Another great year is coming to an end. I think this has been easily the best year of my life! This blog will likely be my longest ever to make sure I cover as much as possible.

The first week of 2011 didn't start out so great. I remember losing a shit ton of my roll degening Rush 25nl. After having a bad end of 2010 I was contemplating quitting. Once again I picked myself up and started grinding 10nl. I think I was down to my last $150 online, but ran good and quickly won a few hundred at 10nl.

I started playing 25nl again in February. Work had been slow and the weather was nasty, so I was able to put in some decent volume that month (anything over 12k hands when u work full time is decent imo). My results in March were good as well and I was even starting to cash out.

epic blizzard hit in February: had cleared some off the top of my car already, but was about 1.5 feet on ground, and much higher in some spots


February/March results: 50nl didn't want me, but crushed 25nl


I was spending lots of money at this time. I was going to Bulls games frequently, put in a new car stereo, and just loving life. April rolled around and I began contemplating buying my own place. At the time I was living with some of my best friends. It was a lot of fun, but anyone who's had roommates knows how aggravating it can be at times. I decided early on in April to move back in with my parents. This way I could afford my own place within a few months.

stereo


Bull's game: most of the time had better seats, this was only picture I had unfortunately


April 15th rolled around and I'm sure you all know what happened then. I came home from work ready to grind a bunch. I saw some FB message from a poker player saying "I guess it's time to move to Canada?". I was like "oh shit, something bad is going down!". As I researched more all I could do was sit and stare at my monitor in disbelief. I had no idea what I was going to do without poker, it had been my hobby/aspired career for ~6 years.

I bummed around for a few days exploring what my options were. I could stay at my dead end job, go to college, and hope to get a slightly better job.... and at the time I thought that was it. Then, out of curiosity I looked into the possibility of relocating outside the U.S. Matt (Probability) quickly convinced me that Thailand was an amazing place to be, and that it was super cheap to live there. I then had some decisions to make. I started finding out more information, got my passport, and was semi-committed to living there, but wasn't 100%. In the mean time I was having fun spending more time with friends and family.

one of my best friends got married in June: had a pretty sick wedding party picture


spent a lot of time on the bike trails


small beach alongside bike path


Around June I decided I was for sure making the move to Thailand. I cancelled my Vegas trip coming up in early July, worked on getting my Visa, and started to save a bunch of money. Most my days were spent trying to squeeze out OT at work, planning for Thailand, and getting better at poker. I was making sure to visit friends and eat lots of good American food.

Italian Beef sandwich, I miss these a lot


calzone: best i've ever had, My friend Bryan and I would order these every Friday night and watch about 3 movies


I quit my job about three weeks before my September 21st flight to Thailand, and this was probably one of my favorite times ever. I had 0 responsibility, all my Thailand stuff was taken care of, and the road ahead was quite an exciting one. I spent all day playing golf, basketball, and watching TV. My friend Jordan had also quit his job, so we played tons of b-ball. At night and on weekends, I would hang out with friends/family and say my goodbye's. It was tough saying goodbye and I miss a lot of people from home.

one of my goodbye parties


scorecard from a lol game of golf: Beaver Creek in Poplar Grove, had a special going $15 to play all day!!! somehow I won this match


Banford Park: place where Jordan and I would do battle everyday


packing station


my last view of Chicago


I got off the plane and entered into a whole new world. I had never been outside the U.S before and was a huge noob. I remember being super confused the first couple days, and hardly slept. I played poker right away which was probably a mistake. I ended up taking some time off and let Thailand sink in a little bit.

first motorbike ride, lots of scenic views including this waterfall


elephant, right off the road


I also took a lil trip to Chiang Rai, but I blogged about that already, here's the link if you haven't read it and are interested. It's been a struggle finding a balance between having fun and playing enough poker. October-November I drank quite a bit and it would normally kill my productivity for a couple days.

Poker's been pretty rough, which I've documented already. I think I'm up a very small amount with rakeback. I've made numerous adjustments to my game, and I continue to improve on a daily basis. December was a sick grind, and then I gave up after about 40k break even hands. I haven't played much the last week because of the Holidays and drinking etc.

Christmas photo with the crew: me, matt, jordan, billy, and tim


So 2011 was a hell of a year and taught me quite a bit. I broke away from my normal life, and haven't regretted it since, even in the bad times. 2012 holds a lot of uncertainties, I'm not sure where I'll be in 3 months or what I'll be doing. All I know is life is interesting, and it will probably all work out