Hello boys, I'm baaaaaaack!

It's been...too long since I made a post. Oddly enough, the frequency of my posts has an inverse correlation with the major activity of my life. It's been about 10 months since I made a post and in that time:

1. I got married - Alison and I tied the knot in Aruba with a close group of family and friends and had a blast honeymooning in Hawaii on the Big Island.

2. I moved out of Manhattan - Manhattan and I had been growing apart for some time and finally she asked me to move out. It was around the time I got involved with Alison that Manhattan started growing suspicious. She got colder and less interesting and really, it was just a matter of time. It's for the best, of course, since Manhattan isn't going to settle down anytime soon, unless you've got major money. She's a great time, but really only for the single-minded amongst us. Anyway, I got a job with UBS in Stamford and moved out there with Alison just after our wedding. 4 months into the job, the group I was with (it was a contract position) was unceremoniously let go after my contract engagement manager managed to piss off the wrong people. I'm working now at Credit Suisse back in Manhattan (you cold bitch!). My commute is 90 minutes, but it's tempered by the fact that I can telecommute from home once or twice a week. I'm enjoying it tremedously. Also, my new townhouse in Stamford is more than twice the square footage of my old Manhattan apartment and is only a two block walk to the beach!

3. There was a flurry of Wall Street Poker alumni activity - Matty Ebs got married and had a daughter. The Slayer got married in a beautiful wedding at Bethpage State Park (Home of the ocassional US Open of Golf). Pauly Walnuts and Abbie M got married (to each other!) on the same day as the Slayer. That was a hell of a day. Their wedding was equally beautiful, on the shores of the Hudson River overlooking Wall Street (natch). Many Wall Streeters were in attendance.

4. Andy Frankenberger proves it's not a fluke - Franky, who I previously blogged about in my last post in October when he won the WPT 'Legends of Poker' tourney, ended up winning the WPT Player of the Year after winning another tourney and final tabling one or two more. Any other player would have called that a good year, but he then went on to the World Series of Poker and managed to win a bracelet in Event #28 ($1,500 NL Hold'Em) by beating out 2,499 other participants and taking home the $600,000 first place prize! So sick.

5. Alison passed 3 bar exams and got a job - In an effort to make herself more marketable in this difficult economy, Alison took the NY and NJ bar exams one after the other. Then she took the Connecticut bar exam six months later. This made her...interesting to live with while the stress took it's toll, but it paid off handily. Not only did she pass all 3 exams on her first try, but the results of the NY bar exam (probably the hardest one), came out on our wedding day. Some of Alison's law school friends, who had already found out their results that morning, pulled me aside during the wedding and said it'd be a fun idea to announce to Alison and the wedding party the results (only if she'd passed of course). Alison didn't even know the results had been released when I snuck away to our room to check her email. It made for a wonderful moment when I finally was able to announce to a puzzled audience (who didn't understand why I had hijacked the proceedings) that Alison had indeed passed! The whole party burst into applause and shouts and the mood, already lightened by the seaside wedding and plenty of alcohol, shot into the stratosphere. I can honestly say it was the most fun I'd ever had in one night. Alison just accepted a position at a small firm in Westchester doing civil litigation and insurance defense and she starts August 15th. I couldn't be prouder of her.

So that's what's been keeping me busy. My lust for poker remains strong but my opportunities remain relatively few. In the last year, I've played live poker maybe five times, with three losing sessions and two winning sessions. I played in Atlantic City and at the Mohegan Sun but haven't seen any new poker rooms.

Until this weekend....

That's right. This Friday, I will embark on my first poker trip since my Arizona trip in late 2009. Alison is going up to the Cape with her family for a week and I will be joining her Wed. night. But I'll have the entire weekend free and I'm using it plan a monstrous poker weekend. I will leave work in the early afternoon and hit these poker rooms in order:

1. Parx Casino, Philadephia, PA
2. Harrah's Chester, Philadelphia, PA
3. Delaware Park, Wilmington, DE
4. Dover Downs, Dover, DE
5. Harrington Raceway, Harrington, DE
6. Hollywood Casino, Charles Town, WV (Yes, West Virginia!)
7. Hollywood Casino, Grantville, PA
8. Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, Wilkes-Barre, PA
9. Mount Airy Casino, Mt. Pocono, PA

Nine poker rooms in two and a half days spanning three different states. Not bad.

I'll have a full write up sometime next week. Oh, and I want to send a huge shout out to "DownTown" Michael Brown, who is turning 60 this year on August 12 (my birthday too!). He's having his party this same weekend I'm doing this and I was super conflicted about it, but I ultimately chose the poker trip. I *know* Michael* will understand!