definitely make sure I balance my time well though. I'm going to Sweden to have a lot of fun and gain invaluable life experiences, not to just while my time away playing poker. I might even do something like set myself a limit of 10K hands per month and force myself to donate $1 for every hand I play beyond that or give out free coaching or something. We'll see.
Finally I did a video with Andrew which I think went pretty well, and I've also finished 2 of the 3 parts of my new series. I'll do the final part when my self-exclude ends in a week so look out for the series fairly soon!
Good luck at the tables.
On the poker front, I haven't been able to play much these last few weeks. I had an exam last week and have one next week and after that I'll still be busy right through till the end of semester so unfortunately it's looking like I won't be able to finish my yearly goals by July. However, that's not really a concern for me anymore because I've decided that I will take my RSAs to Sweden and at least give myself the option of playing poker while there. Initially I was reluctant to do this because I wanted to make sure I made the most of my exchange experience and didn't just grind in my dorm room the whole time. However I decided that letting my game age by 7 months was not a good idea, especially since I'm now definitely taking a year off next year to travel and play full time. I definitely don't want to start next year rusty or behind the times. Also, even though I won't be playing very much, I'll still probably be foregoing about 100K by not playing for those 7 months, and that's a pretty big thing to give up.
I'll definitely make sure I balance my time well though. I'm going to Sweden to have a lot of fun and gain invaluable life experiences, not to just while my time away playing poker. I might even do something like set myself a limit of 10K hands per month and force myself to donate $1 for every hand I play beyond that or give out free coaching or something. We'll see.
Finally I did a video with Andrew which I think went pretty well, and I've also finished 2 of the 3 parts of my new series. I'll do the final part when my self-exclude ends in a week so look out for the series fairly soon!
Good luck at the tables.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Poker Update, Upcoming Videos, Eurotrip
Well I managed to recover from my last downswing and am up 21.5K overall for the month. That's also how my month will end since I've decided to self-exclude myself for the next fortnight so that I can focus on some upcoming mid-terms.
I'm still 32 buy-ins short of my 10/20 goal and only up 53K for the year so I still have quite a bit of work to do if I'm going to reach my yearly goals. By my calculations I only have about four weeks left in which to play so it's going to be very tight. The fourth week though will be after the end of semester so hopefully I can play almost full-time for that one week and get there.
Here's my results for the year so far. And yes, I know I'm hopeless at HU :).
I haven't made a video for quite a while now but I'm hoping to get a series out before I leave for exchange. I'm working on a 3-part 1/2 NL series on the new Deep Ante tables on PokerStars and have already recorded footage for the first two parts. Unfortunately I'm really rusty and am having quite a battle putting commentary to them lol. I'm also doing a Leakfinder with Andrew Wiggins tomorrow so at the very least you'll definitely have one video from me :).
Finally, I'm going to book my Eurotrip this week! I'll be leaving around the 10th of July and spending one week each in Rome, Marseille, Barcelona and Paris, before heading up to Lund University in Sweden. During semester I'll be taking some time off to travel to Germany, Holland and Denmark. Can't wait!
I'm still 32 buy-ins short of my 10/20 goal and only up 53K for the year so I still have quite a bit of work to do if I'm going to reach my yearly goals. By my calculations I only have about four weeks left in which to play so it's going to be very tight. The fourth week though will be after the end of semester so hopefully I can play almost full-time for that one week and get there.
Here's my results for the year so far. And yes, I know I'm hopeless at HU :).
I haven't made a video for quite a while now but I'm hoping to get a series out before I leave for exchange. I'm working on a 3-part 1/2 NL series on the new Deep Ante tables on PokerStars and have already recorded footage for the first two parts. Unfortunately I'm really rusty and am having quite a battle putting commentary to them lol. I'm also doing a Leakfinder with Andrew Wiggins tomorrow so at the very least you'll definitely have one video from me :).
