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Cancun Part II

03*22*10

The VictoryPoker trip to Cancun basically consisted of eating, partying and hanging out on the beach with hot girls. It wasn’t exactly what you’d consider hard work, but we were there to promote the site, and we handed out more pairs of booty shorts and tank tops than I can count. So: Mission accomplished!

One night we joined 7,000 people in a jam-packed club to watch Akon performing. By day, we trawled the beaches, cameramen in tow, chatting with girls in bikinis and setting things up for the coming night. We must have been doing okay because at one point, the crew from Girls Gone Wild began trailing us and filming from behind.

One highlight of the trip promised to be the day we took out a pair of 65-foot yachts. The guys who run VictoryPoker don’t fool around and they made sure that we had top-notch vessels with all the trimmings: full bar, on-boat chef, kick-ass sound system, and a fleet of jet skis. Of course we were out partying on the night before yachting day. I slept in and by the time I got down to the beach, I was saddened to the see the boats anchored in the distance.

They appeared to be about 200 yards out from the beach, and I made the snap-decision to swim for it. I got about one-quarter of the way there when I realized I would never make it. Totally bummed, I swam back to shore where I ran into Dan Blitz. He said he would take a shot. About four minutes later, he reached the boat and sent a life raft for me. It turned out that a bunch of the guys hadn’t yet made it to the yacht at that point, but I still felt like a little bitch.

Yacht Party!

This was definitely the best day of the Cancun adventure. I was hung-over and drinking my way back to being a functioning human being. Each boat was loaded with 25 of the best looking girls in town and it felt like a total party. We went all around Cancun, which was a really nice way to see the place. Everybody got completely smashed and some of the guys and girls needed to take naps in the yacht’s various bedrooms. It was a fantastic day and a good way to wrap up to my time in Mexico.

Hos on a boat

Some of the other guys were staying on but four days were plenty for me. I can only party so much! The next afternoon I got a cab to the airport and planned on putting the fare on my credit card. When the driver pulled in, though, he told me that he doesn’t take credit cards. I had no cash and it turned into this weird situation where the driver was threatening to take my luggage hostage. Finally, we worked out a deal in which I gave him my Raybans in lieu of cash.

It was an expensive cab ride but nothing that I couldn’t fade. The real headache came when I got inside the terminal and found out that I had missed my flight home to Las Vegas. So it was back to Cancun for another day. Rather than re-checking into the Grand Oasis – which is a great place for wild pool parties but awful for good service and nice accommodations – I went with Fatality and a group of Swedish high-stakes players to the Marriott. They secured a 3,000-square-foot suite, with four balconies (one of which had a telescope aimed at the pool) and I got the room next door. We still went to the Grand Oasis to party, but I definitely appreciated the Marriott’s excellent food, great service and international-grade amenities.

When I finally did get to the airport on time, I had a slight dust-up over a lost immigration card and probably got ripped off when they forced me to buy another card (that makes absolutely no sense, unless you are in the business of scamming gringos). Overall, I had a good time in Mexico, but I still can’t figure out how Alec Torelli convinced me to leave the greatest city in the world to go there. Now that I am back, I plan on staying in my apartment for a month and playing a ton of online poker. Look out, grinders!

One last shameless plug before I sign off: Check me out tonight on High Stakes Poker. It should be a good one

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CANCUN, PART I

03*20*10

Just got back from Cancun, and I can tell you that it was fun. A lot of fun. Maybe even too much fun. One thing I learned for sure is that I have my limits when it comes to partying – and they don’t come close to reaching those of the college kids who were down there for spring break. Having spent the last few years living in Vegas, as a professional poker player, I thought that my friends and I hit it pretty hard. But I forgot about how you party when you’re 19 years old and don’t have a care in the world. Now I remember.

Our trip was three-pronged: Have fun, promote VictoryPoker, create video content for the site. I flew to Mexico with Dan “Blitz” Bilzerian, Alec Torelli (who planned the trip and talked me into going), my friend Justin Collins (he’s an Internet-affiliate advertiser), four high-stakes players from Sweden, the VictoryPoker camera crew, and a handful of other guys.

We checked into the Grand Oasis Cancun, a big hotel where all the outrageous pool parties take place. There was no air conditioning in the lobby, and that was definitely a bad sign. Some members of our group were sharing rooms that were supposed to have two queen-sized beds, but they got stuck with single kings – which meant sharing beds. The wait to check in was 2 HOURS. Clearly, we were no longer in Vegas. But, 50 beers later, none of that fazed us.

That night, after dinner, we all went to a club called Daddy O’s. We reserved eight tables and VictoryPoker had secured the right to videotape there. The thing about this club is that you pay $60 to get in and all the drinks are included. But the place was completely mobbed and it’s impossible to get to the bar. So we ordered 10 bottles for our tables before discovering that this group of local thugs had taken one of them.

Unlike in Vegas, there is no security here. We had to take matters into our own hands. Unfortunately, Blitz is the only bonafide tough-guy among us, and he had opted to stay in on the first night. So Alec took it upon himself to deal with the situation. In typical Torelli fashion, he rationally explained that we had paid for the table and very politely asked the guys to leave. Their response was straightforward: “Go fuck yourself.” So we commandeered seven of our eight tables and paid a few waiters to serve as security for the rest of the night.

