An Urgently Needed Break or Bad Beat Story?

I have been to Las Vegas a few times already to cover the World Series Of Poker previously, of which 2014 with just over six weeks for PokerNews was probably the most memorable one. This year, the WSOP decided to do the live reporting in-house and many freelancers must have applied. Either way after about one month I eventually heard back that they "are afraid there was no spot for me" on the reporting team and photographers were already booked as well.

So, is this actually good or bad news?

The start of the year has been quite extraordinary in terms of events to cover, I have already done about a dozen of them and will be heading to Malta next week for the Mega Poker Series. Physically, I am probably in the worst shape for the past 12 months right now but that doesn't have any influence on my writing during the events. There is still a certain lack of consistency when it comes to taking pictures, even though the feedback is mostly positive.

At the events itself, "yours idiot" is the first of the staff to be at the venue each day and the last to leave in the evening / night / early morning hours. I love my kind of work most of the time and it helps to be a workaholic and have German blood in the veins with regards to the work ethics. Fortunately there is also a specific sample of familiar faces that keep the spirit alive. And if everything else fails, a quick chat with the person that always makes you smile gives the extra boost to survive another day without going crazy.

They say, when one door closes, another one will open ... or you get hit in the back when failing to exit quickly enough. I will definitely miss a lot of friends on the circuit who are going to be at Sin City, but this hiccup also represents an opportunity to focus on what or who deserves more attention as well.

Whether a miracle happens still or any other events pop up instead, c'est la vie.

Until then, may the flops, turns and rivers be with you.

P.S. That was my two cent towards the topic of daily bad beat stories.

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So that was the Year 2014

Another 12 months are done and the year 2014 now lies in the past, left behind like an empty cookie jar. There were some delicious treats in it, a lot of disappointments and many ups and downs. Basically, it fits very much to the last few years that brought a lot of uncertainty, surprises and whatnot's. The end could have surely been better though, as I had to go through some legal bullshit in Germany and illness also played a certain role.

This may sound very rich given the interesting opportunities I experienced, but as avid GrumpyCat fan and natural born pessimist the dark side of the mood is far more appealing most of the time. It helps as well to keep the expectations in general rather low and thus lessens the overall disappointment.

By the middle of January I only had one live event guaranteed, everything else was pretty much in the open with the efforts of my usual employer reduced to almost zero. I then received an invitation for Dublin and Tanger to kick off the reporting duties slowly. A return to Morocco was due in September and that was one of the pleasant surprises of the year, as I can practice my French over there and soak in a completely different mentality.

Apart from beating a dead horse part-time, things eventually took a turn for the better during the EPT Vienna when I was covering the Eureka and EPT High Roller events for Pokerfirma. Chad Holloway, one of the PokerNews bloggers and senior writer on the site, suggested to apply for the World Series Of Poker in the summer. I was given a trial run at EPT Sanremo shortly after and snap-called the offer to work my ass off in Las Vegas for six weeks.

A few German bracelets in Sin City provided some additional exposure, but a late and totally unexpected birthday present would be the cherry on top of the cake. PokerNews hired me to cover the World Series Of Poker in Melbourne and I didn't have to think twice before accepting. Australia was always on my list of countries to must visit, hopefully it wasn't the last time either.

I returned to the beautiful island of Sint Maarten for 10 days of work followed by four live events almost in a row in November and December. Pretty much exactly one month on the road with two days back home after two back-to-back coverages left the brain almost empty and the facial expression almost as priceless as the two GrumpyCat plush toys that I received from dear friends. One simply cannot not smile when you see this cat.

Was it a lost year? To a certain degree this may have been the case, as the future is still rather uncertain. I made some progress with regards to taking pictures and several shots were used in print media, one of them in a book and even on the cover of a German poker magazine. It is still a long way to go though and I am painfully aware of the lack of consistency.

