My new website, OneTwoThuy.com [one-two-twee] has launched! We’re still tweaking the format and content so what you see will get better. I would have chosen ThuyDoan.com but someone already squatted on it and linked it to FTP [insert angry face]. Please do me a favor and click on it so that the search engines will start picking it up. J

The summer in Vegas ended abruptly. Just as quickly as it erupted it vanished into thin air. I was happy to see it go. Being in Vegas for the WSOP is always fun but I can’t stay there for much longer. I spend all my time in casinos or clubs which after a while feels artificial. The glamour fades and I long to go home.

It’s difficult to eat healthy in Vegas. I relaxed my mostly raw, minimal animal protein diet and started eating regularly. Aside from the occasional trips to Go Raw Cafe (which has great smoothies, organic salads, etc.) I didn’t like my Vegas routine and wanted to get back to a diet that was nutrient-rich. For motivation I made a semi-vegan food bet with a friend that is like this: for the rest of 2010 no animal products except for seafood, milk and yogurt. Anything made with eggs or butter is off limits, which includes most pastries, ice cream, pasta, etc. Each penalty costs $300 and the buy-out is $4k. The bet has gotten me cooking and eating really healthy again which feels great.

During my last week in Vegas I had a funny experience in a live game. It was 10/25 until a few wealthy Saudi Arabians walked in wanting to start a 25/50. They were vacationing and just wanted to gamble. We were more than happy to oblige. We ended the original game to start a ten-handed 25/50. It was a juicy thanks to our new friends. In one hand at least four people saw the flop, including a Russian and two of the Saudis. The Russian moved all in and then the action was on the big jolly Saudi. He and his friend who was also in the hand began speaking in what I believe to be Arabic. The Russian became infuriated and declared their hands dead. He called for the floorwoman and rudely berated them for not using English at the table. To end the drama the Saudis folded their hands. They were offended and didn’t want to play with him anymore so they packed up their chips and left to play pit games. Everyone was upset at the Russian who wouldn’t stop complaining. We wanted him to leave so that the Saudis would come back. One player offered the Russian $500 to go, another added $300, another chimed in with $50. In total the table offered $1,100 and he accepted. The floorwoman brought the Saudis back, telling them they could return to the game. Once they were back the Russian declared “I’ll leave and you can have your seats back if you MATCH their $1,100.”

Before the table was annoyed, after that we were pissed! He broke the agreement in order to milk more money out of the situation. In boycott everyone stopped playing. We all sat out and even tried to convince the floorwoman to move us to another table while leaving him there. Our boycott got to him. He agreed to leave with the original offer. The table was so upset though that nobody wanted to give him any money. Finally one of the Saudis eager to get the game going tossed him $1,100 in chips. He left, the Saudis sat back down and gambled away until the morning. It was one of the best games I played in all summer. Too bad I was card dead and couldn’t get any of the action.

Since being back home I’ve been able to focus on a few non-poker things such as meeting my continuation education requirements for my real estate license, figuring out things for my Realtor matchmaker service(more details to come on the website), finding a new roommate, and starting Spanish lessons again. I speak decently but not nearly to the level that I’d like. If you want to help me learn you can tweet me in Spanish and I’ll respond J. Don’t mind all the errors. Once time frees up I’ll also restart my Rosetta Stone Vietnamese lessons. People message me in Vietnamese sometimes not knowing that I don’t understand much of it anymore. Xin loi L. I’m trying to be productive which means fighting the urge to buy Starcraft 2. This would seriously counteract my efforts.

Edit Aug. 16th:

1. In-depth Interview with Poker Curious

2. ESPN WSOP episode 6 feature, starts at 5:25

Chau, chao, bye!

~Thuy