Things improved from there. We settled in, drinks began flowing, cameras began rolling, and, in no time at all, there were lots of beautiful girls hanging out with us. I’d like to tell you that it’s because of our good looks and magnetic personalities, but, uhm, no. The truth is that TV cameras attract women like moths to a flame. In no time at all, the girl-to-guy ratio approached standard Vegas levels. We began to feel more at home.

At first we told the girls that we’re poker players. But then, several shots into the night, somebody started spreading a rumor that the Swedish players were actually Scandinavian rock stars, members of Swedish Tilt, the biggest band in that part of the world. It was a lot of fun, and it became even more fun after me and a couple of guys from the camera crew joined two Playboy playmates on stage for shots. That’s pretty much how the night at Daddy O’s wound down. Our big discovery of the evening was the important role that a camera plays when trying to meet hot girls in Cancun. From this point onward, cameras (even ones that have been sapped of battery power) will serve as our wingmen.

Check out my next blog to find out about yachting adventures and what happens when you don’t have enough cash on you to pay a Mexican taxi driver. Starting soon, you’ll be able to read these reports from my life on www.coinflip.com. I’m honored to be posting there alongside great players who include Lars Luzak and Ziigmund, who definitely inspired me to party hard in Cancun. I figure that if you’re going to post with Ziigmund, you better be able to drink like Ziigmund.

Also, my episodes of High Stakes Poker begin airing this Sunday night. Check it out, and check back to read a behind-the-scenes report.

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OSCARS WEEKEND IN L.A

03*15*10

OSCARS WEEKEND IN L.A.

This past weekend, on Saturday and Sunday, I played charity poker events in L.A. The first one took place at the new W Hotel in Hollywood. It’s a beautiful hotel and a great spot in a neighborhood that had gotten a little rundown. The place is super luxurious and there’s going to be a nightclub opening soon, run by the same guys who do XS and Tryst in Las Vegas. Definitely should be awesome.

Back to my night at the W, I was there for VictoryPoker. We sponsored an Oscars gift-giving suite in the hotel and were topping things off with a two table, celebrity poker tournament to raise money for Haiti. The winner got a $3,000 wristwatch and a $2,000 donation to Haiti. Second place paid a $4,000 donation to Haiti and a really cool painting by an artist named Red (he has a series with Buddha doing ungodly things, such as playing poker and hanging out with naked girls – I have three custom pieces from him in my condo).

Sarah Underwood, Keith Gipson, Alec Torelli, and I represented Victory. Celebs included Shannon Elizabeth, the musician Menace, Michael Kelly who used to be on The Sopranos, and Roger Cross from 24. To make things more interesting, Keith and I had a $500 last-longer bet. He took the excitement away from that one by busting out early. On the downside, I followed soon after, getting all in, preflop, with Queens against one guy who also had Queens and another with Aces. So I was basically drawing dead. The best news is that Sarah was the longest lasting Victory player. We’ve been giving her poker lessons, and they seem to be working.

After Roger won the tournament, we headed down to the W’s lounge where we not only had our own table, but, courtesy of Victory, our own VIP section. That was really cool. And it was made even cooler by all the beautiful women in the bar. L.A. is an amazing place for single guys. The city is a total magnet for the world’s hottest women, most of whom are looking to become stars.

One who definitely did not fall in that category, but hovered around our section, was a lady who looked to be about 55 years old. She was not very attractive, quite obnoxious, and fairly messed up on liquor or drugs. She kept hitting on guys in an overly aggressive way. So, to make the best of it, we started playing a game called Pass the Hag. The object was to make sure she spent as little time as possible with you and as much time as possible with the person you passed her on to.

She talked to me for about a minute before I passed her on to Alec. For some reason, though, he couldn’t get rid of her and was stuck with the Hag for like 15 minutes. It got him completely tilted to the point that he was making his tilt face for a good 10 minutes. That was pretty gratifying and made me feel as if I won twice that night.

On Sunday, while the Oscars were taking place downtown, we were scheduled to attend a black tie party at the Beverly Center. I had been staying with Alec for the last 10 days and had pretty much run out of clean clothing. So I picked up a really cool silk shirt for the occasion. It came from a thrift shop on Hollywood Boulevard, and that made it all the better.

I went to the event with Dan Fleyshman, Keith, Alec, and my friend Jason who used to own Rich and Famous Limos in L.A. He was kind enough to hook us up with his best stretch and we arrived in style. It was another charity event, this one to raise money for foster children. There was a big dinner and you could watch the Oscars in one room or play charity SNGs in the next room. Of course I was getting into the cards, and, I’m proud to say, I won my very first poker tournament as a pro. Yes, I proved that I can beat celebrities and millionaires who don’t know how to play hold’em, but still… And the trophy that they gave me is great.

Phil Hellmuth hosted the event, and I have to say he did a good job of emceeing. I’ve made some negative remarks about Phil on TV, so I thought it would be good for me to thank him for what he’s done to help promote poker. That’s when Phil told me that us younger guys should have more respect for the older guys who’ve been around for a long time. It could have turned into a long, interesting conversation, but I figured it would be best to leave it at that.  Phil hellmuth has done more to popularize poker then just about anyone else and you have to give him props for that.

We all went back to the W after the tournament. Some guys hung out in the lounge, but I went up to my room to get some sleep. That morning, when I called down for room service, they answered the phone with the hotel’s excellent, standard greeting: “Do you have a wish that can be fulfilled?” I was always temped to say, “I have a long list.” But, instead, I just ordered my breakfast.

Tomorrow morning I am off to Cancun for four days of partying, filming, and promoting VictoryPoker. I’ll fill you in on the details soon.

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