Away From the Tables

Funny how sometimes, without even closing a door, the Universe will open a window. By keeping ourselves open to the amazing opportunities that surround us every day, we can sometimes stumble into experiences and relationships that change our lives. Two weeks ago, I was a hard working poker player, enjoying my freedom but struggling under the pressure of relying on a game to make a living. I have found that the times when I have enjoyed poker the most, have been the times that I was doing something else to earn money at the same time. There's something comforting about not HAVING to play every day. I enjoy it more when I do play, and I seem to play better as well.

So I had been thinking lately about getting involved in another real estate venture. I love real estate almost as much as I do poker. I came up with an idea involving purchsing REOs and rehabbing them for rent here in the Vegas market. I was still just in the "thinking stage" of things when, to make a fairly long story short, a couple of weeks ago, I met Howie. We met in a social setting and started talking real estate. Within a few days we realized that we wanted to work together. A few days after that, we realized that we work really well together. And less than two weeks after first meeting we had a signed contract for work in Oklahoma City. Seems that the hard money lender that I had approached to fund my REO deal, had a group of houses in Oklahoma City that he had foreclosed on in various stages of disrepair. I pitched him the idea of allowing us to rehab his properties and then help him sell them for a profit instead of taking a loss on the project. He agreed. Amazing how things can change in such a short time.

So with my new time commitments to the Oklahoma project, I haven't had much time in the last couple weeks for poker. And I miss it a lot. I really wanted to go play tonight, but I was so tired from the week that I decided to just stay home and play a few MTTs online. I only entered three events...the $4K guarantee HORSE, the $11K 6 handed NL Hold 'Em, and the $24K guarantee NL Hold 'Em...all on Full Tilt.

I was super thrilled when I ended up taking 4th out of over 1500 entrants in the $24K. I collected over $2300 for my efforts. The final hand was a heartbreaker. I woke up with AKs in the BB. UTG raised and the button shoved all in. The button had me just barely covered. I actually thought about it briefly, but it is almost impossible to fold AKs at a four handed final table. I called. UTG mucked and the button turned over AQ. I was stoked. If I won the hand and doubled up, I would be chip leader by a fairly sizable margin with essentially three players left. When the queen came off on the turn, I felt a wave of disappointment. So close to having a great chance at winning the whole thing. I got over the frustration quickly though and decided to focus on the positive. I have a great new "job" that I'm working on, and in my first night playing in the last two weeks, I took fourth in a large tourney and made over $2K...not bad, not bad at all.

Of course, one of my tasks in Oklahoma City will be to locate that casino that Scotty Nguyen represents. I haven't played poker in Oklahoma yet...I'm looking forward to adding that notch to my belt. I'll keep you posted.