Life, Me and Poker

Gym and work and a little of online poker

2008-02-07T02:52:00.000-08:00

Today was one of those nice boring days although it didn't start that way. I mentioned something about a prop bet in the last post. My Vegas buddy Dave and I have this bet going that whoever will be the better looking (bigger and fiiter) in June/July this year giving us only 4 months to look in top shape. I know is sounds gay but its more purely for motivation for us to stay fit. Not only this but the winner will be freerolling in a deepstack tourney (at the other person's expense) at the Golden Nugget or Venetian during WSOP time whilst Im in Vegas this summer!

Today was a day I got my program at the gym plus all my measurements were taken to see where I am at and what muscles and training I need to be in tip top shape. I am currently overweight with a whopping 22% body fat that needs to get down to somewhere along the line of 15% to be healthy. A clear wake up call for losing weight before getting out of hand and joining the popularity of obesity.

Work was ok in poker again with nothing but dealing happening. I did manage to be working with some cool people and wasn't a stressful day ending with last break and a quick trip home to watch the soccer replay.

Tomorrow starts at the gym as will most of my days now that getting in shape is my main priority. The weekend is only a day away but it matters little to us shift workers as a weekend for us is most likely a combination of either Monday/Tuesday or Tuesday/Wednesday.

Update for the month that just went past

2008-02-06T03:17:00.000-08:00

They say blogs are meant to always be updated, but how to update when you have no time? Answer - make time! Yeah yeah blah blah bullshit. I have been busy enough to forget about whiping my arse when I shit just to save that time, so to type a blog everyday for the last month would be like feeling a clean pair of undies instead of the smell of shit!

Lets try to wind the clock back to the last post (way back in early Jan). Well that would be when the Aussie Millions took place. It was a massive success and everything you need to know can be found at pokernews. I could explain it, but I would be here all night and your eyes would hurt after the first paragraph! Some Russian kid (with a super hot girlfriend) was crowned champion after making Erick Seidel relive his days when Johnny Chan taught him a lesson on poker in the main event in the late 80's. In case you didn't follow poker Seidel finished second, and I love the guy when he plays poker and rate him highly on tournament play (and god forbid if he ever wrote a book, like everyone else trying to make a quick buck - I would buy it) but I would recommend him read something on playing heads up poker!

I dealt every event this year (that I was rostered). Also tis was the second year I got lucky and dealt the final table. And yes AGAIN didn;t deal the final hand of the tournament but its all good, being chosen to deal the final table and every feature table was pretty cool.

The Aussie Millions Party was one I will not forget in a hurry, or maybe one I'll try to remember first. The night was tops with drink's flowing left, right and centre and no-one without a drink in their hand. Danny had his dancing shoes on as did Anna Wrobelski. Little did I know how good Anna could dance till she showed me! Cosby was by far the dancing queen of the night and I got to hang out with work mates, upper management and players alike after a stressful but fun two weeks of the Aussie Millions. The night ended with me driving and arriving at home alive wondering how the hell I made it and literally thinking to myself how fucking stuiped I am for driving home knowing full well that alcohol would be entering my body at a rapid speed.

Apart from the Aussie Millions taking up most of Jan, the Australian Open (tennis) was on and it was a great opportunity to take Dave their and see what the fuss was all be about. Monica, Dave and myself went on the first day and we saw Serena Williams and Justine Henen clean uo their first round matches before we witnessed a gun in the making called Jo-Winfred Tsonga. This guy was the shit. He enjoyed his tennis played good and knocked out Andy Murrey in the first round. We were there cheering for him, not because we knew him but because everyone else was cheering for Murrey. Long story short, Tsonga made it to the final before losing to Novak 'the inpersonater' Djorkavic. Tsonga is a name that will be around for a long time in men's tennis.

On other days I took Garry and his Mrs out with Dave and Maria to a nice funky bar called Bimbo's on Brunswick Street. A relaxing session combined with some nice beverages and great company made the night an enjoyable one. Time flew and it was fair to say everyone was gettign tired quickly from all the work we had done combined and all the drinking that took place.

Dave had some issues of his own happen whilst here and while I couldn't leave him on the street (where I found him) I took him in with Maria and he stayed with us for his remaining two weeks of his holiday. I wanted to do a few touristy things with Dave but time wasn't on my side and I was still having to make a living by working. We did manage to take Dave to our beach house for the weekend which led to BBQ's, Carnival rides, Beer, Movies and some time away from Melbourne town and into relax mode.

Thier was a night where the Pokernews guys and I had a small $$$ sit and go happen at the local (Pit 5) where Change100 was crowned champion and Garry ' I run so bad' Gates took second. Pauly, John, Dave, Dane, Josh and Myself of course did nothing - although giving Dane a bad beat and hearing how bad I play made the night. Pauly also wouldn't let anyone pay for a drink so it was a sweet night!

Dinner, Gelati, and Agile (peace pipe - not marijuana) all on Lygon Street. This was one of the nights I think I enjoyed the most. Not only did I eat Italian, I also smoked some nice Mango flavoured agile and saw a belly dancer up close and personal. She moved and showed Dave how good her hips and back were before he looked at me in this false sense of security. I couldn't think straight but proceeded to pull a $10 and put it in her hip before clapping her for her performace (little did she know I was really clapping at seeing Dave freak out that she was almost on his lap).

All in all I think I will be in Vegas this summer for mostly 5 weeks for the WSOP (working and not playing)! Dave will be their again and he and I will be trying to provide footage (video blogs) of every event that we cover and our opinion's of anything but the tournament and maybe some of our own Brandi "Hore" Baker secret footage. So at least something to look forward too in the June/July period.

Whats on the calender briefly:
1- Work work and work.
2- Grape Grazing next weekend (17th Feb)
3-St Kilda festival is on this Sunday and I may pay a visit after work on Sunday night.
4-Gym - a new and improved me for Vegas - MAYBE

I may not be religious 100% but I try. I also may be using this excuse to help me give up Beer, Chocalate and Ice-cream for the next 40 days and 40 nights for lent which ineveitably started today! Tomorow will be dicussed about a little prop bet Dave and I made before he jetted off today back to Vegas. It involves a little poker and gym.

I know I have missed out on a lot of stuff that I forgot to type that happened in the last month but thats all you need to know. I promise to be updated more frequently, probably 3 times a week minimum. Until tomorrow may I type less and get lucky one time!

Aussie Millions Event 4 - Limit Holdem - BORING!

2008-01-08T04:23:00.000-08:00

I wake up and get ready and go straight onto a train to pick my car up from Spencer Street Motors. My car has been playing up and Im not really happy about it after spending over $1600 on it only 3 and a helf weeks ago. My little baby Peugeot is a 306 convertable and only 5 years old. It had a full repair and the roof needed to be fixed as it was not going up and down like it should! Anyways long story short I needed to wake up a full 1 hour and half early to catch the train from Blackburn station to the city to get my car and go to work.

Work was awaiting and of course I was in the poker room dealing Aussie millions. It is now event 4 with me having the last 3 days off - and it was limit hold em. Its not a bad tournament, although limit is not my game and I even find it hard to deal because to me their is not much action. Hence the title - BORING! In appreciation for the limit game their is probably more skill in terms of bluffing and playing position in limit hold em than no limit. Some big names played although none from Full Tilt. They fly in tomorrow. I finished my shift about 8pm and there were still 31 players remaining. The final table is set for tomorrow at 4:30pm. It shouldn't be a long night for change100 or Dr Pauly who are looking after the tournament tonight.

In saying that, I did get to see them both and Garry today which was cool. Nothing has changed and they look pretty relaxed and in the working spirit. Dave arrived from Las Vegas this morning and I will see him tomorrow - Monica picked him up at the airport. I think he will probably be jet lagged although after speaking to him and him announcing he slept 8 hours on and off, I think he done pretty well in terms of sleeping on a plane trip.

Tomorrow's event will be massive! Event 5 is the $1,100 no limit hold em with $1000 re buys. Last year this was massive and it might attract some FullTilt players although word is out they arrive tomorrow morning so they might be late in terms of making it too play. I look forward to dealing this event in the anticipation of it being a great prize pool and action every hand till at least the re buy period finishes. Their can be some serious donkey's with a lot of money that play this tournament.

One note for the day in the limit event while I dealt was - a player wanted to raise more than the limit and on one occasion pushed all in thinking it was a no limit event. Now if that's crazy think about it happening twice in the space off 20 minutes. Yep some people have plenty of money and just want to play poker - share the wealth I say - Share the wealth!

One week into the new year and not a lot changed!

2008-01-06T22:21:00.000-08:00

Its now been a full week into January 2008 and not much has changed. I had the 1st off which was tops as recovery was on the agenda. Back to work for the 2ND, 3rd and 4Th on night shift which wasn't too bad as the next three (Sat-Sun-Mon) were all RDO's. Tomorrow (Tuesday) I'm back to work and smack right into Aussie Million's. The Million's lead up tournaments started on Saturday and go up until the main event which starts next week.

The Aussie Millions attracts a lot of poker pros to come over and try their luck including all the Full Tilt Poker crew. Some of the people I worked with for Pokernews during the WSOP 07 and APPT will be working through the Aussie Million's. With Dave, Dr Pauly, Change100 and Garry Pokernews will be the best coverage for all of the events during the Aussie Millions.

I might pop a few opinion's on some of the play downunder whilst dealing and see which familiar faces may hit walls before hitting cards. Its a tougher time to be a dealer but its almost the most exciting. Unfortunately this time of year just after Christamas you would think Crown Casino may allow tipping. As its a nature in the States to tip - its banned in Melbourne. And with an American most likely to win the main event their is nothing much of a bonus but maybe a drink after work to look forward too.

I do hope to see Dave, Garry, Change100 and Dr Pauly along with all my fellow work mates doing their stuff tomorrow in the poker room. And if you haven't seen a poker event before now is a good time to head down to the Las Vegas room at the Crown Casino as its no doubt the best time of the year to see what its all about.

A New Year and A Lot Of Blogging To Be Caught Up On

2008-01-01T18:18:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone and its been a year full of plenty of crap, work, holidays, engagement and much much more! With more happening than ever in the year coming up (2008) a lot of time will be reminence of what has now been put passed us in 2007. I have not blogged since Christmas Day hencing how busy and festive I have been since celebrating Christmas.

Lets wind the clock back to boxing day:

26Th December 2007 - Relaxing Day with a short trip to the beach

Boxing Day was relaxing as it could be. Shops in Adelaide are not open till 7am on the 27Th of December unlike in Melbourne where shops open at 6:30am Boxing day with people queing up from 4am to get involved in all the aftermath of what is left over from Christmas shopping.

It was a day of watching television, eating more food and later going to the beach. The weather was at its best again of 36 degrees and much to hot to go to the beach early on. We proceeded to the beach at about 4pm. It still was burning hot and the slip slop slap of sun screen was all over my white body and everyone else except Kosta the Greek - he just tans and no need for him to even waste the sun screen.

