Not exactly in the blogging mood, but feel obligated to let everyone know how I’m doing here in Niagara.

I made my 3rd straight Day 2, ending up with 33,100 at the end of the day. The starting stacks were 20,000 and blinds started at 25/50 with 90min levels. We played from noon - 12:30am or so, it was a very long day. Day 1C was today, so I had the day off. Tomorrow is Day 2 and blinds will start at 300/600/100, so I still have a playable stack.

The rest of the tournament runs on 9 hour days (including breaks) 12pm - 9pm. As I said during WSOPE, I really love shorter days. I end up getting a bit tired near the end of a 12 hour day. It’s extremely difficult to play great and stay focused for 12 hours, but 9 hours isn’t so bad.

One gripe I do have about this venue is that they don’t allow the use of mp3 players during play. Although I don’t always listen to music while I play, I still use an iPod around half the time. They can definitely be useful. Listening to music helps cure inevitable boredom while playing, helps to maintain focus, and they’re very useful when you run into annoying players that don’t know when to shut up.

That’s basically it for now, here’s to hoping Day 2 goes better than Day 1.

Well, I'm just about to goto sleep, but I'm going to give a quick update before I play tomorrow.

I really didn't do much of anything today - which is very standard for me. I usually just have a nice dinner and relax the day before big events. I ended up going out to dinner with some friends, but that's about it. As usual I'll be getting a good night's rest tonight. I feel really great going into this event, as opposed to WSOPE, where I felt like crap, but still managed to play well and make it fairly deep.

Tworags recently started a new voicemail service. I can call in and leave a message and it will be posted to the site. Well, imagine how useful this will be for live updates during big events. I'm not sure how much or if I'll be using it, but I might give it a test run during this WPT event.

Before I end this post I wanted to say that CardPlayer (not pokernews) will be doing the best coverage for this event.


And....I'm off to sleep,

Later

This morning I called the Honda Service Center to inform them that my front bumper fell off randomly while backing out of the driveway. They were prompt in responding and were at my house shortly after I hung up the phone. Unfortunately the technician couldn’t service it on site, and they’re going to have to tow it and check it out. I’m thinking it’s a lemon and I’ll be getting a replacement car (probably just the same thing).

Fortunately, my parents left their Corolla for me to drive, so I could still make it to WPT Niagara. I started my journey to Canada in the mid-morning and arrived by noon…and based on what transpired during the drive - I’m very lucky to be breathing.

While driving to Canada I got into an accident that had the potential to be a disaster. Basically, I was driving in a 2 lane highway with another driver to my left. We were both going about 70-75mph, and there was a fair amount of traffic behind us.

I was in the right lane when he decided to switch lanes and merge into me…apparently he didn’t see me. I didn’t even notice it until I saw his car’s door handle 3 inches away from my side view mirror. I quickly swerved to the right, but there wasn’t much room, as there was construction being done. I sped up, and basically tried to get in front of him to avoid a collision, so after tilting right I quickly accelerated and then turned left.

Well, that turned out to be a recipe for doing a 75-mph, 180 degree turn in the middle of the highway. My brain froze as I lost control of the vehicle and found myself helpless. It all happened in a matter of 1-2 seconds and I then found myself in the grass, facing incoming traffic, next to the left lane…I had 180′d across the entire highway without hitting anything.

WOW.

I have absolutely no idea how there was no collision. I was incredibly lucky enough to land in the grass. I can’t believe the car didn’t flip and I’m not in the hospital. After the car came to a stop, even though I knew I didn’t hit anything it took me a minute to group myself together mentally. I took a drink of water, backed it up and got back on the highway without ever leaving the car.

I finally did get to Fallsview, handling my money over the border wasn’t nearly as difficult as I assumed it would be. I bought in and got my day/seat assignment (still scheduled for the 27th, Day 1B). So far I’m very impressed with Fallsview. The people in charge seem to really know what the players want and act accordingly. Despite the scary incident earlier n the day I’m feeling great about this trip. It’ll be great to hang out with my friends, and I’m really feelin good about this tournament.

That’s it for now, I’ll be relaxin tomorrow, then playing on Saturday the 27th. PokerNews usually has the best coverage, so I’d look there first.

Well, I'm all packed and about to leave for Niagara Falls. Unfortunately, last night I was backing out of my driveway and my front bumper just randomly fell off. WTF!!?!??!?! I swear I have the worst car luck. I'll be calling them this morning to see if they can have someone come out, i think they can just re-attach it, but WTF. Lemon much?

I'm pretty sure they'll either give me another car to drive, repair it, or I'll have to drive my parents car. I'll be extremely pissed off if I don't get to drive my new car to Niagara....

That's it for now, I'll be updating plenty in Niagara.

I've got so much going on right now it's crazy.

It's mostly business stuff that's been occupying my time - stuff I'm not sure I should talk about yet =)

But I'm also busy with taxes, doing car insurance crap, waiting for my bed to arrive (it's late...), working with my agent (that goes back to business), and getting my money to Niagara. I'm sure there's some stuff I'm missing, but you can tell I've been very busy.

Anyways, I'll leave you with a few pic's of my new car. They're still waiting for the spoiler to come in, but I think it looks pretty nice. I'm certainly satisfied.