Table Tango

Almost as soon as it starts, it’s over. I barely got here and yet tomorrow I’m leaving…this trip is like closing a chapter of my life. I mentioned at breakfast with the Duo a few mornings ago, the day they were leaving, that the Aruba trip will never be the same again. There is the possibility that UltimateBet will change their venue and not even return next year - that would mean I definitely won’t be here. But in the event that they do remain, times are changing for the Duo. Jim is attached, he is making plans with his girl, Sarah, and rightly so. He may not make the trip again, and if he does, he won’t be flying solo. Wayne is finishing all of the paperwork to move into his new condo and he’s not sure if he will come again. Of the three of us, I am sure i will come again, I just may have to hang with myself or find a group of newbies to run with…but the end of the chapter is almost finished. (more…)

Umnhhhh!  Nice title - right?  It’s not exactly what one would think.  It’s a catamaran, super party boat, that takes the island visitor out to sea.  Some drinks are provided, snorkeling, swimming, fun, and all in all a general good time is had by everyone…or so they say.  Everyone’s telling me I missed the boat.  (more…)

Will us kids in America continue to have an online poker industry? We just lost our freedom. Get out the chains and open the prisons for those of us that want to challenge Frist in a heads-up match on his big move to save us from ourselves. Fuck off, Frist! A bunch of people doing a bunch of partying and hanging out in paradise for the last nine days - add a lot of poker to the mix - were brought together through online poker. Thank you UltimateBet! We aren’t out raping and beating children, robbing stores, trying to take over a country and destroying thousands in the process…we are simply poker players. Does that mark us as horrible, horrible people that must be treated like we’re criminals? Kee-rist! Perhaps the law isn’t totally clear as to ramifications to poker players but it still puts us in jeopardy.

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NOT!  I don’t do sun.  But I am having a ton of fun out of it, early a.m. beach walks, evening walks along the highway side of the high-rise hotels, intermingled with beach side walks along the high-rise hotels, a few short walks during the heat and sun filled day to fulfill my hours at the UltimateBet shindig, and just kicking back in general with my good buddies, Wayne and Jim - the Duo.  I left them one afternoon a few days ago…headed to my room for a nap before we were going to meet for food and work.  They were going to the beach for a few hours.  It seemed that I had barely dozed off and was lost in Sandwoman land when I heard a pounding on my door. (more…)

Believe it or not, they really expect me to deal while I’m here on the island.  How possible?  That’s what happened yesterday and today it’s going to be a lot worse.  Today is day one of the main event.  The word around the satellites is the final event will have 500 - possibly a few more.  The UltimateBet BJ event has been running concurrently with our poker satellites and tournaments.  The crew has been setting up the ’stage’ for filming.  Me and the Duo believe that they will use the same stage for both poker and BJ, however the sign on the display is advertising the BJ event.  Here’s a little sneak preview (it’s set up in the pool area of the Radisson which means the Azurro restaurant is out of the picture this year):

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I can go forever without any problems from the ‘box’, but when it happens, it ain’t no little fluff ball issue.  I’m great at creating a lot of havoc.  I feel this incident is my fault, yet I feel the player still must take some responsibility in their role at the table.  And this whole issue could have been avoided if the player had done what the normal player does in this situation.  And I wasn’t dealing with online players that had never played live before - these three knew what they were doing.

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It took me more than one little bit of wrangling to get to the 15th floor from the 13th floor that smelled like someone drop kicked me down an old root cellar, left unopened since the Civil War, filled with mold somewhere in a dark, dank corner that held my room.  No longer the Wyndham, the Aruba Resort, Spa & Casino is undergoing major renovation (not sure when) but I’m jumping ahead of the story.  (more…)