The biggest disappointment lies with myself though and that has nothing to do with being hard on yourself. I am eating more healthy and the last drop of alcohol stems from April 2012, but that's not the problem. Nor are the three kilos that I gained either. The laziness and fact I wasn't doing fitness as often and regularly as I could will be one of the crucial goals to improve for the upcoming year 2015. And finding some happiness, as that tends to be sold out on eBay and Amazon.

Ah well, we don't always get what we want.

# GrumpyZed

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30 signs that you are getting old(er)

In no particular order and most definitely not connected to the fact that I just recently turned 30 years old, please find below a list of “curiosities” that emerge when growing up. Obviously this is a very personal impression and no piece of paper was hurt in the making of this blog entry.

1. You wake up and feel the urge to pour a fresh cup of coffee.
2. You subsequently forget to drink all of the coffee and finish the cold rest hours later.
3. Almost every day it takes a few minutes until you realize what weekday it is.
4. You listen to the radio and barely recognize any of the songs.
5. You open one of your favorite playlists and realize with horror that most of the songs are from the previous century.
6. You are getting easily annoyed by the majority of latest #internet #trends.
7. What is Instagram and does it make you look fat?
8. The loud noise during action scenes in movies aggravates you.
9. Top-Lists with pictures included about pretty much every topic are worth to be checked out.
10. You check the fine print on articles in the supermarket.
11. You get excited when there is something in the mail, even if it's just an invoice.
12. Discussions with old friends usually start with “Remember when”.
13. The words “kids these days” followed by raised eyebrows have become an automated reflex.
14. You are able to keep a serious face while using obvious double meanings.
15. You tend to fall for chain letters and repost them on social networks.
16. Almost every day you find new options on your smartphone.
17. Where the hell did I put that remote control again?
18. It is perfectly common to purchase via eBay such as the TV series that you watched when you were younger.
19. Santa Clause doesn't exist, but the Grinch may very well be a possibility.
20. It doesn't count anymore to put your finger on a map, you need the real travel experience.
21. If you have to pick between quantity and quality, you'd rather pick the latter.
22. Numbers in general become a big thing, especially this stupid 3.
23. So this is the growing-up thing that my parents always mentioned when I was younger.
24. You walk into a tech store and leave with camera equipment instead of video games.
25. While looking into a mirror, you often check for weird color patterns in the hair.
26. Quick dial numbers can be incredibly useful unless you forget who you wanted to call.
27. Casting shows for “music talents” are boring, D-celebrities dancing on ice however ...
28. Cold coffee gets less disgusting after the third sip. Well, more or less.
29. While your patience in general improves, you get annoyed far more easily when your favorite sports team screws up.
30. Last but not least: You love funny animal memes and GrumpyCat is your idol.

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Unverhofft kommt oft

Bei meinem Blog war ich insbesondere 2013 und auch zu Beginn diesen Jahres nicht wie sonst üblich fleißig, sondern ließ die Zügel etwas streifen. Das könnte durchaus daran liegen, dass die letzten sechs Monate etwas chaotisch waren.

Neben meinem Steckenpferd "Mega Poker Series", bei denen ich die englische Berichterstattung und Pressearbeit erledige, kam mit der Caribbean Poker Tour ein im positiven Sinn sehr überraschendes Event im letzten November hinzu. Mal ehrlich, Arbeit in der Karibik mit Sonne, Strand und mehr ... und dafür auch noch bezahlt werden. Wer hat das schon?

Im Dezember durfte ich dann erstmals für die World Poker Tour offiziell in Prag berichten und dort siegte mit Julian Thomas dann gleich ein Deutscher. Für das Jahr 2014 stand allerdings zu Beginn nur die MPS im Montesino zu Wien fest, weitere Events waren in der Schwebe und da macht man sich dann schon so seine Gedanken.

