I am back from Las Vegas and have had some time to recover and get back to “normal life”. Although the tournaments I played did not go as planned, I still had an amazing time. RonFezBuddy and I shared a room at The Rio and it was alot of fun just getting to hang with him, talk poker and enjoy a beer at the end of each evening. Also got to spend some quality time with Wein, as well as Hagbard. In fact, RFB and I did a Sunday session over at Hagbard’s condo, and it was a blast. Although I’ve never seen 3 guys run quite as bad as we did that day. It’s still kind of amazes me each day that I get to work with this group of guys who have really come together as a team better than you could ever expect. I feel pretty fortunate to call these guys friends and business partners.
One of the most incredible things about my week in Las Vegas was being surrounded by poker minds. It made me realize just how important the TPE community is going to be to our members (and to me) in the growth of our respective poker skills. Reading about poker is important, but nothing will improve your game faster than surrounding yourself with other poker players and discussing tough spots or interesting hands you have played. So with that being said, make sure you are watching our videos, but also make sure you are participating in our forums. If you see a hand played in one of our videos that you have questions about, make sure and post it for our pros to give you feedback on. This way it becomes more of a dialogue and not just a one way street of communication.
In Vegas, I got to discuss hands with not only other TPE pros, but also with a ton of other guys who’s game I really respect. Just the two hours that I got to spend enjoying a few cocktails and talking poker with Andrew Brokos was worth the cost of the trip all by itself. Also, I already know that Hagbard, Wein and RFB are smart poker minds…but you don’t realize just HOW smart until you get to spend some time with them in person. I only wish that Bigdog had been able to attend so that I could have hung with him as well. But all in good time.
Next year I think we will have to arrange a TPE meetup. I know that many of you already have goals of playing the WSOP next year. So get to work reach that goal and let’s hang out next summer in Vegas!
In the meantime, its back to online poker for me. I plan on increasing my volume significantly in the second half of the year. I also plan to spend a TON of time working on the site, making improvements, and rolling out a bunch of exciting things that we have planned for the community.
See you guys at the tables!
Hagbard Celine
It was awesome to meet you and get to hang out. I know we’ve “known” each other for a couple years now, but there’s such a huge difference between talking in forums/on AIM and sitting across from a man whilst he takes it in the ass on a Sunday!