So the reason I came home was mostly for my brother’s bachelor party in NYC, which being the best man, I was in charge of planning. We rented a huge airbnb for 13 guys in Brooklyn and it turned out well. We did some axe throwing, rooftop bar, the iconic Peter Luger steakhouse, wandered around Manhattan, hit the clubs, had the fire department called, and needed an emergency plunger the morning we checked out. So all in all a great time!
Next I went to Vegas for a month during the World Series of Poker to play some tournaments and grind the cash games. I honestly played an ungodly amount of poker in that stretch. Tournaments usually started at noon and after I’d bust I had all night to play in the cash games. I played mostly 2/5 and 5/10, favoring the Wynn where 2/5 is a deep $1500 buy in and the 5/10 is $5,000 max. I ended up winning about $12,000 in the cash games (was up 20 at one point though), buuuuut I did terrible in the tournaments and lost like $10,000 in entries. Then factor in the cost of living, hotels/food/ubers, all added up to a lot of money, so I finished down a few thousand (net) for the trip. Pretty disappointing. I’d like to get out of poker pretty soon, and the best way to do it would definitely be to hit a nice tourney score, but sadly tournaments are not my specialty and I keep throwing away too much money in them. Sigh. There’s always next year! I was such a poker degen that I didn’t really go out and take many photos unfortunately. Just food and chip stacks!
sloppy stack
I love pork belly buns
the World Series of Poker at the Rio
tacos el gordo, best tacos in Vegas
So after playing poker all the time, not working out, and eating too much, it was time for a little break. I’d be meeting my family in Washington for a little family vacation. We did the Hanover site in Eastern Washington, spent a few days in Hells Canyon which borders Oregon and Idaho, rafted the Salmon river, and then headed NE to Glacier national park for another few days. It was cool to have the family altogether for the first part of the trip at least. And it was good to take a break from poker and get some sun and exercise!
Now after the rest of my family went home, I wasn’t done yet and did a 4d/3n backcountry hike in Glacier, then rented a truck and drove up into Canada, stopping in Calgary, Edmonton, Jasper, and Banff National Parks. The poker scene was not as good as I hoped in Calgary and Edmonton - all the good games are PLO- but the hiking was fantastic, especially in Jasper. The Banff part was a bit cloudy and rainy unfortunately.
Lots of farmland with mountains off in the distance in Alberta
Calgary skyline
I liked this bridge
Calgary Tower, closed for renovations
walking street, downtown
the bridge in to Edmonton
Edmonton legislative building
my truck in Jasper
Caribou (I think) on the side of the road
looking out over Maligne Lake
from the boathouse
boathouse in the morning
baby
Mt. Edith Cavell
About halfway in between Jasper and Banff
Columbia Icefield
Peyto Lake, impossibly blue
Lake Louise
Moraine lake, in the fog that wouldn’t clear
lots of this, clouds and drizzles
Whitefish lake in MT
And I wasn’t done with Canada just yet, I returned my truck and flew off to Montreal to pay some more poker. They were having an a World Poker Tour event there for two weeks and I wanted to check out the scene at the Playground Card Club, which is where all the tournies would be held. I got an airbnb sharing a room with a fellow hustler, a young entrepreneur (getting good Ray Ban fakes from China and reselling at full retail). It was nice location because I could just hop on the bus to the card club. Although I’d have to take taxis home, which was expensive and they didn’t allow ubers to pick-up there since it’s an Indian reservation.
The old port area
Anyway the poker there was good! I started out white hot in the cash games, winning basically every session the first week. The Playground is nice because they basically give you free food, you get comped $2/hr and they have a reduced rate menu for players, so as long as you’re playing for a while you won’t have to pay for any food. And their food is delicious! Of course I wouldn’t run hot forever, I dropped 2,000 CAD on tournaments, and went on a $5,000 CAD downswing in the last couple days (of course) but still finished up maybe $16000 CAD (12,000 USD). It’s also kind of annoying how weak the CAD is to the USD, so winning $1,000 in Canada feels like winning $1,000 in the US! but its only 75% of that. Oh well. But Montreal was very picturesque city with lots of parks, interesting architecture, a fun downtown, and a very French vibe. The main language is French of course, but almost everyone is bilingual. It’s weird hearing French speakers speak such perfect English! Everything is great besides the construction and traffic, which is just insanely confusing and frustrating at times! Oh and I forgot some excellent food: poutine and smoked meat sandwiches, mmm.
stacking chips
montreal smoked meat sandwich, melts in your mouth
would I like poutine instead of fries, yes please!
And that’s all for Montreal, next up Boston