One Way Ticket to Vegas

I'm heading to Vegas for the World Series of Poker in twelve hours. It still seems surreal to me that it's already WSOP time again. It feels like not more than a month or two ago I was sitting on a sidewalk outside the Rio taking a moment to honor the inevitable emotions one will feel from going deep in the Main Event and having dreams dashed by a three-outter for an average-and-a-half sized stack. But although it feels like just yesterday, it's been a pretty long year for me. I'm not quite as wealthy after losing a small fortune betting on the Presidential election, but I do feel like I've grown up a lot as a person. I'm much more at peace with my thoughts and life, a peace that I hope to maintain through what can be a very emotionally rattling stretch of six weeks.

I've spent most of tonight making sure my iPhone is loaded with music I can use to 'stay in the zone' (a corny, over-used phrase, but one that seems appropriate right now) for a summer of tournaments. The playlist will mostly alternate between hip-hop and trance. This weekend is the $1k 'Stimulus' event. Beyond that, I'm really not sure what I'll play, but the $1,500 6-Max event on Tuesday looks appealing at the moment.

One aspect of this trip I am excited about is the unknown. I have no return flight. I have no hotel accommodation beyond Monday. And I only have enough money for what I would describe as a slightly larger than meager amount of participation in tournaments. Within a week, I could be completely broke and back home or living in a high-rise condo following through on an outside chance to win WSOP Player of the Year thanks to a fantastic start... or anywhere in between.

For the fourth year in a row, I'll be documenting the ups and downs, but hopefully mostly ups, on my WSOP blog at PokerTips.org.

Thanks for reading and may we both have a good summer!