ìis something in the feeling that, though one is alone, and in a
foreign land, and far from one’s own home and friends, and
ignorant of whence one’s next meal is to come, one is
nevertheless staking one’s very last coin!î
- Fyodor Dostoevsky

Itís been a while since I wrote a blog.†

Since, I moved to Vegas Iíve befriended many people who are in the public eye.† Many interesting†things have†happened to me in the company of these people and I try my hardest to write a blog that is entertaining my readers and therapeutic to me while still respecting their privacy.† Also I no longer feel comfortable with disclosing every detail of my life (as I was in the shipitholla.com days), so this blog has taken a more limited scope.† With that said lets get to the meat of itÖ

Shortly after Coachella I was playing in a high-stakes poker game the weekend of the Pauao/Hatten fight.† Almost everyone in the game was going to the fight and it came up that†I didnít have tickets.† My fellow poker pros were appalled, that I would miss such a big event in the heart of Las Vegas and then proceeded to†ask me†if I wanted tickets.† Being a big boxing fan and having never been to a fight, of course I said I would love tickets!† Seeing as it was only a few hours before the fight I wasnít holding out much hope.† But within an hour, one of Pauaoís trainers was in Bobby Roomís with two amazing tickets.† Never underestimate the connections of high-stakes poker players!

I called my friend Craig, who is a OBGYN in Las Vegas and he headed over to the Bellagio, where we jumped in a limo with several other high-stakes poker players to attend the fight.† The crowd was jam-packed full of celebrities, prominent businessmen and of course every single high-stakes poker player in the world.† In the midst of the undercard fights the crowd would stand up and stare as A-list celebrities such as Jay-Z, P-Diddy and Beyonce walking in.† I for one have never really understood celebrity worship and I find it a fascinating phenomenon.

I know there are people who go to clubs, and similar venues in LA & Vegas†hoping to catch†a glimpse of their favorite celebrities, or even possibly talking to them.† I personally try to avoid going out if I know the club is going to be full of A-List celebrities.† They also get the best tables full of the hottest girls.† I couldnít count on two hands the number of times Iíve had professional/althehes entertainers swoop in and steal girls I was hitting on in clubs.† If I was truly in love Iíd be afraid to live in LA or Vegas in fear that my girlfriend would run into Brad Pitt, Justin Timberlake or Patrick Antonius and run off with them!

I did manage to run into the one celebrity I do actually worship, Patrick Antonius, in the beer line at the fight and was pleased to learn that I had paid several hundred dollars less for my tickets while sitting several rows in front of him.† Itís harder to run better than Patrick at anything in life (although after the Aussie Millions cash game heëll probably never get even†with me!), so I definitely savored the moment.

The actual fight was a little bit of† a letdown as Pacao knocked down Hatton twice in the first round, and finished him off quickly in the second.† I would have to guess that the fighters made several million dollars for every minute the fight lasted.† Quite an hourly rate!

I recently finished reading. The Gambler by: Fyodor Dostoevsky, which is a fascinating insight into the mind of a compulsive gambler.† I, like most professional gamblers can emphasize with ëcompulsiveí and ëproblem gamblersí.† There is a very thin line between a professional and a problem gambler, and in my opinion the difference has nothing to do with self-control, restraint or anything of that sort, but it simply comes down to intelligence and focusing on things that you can control.

Iím currently reading Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth by Ed Diener, a book Iíd recommend to anyone who would like to live a happier and more fulfilling life.† I believe that the biggest†obstacle I face when trying to maintain†a happy and balanced life, is one of the things that has made me so successful, my addictive personality and more specifically my gambling addiction.†

This blog has been kind of random, I just wrote whatever was on my mind.† I hope to write some more this weekend.