After a fairly relaxing Christmas here in San Diego, January was an imposing month of travel for me. I'll start with the start and try to get some of the details in right, instead of my normal cursory monthly overview

A couple days after New Year's Courtney, myself, and two friends of hers were off to Orlando and Disneyworld for 9 days of vacation and marathon running (the latter not including me). We had a Southwest flight that stopped in Houston, aside from standard cattle-car flying (at a good price) we had an uneventful trip and arrived in Orlando pretty late at night to find out its a lot colder there in January than anticipated. My decision to pack only a couple hoodies for warm clothes was immediately proving to be short-sighted. Getting in so late we just found a Disney bus to our hotel and went to sleep.

The next day we began our park exploration with Epcot center. Courtney had been to Disneyworld when she was a teenager but I hadn't been since I was 5 years old and basically had no memory of anything. I expected to really enjoy Epcot but I actually found the various "countries" you visit there to be really lame. I guess I just felt they were "disney-fied" versions of the countries and I'd rather just visit the real places to experience the culture. At least we found some decent Chinese food there though. The newer part of Epcot also had a couple cool rides, but I was underwhelmed by this park.

I guess I should explain the Disneyworld structure if anyone doesn't know how it works. Disneyworld is completely self sufficient, with its own fire department, hotels, bus system, parks, etc. It felt like being on a large college campus actually, and our hotel was very dorm-esque, especially the food there, which we called the "student union" by the second day of the trip. There are different levels of hotels and ours was the lowest, as the trip was fairly expensive anyway and we didn't figure to be in the hotel much, it seemed smart to save money there. There are at least 6 separate parks: Epcot, Hollywood studios, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, and 2 water parks that were closed. Plus lots of resort hotels with nice restaurants, Downtown Disney for shopping, golf courses, etc. strewn about the entire huge property.

After Epcot all day one, we went to Hollywood Studios the next day. There were a lot of rides that are also in Anaheim at California Adventure, but they are all the best ones, so I liked this park a lot. We found a good roller coaster, a couple cool shows, and lots of other entertaining rides of varying age-appropriateness. Courtney was told about a cool lunch place there which was an awesome 50s style restaurant that shows clips of old horror movies and feels like you are at a drive-in movie. Completely random and totally awesome .

I'm starting to confuse my days at this point but pretty sure Courtney and I went to Animal Kingdom the next day while her two friends went off campus to the NASA space center. Animal Kingdom was by far my favorite park, just because the ambiance and design make it really unique, and feels very realistic I suppose. Also it had the best ride of any park, the Everest Expedition roller coaster which is like the Matterhorn only actually good. There is also a safari ride which takes you through their real live animal preserve, pretty cool though we have the wild animal park in San Diego which is at least as good so I suppose I wasn't as enthused about that as some of the tourists would be.

The two or three days after that were full of marathon festivities. Courtney and her friend Kelly were running the "Goofy challenge" which is a half marathon and then the full marathon on back to back days. The morning of the half marathon it was freezing cold and raining (sleeting I suppose at times is more appropriate), the girls had plans to basically run slow, make sure to finish, and conserve energy for the full marathon the next day. I guess this worked out slightly in their favor considering if they had other plans the weather probably would have forced a slow pace anyway. Regardless, they finished fairly cold and wet, but done with the first part of Goofy's challenge nonetheless.

Day two was the full marathon and it was just as cold, though at least not raining that day. Courtney ended up finishing in what she might call a disappointing time, but given the conditions I know she was excited to just complete the challenge, and go for personal best times in future races. Unfortunately, Kelly was behind pace and ended up getting picked up with like 5 miles to go

The rest of that day was obviously recovery time and I got some work done in the hotel room on my computer, though apparently not enough time to remember to blog while it was still fresh in my mind

The two days after we stayed mostly in the Magic Kingdom, which is more or less the same as what we have in southern california at Disneyland, though all slightly different. We went on all the staple rides and enjoyed the slightly warmer weather. I had made reservations for a couple nicer dinners those last couple nights, one for Courtney and I for a delayed anniversary celebration, and the other for the whole group. Courtney and I went to the Blue Zoo, a Todd English seafood restaurant and had an awesome meal. The next night we went to a Mediterranean / Indian / African inspired (weird medley I know but that's the best way to describe the menu) restaurant at the Animal Kingdom Lodge called Jiko. This too was a nice meal, and it was cool to finish the trip seeing some of the fancier stuff around the parks. There were plenty more nice restaurants at the other resort hotels but I could have spent a mint going to these places everyday, I feel like we struck a pretty good balance for such a long trip.