Per Zufall fragte ich dann im Februar beim European DeepStack in Dublin an ob sie jemand brauchen würden und innerhalb von zwei Stunden stand der Deal per Facebook und die Flüge waren gebucht. Soll noch jemand sagen, dass soziale Netzwerke zu Nichts gut sein würden. Das nächste Event in Tanger / Marokko kam dann noch überraschender, ebenfalls per Facebook über eine Poker Bekanntschaft aus Belgien.

Insgesamt 13 Stunden pro Trip waren es nach und von Nordafrika, doch Spaß gemacht hat es trotzdem und ich konnte wieder mein Französisch vermehrt anwenden. Die Zuständigen vor Ort waren von der gründlichen deutschen Arbeitsweise sehr angetan und so wurde ich gleich wieder eingeladen für Ende Mai 2014, was ich aber leider wegen eines anderen Turnieres absagen musste.

Nur zwei Tage zu Hause und schon stand der nächste Trip an, zur EPT Wien in der Hofburg.

Tägliche Bilder sowie die Berichterstattung von den Highroller Events gehörten zu meinen Aufgaben und nebenher half ich PokerNews aus wenn etwas Wichtiges passierte. Einer der Blogger schlug dann vor, dass ich mich bei Ihnen für die World Series Of Poker bewerben solle. Gesagt, getan. Viel Hoffnung hatte ich zwar nicht, aber fragen kostet ja nichts.

Am 31. März kam dann die Anfrage, ob ich die EPT Sanremo als Testlauf für PokerNews machen könnte und einen Tag später, ausgerechnet am 1. April, kam nach meiner Zusage die Reisebuchung. Entweder war es ein sehr makabres Timing oder aber reiner Zufall. Jedenfalls verlief in Sanremo alles nach Plan und bei meiner ersten EPT für PokerNews gewann Ole Schemion gleich das Highroller Event. Zudem schrieb Victoria Coren Mitchell Geschichte und obsiegte zum zweiten Mal bei einem Main Event der European Poker Tour.

Direkt im Anschluss ging es weiter nach Madrid zum Start der Saison 3 für die Mega Poker Series und am Tag meiner Ankunft wartete eine Einladung für die WSOP 2014 mit PokerNews in meinem Email Postfach. Die Flüge sind mittlerweile gebucht und ich werde für mehr als sechs Wochen erstmals über alle Events berichten, zuvor waren es jeweils nur einzelne Turniere. Wenn das mit den Zufällen und deutschen Siegen so weitergeht, dann dürfen wir uns im Sommer wohl über einige Bracelets aus dem deutschsprachigen Raum freuen. ;)

Leider verpasse ich dadurch die Mega Poker Series in Bulgarien gegen Ende Juni, dafür darf ich aber direkt vor dem Vegas Trip noch vom Masters Finale in der Hohensyburg berichten. Irgendwie passt das Motto "unverhofft kommt oft" wie die Faust aufs Auge für den bisherigen Jahresverlauf. Mal sehen was sonst noch so kommt. Ach ja, falls jetzt jemand denkt dass man damit reich wird: Beim Geld sicher nicht, höchstens an Erfahrung und Schlafmangel. Spaß macht es trotzdem. :)

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Music tip: ZOYA - Walking Into Heaven

You know there are those days when barely anything can cheer you up but a certain tune at least makes you less annoyed. I typically prefer dance / trance for that but the below song from a friend of mine is in fact "Progressive House".

Release notes:

Music, lyrics and vocals: ZOYA
Released on March 24th 2014 by EDM Electronic Dance Music Records - OTB as a part of the compilation WMC Miami 2014.
Available to download and stream now from:
http://www.zoyasmusic.com/?lang=en&am...
You can follow ZOYA here :
www.zoyasmusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/ZoyaOfficial...
https://twitter.com/zoyasmusic
https://soundcloud.com/zoya-official
http://instagram.com/zoyasmusic

And of course the song:

 

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T'was the year 2013

Another 12 months have finally come to an end,

Remembering all the precious moments we spent,

Forgetting all the if's on how things could have went.