Finally, I'm going to book my Eurotrip this week! I'll be leaving around the 10th of July and spending one week each in Rome, Marseille, Barcelona and Paris, before heading up to Lund University in Sweden. During semester I'll be taking some time off to travel to Germany, Holland and Denmark. Can't wait!
Friday, April 16, 2010
I cracked...
Around about...
I'm not going to blame the run-bad, this one's definitely on me.
I'm really annoyed with myself because I ran really well last month and promised myself that if I ran poorly in the near future I'd just think back to the $20K worth of races that I won at 40/80 and remember to take the good with the bad.
That plan went well until 3 days ago, then *BOOM*, one beat too many = tilt = no more monies...
Time to rebuild again...
I'm not going to blame the run-bad, this one's definitely on me.
I'm really annoyed with myself because I ran really well last month and promised myself that if I ran poorly in the near future I'd just think back to the $20K worth of races that I won at 40/80 and remember to take the good with the bad.
That plan went well until 3 days ago, then *BOOM*, one beat too many = tilt = no more monies...
Time to rebuild again...
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Brutal 25/50 Session (Vent)
Wahhh I just played a 200 hand 2-tabling 25/50 session and got brutalized...
I started well with a huge suck-out versus a fish with 50bb's in a 3-way 3-bet pot, mowing down his AxAd with my KxQd on K84ddd (turn 8, river K).
The next 150 hands though were pure death.
I raised UTG with KK and then check-called three streets HU versus the button on a Th 8h 5s Qs 7c board. He had 88. GG 3K.
I then turned a set with 88 on Q6482 rainbow and shoved over UTG's triple barrel - he had 75s. GG 5K.
I then got in KK v AA preflop and didn't spike. GG another 5K.
Against the fish from the first hand I got in AA v K2 on Q932 for 30bb's each and he spiked a 2 on the river. GG 1.5K.
Finally, I flatted 33 on the button versus UTG+1 and called the flop and turn on 9c 3c 7s Qs. He bet really large on the Ah river and I thought for a good 20 seconds about just flatting. Then I thought I might just be just gun-shy after all the coolers so I min-raised all-in for 2K more and sure enough he had 99. GG another 5K.
So after back to back -15K days now I'm only up like 15K for the year. Much work to do...
I started well with a huge suck-out versus a fish with 50bb's in a 3-way 3-bet pot, mowing down his AxAd with my KxQd on K84ddd (turn 8, river K).
The next 150 hands though were pure death.
I raised UTG with KK and then check-called three streets HU versus the button on a Th 8h 5s Qs 7c board. He had 88. GG 3K.
I then turned a set with 88 on Q6482 rainbow and shoved over UTG's triple barrel - he had 75s. GG 5K.
I then got in KK v AA preflop and didn't spike. GG another 5K.
Against the fish from the first hand I got in AA v K2 on Q932 for 30bb's each and he spiked a 2 on the river. GG 1.5K.
Finally, I flatted 33 on the button versus UTG+1 and called the flop and turn on 9c 3c 7s Qs. He bet really large on the Ah river and I thought for a good 20 seconds about just flatting. Then I thought I might just be just gun-shy after all the coolers so I min-raised all-in for 2K more and sure enough he had 99. GG another 5K.
So after back to back -15K days now I'm only up like 15K for the year. Much work to do...
Saturday, March 6, 2010
The Heater Continues...
Poker has continued to go well. Since returning from the coast (where I reviewed my poker notes for the first time in almost a year!) I've simply been on fire - playing well and running extremely well.
I was having another really good session today but then badly butchered two hands for 5K total and immediately quit before I started tilting off all the hard work that I had done. I'm going to finish the rest of my poker notes tonight and then hopefully continue my good form next weekend. Let's see if I can get it to 100K before I hit the inevitable downswing!
I was having another really good session today but then badly butchered two hands for 5K total and immediately quit before I started tilting off all the hard work that I had done. I'm going to finish the rest of my poker notes tonight and then hopefully continue my good form next weekend. Let's see if I can get it to 100K before I hit the inevitable downswing!