The water was cold and my feet only ventured in for about 15 minutes before lying down enjoying the music that was on Maria's phone. Before too long it was about 5:30pm and Maria and I walked tot he pier and back for some exercise and was bemused by how the weather was so hot still and more people were at the beach now than we arrived.

We slowly made our way back to Maria's enjoying some dinner and playing some more trump. This time we played 2 games with Bahia and myself taking the honours and crowned champions of the night. The Boxing Day test highlights were on t.v and while watching, the girls decided about organised a day of shopping for tomorrow to make sure they are in early to get the specials that had been piling up in Adelaide from Christmas Eve. It was then and their were Kosta brought up the idea of us boys going fishing while the girls do their shopping. At first it seemed like Maria wanted to come and so did Sarah and before we knew it so did Nadine but Bahia wasn't a fan and managed to change it back so us boys decided on waking up at about 6am and head to Walaroo about and hour and a half from Adelaide.

The night ended quicker than it began as a wake up call of 6am was on the agenda for the boys and the girls wanted to get to the shops as early as they could. Bring on the fishing I was dreaming.....

27Th December 2007 - Fishing and getting very sun burnt

Buzz buzz the phone alarm goes off right on the stroke of 6am with me only thinking about going back to bed. Before I even get the chance to put it on snooze I can hear Costi and Kosta already making the coffee. Thinking I am the only one holding everyone back I decide to get changed, wash my face and join the lads for a coffee before our venture of catching fish begins.

Everything is packed and I later find out Kosta was up at 5:30am packing the car with all the essentials of bait, fishing rods, fishing trolley, crab nets and buckets. We finally leave at 6:30am after a quick bite to eat and a coffee. The trip was good and we only stopped once for some food and drink before finishing the trip up to Walaroo at about 8:30am.

I was dying to attend to the bathrooms and the minute we arrived so did Costi. So it worked out well as Costi and I made our way to the bathrooms Kosta started unloading all the equipment he packed the night before. By the time we found the closest toilets and let our steam out Kosta was eager as ever and everything was ready for us to make our way to the end of the jetty to start casting away.

Kosta mentioned that this was the best season Walaroo had ever had for snapper and he wasn't wrong. Before I got excited by the prospects of catching snapper Kosta brought me back down to earth reminding me our prospects were mainly garfish, crabs and if were are lucky maybe some squid. Snapper for now was just a nice long thought away.

Cutting a very long story/day short we stayed till about 6pm catching plenty of garfish with myself catching the first. A grand total of about 35-40 garfish were caught with 5 crabs also on the our menu and 2 squid. Unfortunately for us their were no snapper on our menu but their were 9 snappers caught that day with one weighing in at about 12kg. The last 2 hours Kosta and I joined the same spot other fisherman were getting all the snapper trying and praying to get lucky but the only thing I caught was sun burn! Not slip, slop or slapping the sun saw an opportunity in me and casted itself tattooing me everywhere especially on my feet. My face also got lucky and so did my arms and all of my legs.

We got home and like any family Maria and her mum looked like they had disowned me for not wearing any sun screen after reminding me how fare my skin is and how silly I am for not taking care of myself. I hopped straight in the shower and it stung like hell and afterwards the true red colour came out. My feet were the worst with the tender bits right wear the thongs sit going red as a tomato. The aloe Vera gel was pulled straight out and was rubbed all over my burn soothing the pain hoping not to peel so badly.

The night was cut short and everyone was tired. I needed to try to stay awake because I was working the next day at 8pm and flying home at 3:40pm. I couldn't keep my eyes open and with a little effect from sun stroke I dosed off on the couch before making my way to bed at about midnight.

28Th December 2007 - Flying back home to Melbourne and working that night

I got to sleep as good as I could with the sun burn not hurting anywhere really besides my feet which were absolutely killing me. I woke up and we got to play another game of trump and again the revenge was complete with Bahia and I taking the title and honours for the trip. The fish we caught yesterday was cooked and tasted beautiful. Aloe Vera was applied and re-applied all day and once I packed the time was already passing by so quickly I had to say goodbye to everyone before heading to the airport.

One great thing I love about these short trips is I never manage to pack too much meaning I don't need to check any luggage in before boarding to come back home. I noticed my feet were swelling up a little due to the burn but everything else was OK and if anything were going brown - which is great for someone as white as me to tan is like seeing a pig fly.

I said goodbye to Maria and everyone before jumping on the flight and arriving home with my mum waiting for me just as shocked to see me so sun burnt without me warning her prior to landing. We went straight home and I had another shower and got ready for work. It was just as hot in Melbourne as it was in Adelaide and I was slowly melting. I got to drive my car but couldn't take the roof off due to my extreme burning. Got to work on time with aloe Vera accompanying me to the fridge at work and me slowly strolling to deal blackjack for the night.

As the night went by my feet were becoming unbearable and every chance I had on my break I needed to put aloe Vera on them and it was a struggle for me to fit my foot in my shoe! It was fair to say they became very swollen and red as a beetroot. I could tell that it may be blistering but it wasn't that that was hurting me it was the swelling and the pressure being put on my foot every time I took a step. I got home and immediately put some ice on my foot and it began to soot hen out a bit but was still in a lot of pain.

29Th December 2007 - 2 days of work for blistering sun burn and straight up to the beach

I woke up and struggled to walk on my foot or put any pressure at all. I contemplated what it would be like to work again as I was rostered to work 2 more days before having another two off. I needed a professional opinion hence a trip tot he doctor was on the cards. It was a Saturday and of course in between Christmas and New Year period its extremely hard to find a medical centre or a doctor available. After finding 4 medical centres all not open I got lucky on the 5Th with it staying open only another 10minutes after arriving. The doc had a look and at this stage it had just started blistering right up. She immediately gave me a certificate for the next 2 days off (meaning I wouldn't be back to work till the 2ND Jan 2008) as well as some cream and antibiotics to help heel the pain and sooth en the stinging effect.

I couldn't drive until tomorrow and everyone was heading towards the beach. My uncle was on the way and before I knew it offered me a lift. I kept him waiting as it was last minute and before I knew it we were on our way up to the beach. On the way I managed to get a call from my friend Joel who was checking up on me and seeing how my trip to Adelaide was but more importantly what i was doing tomorrow as it was going to be hot and he wanted to go to the beach. I explained to him my situation about being sun burnt etc etc and invited him and the boys up to stay for the night. He and Daniel were available but Rodney had to stay at home because his uncle was over - just like he is every week!!

I arrived and met with my cousin Matt and his friends before we headed to the boat shed at about 8pm ordering some pizza's on the way and visiting the liquor store to buy some Coroner beer. It was a top night with the music on and my friends arrived shortly before enjoying the sunset and drinking and chatting till about 12:30am. All in all it was a great night and I was pleased my friends could make it and they were happy to be drinking beer as well as get a couple of pizza's into them.

30Th December 2007 - Beach during the day and acey/duecey card game at night

The boys and I started the day at about 8:30am. One of us wake's up and normally the others follow. We got ready and the boys put their bathers on and we made our way to the boat shed where my mum and dad got break feast ready for us. Bacon, Eggs, Ham, Tomato and Toast were all their and were well consumed by the three of us. The boys wanted to venture out on the inflatable boat and we did just that. I did join them for a little while as the sun hadn't come out at full force just yet and we floated and had a ball - all we were missing was a beer!

We were only out for about 30 minutes before I had to call it quits - too hot for me but the boys loved it. They dipped back in for most of the day and when they weren't in Joel was oiling up trying to work on his sun tan. Danny boy was not doing much besides trying to join me on the sidelines by burning up. To be fair to them they did manage to slip slop and slap consistently throughout the day.

Matt and his friends joined us and we stayed for a little while before the boys needed to make their way back home as they were working tomorrow which is silly as both of them have the 1st Jan and the 2ND Jan off work which would make it ideal to have the 31st off as well but neither would make a sicky call and both headed home at about 7:30pm. I got a call from Matt that they may be having a card game happening later and to bring $200 with me. I didn't think it wouldn't be that bigger game but not knowing what the game was and not knowing how to play it I went with the hope of winning some $$$ and downing a few beers in the process.

It involved Matt, Mick (Matt's mate), Simon, Mark, Frank and myself. Frank and I were the only people their that hadn't played acey duecey before but being such and easy game and enjoyable as well as being social neither of us obliged and the game was under way. I managed to get extremely unlucky with the game only involved on luck and no skill involved its fair to say I couldn't get a trick and Frank, Mick and I were the big losers of the night with Matty taking the honours and the biggest pot and guts ($408) of the night. Not bad pot size for only a starting ante of $3!

The night ended at about 2:30am and everyone was gearing up and looking forward to tomorrow night -New Years Eve with our very own fireworks on the agenda and with sun scheduled for the next day making it 41degrees it was a day where a lot of beer, BBQ and music would all be included in our festivities.

31st December 2007 - New Years Eve with a lot of beer, fireworks, BBQ, music dancing and a lot more

The day started as hot as ever and for the first time I got to sleep for over 8 hours. Woke up at about 11am and before I could even take put my cream on my foot or even swallow my antibiotic I copped a call from Matty to come over to his house and say hello to Paul, Rob and Sarah - all that just arrived at about 10am that morning.

I had another shower got ready and headed straight over. We all went to the liquor store and Richie's the local supermarket, and stocked up for bread, meat and some beer which would now lead us for the rest of the day/night. We all made our way back to the boat shed afterwards.

Everyone made their way on the beach and in the water and time flew as quick as ever and before we knew it, it was already 6pm. Everyone had well and truly started drinking and eating and we knew we would be struggling with only 3 slabs between the three of us so we did the quick run and grabbed another 2 slabs. The BBQ was set and Matty brought out the debolt music player and the scene was set. At 10pm people were everywhere on the beach shore gearing up for another couple of hours to watch some fireworks and to have a drink with us as well as a little boogie to the music we were playing.

We downed a few more beers had some snags, steak, hamburgers, veggie burgers, you name it we had it - as well as let off some mini fireworks ready for the big one midnight. Time was flying and photos had been take all afternoon on what would be an introduction to a new year for all of us.

3....2.....1.... HAPPY NEW YEAR - as the radio presenter blaster ed out

I got straight on the phone to Maria and wished her the best although Adelaide was 30minutes behind Melbourne in terms of time. I was wishing she could be with me and she promised next year she will be down enjoying what she missed this year. Hugs and kisses were given all around and people were wrapped to be spending time together. Matty and Simon were the culprits as the fireworks took off and everyone was cheering and popping another beverage.

It was about 1am when Mark, Paul, Matty and myself decided it was time to bring in the new year in style and do a nude run for everyone on the beach. Lucky the night was still dark and no-one could see too much but the view was still their to be seen for everyone else that had 20/20 vision!