Many different faces I was fortunately able to see,

In November there was even a work trip into paradise,

Yet my heart approaches the upcoming year in disguise,

Consistently looking for an opportunity to set myself free.

Being able to travel to many places far and away,

Contemplating about the new and old friends I have met,

Discovering beauty as reminder for the gentleman's duty,

Mesmerized by the one face I never want to see upset,

So many fond memories that will forever stay.

If you think about any specific new year resolution,

Please keep in mind that we are all out of the ordinary,

On a mission to establish our own personal sanctuary,

And try your utmost to make a valuable contribution.

While not knowing what surprises the upcoming year may bring,

Obstacles won't matter when you keep the momentum going,

Step for step on the way to make your life truly fulfilling.

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Think I might be falling in love with Spain

I don't blog as often anymore which is likely due to many different things going on in my life and work, but the last trip to Berlin and Barcelona reminded me of why I like the circuit and those little surprises while traveling. The more poker related blog will hopefully follow for "The Hendon Mob", so let's rather focus on the more personal side of the story.

Until 9am on Monday August 26th the odds of me going to EPT Barcelona 2013 were pretty much 1% and a miracle was required. Then I get a Skype message asking if I can jump in for someone else and do the live coverage for a tournament in Berlin (the Triple A Series in the Spielbank, a 333€ Buy-In with 75k€ GTD). I looked over the date for a bit and then agreed, mumbling in my mind to maybe use the pay of that event to fly to Barcelona for a few days to see lots of familiar faces and deliver some chocolate.

Well it turned out that I was thinking out loud ... or rather typing into the very same Skype window and all of a sudden was suggested a deal for both events that would see me taking pictures every day in Barcelona. April 1st? August 21st? It was no April Fools Day joke but rather a late birthday present out of the blue and it obviously didn't take me long to agree. Two hours after the conversation had started, my flight and hotel in Barcelona was booked ... and I was hooked.

Some drama was pretty much guaranteed because I had to pick EasyJet for my flight to Spain and I try to avoid the cheap airlines. They all come with petty fees for pretty much everything and the service in general is by far worse. This trip would be no different but I dodged the trap of 30 chocolate bars and over weight by landing on 20.9 kilos and thus they could not charge me an extra 12€ for 1 kilo too much hehe.

Comparison EasyJet and Lufthansa:

EasyJet requires you to check in online and print out your boarding pass, okay no biggie but why send out six emails about that within less than 24 hours. I already got it the first time and have to work besides! The waiting lines at Berlin Schoenefeld ... lol funny. Is your hand luggage really within the required dimensions? All people ahead of me got pulled out for that double check in a box but since I had a backbag (with my camera equipment inside), they waved me through without this millimeter inspection.

Now if an airline brags in their board magazine about finally introducing the fantastic "pick your seat and pay for it" option, the necessity to pay for food and drinks on a 2 hour flight ... then you likely turn the music a big louder, close the eyes and dream of your destination instead and not how you get there. Oh and yeah, they also walked through and asked kindly for donations towards a good cause. Don't remember what it was, as this part was blocked out on purpose by my brain.

Let's take Lufthansa instead ... no fees for the standard one piece of luggage, they don't bitch around either when you show up with 22 kilos for a flight within Europe. You can print out your boarding pass next to the counter and only have rather short and efficient waiting lines to drop off your luggage. On board you always feel welcome, get a hot meal and drinks for free (yes, even alcohol) and they only walk through and offer some duty free on top. Worth the 50+100€ more per flight? Hell yeah.

The eight days in Barcelona went by way too fast, I could practice some of my very little Spanish knowledge (combined with hand and feet it becomes somewhat effective) and also did the typical tourist geek session where three attempts of pick pocketeers failed. Many others reported stolen iPhones, I was more fortunate (and know their usual strategy anyways) and even put some tan on. Yes ... 26°C in September in Europe.

