[J_V]

I just got back from L.A. The goal of the trip was to spend the Friday-Sunday hanging out in Hermosa Beach with some friends and then to go play three days at the Commerce Monday-Wednesday. My poker goal of the trip was to make 10k. I fell just shy, -13k off pace. Here are some random comments about my trip to L.A.


First off, the weather in L.A. is obviously phenomenal. I'm very tempted not to go back to Chicago. It seems like L.A. would be the perfect place to live for an internet poker player.

I don't know how many of you L.A. guys are familiar with Hermosa Beach, but it's not a bad place to be. It seems like most the of partying is done down by the pier. It was a very spring break like atmosphere. On Saturday, we went to a place called Sharkees. Playboy called it the third best pick-up spot in the United States. And, yes it was quite the meat market. A virtual HOasis.

One thing I noticed is that L.A. girls are much more aggressive when it comes to meeting guys. I had more girls approach me in one weekend than I do in months at Chicago. God bless aggressive girls. I wonder if its the weather. It also dawned on me that girls should be the aggressors in all of these situations. It makes more sense. Guys just want to hook up. Some have higher standards than others, but as a whole the decision on whether or not the guy scores comes down to the girl. So it makes more sense that the guys stand around and the girls pick out which guys they want to talk to. Business would be much more efficient this way. Maybe sklansky, could write about that is he is next Poker, Gaming, and Life. It's more interesting than why the debris ends up in the middle of the road (Not to bash that book, cause its my favorite).

Second thing, the girls of L.A. were as a whole not as good-looking on average as the girls in my neighborhood in Chicago. That is, except for Hollywood, where a lot of the girls were off the hook. God bless silicon.

I played 30/60, 40/80, and 80/160. I only made it two days before I tapped out. A man can only stand so much torture.

One thing I noticed was that at night in the 40 and 80 games, I was the only whiteboy in site. It's a little disconcerting when the whole table is speaking a different language....the same language. Anyway, the 40's ranged from good to phenomenal, with some patch tight points. It was annoying cause games were never full and always seemed to be breaking.

What's with all the Vietnamese. Is L.A. a stomping ground for lots of Vietnamese or just the Commerce?

The 80 games I was in were never great, but still beatable. The games had one or two gamblers and a couple tight wannabe kids, who thought limping UTG w/ A-10o and K-Jc was a good idea in the most aggressive games ever assembled. They must not have heard but Vietnamese means "raise" in Spanish.

I played with some very good players, a lot of whom I play w/ online. Someone told me that there was an asian girl with pink hair who played very well. And she did play well. Suprise, Suprise. Pink hair...I had my doubts. I forgot her name but she played a lot like Angelina did on the internet. A little different style than most but very tough and tight. I was expecting a few Big Blind, Small blind melee's with her, but it never developed.

Comments about the Commerce. I love the food, but the way they have it set up makes games shorthanded and breaks them way too often.

I hate the massages. I can see how you could get used to them after a while, but they are very degrading, IMO. Is poker that taxing?

The dealer abuse was out of hand. I had to speak up a few times. I played w/ this one willy mammoth named Iris or something, who has to be the most miserable broad on the planet. I had no choice but to pipe up, not that did any good. At least I didn't let her scramble the deck until it was her button.

I have no real hands stories to tell. Maybe I'll post af few. One thing I noticed is that you can play much better poker live than on the internet, simply because you have more information.

In general, I am really beginning to despise live poker. It's too slow and I can't stand being around most of the people in the cardroom. I'd rather go party in L.A. than play poker. I wish I had some time to go down to sunset and party there. That sounds like fun.