The last day was basically pack up and head to the airport, for a flight home that stopped in Phoenix. I was jealous we couldn't get outside security in Phoenix to pick up some Paradise bakery sandwiches and cookies, but oh well. We got home after the longest trip Courtney and I have ever taken together (9 days) and found our two babies (the feline kind) to be well cared for in our absence. I had precisely 16 hours from the time I arrived home to prepare to drive up to LA the next day for the long flight to Australia and the Aussie Millions.

Stay tuned for part 2 and the Aussie adventure…

Since last post I've been diving into golf like a grand new addiction. I bought clubs and hit the driving range hard, and played a few more rounds around San Diego. I am still pretty awful but definitely seeing progress (best score like 120), plus, its really freaking fun. I hope to get a bit more competent so we can play all through the summer in Vegas.

Aside from that, I've been doing mostly boring programming work, made a few videos for DC, and played not too much poker, aside from some live games since there has been some bigger games at oceans 11 here in San Diego recently. Nice to not have to drive all the way to Commerce to find some decent LHE action!

I was back in Vegas a couple weeks ago as Courtney ran the rock and roll marathon there, so I hung out and played a bit of poker when we weren't busy with running business. It was freezing on race day, I don't know how they do it, but I guess some people would say the same thing about running when its hot out. I'm a warm weather guy I guess. Aside from the weather it was a great trip as Courtney, Entity, his wife, and some other friends all completed their marathons, some for the first time. I'd like to say they'll get me out there for one soon but with the colder weather (I'm aware its all relative and I'm a wuss) I haven't had much motivation to go running, especially since during daylight hours I can go to the driving range instead!

Right now I'm just getting ready for Christmas time with Courtney's family here in San Diego, and then a super crazy month begins. Courtney and I are headed to Disneyworld for 9 days in early January, where we will do the parks in addition to her running the marathon-and-a-half, aptly named, Goofy Challenge. Looking forward to it immensely but I'm sure we'll need a vacation from the vacation afterwards.

No such luck though, as I'll be pretty immediately heading to Australia when I get back from Orlando. DeucesCracked is partnering with the Crowne Casino for the "Aussie Millions Academy", an event that should be incredibly fun for everyone involved. I've never really traveled much so getting to go to Australia for such a cool event is really exciting.

That would be by far enough for an awesome month but Joe Tall and I already had another trip scheduled for the end of January, so we have to leave Australia slightly early to get back in time to change clothes (summer to winter), see families, and then fly off to London for an affiliate conference. We are attending one for the first time representing DC, and if I am not exhausted I think that will be a really fun trip as well. In addition to getting work done I'm particularly excited because I booked a dinner reservation at The Fat Duck, which consistently is rated in the top 2 restaurants in the world.

I'll hopefully report during or after that insane month, and if you are coming down for the Aussie Millions make sure to both come to our Academy sessions, and say hi to me or offer to go play golf there!

Just got back from an awesome trip to Vegas. Normally I don't get too excited about Vegas trips anymore but somehow this one was just a great time, with the other DC guys being around, and possibly the lack of expenses given "business" was getting accomplished. We stayed at Palms Place which had the best gym / spa I've ever used, so I used that with Entity almost every day. I hate running on treadmills but it was ok, and then we got lots of quality sauna time which is always good for some productive brainstorming.

I played a couple short sessions of poker while there, some 80/160 LHE at bellagio and a fun 150/300 mix at venetian with crazy mike and some LHE studs. I ended up losing around 2500 at poker for the trip but winning a bit more than that at holdem bonus and craps! Go go degen pit games.