Monday, March 1, 2010
$40K in 4000 Hands!
I've had a horrid start to the year so I'm going to indulge myself a bit and post a brag of my last 2 days. It's all 10/20 except for 11 hands of 5/10 and 58 hands of 25/50.
I'm now up for the year online and am only down about 10K overall (which really is just the PCA buy-in). Finally, I can properly start climbing towards my $200K profit goal for the year.
In unrelated news, I missed my first class of the year today because I misread my timetable and arrived 2 hours too late :(. Take the good with the bad I guess!
I'm now up for the year online and am only down about 10K overall (which really is just the PCA buy-in). Finally, I can properly start climbing towards my $200K profit goal for the year.
In unrelated news, I missed my first class of the year today because I misread my timetable and arrived 2 hours too late :(. Take the good with the bad I guess!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Mini-Heater, Back to Uni, Back to Vegas?
So I had a really bad start to the year and was down 50K a week ago. Some of it was tilt, some of it was not game selecting anymore, some of it was just bad play.
Fortunately I was taken away from my computer for a few days as I went down the coast to a friend's beachhouse. It was a good chance to clear my head and just watch movies and play X-Box all day. I also went over some of my poker notes to make sure that my game was still sharp. Since I've been back I've made 29K in 6.5K hands, so it seems that the break did do some good :).
I return to uni tomorrow and with 4 days a week rather than the 2 that I had last semester I imagine that I won't be able to play nearly as much as I'd like to in the next few months. I'm still going to aim for 200K profit by June though, although realistically I'll be very happy with 100K.
I also decided not to do the law course at Cambridge in July after all. There were a few factors in my decision but mostly I didn't want to have an 80% final essay hanging over my head while I travelled around Europe. This does however open the door for me to return to Vegas. The 25K 6-max and the Main Event both interest me but in the end I think the 30% tax will be too much to overcome. It was worth it for the experience last year, but it's going to be pretty hard to justify playing again. That said, I didn't get to experience Vegas itself as much as I would've liked to last year since I was in the tournament for so long, so I might go for a couple of days and just live it up and maybe play some cash on the side. Then again, I could just arrive in Europe a week earlier and live it up there instead :).
In other news I've coaxed a few friends into playing a run'n'go with me in June. Buy-in $100, treadmill set on 10km/hr, last one standing wins :). Wish me luck!
Finally, I got featured over at PokerNews which was pretty cool. Have a read if you have time: http://www.pokernews.com/online-poker/interviews/online-poker-spotlight-joey-jcl-lawrence-6120.htm
Good luck at the tables guys.
Fortunately I was taken away from my computer for a few days as I went down the coast to a friend's beachhouse. It was a good chance to clear my head and just watch movies and play X-Box all day. I also went over some of my poker notes to make sure that my game was still sharp. Since I've been back I've made 29K in 6.5K hands, so it seems that the break did do some good :).
I return to uni tomorrow and with 4 days a week rather than the 2 that I had last semester I imagine that I won't be able to play nearly as much as I'd like to in the next few months. I'm still going to aim for 200K profit by June though, although realistically I'll be very happy with 100K.
I also decided not to do the law course at Cambridge in July after all. There were a few factors in my decision but mostly I didn't want to have an 80% final essay hanging over my head while I travelled around Europe. This does however open the door for me to return to Vegas. The 25K 6-max and the Main Event both interest me but in the end I think the 30% tax will be too much to overcome. It was worth it for the experience last year, but it's going to be pretty hard to justify playing again. That said, I didn't get to experience Vegas itself as much as I would've liked to last year since I was in the tournament for so long, so I might go for a couple of days and just live it up and maybe play some cash on the side. Then again, I could just arrive in Europe a week earlier and live it up there instead :).
In other news I've coaxed a few friends into playing a run'n'go with me in June. Buy-in $100, treadmill set on 10km/hr, last one standing wins :). Wish me luck!