2:30am people were staggering everywhere, the night was complete and packing up was quicker than ever with littering taking place and bottles thrown as far as away from the boat shed as possible. Home and bed looked good for a new year had arrived.

It went down as one of the best new years I had ever celebrated and everyone else agreed trying to see if we can do it again. My mates had been on the phone and to be fair I think they knew they missed out but they had plans to bring in the new year in style at betterdays at Riva bar in St Kilda - but I have this feeling they may be up this year and so will the same people. My new years resolution as it is every year is to loose some more weight instead of piling it on. But Matty request me to maybe think about remember to slip-slop-slap instead. Its one I might take on board but not needed - I learnt my lesson the hard way. Let me tell you if you blister from sun burn their is a good chance you will never forget to apply sun screen ever again.

'New Year' - A reason to drink and eat plenty as well as share time with fellow loved ones

Christmas Day = Plenty of food and drink in Adelaide

2007-12-25T05:10:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone from Adelaide! Well today is the Christmas Day and it really was a day of opening presents, drinking plenty and more importantly stuffing on the kilo's. The day started last night at about 12:01am when it just went onto Christmas day and my family, Maria and I opened some presents as it would be the only chance of us being together, as in the morning Maz and I were jetting off to Adelaide to spend Christmas with her family. She has been in Melbourne for the last 2 Christmas's and its only fair we spend one in Adelaide with her family. This marks the first year I haven't Christmas with my family at all - other than them driving us to the airport to fly out to Adelaide.

I got spoiled with gifts from family again, but the main ones I was extremely happy with were: Flying to Adelaide on this trip, May and September next year and I got Foo Fighter tickets from Maz. That concert will be huge and annual leave for that will be booked quick smart.

Maria and I had a 9am flight this morning with Qantas. We checked in online the night before so all we had to worry about when we arrived at the airport was to drop of our baggage. That took a whole off 5 minutes which was great as the airport was packed and pumping. The lines were massive but no-one checked in online like ourselves and it really saved us about 30min in the Que.

The flight was nice and calm and although I was a little frustrated about Maria not letting me sleep I didn't let it get to me, after all this is Christmas. We arrived in Adelaide with Maria's dad (Costi), mum (Bahia) and one of her sister's (Nadine) waiting for us. We said hello and wished everyone a Merry Christmas and off we went to Maria's house.

There we met Sarah (Maria's other sister) and her fiancee (Kosta). Before we could sit down everyone was dying to open present so what can one do but oblige in opening all the gifts. I got a beautiful t-shirt from Sarah and Kosta and Armani Black code aftershave from Costi, Bahia and Nadine. After all was done and everyone enjoyed a coffee and relaxed we headed off to Joe's (Maria's uncle) where a feast was awaiting us.

The BBQ was on with Prawns, Calamari, lots of dips every meat you could think off, nuts and just about anything that could be put in your mouth besides Turkey! I am a big fan of either eating Turkey or Ham for Christmas but none where on offer but I am not one to complain as it is their tradition and I'm at their house.

Just like that Christmas ended and everyone goes to sleep. I am of course bloated and full and can only imagine how my stomach is handling after plenty of grog and food. But so far so good, with only the sleep to go. Christmas was different not being with family back in Melbourne but I suppose this is my family as well - as in little more than a year Maris and I will be married.

The day was hot and weather was great. Maria, Sarah, Kosta and I stayed for a few hours before Maria and I had enough and headed back home for a snooze. Maria was out cold quickly while I was their just lying down by myself as Kosta and Sarah headed to see Kosta's family for Christmas.

The day went quick and like any tradition when I come to Adelaide the day/night is never complete without a game of cards. The only game played every time I come here is Trump. I have learned to love it and am getting hooked and addicted to it like poker. It doesn't involve money although it has been known for wager's to be put on the side between players. Its a game of skill with 4 players playing divided into 2 teams. So you have a partner to help you win. A difficult game to explain but in the future and when I have more time up my sleeves, a game I can explain. Unfortunately after a great start and winning the first game Bahia and I lost to Costi and Maria. It was a close game with Costi and Maria taking the honours in a nail biter. Without any game their was some controversy and suspect of cheating happening on their part especially in the last game - but as good sports that Bahia and I are we let it slip knowing full well we will get our revenge tomorrow night!

Trump - 'A game I manage to always play every time I'm in Adelaide'

Massage my new love

2007-12-23T16:50:00.000-08:00

Massage Therapy is a new found love of mine. I was lucky enough to indulge in a 30min deep tissue massage in Essendon. A present that was given to me by my fiancee last year and I have been too lazy to go use it I was worried when it expired at the end of this month if I don't use it. So bang I ring a day in advance locking me in for an appointment the next knowing full well I don't need to go to work after my relaxation takes place.

I have never been brought a massage let alone been to a massage parlour before but the minute I walked into the 'Spa Nirvana' I was beamed with slow music, wonderful smell and awaiting to be treated. I handed over my voucher and they directed me into the change rooms, where I was to strip to nothing but my boxer shorts, with a robe to cover my big belly and some slippers to walk around the complex in.

I was then ushered into another room where the bed was ready for me and told to take off the robe and hope on the bed stomach down/back up. There I was ready to be massaged into a state of sleep. The lady that looked after me did a terrific job, getting all the right muscle points and easing all the tension that was their due to work.

It was only a 30min massage but seemed like it went forever. I could have sworn I was asleep for at least half of it. Not the broken sleep the deep sleep, whilst my back was getting nicely rubbed and oiled. I then proceeded to have a nice long shower in the change rooms and got dressed thinking Ill definitely be back to this place in the near future, maybe ill bring someone along to enjoy the experience with me.

On poker issue's. I finally make some money for the bankroll experience winning a 6 handed sit and go. My own poker had been the typical roller coaster ride with more loops than it should be. I can't complain as I haven't had to reload yet. I am setting my sites already on qualifying for a couple of next years APPT tournaments if I'm not working them as well as the big one - WSOP 08. I know my chances are not good in either but I have been improving my play I think and my $$$ is only growing - if ever so slightly.

Christmas is another topic for discussion but will be saved for next post as it isn't the 25Th of December yet, but family functions, work functions and friends have been keeping me busy enough with drinking and eating till you blow up. Italian tradition is enough food is not enough and if you don't eat 10 meals a day during Christmas your either offending the chef or your not Italian!

'Massage' - Something that makes you feel better but doesn't talk to you

I get sucked out at poker - is it always the same old story???

2007-12-19T21:15:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago, I along with about 22 other's at work get a message from a co-worker Dane (the same guy I went to Adelaide with) about an upcoming home game at his house the next day (Wednesday 19th December). Of course I pick up a dayshift that day meaning I finish at 10pm and the game starts at 8pm, but not to worry as Dane says that their should be a seat available for me.

Work was good that day as I was in Poker and didn't deal much, and when I did it was only the biggest games available plus the only Omaha opened. I love dealing Omaha because I like playing the game and although I remain no good at it, dealing it still helps me improve my play and I get to see when I should bet and what I would do with each players cards if I get to see them at the showdown.

I managed to put my name on the early out list trying to get out at about 8pm so I could go straight to Dane's to play and guarantee a seat because I had a feeling that it would be full. I don't get lucky for a change at work and have to stay back right till 10pm.

That's when I was sure tonight was not my night. Dane's message had Wavery Road and for some reason I thought it was Waverley Road which was the street before the proper street. Long story short I get lost and ring Dane to get the directions and he gets me to his house very easily.

Of course when I arrive Im on the list as the table is full. I wait about an hour or so before someone finally leaves and their is a seat available for me. I buy in for $100 as it is the same game as always ($1-$1 no limit holdem and $1-$1 pot limit omaha - round of each).

I start off like a house on fire and build up my stack quickly to $165 finding pocket aces and getting paid a little. Avoding the round of omaha as much as possible we get back to no limit holdem and I find pocket queens. I am second to act and under the gun raises it to $3 I think for a while before re-raising it to $15. The big blind (Dane) calls and under the gun (Christian) calls. Flop comes down 10c 7h 6h and it's checked to me. I make a $40 bet and the big blind raises all in and has me well covered. Under the gun folds quickly and I call. Knowing full well that im ahead. I see 4h 5h so he is on a straight flush/straight and flush draw. Ok so Im nervous but know I have the best hand when all the money goes intot he middle. Blank on the turn and 10h on the river - thanks for coming. I know he can't get of the hand on the flop but maybe preflop a silly and thoughtless call I would say!

So tiliting quickly before calming myself down. Re-brought another $100, so in for $200 before playing tight/aggresisve and up and down till one more hand hits me a few hours later. We are on Omaha and I am dealt A-J-J-10 and its is raised preflop to $4, I call and the flop comes down 8c-6c-Jh and Christian (also known as a monster banana) bets pot and I re pot for all of my chips and he calls with J-8-K-9 so I have him dominated and thought I was scared of clubs but he had only one in his hand. Turn brings a nice card 10h and river bring a fucking Qd - BANG! He makes a great fucking straight and then and there I realise its not my night and leave at about 3:30pm tilting like a mad man.

It kills me to see me put all the money in the middle twice with the best hand and know full well that I am ahead both times and get sucked out twice -not once but twice! If I win both those pots Im probably taking about $650 minimum home.

I know I get the reputation as the money or the donkey in poker but I am improving and it just seems no matter what I do I can't win unless I get lucky. I know most money is made in poker when you get lucky and hit the $$ card but its harder coping it the other way when your way ahead and loose. Becoming to realise how cruel this game can be is hard to swallow and learning to take the bad beats on the chin still feels like a big sting but the more it happens the easier it will heal.

I think its time I take a break from home games and concertrate on internet poker for smaller stakes and persist with making some little $$$ all the time online. The Bankroll Experience (bankroll exp - on full tilt) is slowly becoming good and Im slowly getting better myself (aka crownslippers - on full tilt).

"Sucked Out" - Money in the middle with the best of it and still loose. Another term I like is apor piso (greek for up the arse) - Thats what it feels like when it happens although I have never had the pleasure of trying it, it feels as though coping a 'suck out' is something it would feel like!

One week and not much to talk about....

2007-12-16T21:32:00.000-08:00

Wow! Week gone and nothing interesting happening. Just living my life and working. Completed Christmas shopping this week so that's outta the way, except for the Mrs, but ill find something nice for her in due course. I got to play a little poker at my mates house the other evening and it went OK, managing to buy in for $100 and leaving with $500 after a solid 6 hours of play.

Aussie Million Poker Tournament is around the corner and I know ill be dealing plenty coming January but I like it and it will go close to topping last year's main event entries at 747! The hype is already set about, with the APPT finishing up in Sydney over the weekend with a cool $1million guaranteed first prize, anything is possible come Jan.

Work is still the same and with finally managing to get a Tuesday off, ill be playing indoor soccer tomorrow, with something to look forward too. Our season thus far hasn't gone to plan and we are struggling to make the finals, but plenty of time left in the season and with our heads down and concentrate, I think we will qualify pretty easily.

