WSOP Aftermath
The World Series of Poker is over. Usually at this time we would have a new world champion but this year we won’t know until November. Congrats to Jerry Yang for being the longest running world champion in the history of the WSOP. Talk about running good! I had a pretty horrifi c WSOP. With only one cash in the heads-up event, I’d say it simply wasn’t my time. I was extremely focused and motivated, but sometimes no matter what you do you just can’t win. There’s always next year…
After a long month of pure poker I was in need of a serious vacation. I had hung out a bit with John Tabatabai, a Persian poker player from England best known for taking 2nd to Annette Obrestad in the WSOP Europe Main Event. I can’t believe you lost to a girl, John! LOL. Sorry buddy, I couldn’t help myself. Somehow I hypnotized him into staying stateside an extra week after the Series to party with me. And party we did! First stop was the Playboy Mansion for the Kandyland party. Kandyland is a very special type of party where all the girls are hand selected (they must submit an application answering questions such as IF they were candy what type of candy they would be and why, along with pictures of themselves). I’ve been to a lot of parties in my time and very few hold a torch to this. The outfi ts these girls were wearing! My oh my… My dad had a perma-grin the entire night! “Look at this one… this one… wait, over here!” He was a machine. Speaking of Kandyland parties, check out www.kandykruise.com. It’s a three-day cruise with 1,500 hand picked hotties and less than 1,000 guys. Now that’s what I call a ratio! I’ll be on the boat 100 percent. And to top it off, there will be a $2,500 buy-in poker tournament as well.
After the Mansion, we were off to San Diego. Many of you may not know, but San Diego is my little getaway. I always stay at the Ivy Hotel (no BS, it’s my favorite hotel on earth – check out www.ivyhotel.com and you’ll see why). The rooftop at the Ivy is an amazing place to chill – always fi lled with beautiful women and an endless stream of mojitos. I think John was a happy camper. He has the best English accent – I just couldn’t help but laugh every time he spoke. Cheerio, John!
John wanted to end his stay with a few nights fi lled with mayhem back in Vegas. You don’t have to twist my arm! To say we went out with a bang would be an understatement. We partied pretty hard three nights in a row. I wish I could reveal every detail about the mayhem and debauchery that took place but I’d probably be opening a serious can of worms.
A very interesting situation arose on the last night and John was so fancied by it (his words) that I must share it with you. We had ordered a cab (I never drink and drive) and when we got in we requested to be taken to The Venetian. The cab pulled out of my condo lot and made a right. Clearly, without a question, ANY person (especially a cab driver) knows that to go to The Venetian you must make a left out of my lot. I said, “Excuse me sir, I said Venetian,” and he said, “Yes, of course, I was going to take the freeway.” Without sparing you the road map details of Vegas it was a PURE hustle. Taking the freeway is so the wrong play. I told the driver to turn around, that I live in Vegas and cannot be hustled for extra cab fare. There was a moment of silence in the car and for a minute I thought perhaps he was going to make us get out, but he didn’t and we continued on the correct path. I leaned over to John and told him in Farsi, “No matter what, do not get out of this cab until I tell you to do so, and do not pull out any money whatsoever.” I was going to pay the fare, but he was getting ZERO tip from me. And by zero I do mean zero. We arrived at The Venetian with a total cab fare of $9.66. I handed him two fi ve-dollar bills and said, “May I please have my change?” The look on his face was priceless. I’m usually a pretty good tipper but when a guy full blown tries me for a sucker, he is getting stiffed. Pure and simple. He sat there in amazement that I wanted my change. He said, “You want 34 cents back?” and I calmly responded, “Yes, of course, sir, I need my change.” He said he had no change and I replied, “By law you have to give me my change so you can either give me one dollar back or somehow get me my 34 cents.” It was so beautiful. He got out of the cab and attempted to get change from the valet guys and after having no success he broke down and gave me back a one-dollar bill. It was poetic. Try hustling someone else you scum.
The next day John fl ew back to England, which was a bit sad to be honest… actually, it was quite depressing. To get over my depression I joined a couple of buddies of mine (whose names I cannot disclose) on one of their private jets to St. Tropez to chill on a 165-foot yacht for a week. I mean, I needed a way to get over John leaving me! LOL. And at this very moment, I am sitting on the back deck of this RIDICULOUS yacht enjoying a glass of vino. Last night we went to this restaurant called Villa Romano and I can confi dently say I have a new #1 favorite restaurant on the planet. It’s a restaurant slash… I can’t even say slash club… diffi cult to explain. It’s an amazing food establishment with great music, INCREDIBLE energy, creative entertainment, HOT, HOT chicks, and a whole lot of wealthy people. Magnum after magnum of Cristal and Dom P kept materializing. In typical St. Tropez fashion, whenever a new bottle is served the music stops, the sparklers come on, and everybody looks over to see who just ordered the ridiculously overpriced bottle of bubbly. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. I didn’t even know this kind of place COULD exist… but it does! I saw it with my very own two eyes.
The South of France is no joke, my friends. Speaking of the South of France, I will be returning here on September 2nd for the main event of the Partouche Poker Tour at the Palm Beach casino in Cannes. This tournament struck my attention in more than one way. I’d have to say the most obvious is the GUARANTEED two million euro prize pool with a cool minimum one million euros going to fi rst. A million euro is like thirteen million U.S. dollars nowadays thanks to Bush! Feels like it anyways… With the exchange rate at 1.68, euros are becoming quite attractive these days. I certainly wouldn’t mind a one million euro uptick myself. Buy-in is 8,500 euros and there is plenty of play with 20k in starting chips and 75 minute levels. The tournament in itself is extremely enticing. The fact that its in Cannes in the South of France is a great bonus. It’s nice to get out of the U.S. once in a while and go somewhere you’ve never been. Especially somewhere so beautiful. From what I hear, this casino is one of the most exquisite in the world and I’m certainly always up for a new experience. With the beach less than an arm’s length away, I think this will be a fantastic event overall. For more details check out www.partouchepokertour.com.
