Thailand

Been out here for a wek or so now and really enjoying it. Was the Thai new year or "Songkran" recently where the locals greet you by hurling ridiculous amounts of water at you. All taken in good spirit though, cant imagine the carnage caused if we tried the same stunts in North London.
Bankok was more of a break than a holiday. Got a few nice suits made up and spent a pretty penny (from a bank account that really is pitiful) on other goods. Met up with top guy CopperDrake for a few beers and went to some funky bars, happy days. Was interesting hearing about the life a Vegas live poker pro, got me very very jealous.

Arrived in Phuket a few days ago, my god this place is soooooooooo sweet. I could easily spend a couple of years out here before getting bored. I mean, apart from the poverty, which in Bankok was pretty horrendous in places, the place is a different planet to the hellohole of London. We went for an a la carte fish dinner yesterday. Properly good grub and a shit load of Singhas and Chardonnay came to, oh, the princely sum of seven quid. Been going to the gym pretty regular over here and Dave, when you read this, start saving mate coz the 6-pack challenge is well and truly over. You have been properly beaten unless miracles are being performed in Bristol "lite" beer breweries and/or your new missus is shagging you so hard the weight is falling off.

Been reading a couple of book out here, mainly to work on my Omaha which is starting to come good. The science of poker gives example heavy analysis of typical PLO hand confrontations and some (to me anyway) startling insights into some of the mechanics. I didnt realis the power of J10 and 109 combos before. This has direct relationships to Holdem, simple facts that i have either foroggten or ignored. For example, str8 flopping potential of a truely open str8 hand like 67 compared to a blocked hand like 43, which incidentally is one of my favourite hands for an implied odds gamble.

Off to buy a surfboard today and get on top of some of these huge waves (or maybe not) and continue baking my thermador skin, because, lets face it, suncream is a pain in the arse.

Havent given a lot of thought on the poker front but i think ill grind a good few 24 hour sessions in the next couple of weeks trying to hit a sweet patch and get the roll big enough for cash again. Ill be hoping to play 30 MTT's a day for a good few days upon my return. Looking forward to my B-Day on 28th April. About 30 of us are going to Southend (should be interesting as we are in fancy dress) for shits and giggles on the Friday night. Iv decided to go as my personal hero and the man i aspire to in nearly every way, thats right, not George Bush Sr but Cap'n Jack Sparrow. The outfit (from some posh london fancy dress gaff) is gonna cost about a 1'er but i reckon i can wear it quite regularly. Like to funerals or something.

So, thats enough time spent on a computer, im off to teach these young punks how the British play beach volleball before getting drowned by babay Tsunamis off the West coast of Thailand. Over and out.

Alex