This week coming up looks more interesting and when I find time to post I should, but doesn't mean I will.

Till we meet again next time at the pc, may you be lucky in life and suck at everything else.

Working Hard with no fun

2007-12-11T05:53:00.000-08:00

So I'm back at work for another few days (3 total) before one day off and work some more. I have a split RDO courtesy of my stupid self trying to organise things to do and make more $$$ for Christmas period. No wedding preparations have been organised this week with booking flights to Adelaide over Christmas the main priority. I got lucky at work this year by getting Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Eve and New Years Day all off - yes yes I know I'm blessed.

I'm working on the 24th on night shift and I'm not one to complain but this means I will not be able to fly out to Adelaide till Christmas Day as I don't finish till 4am on the 25th. It tends to work OK with Maria also working on the 24th (during the day), but we can both fly out in the morning and make it for Christmas Lunch with her family at her uncles.

Work in the last two days has been great. I have had great shifts with both being down in the poker room. Tomorrow is a 10 hour shift but knowing I'll be in poker makes it OK and means time should fly!!

Not much else exciting happening with nothing planned but a meeting with Theo on Thursday - maybe a business proposition on the agenda and bang out of Crown. We never know what the future holds....

One week in a flash

2007-12-09T04:06:00.000-08:00

So I'm not real good at managing time when 'ti's the season to be Jolly.' I have been doing the usual this time of year with the shopping, working, more shopping, eating well and of course more work. Last week was at a frantic pace and time is always flying.

Christmas parties were the agenda really for the week, although I didn't attend everyone, I was their in spirit and that's what counts! Last Friday was by far the highlight of the week for me. Maria and I were invited to a Christmas party to be held by my cousin Matt (my future best man at my wedding) and all of his friends at "The Pier" on Bay Street, Port Melbourne. It was a venue I hadn't been fortunate enough to attend to prior to this wonderful evening. Although in saying this, it had a reputation of a lovely kick back attitude bar/restaurant that was popular on a Friday night after work drinks.

The night started at about 7:30pm and our attendance was at about 8pm - finding a car park in Port Melbourne is no cup of tea let me tell you! The food was great though small - very poshy - and the beer was running thick and fast. No empty glasses were permitted and a round each was enough for everyone to feel a little merry throughout the night. The evening finished early and we all were under the weather and although I planned on driving home Maria insisted - so what's a man to do but agree with his partner??

Saturday was one of those rise and shine days, where Maria literally woke me up and made me go shopping with her before going to Rodney's house. This was all planned - I just didn't want o get out of bed after a nice sleep and a bloated gut, courtesy of the beverages that were flowing last night in Port Melbourne.

At Rod's house the BBQ was on and the food was smelling before I even pulled my hand brake on in my car. In attendance were my close friends and my cousin, who also made the journey down to the east side of Melbourne. In true Lebanese style the food was enough to feed all of Tasmania and their was no way all of it was to be eaten on that nice Saturday afternoon.

After a wonderful and filling lunch and a few more bev's were swallowed, the good old round soccer ball was taken out of the shed for a little bit of a kick in the backyard. Nothing like the good old days when growing up on the backyard playing "wogball" as it was known in the school grounds. Burning up a sweat and causing grief the day ended with one of mates Joel saying something to Rods quote " I'll give you a $1000 if you loose 17kg from now to Anthony's wedding." I wanted in on this action - one because I want to loose plenty for the wedding in March 09 and secondly it is in March 09 = plenty of time. I'm sad to say but I think Joel will save his money as Rods didn't seem to interested in the bet at the time it was made.

Today being a Sunday and meant to be a day of relaxing started again with the familiar face of Maria waking me up to go for a walk at 9am. We walked about 5km and it felt good and for a while, I didn't feel to buggered afterwards. We then proceeded to go shopping again - I know what your thinking - poor Anthony - yep great minds think alike. After spending an hour shopping and adding to our Christmas list we quickly went to Matt's house to watch the Hatton v Mayweather fight at 3:30pm. Matt's the only one with Main Event and this was the second biggest bout this year and now way I was missing it. Maria came for no reason then she had too, and although she didn't enjoy it I know she will thank me later!

Belgian Beer Cafe was on order straight after the fight and we managed to get our good self's over there to sink our teeth and make our liver feel the full effect of the finest Belgian Beer that was available. The day was beautiful and the beer garden was cramped up like people seeing Bono and U2 at live aid. The great thing was their were plenty of bars, so no lines and beer not to far away. We only stayed for a couple of hours and headed back to Maria's house.to relax and watch a movie.

Nothing too exciting else this week to look forward too but work. Maybe a poker night on Thursday which I might attend and blog about. See if I can meet and greet some old friends during the week and see a movie at the cinemas if time let's me. Until we meet next time (hopefully before a week) may the blog be a smaller read and your eyes not get to tired from reading.

Relax - "Not to wake up and go for a walk"

Blah blah time so fast

2007-12-03T21:12:00.000-08:00

Time is going so fast and the last 5 days or so just as fast. I have had my mum's birthday which was great - the same day I arrived back from Macau - so exhausted is an understatement! A nice traditional Greek dinner was had by family and my fiancee. Was a nice occasion till I remembered I have to go back to work the next day.

Work has not changed except the fact that I am now on night shift. I have since worked 3 nights and enjoying it surprisingly. Night shift goes like a bullet - time flies night is better and the people you work with are adjusting as well, so everyone is on the same rotation.

Poker is the same for me. Playing a lot with no benefits, but you can't have everything they say. Was trying to qualify for Sydney APPT event which will be massive with a guaranteed $1 million first prize, which would have been nice, but unfortunately now only a year away for me to qualify again! The APPT will be the next EPT and Pokerstars have done nothing but good for the Asian market in regards to running poker events in Australasia.

Wedding preparations are fast and furious and we have booked a reception already and now only need to worry about a priest and a church and nothing needs to be done now till probably next March. Saving up the $$$ is a hard market at the moment and nothing comes easier but knuckle down and work hard and rewards will show - unless I can win a big poker tournament. Dreams can come true!!!

Lets get up-to-date in a short post

2007-11-28T20:17:00.000-08:00

OK so I have been flat chat for well over the whole month of November and because of my social life and events happening in my life no time to blog. Time management with me as never been a forte and this time is no exception.

OK so the last time we met I did some travelling to the wonderful place of Adelaide! Lost some $$ playing poker an bubbled in the event i went their for. woo hoo for me and lets just say poker has a special place in my heart - just not in Adelaide.

I have since worked really hard at crown and got a chance to go to macau in which i arrived back today. Macau is an experience of itself. I think it might be better than Vegas in a few years but not even close at the moment. Although in saying that I managed to find out that Macau has already surpassed Vegas in $$ turnover and with more casino and business to come would't surprise me if it kept a good advantage on turnover for a long time. It does lack entertainment with only gambling on offer. No shows like vegas and not as much fun juts pure gambling.

I worked for Pokernews and it was a ball but thats all I did. Didn't get much time to see the actual city or meet many people from the macau but time is of the essence and I'm sure the world will bring me their one day soon.

I have to run as work calls and it happens to be my mum's birthday today.

Macau - "A place that hails the game of Baccarat"

Adelaide trip - Bubble, drink, eat and done my balls all at the same time - who said I wasn't a multi tasker?

2007-11-20T18:31:00.000-08:00

12th of November till the 16th November

Clock's way back till like the 12Th of November when I departed to Adelaide. It's the city of churches with a church on pretty much every corner. Its simply a dead city where everyone is asleep - complete opposite to Melbourne. As the fiancee and I agree - a place where its gold to retire and relax but a place where not much happens! Adelaide does have the Borossa Valley which is renowned for its beautiful wineries and lovely scenery but that's about it. A hard place to live and work, a great place to relax but not even worth holidaying!

I, like about 39 other hopefuls jetted of to South Australia (Adelaide) in search of becoming the next poker/casino industry champion of poker. It cost $240AU to enter and the starting stack was $4000 with 25 minute levels. This was a great structure to play tight, pick spots on making a move and wait for big hands. I managed to get my stack to well over $7000 in the first two levels and was pushing players out of pots and playing position as well as getting a little hot run with card's.

That's before it all went wrong! After hitting the magic $7k mark I didn't receive a hand for a long time and when in position to make a move someone earlier took that move from me! I was really getting short stacked and couldn't afford to be blinded out and at the first break, their were 20 players left and I was now one of the short stacks. How quick times change!

I decide on the break I need to make a move even with a mediocre hand and need to double up in a hurry. I'm the button and for the first time not one player in front of me raises. I peel my cards to see A J off suit and with no hesitation push all my chips in the middle (roughly about 3.7k) and it gets folded around to the big blind who calls and I tell him 'A J off' he mutters back to me 'that means you have 2 outs.' Not exactly what I want to hear or see when he shows me pocket jacks! Long story short Ace on the flop and the rest as they say is history! Ship it to Slippers!

I make the final table after that with only the top 6 getting paid and am patiently waiting for some kind of hand, knowing full well that I'm in the bottom 3 chip stacks on the table. I steal a couple of blinds and before I know it we are down to the final 7! Bubble now and everyone playing tight and this is the time I like to play silly but can't as I am officially the short stack. I push all in on the button for my last $4.4k with the blinds at $800/$1600 and the small blind pushes over the top and I'm thinking its OK at least I have protection! I have A Q off and he has pocket 8's. I don't improve and thank ya mother for the rabbits - I'm the bubble! I now carry this with my head held down and release my sorrow by deciding for the next 3 days whilst in Adelaide I will drink every night and put some hard earned money into the South Australian economy.

That's exactly what I did. I did my ball's as they say and dropped some money but maintained the drinking! With the help of my fellow room mates for the trip (Renee, Dane and Damo) we managed to have an awesome time, drink lots, loose lots and even fit in an APL event for a laugh. Of course to make it interesting and to show how much of degenerates we are their was a last longer bet at the APL. I think its fair to say we put that place on tilt all night. Damo won the last longer and collected a little $$$ from each of us but I grabbed the special prize which was Prancer - the DVD!

After leaving the APL we got a little hungry. Mexican was only a few doors down and we thought, why not? We got into one place with the kitchen closing and tried our luck somewhere else where it was still opened! We got into the place at 9:55pm and the kitchen was closing at 10pm, but they kept it open just for us. Sangria was ordered and of course Damo and Dane had a little side bet on how long the drink would take to arrive at the table once ordered. Now the waitress in question was Renee and she smelt something a little fishy about the situation and realised their might be some money on this (once seeing the money on the table and the fact everyone was looking at the watch) she took her time in bringing the Sangria to the table. She decided to take a little more time and its fair to question Dane's patience as she looked at him whilst putting it on the table and without much time left Dane asked the nicest way possible 'drop the Sangria on the table now - please.' She did and he won the bet. Of course without any hesitation Damo forked out the cash and Dane was that little bit richer.

