Second Wind

When my wife and I visited NYC last month, we walked around the old neighborhood and it was as if the whole Vegas Year was just a dream.

If we had gone up to our old apartment and our stuff was still there I would have completely believed it.

And why not? This whole year has been a blur.

We're now in our 9th month and recent discussions have revolved around what to do next.

At least that's what everyone related to me wants to know.

What are we going to do next year?

As if this year is already over.

And when we went back East I was open to having this conversation. I had been on a losing streak and certainly had no interest in losing more.

If poker isn't happening for me then there are plenty of interesting cities near large bodies of water that we'd much prefer to live in.

Yet when we got back to Nevada after our August NY trip I must admit that I missed our house. Our car. Our stuff. Our life. Dare I say Vegas?

I've taken notice that the clock is ticking. Our lease runs out in a few months and so I feel the urgency to make the most of my time living here.

I'm putting in more hours than before. Trying to play as much as I can. And why not? It's not crazy to think this could be the only time I ever live in Vegas.

If poker continues to be a big part of my life maybe I could stay here part time some day but as far as living here full time I think this is the moment. This is the chance.

At the end of every month I always look back at the stats and think I could have played more. But it's also real easy to avoid the strip when you live here.

If I was still in NYC and you told me I could be at the Bellagio in 15 minutes - you'd see me at the Bellagio in 15 minutes. But living here I have to pump myself up to go. And it's fine once I'm there. But I definitely do not wake up each day and think I can't wait to go play poker! Maybe that's what I need kids for.

So yeah it seems pretty unlikely that we'd move back here.

Like if we move to another state am I really going to suggest at some point that we move to Vegas? With those previously mentioned futuristic children?

Probably not. So whatever it is that I'm going to accomplish in Vegas needs to happen now.

Where this whole adventure has changed for the better is suddenly there seems to be opportunity for us to prosper here. It took awhile to plant the various seeds. And let them grow.

Looking back now on the past 9 months it seems absurd to have expected an easy and smooth transition. As if we've moved many times to Vegas to play poker full time. It's ridiculous to believe that we were going to have immediate success but I'm sure we did.

Why would things be easy? Why should things be easy? How could we know how to live life here?

We were new. We had no friends. We didn't know our neighbors for months. Didn't know any good restaurants. Didn't know where to buy things. Had no idea where to go for fun.

And as far as my work goes no one ever taught me how to be a professional poker player.

I have no mentor. It's all been trial and error.

As time goes on I continue to have the best of it at the table. And with growing detachment I might add.

So where are we?

I don't mind walking away from Vegas. I don't need to be here.

However the result I witness everyday at the table tells me to stay.

And so the dream continues.

Just when I thought that I was out they pull me back in.

Maybe Vegas isn't so bad.

It could just be the 10 degree drop in temperature but I think we're starting to adjust to this crazy place.

Sure we spent the first 6 months saying it wasn't New York and complaining about living here.

But now we're locals. And it feels like home.

Or at least home until our house gets foreclosed!

Vegas housing bubble baby!

Not even us renters are safe.