On our last day there I had been pestering Joe Tall to take me golfing, since I have been going to the driving range a few times with my brother and finding it lots of fun. We ended up finding a nice, fairly easy course (Wildhorse) and taking crazy mike and dr. olson along with us. My rented golf clubs were like 10x nicer than my brother's old clubs we use at the driving range, so I was spoiled right away. Then I got to drive the golf cart which was all kinds of fun! Aside from all that I also played some good golf, for a total newb, and beat crazy mike for some pocket change (thanks Mike!). I made par on my third ever hole (par 3) which was pretty amazing. The only thing I was awful at was using the woods, hybrids, and driver, as I hadn't practiced those nearly enough at the driving range. After a few holes I gave up on the driver and just hit my 6 iron off the tees. The other two were tired after 9 holes but Joe and I got through 15 before dark and he gave me some good tips. It was a really nice course and fun to be outside all alone on a huge golf course (a quiet monday afternoon), though I am told compared to some its not even that nice of a course, so I guess its all relative.

Today after getting home a couple nights ago from the Vegas trip, I hit the driving range with my brother and did much better than ever before, even hitting his 3 wood pretty well. After that I bought some clubs over at the Golfsmith store so now I'm officially ready to go and golf a bunch and hopefully get better.

I'll be back in vegas in a few weeks as Courtney is running the rock and roll marathon there, but it will be a pretty quick trip. Then things get kinda crazy with the holidays and some January travel I'll have to mention in another post!

Sorry for lack of updates, somehow my losing Commerce trips haven't seemed that entertaining to try to write about. I'd say since last update I've been in fairly "normal" mode, working about half and half on DC stuff, mostly programming projects, and online poker with a couple short Commerce trips mixed in. I had been playing a lot of triple draw in the last month or two but started mixing in some LHE as well – I play mostly on Stars and boy the LHE games are kind of tough. It's scary to see some of the 30/60 lineups with a bunch of players playing every game from 200/400 on down. Though other times they can be quite good, so I guess its really hit or miss.

A week or so back I took a shot in some obscenely good 200/400 triple draw games on Stars and got massacred, so I'm sort of not wanting to play that game recently, so I have played more LHE in the times I've wanted to play. Commerce was pretty dead too so not really many mix games to speak of, so I played LHE there as well, typical swingy 100/200 and 200/400 sessions there. I went up with mike l. who is back playing a bunch after some time away from poker, so its nice to have someone to travel with and play board games and all the silly stuff we do to pass the time. Him and I are going to be working on a new LHE video series together as well which should be fun, as we tend to argue a lot and get a lot said in an hour!

I'm in Seattle now staying with Entity, focusing on DC programming work for a week, and getting to see the guys up here at our office. So far its been nice but I need to sleep more, as they have me waking up early and I regret to admit my sleep schedule got pretty well goofed up again after a couple months of legitimacy. Oh well, this week might get me straightened out somewhat but we'll see.

Eventually I'll be in Vegas because Courtney is running the rock n roll marathon there in December, but I might make it out beforehand as well around the WSOP final table time, unsure yet. Heard there has been more poker action in Vegas with the tournaments than at Commerce so that's a decent reason to go too. Will update here…eventually

Just got home from a long weekend at Disneyland. Courtney ran the half marathon there with some of her family and friends, and then we all enjoyed the Disney experience (it was hot)

I had a pretty cool August, mostly being healthy after Vegas, I managed to develop some good habits, including winning a prop to wake up before 8 am a month after starting, and I am not changing sleep schedules just because I won the bet – its been great to be productive. I've also been running and have a running prop that I am currently freerolling by making my 5 miles a week with relative ease. Coincidentally or not, I had my best month of poker on the year too, playing mostly Stars triple draw.

This month I hope is more of the same, balancing some DC programming work, some poker (playing WCOOP badugi and TDL events this week), and trying to squeeze in a Seattle trip but we'll see if it works out.

Updating from the airport which is about the only time blogging seems like a random fun idea…Courtney and I came to Phoenix for a long weekend for her parents' 30th anniversary party. Seemed like a bad idea when we got off the plane to 100+ degree weather (which was mild compared to some 115 degree days last week!). But sitting at the pool and in an air conditioned house made it pretty reasonable. I played some online pokers at the house and ran good on lucky wifi, and we had a fun time at the party, so all in all a successful trip. Heading back now and our southwest flight is on time, which is another plus.

Since I've been back from Vegas I basically have been catching up on all my DC work and responsibilities, which has been great for me, very productive. Working on lots of code things including teaching myself some basic flex programming to work on a little DC project in the last week or so. I always am excited to get competent at a new language as I'll find all sorts of uses for it. My next plan there is to learn how to create AIR apps and spit out some fun stuff for the community.