We managed to be the only remaining customer's in this restaurant and realised this when the only noise from the place was coming from our end. Renee grabbed a nice tip from the three of us and we had a moment where I managed to ask if she could drive us to the casino. With Damo and Dane totally looking at me and mentioning something like 'You have ruined the moment Slippers' she asked if we didn't mind waiting till she cleaned three table's and she would be happy to drive us into town. Dane couldn't' believe it and same as Renee but Damo was still eager to catch a cab. We only waited about 10 minutes and true to her word she drove us to the heart of the city. Probably not ever going to meet her again I thought that was a terrific gesture by Renee and maybe she really liked the $30 tip we gave her for something like a $80 bill!

The next two days was terrible in terms of poker and without remembering too much I didn't win gambling and drunk more than could consume. Waking up every morning with a semi hangover wasn't pleasant but trying to remember what happened the night before was like doing a hard sudoku!

The trip as a whole was great and an experience I won't forget till the next trip. I left the other three who were staying on longer and enjoying themselves more whilst I had to go back to work and back to reality and plan an engagement dinner for that upcoming Saturday night (the 17Th of November). Engagement blog to follow soon after this.

Adelaide - ' A place where you can loose everything and still manage to get a lift into town by a complete stranger'

Venue hunting and Indoor Soccer

2007-11-11T03:21:00.001-08:00

Another wonderful day started per usual, waking up with not enough sleep. Time to get ready and clean the fish tank I promised Maria I would do 2 days ago. Finally managed to clean all the fish shit and the tank and nearly gave the fish a spanking for shitting so much for such small animals.

Wedding venue reception hunting was the first on the to do list and of course my parents and sister wanted to attend as well. We only had 2 to view and Rosylin Court, Essendon was the first and it fitted perfectly all our criteria. Maree (the tour guide) was extrenmely helpful and guided us through how much it would cost us, showed us the main room where we would have the reception, the garden and even the smoking area for the few degenerates that can't help themselves but have a drag because most of them got it as a habit when they were 13 years old as it was considered 'cool.'

The second place we attended was terrible and for their sake I won't mention who they are and how unhelpful they were. It was old, small and for me a little too disorganised. I think we were their for a total 10 minutes before Maria and I looked at each other knowing full well this wasn't close to being what we liked.

We all hoped in the car and as the weather was a treat went up Keilor Road for a nice gelato (me being the metro sexual I am chose a thick shake) and headed down to my house. We grabbed a nice brochure with everything about Rosylin Court and were discussing it most of the afternoon knowing Maria was destined to have it their and I couldn't agree more. I had actually attended a wedding their about 3 years ago and it was all you could ask for in a wedding. Our heart is set on this place and we only need to view it in the dark at their request and put forward the deposit and boom its locked in for our date in March 2009!

After a nice lengthy chat and drink I needed to quickly pack for tomorrow as I'm going to Adelaide for a few days for Poker and have nothing exactly organised in way of clothes. It only took a quick 15 minutes before being ready for a kick of the round ball for indoor soccer.

Indoor started about as bad as it could. We were 2 people short on our team with Mark and Joel both in Sydney for work purposes. Not only that meaning we had to play a full game without any substitutes but Daniel (our start striker) was running late and we had no one to fill in for him. We were lucky we grabbed a random bogan who had just finished playing and he helped out for abut 10 minutes before Daniel finally got his act together. Very long story short we drew 7-7. I scored 3 goals and was goal keeper for a little while but it was probably a game we should have won being 7-5 up with only 2 minutes to play. But such is life and I think overall we are happy not to lose with the current situation.

Another day gone by in my wonderful life and the city of churches on the agenda tomorrow. Nice and early flight at 9am before a nice relaxing day enjoying the wonderful sunset. Until tomorrow where we meet again - I have nothing more to say!

Indoor Soccer - ' A bad habit starting about 5 years ago to think we could still be fit now'

Nice easy day at work before 5 days off

2007-11-10T05:50:00.000-08:00

Today started off like any other. I stayed at Maria's last night again and went off to work expecting to be in the mahogany room again as today was Saturday - race day. Managed to get to work with 5 minutes to spare (perfect timing) but that was to take a shit, get changed and be where I was going to work all in that short space of time. Boom look at the board and my name is on the list for poker - giddy up.

Time surpassed 5 minutes where all the jobs in between were finished and the poker room was acquiring my presence. Now tournament poker is always on the go on Saturday at the poker room so I managed to pop on in and was rostered on the tournament swing all day.

Cruisy day to say the least. I don't think I dealt for more than 2 hours the whole day and the big guy upstairs must have been watching me for sure! The tournament supervisors were Joel, Jacquie and Lisa. Out of the three I definitely get along well with Lisa the most and we even managed to discuss opening a bar in 2010 about 2 years ago. The plan is still on the go and this bar will hopefully save us from working at a casino our whole life!

After work I went straight to Maria's house and we really didn't know what to tonight and nothing was planned and it was a Saturday night after all. I just working so I couldn't be bothered doing anything and lucky for me Maria was the same. So we wondered off the the video store and hired a DVD for the night. Ever since it came out at the movie's and since 'Transformer's" has had top reviews and everyone that has seen it (that I know) have enjoyed it. I for one have not had that experience and as soon as Maria saw it on the shelf she grabbed it and said ' Anth, how about Transformer's? I know you haven't seen it?" She was right and that was the movie for the night. Our trips to the video store are not normally this short and we are always their for at least 15minutes looking through DVDs to pick something we both like. Their are always occasions where I'll pick something Maria hates and I love or vise verse.

The movie was great and I used too remember being a kid and buying the little figurines at the supermarket and turning the cars into robots and acting them around like they were real. And that's what this movie did for me. It brought my kid aspirations into reality. Graphics ans storyline were nothing but amazing and I must admit I too am one to vote on seeing it, if you haven't had the time too. Or even when your the person at the video store taking 15 minutes picking a DVD, pick Transformer's only if you haven't seen it. I for one recommend but won't watch it a second time.

Plans for tomorrow are no work, and none for another 5 days. I will however clean Maria's fish tank (exciting times - NOT), wedding reception hunting (whoo hoo) and highlight for me - indoor soccer at 7pm. I haven't had a run for more than 2 weeks and can see myself struggling after only 10 minutes if I'm lucky, but such is life. No work for 5 days is exciting and going to Adelaide is worth being happy for but as the pros say it - we'll take it one step at a time.

Lucky word of the day - Bludge - "To go to work and only do 2 hours or work and get paid for 8"

Cousin's Birthday and Beverages on the go

2007-11-09T15:10:00.000-08:00

Today was a shitty normal day for me at work. With the usual working in mahogany room but this time dealing blackjack. Now it wasn't a busy day as tomorrow is race day and I'm presuming I will be their tomorrow and it will be absolutely packed. Work was a bludge but I just didn't want to be their I wanted to be anywhere but work!

A few phone calls were made through my breaks at work and was fair to say everyone was getting ready for a good night for my cousin's birthday at Boraq Bar in Lonsdale St. Boraq bar was a gorgeous venue (I had never been before) and I was totally surprised by how nice the layout was, the bar, the woman and the music. Truly one place I can see myself going to in the future for sure.

My presence was felt at about 8:15pm when I arrived. My cousin Matty, Daniel and Caterina were already their downing a few beers and wishing Matty all the best. It was a good night and drinks were on the bubbly all night. I asked Matty to be my best man for my wedding and he said yes and the usual crew (Daniel, Joel and Rodney) were needless to say anything when I asked them to be my groomsman!

As soon as I mentioned this and all Matty's friends rocked up, the Bachelor party preparations were already in full swing! And my wedding isn't till March 09 but that didn't stop the boys thinking of something already. It looks like Vegas trip in February 09 for 2 weeks will be the Buck's party and idea's are already popping up straight away. I can only imagine the party and how we would run a muck in Vegas!

The night concluded early at about 1am as I had work tomorrow but all in all, everything was great and everyone had a ball. Indoor soccer tomorrow night to look forward to and only one more day at work before a nice 5 days off including, looking at venue's for the wedding, indoor soccer and fly out to Adelaide to take down the casino employee's poker event!

Bachelor Party - 'A party to be held in Vegas with the lads (most probably)

Status Update...plans...life

2007-11-08T03:49:00.000-08:00

So I've been a little busy at work of all places. It is Spring Carnival so you can imagine all the drunks, blonde's, sexy girls and of course their partners rocking up to the casino after a nice drink or 25 at the races. It has been a hell dive at work with people doing plenty of overtime and gamblers coming out of the wood work to have a punt. Its been like they have waited all year for this opportunity to have a decent punt!

Not much to explain today as just the usual happening. Waking Up going to work, going to Maria's coming home and back to sleep soon. But news has come out that Macau is not on the agenda for playing as I have received the call of duty to work over their! Everything is organised and I will be packing my bags and going their for the week from the 22nd of November till the 29th of November. Should be exciting times as Macau has huge shoes to fill and its the first time poker will be introduced to Macau. The APPT have a taken a big risk with this but I believe it will pay off. Jerry Yang (2007 WSOP champion) has already signed on to be their and a few other pro's are rumoured to be their also.

It has worked out well because my Pokerstars account from the $100 I initially put it to try to get over to Macau is down to $27.40. It frees up the time to play cash or try to go to Sydney in December for the APPT event over their. No doubt the APPT event in Sydney will be massive. It's of course the grand final of the first year of the tour and plenty of people are anticipated and numbers will be at a record high and may come close to Aussie Millions number this year. All will be revealed in December.

On more poker, the bankroll experience is hitting its straps and finally we are in the positive with 'the rock' taking out a 45 player sit and go. Its our first result but blogs are plenty and everybody is feeling confident in it being a success. My skills need to sharpen up a bit if we are to make some decent $$$ out of it.

Tomorrow night (Friday the 9th) is my cousin's birthday and a night out drinking at a bar in the city is planned. He is pumped for a big night with phone calls throughout the day reminding me that its his birthday - like I'm supposed to have a big one for him! Any excuse to have a drink and chill with friends, the Mrs and some familia.

On Monday 12th of November I'm off to the city of church's otherwise known as Adelaide. They have a casino employee's poker tournament on the 13th and ill be their trying to take it down. I'm their till the 15th and will try to make some money on the side in cash games also, but main priority is the casino employee's event. I will be their with some work mate's so can already imagine some of the festivities on the horizon.

Till tomorrow, adios amigo

Planning - "Whatever happens in the foreseeable future"

Melbourne Cup day and I have to work!

2007-11-06T05:07:00.001-08:00

Well unlike everyone else enjoying the day off work and most having organised the Monday (day before off) for a long weekend, I and the other 10% of the population in Melbourne had to work today.

I normally do have a punt on cup day for tradition and today marked the first day in 8 years where I didn't bet on a single race on Melbourne Cup day. But all was to come down on my head as the day went on...

