Half A Vegas Day and Back

Vacation Day Dos

Vegas Baby

I'm taking a much needed vacation. Poker and food and anything but my regular life, here I am for three-ish days. I decided to post a song each day I'm gone that I've been listening to on repeat. I'd recommend everyone check out these bands.

Ryan Getzlaf and Sexy Poker Players.

Josh from Royals and Randoms sent over a PWE. It arrived yesterday and I'm somehow posting about it immediately, which so rarely happens anymore.

The highlight of the PWE is of course this SI For Kids card of the one and only Ryan Getzlaf. Josh was right in the note he sent: I don't have a subscription to SI For Kids, and without his thinking of my Getzy Collection, I would not otherwise be able to own this card.

A mini of poker pro Evelyn Ng was also tucked into the PWE. I will never turn down cards -- or phone numbers -- of attractive women, especially if they also happen to excel at the great game of poker. I have the Ng auto from the set as well, and it just so happens that I acquired it from Josh in a trade over two years ago.

Thanks for the cool cards amigo!

Vegas, Baby.

I'm off to Las Vegas for the weekend, so the blog will endure a rare dark period.

I'll be back to regular posting on either Monday or Tuesday, and I've got plenty to write up and share (trades, eBay pickups, PWEs, Kate Upton, and more).

Enjoy your weekend everybody.

I Finally Have Phil Hellmuth's Auto!

I've posted before on my love of poker and how I would one day love to pick up autos of my favorite three players. Well, today I'm thrilled to be able to mark one of those three down as a success, as a while back I scored my first Phil Hellmuth signature for a great price, along with some trade bait from the same seller to take advantage of combined shipping discounts.

Hellmuth holds the all-time record of 13 WSOP bracelets, including a recent win at the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event, which is particularly historic as Hellmuth is now the only player to ever win the Main Event in both the U.S. and Europe. Hellmuth is my second favorite player, ever so slightly behind Gus Hansen. Hellmuth is the player I admire the most though. His auto marks just my fourth poker John Hancock.

In Which I Go Deeper Into My Poker Collecting Ways.

I wrote a post a while back talking about my various collections and how I would categorize them. I've decided to go into further detail on one of those truly tertiary collections: my poker autographs and the particulars of the players in said collection.

My poker collection is thin at the moment, but I have plans on changing that. I eventually want to obtain autographs of my favorite players: Gus Hansen, Phil Hellmuth, and Daniel Negreanu. There are certainly more that would be appealing to own - Doyle Brunson, but of course - but these are the main ones I would build a collection around. For now, I'm limited to players whose signatures wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg.

Because poker would be much more difficult less an arm.

My favorite auto I have is of The Magician, Antonio Esfandiari. Esfandiari took down the largest sum in poker history earlier in 2012 after winning the "Big One for One Drop." That sum totaled $18,346,673 before taxes, and came out of a $1 million buy-in tournament. Esfandiari earned his second WSOP bracelet with the win (to go along with 2 WPT titles and one EPT Final Table) and cemented himself atop the leaderboard for career tournament earnings. I can't even fathom winning over $18 million. I'd still blog, that's for sure. And buy some bucket list items. A lot of bucket list items.

My other two autos were acquired for less noble reasons. They were cheap as well, and they feature very attractive women. Lacey Jones....just Google her, or click here. You can thank me later. Same goes for Ms. Ng, who's the more accomplished player of the two, having finished in the money ten times in WSOP events on top of a second place finish in the inaugural WPT Ladies' Night event. Both have also done some in front of the camera poker hosting/analysis, as you might expect.

One of my goals for the future is to buy in to the Main Event in Vegas, as well as play a few smaller WSOP tournaments. It'll happen eventually; the sole question remains when exactly. I love playing in Vegas in the very small tournaments I can afford presently, but that Main Event is just calling my name.

I love everything about poker. The analytical side to the game really intrigues me, in terms of deducing odds for a particular hand, pot odds, whether you are pot-committed on a hand you otherwise might not play. The camaraderie is great, hanging with friends in a fairly relaxed environment is always fun, and of course, the opportunity to take down some extra cash is, well, obvious.

I have a buddy who has proclaimed on multiple occasions already that he will one day buy me in to the Main Event. I certainly won't be refusing such an offer when the time comes.

I anxiously await that day. Until then, I'll be content with picking up the random signature here and there and going after the guys and gals on my short-list of must-own poker autos.