I've even been outside running a bit with Courtney the last couple weeks, though I fell off the wagon a little this past week, as everyday was busy busy programming. Hopefully I right the ship as it helps me maintain a "normal" sleep schedule, and I have a little prop bet to continue to be a daywalker for at least a month, cautiously optimistic there

I'll probably head up to Seattle sometime in the next month, but Courtney and I have a few obligations at home that randomly come up so we'll have to see if I can sneak up there. Been gambling a good bit online in free time and running well recently, plus all the sites have bonuses to clear so I've been grinding a little LHE and triple draw. Yay poker and life update!

My typical WSOP cycle of not caring, then being super excited to go to Vegas and play WSOP events, and finally hating the city and wanting to go home has reached its inevitable conclusion, and headed home I am just as soon as I pack up all my stuff and make the long, boring drive. Last summer I cashed in 3 straight events including a final table, but ended up stuck in the cash games after dumping back 25k the last few days of my trip. I managed to reverse the process somewhat this summer, going 0 for 4 in WSOP events, never sniffing the money, but somehow winning a good chunk in the live games. I even played a session yesterday at Bellagio after nothing for over a week, fearing I would dump some back like I did last summer, but booked a small win in my final session and happily I am heading home with more money than I came with, which is always a win in Vegas.

The best part of the summer has been getting to see the behind the scenes of KRANTZ's reality show, and hanging out with all the DC crew, owners, coaches, and friends. The poker has been ok too. I ran insanely good on credit card roulette's for dinner this summer, and ran good in most of the cash games I played, really can't find much to complain about besides no tournament results. Happy to head home, get back to "normal", make some videos and pick up the programming, as I've been pretty lax on my non poker responsibilities while being out here.

Playing 100/200 at Bellagio tonight, I play a pretty fun hand. I raise Jd9d from hijack, SB 3 bets, BB calls, I call. Flop is Qd8d4s SB bets, BB calls, I raise, SB 3 bets, BB calls, I 4 bet, SB caps, both call. Turn is a pretty good card – Td for the straight flush no waiting, SB bets, BB calls, I raise, both call. River comes a small diamond, BB now donks, I raise, SB folds (88), BB 3 bets, I 4 bet, and he cries and calls with AdKd. All I can think besides how badly he misplayed his hand is that his LOLturnslowplayament cost me $1200! Poker players are very greedy.

Basic Vegas update is I am doing well in cash games, did nothing at all of consequence in the two donkaments I played, and having lots of fun meeting DC members, other LHE friends, and hanging out with Joe Tall at our rented house. Tonight I am playing the limit shootout, and Monday is the triple draw, which I'm most looking forward to. Aside from that I was home in San Diego for a few days recharging my batteries and now I'm ready to finish off the WSOP right. I also got an iPhone which is a fun new toy to keep me busy!

Weeee I wasn't even remotely excited for the WSOP until a few days ago, and now the 40k event got started and suddenly it seems awesome. I'm headed out tomorrow night and should be there most of June. I am planning on playing a couple LHE events, the triple draw event, and some live cash games. Also looking forward to meeting a bunch of DC and 2+2 LHE guys who are going to be out there ruining the games.

This month I've been playing a bit more online, with typical LHE swings. Though I'm definitely getting back into the swing of things, finding some good games. I even chased a maniac up to Stars 100/200 which I haven't played online in awhile, usually because I don't feel I have an edge in a lot of lineups, but this was certainly an exception. It's sort of funny having played a lot of different limits over the years, one thing you want to avoid is not taking a smaller game seriously, which some guys can never figure out and never get back to the level they were at before having to drop down. On the other hand, its somewhat nice to jump into a pretty big game and not have the complete overwhelming terror that I felt the first time I ever played 100/200 online. It's certainly a familiar game and you don't have to worry about making tilty mistakes just due to the stakes involved.

Hopefully I can play well at all limits in Vegas, sometimes I get in games with 2+2ers, other pros I know, etc. and have way too much fun. Winning $ at the WSOP for once would be a new kind of fun I think

Updates to come from Vegas sporadically, hopefully it will be like last year and I can post about some tourney runs, but that's probably pretty optimistic.