I was working last week when I received a tip from a punter in the Mahogany room that Efficient would win the Melbourne Cup (a horse race that stops the nation and is in fact a public holiday in Melbourne) and of course bad beat city hit when the horse stormed home to take down the 5 million dollar race. Not only did he win comfortably, he paid $26-$1 which is top $$$ when its comes down to horse racing. I was admittedly upset and it pretty much put me on tilt all day whilst I was working.

That punter had approached me and asked if I listened and of course I told him my story about not punting. In his own words he bemoans " I told you about this horse last week, listen sometimes. I bet it 2 months ago at sportsbet when it was $128-$1 and I put $100 which means I am now going to collect $12,800." I'm their thinking about two thoughts, not knowing which one to agree on. 1.. Kick me whilst I am lying on the ground or 2.. Put the knife a little deeper while your at it.

So while I finally got over the thought of losing even though I didn't bet it, felt like worse as if I lost a fortune. When thinking about it I only lost an opportunity, and I may mention no money was harmed in the process. I worked the rest of the day with the intention of visiting my Godparents after work, after not seeing them for at least 6 months. It was a normal session of catching up and saying hello and making sure they would be present for Maria and myself's engagement dinner on the 17th of November.

All went well and to be fair today was a boring day for me but an exciting day for many. Just another day to look forward too tomorrow and all the way till Sunday when another day off for me finally arrives. I do happen to have plan's Friday night with my cousin's and friend's joint birthday bash happening.

Word of the day - Idiot = What I was today for not listening to a punter. You can always trust people who gamble for a living'

Derby Day rocks and back to reality

2007-11-04T02:30:00.001-08:00

OK lets get one thing straight - Derby Day at the races rocks! I haven't posted in 2 days mainly because I'm still recovering. I am also not getting snobby or anything like that but now that I ventured into the nursery (car park) at Flemington I never want to go general admission again. Its sort of like whenever I talk to people that have flown overseas in business class (unlike myself) they say they never want to fly economy again. That's the feeling, that what I'm talking about!

The day started off very early like 6am when my cousin thought it would be a great idea for me to stay at his house the night before so I could go early with him and a couple of his mates to set up. Well considering the first races didn't jump till 10:20am I thought we were their early when we arrived at 8:30am but of course we were in his van with 2 baths and 19 slabs of everything (mainly beer) and 30 bags of ice (no Mr Cousin's not what your thinking). We set up and the DJ was their and the day was looking gloomy with rain expected.

We cracked open the first beverage about 9 am and never looked back really. The drinks stayed cold throughout and everyone looked pretty happy before it all started to rain down on us. Why stop their? The suits needed to be dry cleaned anyway so we kept the music going and danced our way till the sun comes down, well really till they kicked us out at 7pm because they were closing. Instead of kicking on like everyone else I turned soft and Maria picked me up to save me and I had work at 10am.

Below are some images of what happened, most I'm drunk in, but what are you supposed to do when your having fun?

Can't really explain much more as I lost more than half the day and brain wasn't switched on after 1pm.

I did manage to make it to work (just) at 10am today and nothing to talk about except how much I was thinking of sleeping or hoping the day would go by really quickly. I was in poker which was great and that's it - it was work. I'm still dreaming about Derby Day yesterday, so good and I already booked for next year to have it off.

Word of the day - Derby Day - "An occasion shared by all with the excuse of drinking all day and having a punt on animals with gigantic penis's"

Movember starts, races tomorrow and work

2007-11-02T12:15:00.000-07:00

Movember is the new word for November. This meaning purely that growing a 'moe' for November and calling the month of November - Movember. Their of course is a great reason and course behind Movember and none other than prostate cancer. The aim of this is to grow a moustache for the month of November and get people to sponsor your moustache and raise money to give to prostate cancer research! Now I understand the ladies always have breast cancer raffles, pink ribbon day, yada yada yada and I'm not one to be racist but I think its time the boys chip in with a little something of their own, so I decided to try to grow a moustache for Movember. Their are a few rules involved, mainly must be clean shaven on the 1st of November and start growing the 'moe' but cant have handlebars (the ends of the moe going down towards chin)! Sound easy right? Well not entirely for me, why you ask? Easy, its hard for me to grow any kind of moustache. I tried last year for a gag and not impressive, with only a few hairs visible. I will however be updating on progress and will try to get the mug shot at the end of Movemeber.

Yesterday at work was the usual crap, in the mahogany room with plenty of people having a punt on Derby day eve. People dressed with anything and everything and its almost safe to say some men just rock up their to have a perv for the night. Terribly getting busy when I was leaving at about 8pm but no need for me to bother as I was one to be excited about going to my cousins house and getting ready for a big day at the races tomorrow. Of course working at the casino I needed to book three month's in advance to get tomorrow off!

On the way to my cousins I needed to make a quick stopover to see what beverage of choice will be available for me tomorrow. I took my time and decided that the Budweiser was a good enough choice to quench my thirst all day so managed to get a slab of that and some water - to save me from the hangover!!!

All week my cousin, his friends, my friends and anyone else going to the races is talking about how good it is going to be. I have never been on derby day and I'm a very hard critic so I'm just about expecting fireworks. The weather needs to hold out for starters with late showers on the radar and the great possibility that my harm the outcome, unless I'm already strongly under the influence - then it doesn't really matter if it's sunshine or hailing.

With not much else to say I will leave you with today's word :

Movember - 'A great excuse to grow a moustache for the month without your girlfriend nagging you to shave it off'

Finally a day off - a funeral to attend!

2007-11-01T03:10:00.001-07:00

OK after working 12 or something days (can't even remember) straight without one off, today is a day to relax and attend funeral of all places!!

I ended up going to this funeral based on my fiance mainly because I don't even remember ever meeting this person and to be brutally honest didn't want to go. She is somehow my fiance's aunty's - son - wife, you get the idea. Of course this place was like 45 minutes and for people who don't know me, I'm terrible with directions so yep we managed to get lost. Arrived eventually 15min late and snuck in without a peep being heard. Funeral's are always a sad moment but a topic popped into my head immediately afterwards. How difficult is the situation of saying hello and smiling at other people you haven't seen for ages at a funeral?

Sometime after the awkwardness we jetted away grabbed some lunch and went back to my house. Of course we studied a little bit of wedding preparations and venue searching and ended up with nothing thus far. In a good point I managed to call everyone for the engagement dinner which is set for the 17th of November.

After a big lunch and semi rest the DVD player was turned on and 'The Newton Boys' was played. Not that I'm a critic but I did enjoy it mainly because I fall into the trap of loving 'based on true events' movies. Bank robbery in the olden days was so much easier than what it is today.

Poker is beginning to kick in and as much as I don't believe Pokerstars need the money I slowly start giving it to their players. Testing myself to see if I can qualify for either APPT Sydney or APPT Macau from $100. So far down to $30. Just the usual me being a donkey and probably ending up giving everything and showing nothing at the end for my hard work! I don't run bad, I self inflict it.

Funeral - 'A difficult place to be when meeting people'

Work, Drinks, Poker and Trouble Again?

2007-10-30T05:42:00.000-07:00

Ok no hangover after drinks were had but trouble might be on the agenda. It seems as though things didn't go as smoothly as I thought after the conclusion of the Pokernews Cup. I thought a loud drink (why does it always have to be quiet drink?) would be had and everything would be good, but in the words of one of the men respected in the pokerroom, 'your putting your job in jeopardy.'

Thats all I can say at the moment but, I will voice my opinion in saying I think people are on power trips and situations are getting blown way out of proportion. In a more positive note, drinks were drank and poker was still played. Fun was had by all especially as one of our friends made $75,000 finishing 5th in the main event!

Work today was hard as I was extremely tired and wanted to go home early to make an indoor soccer game that is a weekly event had by my close friends, cousin and me. Its hard for me to make these plans and soccer games every week because of the work I do but when I can I make myself available 100%. Of course didn't get out early but day didn't drag out as much ad I thought.

Still tired from working a 14hour day yesterday but these affects happen and a nice sleep and maybe a beer is the best cure. Not much exciting happening elsewhere except preperations for the engagement party and venue searching for the wedding.

Trouble - " a problem that has been created'

Pokernews Cup concludes

2007-10-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

So the first ever pokernews cup has come to and end and was a massive success had by all. I was fortunate enough to be dealing final table with my fellow partner in crime 'Cool Hand' Luke.

It was a long day to say the least and we needed to be at work (for no reason) 3 hours before the tournament started and the day dragged out to a total of 14 hours for the both of us although neither complained as drinks were on the cards after the tournament and we were only dealing one hour each! Results, blogs, video's, photo's, blah blah blah are all at pokernews to read if interested and the nice payday was $300,000 for first although suspicions of a deal had been made prior (3 handed to be exact).

The next tour on the agenda if I'm lucky to go will be the APPT Macau which is happening in November. A lot of lead up events into the main event which is a $2,500 buyin over 4 days. Expecting Macau to be the biggest and best APPT yet. I however am going to Adelaide before hand for a casino employees event which is a nice little buy in of only $240 with first prize hopefully taking a little over $4,000. No doubt updates will be fast and furious with news of me taking down some of the money being an added bonus - hopefully.

Today's word is headache - "something you have the next morning after a long drinking session the night before." (Can also see hangover for more of an explanation).

Day 2 Pokernews Cup

2007-10-28T06:59:00.000-07:00

The latest in happenings whilst dealing at the pokernews cup is Ozzie Yilidz massive comeback from not much in chips to plenty, and I mean plenty. He is still in with 16 to go and is the talk of the town. He like my good self was also a fellow dealer at the same casino I am at now. He was more like a semi role model minus the cockiness and good looks. Best is yet to come when he promises his girlfriend of nearly 6 years that he will pop the question if he makes over $10,000 this event - BANG - he is now past that point and it seems no turning back from the great Turk!

A lot happening elsewhere with bustouts falling left, right and centre. A lot of success thus far from everyone involved and we have a good feeling this will continue into the future with success on the agenda. The final 6 will be played tomorrow and expect a lot of action.

In unrelated news I got to attend a wedding tonight which was a beautiful Asian theme behind it filled with love and all the crap that comes with weddings. I still managed to keep my eyes open although couldn't drink enough to get on stage. Always thought at one stage that wedding's were a great place to pick up, but now that I'm engaged I tend to really sum up the situation and I came to this conclusion. Wedding's are a tad overrated in the picking up standards. Is it really that easy to get someone when another couple are devoting a love forever after? Your not looking for love your looking for a good time - hard to judge but wedding's to hard to pick up in my opinion.

Coming up on my blog tomorrow - Final Table Pokernews Cup, Drinks afterwards and maybe some other stuff I come across throughout the day.

"Wedding's - Not a good time to find love but unless your the one getting married."

Pokernews Cup Main Event - Daylight Savings!