But the true little gem of the trip happened at the very end - I was not 100% sure how long I would need to get to the airport by train and thus arrived almost two hours before the departure of my flight. The check-in thanks to Lufthansa / Star Alliance was super smooth and fast, security check took maybe 5 minutes in total and I was stuck in Terminal 1 with time to kill. Most of the food seemed rather over priced and I most definitely avoided the vomit zone aka fast food heaven with McDonald's only to spot a sign for Costa Coffee.

I followed that direction and entered a little oasis in a bailey:

Yep, we are still on the airport and can smell the fresh air, enjoy the sun and sip on a coffee. I walk in and get greeted by a big smile "How are you feeling today, hot or cold?". This is how you win customers. I spent almost one hour there because the departure gate was only announced 15 minutes before boarding anyways and saw the two employees joking around, laughing and even giving little dance lessons. Behind the bar, not on the tables. ;) Way too tempting to pass on that opportunity, so I did ask them if I can take a picture before leaving:

Thank you very much for making me smile just before leaving Spain, I definitely want to come back regardless of work when I have improved my language skills. The food is great, the people are friendly and fun besides the crisis in a struggled country and I still have to catch up on all the other tourist attractions anyways.

Hasta la proxima vez. :)

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Do you know who you are?

I haven't been posting much for a while mainly due to getting involved in another project that requires time and planning as well, not that it matters much in general since you will barely ever find something highly philosophical or mind enriching here anyways. From time to time I grasp enough motivation to come up with a poem after a particular word has been spinning in my head. The below would probably classify easily as midlife crisis engagement as I am nearing my 29th birthday in a few weeks, but I tend to see the positive aspect despite being a big fan of the "Grumpy Cat".

So what does the above have to do with the title of this blog entry? One of my favorite sayings is the following:

"I am a nobody on the way to become a somebody and earn the respect of everybody that matters."

Though I am not 100% sure where I picked it up,  one could say that describes my mindset a lot of times. So far I have not really earned any respect or reputation that I personally think is of any significance yet and stick to do what I know best ... work. This probably sounds more dramatic than it actually is and surely a psychologist would immediately come up with a bizarre assumption what must have gone wrong in my childhood. 

I rather see myself as pessimistic optimist that tends to have a dark humor and some people like it whereas others are easily disgusted. Personally I am convinced that I by far have not used my potential or skills yet, due to laziness and trying to push back responsibility for my own actions.

In April 2012 I was fed up enough to realize that I cannot continue like this and changed some of my habits such as not drinking any alcohol anymore (I never was a heavy drinker, more of a connoisseur). Fast Food has lost every attraction for me and I changed my nutrition, started doing more regular workouts and soon noticed that I can get my work done in a more reliable way without depending on coffee or sugar.

In fact, I didn't drink a coffee for a whole year after previously being somewhat addicted with a few cups per day. Yes, I bought a coffee pad machine again this year and I do drink coffee again - but this is probably twice per week at the utmost. Hot chocolate has taken the place of the addiction for now and when that is gone, I am sure something else will jump into the top spot.

As far as food is concerned, I try to eat by far more healthy with plenty of salads without actually being a vegan - sliced and roasted meat in-between is no must but makes the overall appearance a little more appealing. The only thing that constantly annoys me is the stomach - I do not want a six-pack but a flat stomach would be nice instead of the jelly belly.

Yet I have not found the perfect balance yet and still do not know who I am. Of course this doesn't happen overnight and I always try to keep my chin(gster) up by slowly filling the emptiness inside. One step at a time, exactly the way it should be. If someone would ask me "Who are you?" I'd probably answer "No, not yet. What about you?" and then curiously await the answer.

Time for my daily workout now.

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Life is sh1t, deal with it

Since I got the kind reminder by email that I have not posted a blog in over a month and my "followers" would love to hear from me again (I am sure they do lol), I shall take some time to channel the mess in my head and just pretend that everything is alright. Then again reality could not be further from the truth but you gotta keep smiling.