Finally, I got featured over at PokerNews which was pretty cool. Have a read if you have time: http://www.pokernews.com/online-poker/interviews/online-poker-spotlight-joey-jcl-lawrence-6120.htm
Good luck at the tables guys.
Friday, February 19, 2010
PCA/NYC 2010 Trip Report Part III (More Pics!)
PCA - Eating and Drinking
Food
Food at the Atlantis does not come cheap, but if you're willing to splash out (and not think about your health too much) there's definitely some really good stuff on offer.
Fine Dining
For fine dining options, my favourites were Nobu, Mesa Grill and Mosaic. We had Nobu on the last night and after a week of cheeseburgers, steaks and Philly cheese steaks it was simply a godsend. I managed to get dealt three Aces at Three Card Poker and win $500 while waiting for our table so we also nearly freerolled the meal :).
I didn't try Mesa Grill last year but heard everyone talking about it so this year I thought I'd try it out. It ended up being unbelievably good and we returned for a second helping the night after. Here's a picture of the pork tenderloin I had on the first night - it melted right in your mouth!
Mosaic is a slightly upmarket buffet at the Cove which offers, among other things, unlimited sashimi (mmmmmmmmmmmm...), an on-the-spot pasta chef, great grilled meats and a decent selection of cheeses. Its desserts are surprisingly disappointing but on the whole I highly recommend it.
If you go to PCA next year, other places worth checking out are the Seafire Steakhouse and Marketplace.
The Marina Village
If you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the casino and hotel, the Marina Village is the place to go. It has a very laid back atmosphere and feels almost like a sanctuary compared to the surprisingly intense hotel and casino.
At the end of the Marina is a Johnny Rockets which we had a couple of times.
There's also a place called Bimini Road which apparently offers traditional Bahamian fare. I had the steak sandwich...
Finally, we tried a place called Murray's Deli which was pretty terrible but provided great entertainment value. The clown there (Bozo) was completely off his face and between scaring the shit out of children and making rude comments about his fellow employee's boyfriends, we're pretty sure he is now unemployed...
Drinking
Truth be told, there really isn't that much to do at night at Atlantis. On one side of the casino is the Atlas Bar and Grill, on the other is Dragons Bar, and that's basically it. Fortunately, in addition to meeting Sam and Lisa, we also met three girls from San Diego who were pretty cool so we were able to have a pretty fun week. I also managed to catch up with Boston Lisa (a girl I met at PCA last year) so that was pretty neat.
The San Diego girls at Atlas
The girls at Dragons
Boston Lisa and me at Dragons
Everyone's last night at Dragons
The Player Party
On the Saturday PokerStars held a Player Party with Kelly Rowland featuring as the special guest. I felt kind of bad for her because no one was really into it so whenever she shouted "lemme hear you say 'ohhh ohhhhhh'!" she was simply met with silence and a flash of cameras.
Overall though the party was surprisingly good. The food was decent (though sparse), there were unlimited drinks (including cocktails), we had a nice chat with some Latin American PokerStars pros (and their pretty-on-the-eyes ESPN presenter friend), and I even managed to run into a Scandi I final tabled an APPT Sydney side event with (shout out to you Hienrich!)! Fraser also got to have his photo taken with Daniel Negreanu which I think made his week or perhaps even year :).
Aura
After the Player Party we hit up Aura, Atlantis's nightclub. It reminded me a lot of Jet in Vegas, the only other nightclub I've been to in America (and let's face it, Atlantis is basically American). Though I don't remember much of the night (damn, those Bahamians like their drinks strong!), from what I do remember the night was a lot of fun.
Our tequila "shots" (more like cups!)
Conclusion
So that brings me to the end of the PCA portion of my trip report. It was loads of fun and I'm pretty disappointed that I can't go back next year. For those who haven't been yet, I highly suggest you do. You won't regret it :).
To finish, I thought I'd leave you with this pretty hilarious video of Lisa dancing with some guy at the Player Party. The guy was quite the chick magnet, and as soon as she saw him, Lisa made a beeline directly for him!