2007-10-27T14:41:00.000-07:00

Ok so the main event of the Pokernews Cup kicked off today and a massive field of around 428 players rocked up to have a go at over $1million prizepool with $300,000 for first. I of course was delaing in the mahogany room - lucky me - on the shitty little roulette table having no fun whatsoever untill about an hour and a half in when i get requested to go down to the poker room to deal on the televised table for the rest of the day. Finally their is a god and I can deal what I wanted and what I thought I might be rostered to deal.

The day was like any other with me dealing sick hands and giving people bad beats including the hand that Joe Hachem got eliminated. Oh well like everyone says 'That's Poker' or as I say 'That's Bullshit.' Whats the point of saying anything. I remember Jeff Lisandro yesterday getting crippled by pushing all in on a draw and getting called and losing but the other players said 'sorry Jeff' and Jeff looked at him like he looked at Prahlad Friedman and said ' why you sorry mate? you got my chips fair and square - you cant be playing this game if your sorry everytime you win a pot.'

A lot of big bust outs and day 2 starts today with the room still buzzing. The Pokernews guys of course are doing a top job and everything is run real smoothly. Tonight I have a wedding to attend to after work so maybe hard to be blogging depending on the recovery stage, if not tomorrow Tuesday. Did I mention that its daylight savings downunder - 1 hour of grumpy me for the day after losing sleep!

I'm thinking of using a word of the day to end all my moods and how the day went as a whole. Starting it midweek or whenever I want really, just giving you the heads up about it.

In the famous words of Kramer (aka Seinfield) - "Giddy Up"

Finally the H.O.R.S.E event finishes and we have a winner - oh yeah main event starts today

2007-10-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

OK after a gruelling 9 hours to loose 7 players we have a winner of the first ever H.O.R.S.E event and that lucky winner is Billy 'The Croc of Shit' Agyros. Well done Billy and pretty amazing result considering he came to the final table with only $8500 in chips and they were playing $500 ante $500 high card bring in and betting $3000/$6000 in Razz. Which leaves him to see probably only 4 cards before he can make a decision.

The event was destined to never end and we (tournament staff, pokernews guys and production crew) were just praying in the end someone would just win the title and we could finish! That's not all that was happening in the poker room yesterday - a massive satellite was also taking place where they were giving away 14 $3400 seats to the main event as well. Not to mention a single table sit and go with a $50,000 buy in which included the likes of Tony 'On Ya Bike' G, Jason 'The Nice Guy' Gray, Jeffery Lisandro and Masaki Kagawa! I'm nearly certain that if The Croc wasn't still in the H.O.R.S.E event he would also be playing this event. Two absentees from the $50,000 I noticed were Mark Vos (rumours he was actually on a date - unbelievable he put a woman with potential of sex compared to playing poker - maybe he is growing up) and Sam Khoiuss although Sammy got knocked out on the final table of the H.O.R.S.E event so maybe he has a little excuse.

The room will be a buzz today although I think ill not be in their dealing as my services may be needed in the mahogany room - boo hoo. Updates are available through pokernews if anyone want up to date information.

In unrelated Pokernews Cup info - Pokerstars has released a new tournament in Macau in November. If they crack the China market with Poker it will truly take the world by storm - if I'm lucky to go ill let you know all about the happening over there. Till tomorrow - ciao

H.O.R.S.E event and Pokernews Party

2007-10-25T16:51:00.000-07:00

The day kicked off nice and easy and I enjoyed a long and eventful 10 hours sleep - it was overdue and I was happy to take it! Went to work knowing full well that I will be dealing the H.O.R.S.E event - the first ever H.O.R.S.E event held at crown casino. Was a great day and was funny dealing 5 different games with all structures changing slightly through the games played. I did however enjoy dealing it as I actually had to work and didn't just feel like a robot dealing no limit hold em!

The day was a long one and although i finished at 8pm the tournament was still in progress till about 1:30am that morning. I felt that a long day considering the event started at midday and only had 63 runner. Although the turnout wasn't all their I think that Pokernews should still be happy with the numbers for an $1,100 event like this.

OK lets be honest I was truly only looking forward to the Pokernews party after work which had already started. It was buzzing by the time we arrived and of course drinks were on the house so I made my up their with a friend and met plenty more up their. Was fair to say it was a little quiet but still entertaining and fun and I can honestly say I still enjoyed the night even though I needed to sober up quickly as I was driving home and now wasn't the time to get done drink driving.

Tomorrow is a new day and I know ill be dealing the final table of the H.O.R.S.E event which should be fun and ideal, although the quicker it finishes the better. See you all tomorrow, I can feel the pain of reading but no fear more tomorrow!!!

2 months on and finally some time to post - a lot to catch up on

2007-10-24T05:09:00.000-07:00

Ok sorry I havent been around lately, been extremely busy but am promising this time is the last time it will be this long between posts! Will just very briefly add the highlights for the last 2 months before I start from scratch again today.

I did end up going to the snow - crazy time learn't I cant ski well at all and woke up sore the next morning like I was warned about before going up there but will no doubt do it again next year - maybe snow boarding. The highlight was everyone there and the nice stack I put on some random guy when I couldn't stop at high speed and he accidently, shall we say, got in my way and I had no alternative but to knock him off his ski's and mine end up all over the shop. Lucky for me this was the only real accident of the day that wasn't self inflicted like all the others.

Manila was an experience had by all. I traveled their with a completely open mind and came back with a mind full of information. Third world country and a lot of difference from home but something I will never forget. English is spoker nation wide and no problem getting around although a lot of dodgy vehicles, electric lines and more. We were very lucky we were put up in the Hyatt!

The poker side (the reason I was their) was great. The APPT opened its first event over in the Philippines of all places, and surprisingly was a great start to a hopefully great tour. They had a field of over 180 players with the likes of Joe Hachem, Daniel Negraneu, Vanessa Rousso, Emad Tatouth and plenty of unknowns and internet qualifiers. Tournament was won by an American (whats new) and he took down the prize and the cool $120,000 US. Was only their for 4 days so didnt get to do or see much but just from what I saw in 4 days, don;t know if ill be back again soon.

South Korea was the next destination for the second APPT event. This had a great hype around it and although it didn't have a bigger field than the one in Manila I enjoyed this more purely for the surroundings. South Korea is a non-English spoken country and we learn't this the hard way. Got introduced to a drink called SoJu which will forever be taken with me to the grave. Up their with the quickest drinks that will ever get me pissed! Country is clean clean clean and Im happy for anyone who spots a single piece of rubbish on the streets their to prove me wrong and take a picture and send it to me - rewards are waiting....

Was in South Korea for 8 days so got to see some sights and do some shopping and conveniently had the golf driving range at the hotel so got to fit in 3 sessions their between myself and fellow colleagues. Went to a typical Korean BBQ which was great - nice meat and I got to cook it as much as I wanted to - How can you go wrong?

Pokernews Cup is on at the moment as we speak at Crown Casino in Melbourne and everything has been great thus far. Fair to say field sizes are bigger than expected and the feedback from players and staff has been nothing but good news for both parties. I am dealing their for the next few days and have the Pokernews party tomorrow.

Now everything has been cut short in these few paragraphs I have decided that I will be only posting the most important issue of the day that happen to me on that particular day. Like when I got engaged last Saturday - oh yeah I popped the question to the Mrs and of course she said yes and we have wedding preparations to looks after. Will be fun and long days head that I can see being entered purely into the blog - bad read :(

Good poker read @ bankroll management. Fun read to say the least and good explanations of hand analysis during the play.

Manila booked - Snow Tomorrow

2007-08-16T08:01:00.000-07:00

OK stayed at the girlfriends last night so this will be a double day post. I didn't get to post yesterday, went straight to bed after work and really was pretty tired. Lets start from the morning that day. Woke up to great news, Manila trip was fully booked and organised and arranged to fit my schedule. Meaning Jonno pulled through for me at the critical time and changed my flight so I am on the same flight back just a day earlier. In short, meaning I can attend that dinner for the top 50 dealers on the Monday 27th August.

Got online again and of course hopped on to fulltilt. Played 2 single table sit n go's both very small budget ($2.20) and ended up winning both - go me and bankroll up to $11. I'm flying now and record looking good. I have just started playing on fulltilt and must admit I'm very impressed with the software and am enjoying my time. Not so many bad beats as Pokerstars and yet enjoyable and much more user friendly.

Got to chat to David, fellow work mate I met in Vegas whilst we were covering the WSOP. Haven't really chatted to him since I have been back so was all good to speak and catch up a little before I headed of to work. Work was sick and yuck and is always unless working in Poker. I was in smoking area and lucky enough to be stuck on the same table all night - lucky me!

Was wrecked after work and couldn't wait to get home. Wanted to play another sit and go but was staying Maria's and to be honest, I was just too tired to even keep my eyes open. Day 1 finished... Enter Day 2

Needed to wake up early (11am - don't forget I finished work at 4am and got to bed at 4:30) so 11am is fairly early. Needed to meet Maria at the dentist, she had already left earlier and we organised to meet there in the morning so I could pick her up and we could fix the big bill for her bloody fillings she needed in her teeth. $400 and something later we learned that she will be due back in a couple of weeks for some more treatment which of course means more $$$. After our little journey and dint in the wallet, we headed of to buy Maria a book. I don't mind shopping with Maria and consider myself fairly lucky I have her, because she is an excellent shopper to be with, In and out - the only way I like it.

Managed to get that out of the way and had a shower and did some shopping - all getting ready and gearing up for tomorrow - SNOW!!! We head off tomorrow afternoon and I'm hoping Internet access there otherwise no contact till I get back = long post day of arrival with photos hopefully videos and lots to talk about. Plenty of alcohol and snow should be great festivities as well as learning to ski or just toboggan we will see when we are there. Already brought some cards up and chips and we see how Poker fairs up there with my cousin and his mates. Life couldn't be better, away from work for 4 days and a mini holiday which is dearly needed and Manila fast approaching makes my life feel good, whether or not it leads up to it is something I will have to wait and see.

SNOW SNOW SNOW and more SNOW. Until I'm covered in snow balls and eating Marshmallows on the fire, we will maybe chat their or chat later. Long drive await me tomorrow and need my beauty sleep zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Trip organised - sort off

2007-08-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

Today started off funny. Got to bed at 8am after doing night shift and playing a little online for some fun. Was up and down and all around and still ended up wasting 2 hours of my life after leaving square! I had an email received that morning from none other than Jonno who had organised me my trip to the Philippines for the APPT. It was all good until i realised that he didn't get me the day i wanted to be back on. I didn't want to sound like a ball breaker but the day i get back i have an important dinner at my work, recognising the top 50 dealers at the Casino, and you guessed it I was one of them. But Jonno, being himself helped me out and all ended well after I asked him again and I return from my holiday a day earlier than everyone else just for this dinner - It better be worth it.

