Both I would classify as "half & half" poker and holiday - The events weren't huge, and I wasn't grinding sides or cash much so probs slightly -EV long term given all the expenses and partying etc but it's all about Life EV and I always make up for these things by putting in the hours afterwards.
Marrakesh
Winamax hosted an Electro Music + Poker festival for 5 days at the end of May which seemed to me such a cool combo and I went out there to just play the main and spend the rest of the time by the pool and going to the electro festival. I just went there with Fred, who unfortunately needed plenty of sleep and early nights and I didn't bust the main till late on day two so we didn't do much partying at all. That was limited to the tournament breaks, where I'd step outside for some fresh air and find this scene!
The main event was one of the most fun live tournaments I've played for ages - 6max (see picture of the 6max tables below) and Winamax just seems to attract so many players that just love the game and actually HAVE FUN playing it. There's almost no tanking at all, so it's very quick, and everyone is just really friendly and enjoys it. I got 21st/670 so a nice little run which got me a niche flag, 5figure score (in Moroccon Dinham!) covered expenses for the trip and a few rounds of poolside cocktails so no complaints here :)
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| Free straw hats and sunglasses #standard |
This was one of the best trips I've been on in ages. It's my third consecutive trip there and it's always a blast there. It's got everything- the weather, the nightlife, the beach, the food, the people, even some Poker. Add the World Cup to that and you can't really go wrong.
Not many of the usual crowd I go abroad with were there this time but it was cool to mingle with some new people.
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| Me, Leo, Rich, Victoria, Dan |
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| Victoria, Matt, Fred, #UKPOKERCHAMPION Alex Spencer, Me |
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| Me, Grafton, Middy, Victoria, Keith |
Poker didn't go well, I busted the main in level 5 in pretty absurd fashion, then played the hiroller which was sick value, but busted 5 off the money on day two :(
Another thing that didn't go well was the service! In all but one restaurant we received absolutely shocking service. Not just service without a smile, but the most rude, most incompetent service I've ever come across! We all got so tilted, on so many occasions, especially me who I'm ashamed to admit may have slightly blown about an incident involving butter... Buttergate shall not be blogged about however, it's all in the past...
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| World Cup Party on the beach! |
Pokerstars hosted their party on the beach on the evening of the England game, with a huge screen, open bar, and many many heroes everywhere. Even though we lost, I really enjoyed the game (I usually find watching us so depressing) and think we will still get out of the groups with 6 points having watched Uruguay's dismal performance before.
We went to a sick club, Aqua, afterwards and had the best night out I've had in ages. Absolutely loving life the whole night and didn't get back till 930am!
VEGAS
I'm back in England now for 3 days, then off to Vegas for the last 3 weeks of the WSOP. Planning to play mainly tournaments, a bit of cash, but also a bit of Open Face Chinese if the games are good! Can't wait to get out there and make some deep runs and big cashes! Will blog with all the gory details when I'm back!
Good luck everyone out there and everyone back home too!
