My Life is Going to the Dogs
Read MoreHere I am (above) posing with “Caddyshack,” the most recent race winner at PBKC, which was the World Series of Poker Circuit special feature race.
Read MoreHere I am (above) posing with “Caddyshack,” the most recent race winner at PBKC, which was the World Series of Poker Circuit special feature race.
Read MoreMy review of the restaurant that invented the classic French Dip.
Valentin Vornicu won the Casino Championship at the final World Series of Poker Circuit stop, which just ended at Harrah’s Rincon, near San Diego.
I have a special appreciation for Vornicu, who was born in Bucharest, Romania — where I lived for a few years. He has been residing and working in the United States since 2007. Yet he speaks perfect English (almost no accent). He’s also an accomplished math expert.
Check out Vornicu’s Wikipedia Page here:
Vornicu founded a website called Math Links, which encourages the study and mastery of math. In fact, he’s the Director of Faculty.
Vornicu won his second WSOP Circuit title here in San Diego, and came in second tonight in yet another event. Yet he only plays poker part-time.
I have great respect for people with a passion. Vornicu has many passions, and just as many talents. I expect to hear and see him do many interesting things in the future.
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Yesterday, I almost had my balls chewed off by a pit bull named “Chief.”
It’s true.
I was attacked by three pit bulls this past weekend. Here’s the story of how a leisurely run through the mountains of northern San Diego County turned into a brief moment of terror.
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Ever had one of those “HOLY SHIT! WHAT DO I DO NOW?” moments?
I just had one.
Make that three. As in three pit bulls.
It all happened Saturday morning. A casual three-mile run concluded with an unexpected “bonus sprint” towards the end, when I was confronted by three gnarling, foaming-at-the-mouth, canine beasts.
First, the back story. I’m currently staying at the Harrah’s Rincon Resort and Casino, which is located in the mountains just north of San Diego. This is Indian land situated about halfway between Temecula and Escondido. Unless you drive 20 miles due east off the I-15, you’d never know there’s this vast barren area with almost no modern development, except for a few casinos and local Indians who all seem to drive $60,000 cars and live in shacks.
The roads here pretty much consist of single-lane stretches of pavement winding through mountains along blind curves with no guard rails. Everyone seems to drive 80 miles an hour along these roads. I guess there’s no state highway patrol here given this is a “sovereign nation,” so it’s almost like vehicular anarchy.
Having run along these roads a few times as part of my daily workout, I’ve nearly been hit by traffic, oblivious to the fat white guy wallowing along the yellow stripe who’s stupid enough to jog a route where no path exists. If running in Las Vegas is dangerous at times, and it certainly can be, then doing the same thing here on an Indian reservation is inviting a death wish.
So, on Saturday morning I went out in search of a detour. A new path where I could run over the next week which was challenging, but safe. I thought I’d found it, at least until the final stage of my run, which is where the story picks up.
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It’s Veterans Day 2012.
Today at Harveys Lake Tahoe, “Captain” Tom Franklin sang the National Anthem. He’s a Marine Corps veteran who served in the Vietnam War. Franklin has been a professional poker player for more than 20 years. He’s also a World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner.
One thing is for sure. It takes real guts to enlist and then serve in combat, as Franklin did. It also take courage to stand up in front of 500 people and sing the National Anthem without any musical accompaniment.
Here’s a video of my introduction of Franklin, followed by his rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner.
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