Went to work and did my thing, but not any thing Poker thing. I had a call on mobile during the day asking if i wanted to start earlier than my schedule time of 8pm, to start now from 7pm. I took that quickly knowing full well that the shift would be poker because poker room is the only room in the casino with a 7pm start and it would be a tournament shift (which it was). I was dealing a turbo tournament meaning it would be quick and that was no understatement. There were 70 runners, for a $60 entry which wasn't a too bad turnout. But the blinds increased every 20min and the players only had a 20 second decision time to act on there hand. It was all done and dusted in less than 3 hours which made a quick tournament, starting stack was only 1500.

Saw all the suck outs and bad beats and everything else in a tournament but was fun to deal the game again. It was fair to say last night the poker room was pretty much dead, and I have never seen it not that busy in my whole time at Crown. People who had requested to leave home earlier then what time they were due to finish got there wishes granted and everyone else didn't have to work so hard.

I'm absolutely stuffed and ready to go to bed. Still getting used to my phone as well but today is known to me as the Philippines day. Not long now - just over a week. And to think I'm going to the snow this weekend, fair to say I'm a fully booked bloke. Its all good, id rather be busy than doing nothing and time goes faster so I'm always on the go, something like living in New York.

We meet again tomorrow...

A little work and poker

2007-08-13T13:44:00.000-07:00

Didn't get to do much today but one thing i did enjoy besides the poker was being able to stay in my pyjamas all day. Woke up and did nothing really. Checked the Internet for emails watched some television and ate, normal life really. Got on msn messenger and a friend was online you asked if I wanted to play poker with her at FullTiltPoker, so how could I say no?

I had no funds in their of course and she opted to send me $5. We played a sit and go (18 players) with a $2.25 entry fee. We had a deal worked out, if we cash we split it in half. Good deal for me purely because i rate her a better player than me. Of course we both made final 9 and i bombed out in 7th and don't really wanna talk about it, so you all don't know how bad i really play. She ended making it to third so now my account at FullTilt has reached a whopping $8.15, go team. This all before I started having a shower and get dressed for work.

Got to work and ate dinner their. Was supposed to go to the gym tonight before work but really couldn't be stuffed and was playing poker aswell, tough choice really - stay at home a little longer in your pyjamas and play online poker for an hour or go to work early and go to the gym (not a question for you gym junkies)?

Work again was fast, got to deal roulette for first 6 hours and than last 2 hours Blackjack. Was in premium areas so money in and out and made the night interesting. Was craving a beer about the time i started dealing blackjack and i knew i would be heading to the local bar after work for a quick pot of draught before heading home, only one - don't encourage drink driving, but when your quenching the beer go with the gut!

Work finally passed by and I went to Pit 5 (the local) grabbed a beer before running into a couple of work mates with whom I'm pretty close too and they opted to play poker with me (6 of us total) at the bar as it is equipped with the cards, chips and table. We played poker at 4:30am for an hour till 5.30am. Was good fun, no money changed hands it must be said but plenty of bragging rights on the line. I won the first one really easily, in about 20min and the second I tied as it went for so long and we were even in chips and just wanted to go home before drinking more beer.

Not much else happened really, got back home and set up the new phones we brought, so we now have 5 cordless phones around the house so no one has to run to the same point to answer the phone anymore. I always think this world is getting lazier and lazier but this particular gadget i am definitely a fan. New 19inch LCD screen for the computer was set up today as well as a wireless keyboard and mouse which I am using to type this particular post on.

Other than the above not much else to explain. At least got to play a little poker here and there and got that beer that was driving my taste buds crazy. Going to fix my premier league fantasy team now, so until tomorrow - arrivedici

Another day at the office

2007-08-12T12:25:00.000-07:00

Just having done my first night shift it was now normal for me to start waking up later in the day and midday is no exception (really opportunity was to sleep more). Stayed at Maria's last night knowing the washing needed to be done today. I lay in bed for a while knowing Maria would wake up early and praying before fully opening my eyes she had already done it. Answer was a NO. Obviously woke up had a coffee and a bite and did the washing. Our normal laundrette was full so we went for plan B and another one not far away.

Didn't do much for the day as the body needed some rest from first night shift (or that's what I keep telling myself). Watched some television before Maria cooked a nice prosciutto tortellini pasta - very rare for me to cook without burning down the house.

My olds (parents = aussie slang) came over for a coffee before I had to go to work and before I knew it I was at the same place I was last night. Was dealing roulette for a change and can't complain - its not blackjack. Was still knackered but nurtured my way through the night without any mishaps and some nice fresh pineapple on the way.

Most exciting news of the night was being able to organise to get a Sunday off work in a couple of weeks, which frees me up for my Manila trip for the APPT. Didn't matter as I was clearly calling in sick anyway, but this way is pretty much guilt free. Hoping flight details to be done by tomorrow.

Poker is not on the agenda till then, but everyone at work is talking about Raul's (Game/Floor Supervisor) tournament he is organising. Its about $200AU to enter and there would be about 80 people going = $16,000 prizepool. This is probably a great tournament to attend but I will be in Mt Buller (the snow) when this is on which is a week from today! I'm sure ill hear all the sick beats and if I can remember them all, you guys will hear about it. Apparently a very nice run tournament with generous structure and a massive $50,000 chip start bank. Blinds start at $100-$200 with increasing levels every 30min. Meaning a lot of good poker can be played and no-one should be knocked out in the first couple of levels at least - but who knows, this is why we love this great game.

Going to bed now without thinking what to say as I'm pretty tired and brain not ticking properly. Night all and maybe even gym is on the agenda tomorrow.

Welcome to nightshift = Redbull

2007-08-11T11:41:00.000-07:00

Today started off really well. Didn't wake up till about 10:30am after staying awake till 3am the night before to try to adjust myself to night shift at work. Woke up and ate breakfeast with Maria who stayed over at my house lasy night. I played around a lot with my new mobile trying to configure how to use the bloody thing without scratching or damaging it. I even like the look of it and am worried everytime I hold it I will decrease its value!

Finally had a shower at about 1pm and went for lunch with Maria just locally, couldnt be bothered driving far the and the place we went to make the best focaccia's in Melbourne. My mum rang and she eventually joined us for lunch.

From there went to Maria's house and watched my beloved Carlton Football Club loose to Port Adelaide, but spirit was shown by my mob and that was good to see. Talking to Maria during the afternoon trying to gear myself about what was fast approaching me - nightshift!

Before I knew it 7pm arrived and I had to leave to go to work. Before entering I made sure I had my Redbull ready for about midnight to sip on whilst working into the weir hours of the morning. I was assigned into a premiun area for the night which was ok but had to deal Blackjack all night - NOT OK! My least favourite game to deal in a smoking environment not my ideal start.

The night went fast and on my break at 12:40am (to my word) I cracked open the can of Redbull as I was robotting my way at work and needed a kick to stay awake before going brain dead. Went back to do my last couple of hours before dealing to a complete idiot that wouldnt take a card in Blackjack on 7 (5+2) and 9 (7+2) to my Jack. This guy was clearly drunk and purely their for my entertainment and my entertainment alone. But his plan (if he had one) was working successfully, he evenually left a richer man and about 2 hours, $1200 and 5 more drinks later a happy face was brought to all.

From there, nothing but a smooth ending and a very happy me. Happy that my first night shift was complete and thanking god that someone was smart enough to create Redbull!

Got a new mobile - Whoo Hoo

2007-08-10T07:34:00.000-07:00

Today started off well... Woke up in bed and had a look at the time before seeing it was 10am and rolled back over for another hour. Problem being it wasn't really an hour of sleeping but an hour of just lying their.

Slept really well but as always can do with a little more. It was my RDO (rostered day off) so pretty much a great bludge for me. Was trying to update Christian and myself's myspace website, www.myspace.com/theveryman a little before meeting with my mum to go to the phone store for her to get a new mobile phone.

Wasn't long in their before I spotted a phone I liked and noticed that my current plan had run out and my mobile phone had been fairly old and ruined and I was clearly due for an upgrade. My mum got the good stuff working by getting a lot of freebies in with the package and before we knew it we had three phones. Walked in to upgrade hers and walked away updating hers, Anna and mine, fair to say it was worth going.

Didn't do to much after this but was really pleased with the phone. Went back to the office that my parents own in Blackburn and waited there till about 5:30pm, which is the time Maria is due to meet me. In the meantime I managed to get a hold of a PC to check emails and quickly browse the net.

I had recieved an email from Jonno (the same guy that organised work for me in Las Vegas during the WSOP) needing some information I hadn't given him for the proposed trip to Manila, Phillipines. Poker is really beginning to hit a hot spot in asia and this is probably why Pokerstars have quickly acted in introducing the APPT (Asian Pacific Poker Tour). The first stop on the tour is Manila, Phillipines from the 24-26 of August. They have only confirmed two more stops being Korea in September (28-30) and Sydney (December 13-16) thus far, but rumours are circulating that they will be expanding more stops as they go. More info on their website http://www.appt.com/

5:30pm came very quickly and before I knew it Maria was there. We had already organised to have dinner with my parents at 7pm so we just headed of home quickly, got a bottle of red and headed straight back out for dinner. I managed to eat the duck risotto which I may add, was superb and highly recommend trying if not previously tasted. Food was great, service not so good but still ate dessert anyway.

Tomorrow I start night shift (8pm -4am) which will probably be a killer but only lasts for 2 months. Not so bad but need to stay awake as my eyes struggle to reopen everytime I blink. Just thinking about Manila and the poker tour and what its going to be like working for Pokernews again, reporting on the days play. I can imagine long hours but enjoyable anyway, see if I can add some playing time whilst being there. This is what will hopefully keep me awake at work tomorrow. Until then...

Losing my blogging virginity

2007-08-09T08:14:00.001-07:00

So this is it! Finally I get to explain my everyday and thoughts to the world using a wonderful tool - blogging. I can predict what will be in a couple of weeks and what might be in a couple of years. For me though, the challenge is to maintain this blog for as long as I can.

I will be updating my everyday life on this and hope you are interested in what develops. In a short basic yet longish description below is my life as follows...

My name is Anthony (my friends call me Slippers)
I am working full time as a croupier (casino dealer) in Melbourne, Australia.
Have a wonderful family consisting of my mother Lena, father Frank and a sister Anna.
Currently in a relationship of over 5 and half years with my girlfriend, Maria.

Graduated from high school in the year 2000 (yes millennium year) - Studied straight away (2001) and completed a Diploma of Computer Systems at RMIT Tafe in Melbourne in 2002 (only a 2 year course). Didn't really know what I wanted to do after that so opted to work for my parents in real estate. Did that for a year while completing my Agents Representative Certificate and then moved on to the casino industry.

Have been working at Crown Casino in Melbourne Australia since January 2004 till the present day and have the skills to deal Blackjack, Roulette and Poker. Poker is no doubt the most enjoyable of the 3 and the game is now becoming a part of my life.

Don't have a signature sign off but if you have one I can use, please let me know.