BEEN AWHILE...COVERING MY RENO TRIP: MOST IMPORTANTLY, MY PISS STOP ATBEATTY, NEVADA!

Alot has happened since my last blog update....combination of my trip to Reno along with working out late at night, has left me little time to sit in front of my computer to convey my thoughts to my readers. As I'm writing this, I just finished another workout, listening to "Here I go Again" by WhiteSnake, it's 10:40PM..this is the perfect time to update everyone on my trip to Reno, NV:

Went to Reno, Nevada to sweat my wife as she played in the Nevada Ladies Poker Championship. This is a chance for my wife to have a mini-vacation, which we try to do once a year...it's a very relaxing and tranquil time I enjoy very much. My plan was to play a lot of poker. I played at the Peppermill and The Grand Sierra and I had a profitable session each time, but I found the games very tight, and unsocialable..just mindless people playing with their checks trying to grind out every dollar. This is a sharp contrast than the games I'm used to in Las Vegas. Yes, there are more "Grinders" and "wannabe" pros, but I like that fact that the Las Vegas poker games are littered with "Tourists" with disposable income to don't care if they win or lose...they want to find a good poker game, have social interaction with the players, and generally have a great time...In Reno, the tone is more serious, a little like playing in Los Angeles Cardrooms (Without all the hostility and fights).

I played a gentlemen who opitimized this point..."Mac" (As the floor and dealers called him) took a seat to my left and immdiately complained to the guy to his left to move over so he could have more room for his oxygen tank...like one of these...

One thing I notice about people who roll these things around a casino, is they are the grumpiest people I've ever met and get agitated really easy. Anyway, I notice this guy talking to himself the moment he got dealt his first hand to the moment he went broke (By me...thankfully)

Now I want to talk about my favorite part of the trip....During the Nevada Ladies Championship, I had the pleasure of having dinner with my wife's friends during her dinner break...I recongized one of the ladies as I dealt to her at Ballys. When I brought it to her attention, she said, I thought you looked familiar. After my wife left to complete the tournament, I stayed behind to continue my dinner with my wife's friends...they were talking about poker strategy which I absorbed intently. I'm always looking to gaining knowledge and these ladies provided me some interesting insights. One Lady in particular, London Gallagher (Who appeared in one of the World Poker tour Ladies Shows which featured Isabelle "No Mercy" Mercier) made the best anology about poker. London, I apologize in advance if I butcher it...lol. Anyway, London said poker is like a football cause when you're the offense, the defense is always looking for ways to counter your tendencies so you're always looking for ways to counter whatever they do. It makes a lot of sense cause in poker, every poker player has tendencies, you're job is to find ways to exploit those tendencies to find the best way to beat them...Thanks for the advice, London!

The Reno trip was awesome because, despite my wife running bad in her tournaments, we were able to eat basically for free and have a profitable trip thanks to the wonderful game called 3-card Poker, where we won all our money.

On out drive home, we stopped by a small town called Beatty, Nevada for a piss break at a small casino called Stagecoach:

While I waiting my wife to finish her business, I walked around this small casino, to get a ideal of what they had...then I spotted this machine...

It's MEGABUCKS!!! Megabucks is the symbol of the Las Vegas dream everyone tries to achieve...stick 3 bucks in one for a chance at a progressive jackpot of over 10 Millions bucks!!! I starred at this machine for a solid minute, the thought what the hell, so when my wife came out. I told her lets stick 24 bucks in here and spin 8 times and whatever happens after 8 spins, we cashed out...So we did...and lol and behold...we won $100!!! Now, that's the profitable piss break!! LOL

For 4 days, we ran really well....what a nice trip to Reno, Nevada....."THE BIGGEST LITTLE CITY IN THE WORLD!"

MINI VACATION TIME -- RENO!!

Today, I'm heading to Reno for a couple of days. My wife is playing the "Nevada Poker Ladies Championship" and I'm tagging along for 4 days of poker. I haven't played in two weeks, so I'm looking forward to getting a couple of long sessions in. Also, this is the perfert time to catch up on my sleep.

I've always said the most important commidity in your life is not money....it's time! It seems I never get enough sleep. I always get to bed at 11:30PM..toss and turn cause my wife doesn't turn off the TV, and I wake up at 5:50 AM, usually to take my stepdaughter to her bus stop, then I come home and do P90x for an hour. So there are days when I feel extremely sluggish and just dead tired. On my days off, I'm always doing something with my family, so I try to get in a catnap now and then.

So this Reno trip comes at the perfect time. I'm gonna get a lot of poker and sleep in, and hopefully watch my wife take down the Ladies Championship.

I'm not looking forward to the drive. The drive from Las Vegas to Reno is brutal cause there is no "highway" miles. Your literally trying through every small town in the entire state. I used to believe that Reno, Las Vegas, and Henderson were the only cities in Nevada. I thought the rest of the land was used as a test site for the military to try out their latest weapons...lol... Nope, there are other cities like Hawthorne, Sparks, and Indian Springs...with people milling around...even a WalMArt..and Yes, even small casinos..lol

Thanks to my iPad, I'm going to try to update my blog while I'm up there...Hopefully it'll be lots winning and lots of profits..:)

P90X -- ONE MONTH, ONE WEEK DONE!!!

Been a while since I posted a P90x update...Just wanted to let everyone know that I haven't quit, in fact, I'm more motivated than ever...

One month, one week of P90x is completed and I must say it's been tough, but at the same time, very rewarding.

Some observations:

P90x is a tough workout...extremely tough because of the length. Each workout is an hour long and 6 times a week, but I know the routine inside/out. So I guess the easiest part is the familiarity with the routine. The other part is I'm having trouble sticking to the nutritional plan. It's not so much I'm eating Hamburgers, hotdogs, and Twinkes. I'm not overloading on Sugar and processed foods, and I'm not overeating. I love to eat..but sometimes I just want Buffalo Wings or a cheese sandwich.

With each workout, I feel myself getting more stronger and gaining more flexibility. I'm doing more push ups and pull ups, increasing my reps with higher weights, which in turn I've showed some definition in my arms and shoulders...it's a wonderful feeling knowing my hard work is paying off. My coordination, balance, and stamina are at an all-time high. I'm feeling awesome after every workout...

The only drawback and getting started. Each morning, I get up around 5:30AM, and sit on the edge of my bed, trying to get myself motivated to workout...When I feel myself falling back to bed, I use a technique I learned from Self-Help Guru, Anthony Robbins called the Pain/Pleasure threshold. The concept is basically every human emotion is motivated by two things -- seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. It's easier to avoid pain and having pleasure. I associate pain with not doing the workout which in turn gets me motivated to do it to get the ultimate pleasure of being healthy. When I think about the ultimate goal of being healthy, I pop out of bed and get through the workout.

Once I start the workout, I don't want to stop and the hour flies by....

5 Weeks in, I've lost 11 Lbs....maybe if I stuck to the diet a little better I'd probably lose more, but hey, can't complain about the results.....

8 More weeks left....I'm looking forward to each day...