If you told me when I was first moving into Panorama Towers (the place I wanted to live in since I was 18), that I’d be excited to move back to Ohio after one year, I’d have laughed. Especially if you told me I’d be leaving after one of the better years of my career financially, both in poker and business investments (which was the end result).

Well, poker’s pretty much consumed me the last 5 years. It was all I thought about. It feels great to move out of Vegas and take a step back from everything. I almost feel like a different person. It’s a relief. The Vegas lifestyle is just not something I desire to be apart of. It’s a tough city. It’s next to impossible to meet someone who isn’t a stripper, hooker (pardon me, “escort”), shady, and/or crazy etc etc. I certainly don’t need to live in Vegas to do my job, especially with the live poker economy the way it is (doubt you’ll see me playing too many Bellagio tourneys this year).

When I was packing up a bunch of my things were never unpacked from when I initially moved in….12 months ago. I never went to get a Nevada ID. I think that in my subconscious, I never moved in.

The last day before I left I did some work with WSOP Academy over at Caesars. Knowing full well the target audience is inexperienced amateurs I went in with an open, positive attitude and it ended up being a good experience. I thought it was pretty funny when I sat down at one of the tables and they all agreed I was a better dealer than the other pro’s there instructing.

“Go figure, the internet player with 7 fingers is the best dealer here!”

My badass dealing skills probably made a bit more sense after I informed them I performed as a magician at private parties and restaurants when I was in grade school. I’ve been dealing with cards for as long as I can remember.

Well, I’m currently in Omaha, NE with my dad. He’s been helping me move and we’ve just wrapped up the third day of travel. We should make it make home by tomorrow night. I’m just staying at my parents until I find my own place. Already have a few realtors talking to me despite not yet being in the state, lol. I’m looking forward to going out and checking out properties. Specifically, I’ve been looking at contemporary lofts, condos and lakehouses. I’m looking forward to having my own home base away from poker.

If I’m taking a step back from poker, I must be taking a step towards something, right? I’m considering doing some more tournament coaching/staking. Maybe I’ll finally go over that FTOPS ME hand history for PokerVT. I might open my own gamestore. I’ve been researching real estate. I could goto school and study subjects relevant to my agricultural investments. I’ve been talking with an old friend I used to play baseball with and am going to get involved helping coach his team.

I mean, I can pretty much do whatever I want.

When was the last time I had a blog entry this long, positive, open and honest?

Feels great!

Later,

- Adam