Okay Okay it isn't that bad, especially since there are barely any pictures of me anyways due to the fact that it usually is me behind the camera or laptop. And I don't really have reason to complain, after all I can pay my bills, my life standard is by far higher than for most "average people" and from time to time I even buy something nice to please the soul. 

But I also prefer to be blunt ... June was crap. The ISPT London was interesting, that is not the reason for the initial statement regarding last month. Rather the fact that I set myself a goal to bike at least 300km after returning sick and then missing it after a nice pace mid month as a result of hurting a ligament in the knee. More than two weeks of not being allowed to work out can make you more upset than Grumpy Cat, though this will hopefully not be the case anymore after the next doctor's appointment. 

Work wise the tendencies could not be any more different ... whereas one regular job provides barely any news and still outstanding payments, another opportunity has risen and may get me a trip to the Caribbean where I won't be working at least 22 hours per day. Furthermore the live circuit will soon pick up again as we get closer to the money in the WSOP Main Event in Vegas, let's hope I can cover quite a few events because they are never boring (unless a bubble lasts several hours).

As I was finishing this short rambling, someone knocked on my door. I open it to see two women in their 50s and they claimed to "help people through the crisis". I smiled at them and said "sure it is not heaven but I got a job, an apartment, can pay my bills and am the only one to help myself in case of a crisis ... but thanks anyways". Boy that was so much fun and worth it to see their facial expression.

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T'was the year 2012 (almost)

Warning: This entry contains more than one paragraph and no pictures nor poems.
 

It was a year with many ups and downs, I didn't get to attend as many EPT's for work and had to skip the WSOP but saw a new record attendance at the same time in Madrid for our Deepstack Festival to make up for it. Online I barely played any poker and made about 1,200 USD, the profit went straight into new equipment for my part time job and hobby.

Many new and old friends showed up during the live events on the circuit and I also published several articles in print media with four of them being included in the upcoming Poker Blatt as of January 2nd. The most important improvement though was a more healthy lifestyle and regular visits to the gym as well as biking. Final result:

- 12.5 kilos lost

- no coffee for 8 months

- no alcohol for 8 1/2 months

- a by far better inner balance

Whereas I never had much alcohol, the coffee withdrawal was pretty insane in the first week but after that the urge to have a cup got smaller and smaller. I wanted to get rid of an addiction and now consider myself "clean", though I am still far away from where I want to be.

The goals for the upcoming year are not really "that" ambitious:

- staying healthy, regular workouts, losing a few more kilos

- getting better at writing and photography

- more hope and personal happiness

- more work and live events

End of January will already mark the first highlight once again and hopefully we will get more than 500 runners for the Mega Poker Series Vienna, an affordable Buy-In of 700+70€ as well as 77,000 Chips starting stack should make for plenty of room to play poker. Being in charge of the reporting, press, website updates and some interviews + pictures for fun should keep me busy ... and with some luck I am heading to Deauville for the EPT straight after that.

In February there is also a WPT National in Brussels as well as the GSOP live and WPT in Vienna whereas for March the EPT London will be calling. The live circuit schedule is loaded until the World Series and hopefully I can return to Sin City for work this summer. Besides that I only really need 1-2 more lenses for the new camera and lots of practice to reach a quality that somewhat satisfies me.

For Pokerspace I have had to wait a long time with the final decision not being in my hands but hopefully that will see severe changes in the upcoming months as well. In general we want to thrive more to quality and value, but this obviously needs the support of all members and less bickering on the tables and within the blog section. Whereas some feel overly attracted by drama, I can't see much sense in wasting my time with it and will just clean up without asking many questions.

More details will become available as soon as I have the permission to do so, in the meanwhile I hope to see a healthy competition in the Pokerspace Races and Indy Leagues for January because we worked hard to extend those deals. The monthly preview for the first month of 2013 will follow on Monday, until then feel free to check out the Calendar and pre-register for your favorite games.

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