PROJECT POKER : Once in a lifetime

The LAPT Brazil was a fantastic event. I had never experienced a tournament like this in Latin America and it broke the records for most entries and largest prize pool ever on the LAPT. It’s incredible to see poker growing and thriving in a country as huge as Brazil–nowhere else in Latin America can compare by half. I say this all despite the horrible end to my Main Event. With the field down to about 300 from 1,150 players, I had an 85% chance to bring an 80 big-blind stack back for Day 2, but it didn’t work out that way. I opened under the gun with A♠T♠ and got three callers. The T-5-2 rainbow flop gave me top pair and I made a 4,500 continuation bet. One guy raised to 11,000, and the action folded back to me. I didn’t have much of an image on him because he hadn’t been playing hands, but he only had another 15,000 behind. I put him all-in, and he called with ace-king. I was a big favorite, but a king came on the river and that was it for me. Had I won that pot I would have been in a really good position, but instead I was out and spent the next few days playing in some of the remaining side events. Still, those events had really huge fields and prize pools too, so not all was lost.
I decided to spend the rest of June in Brazil to experience the World Cup and forget about poker for a little while. I had to skip the World Series to do it, but the WSOP will always be there, every year. I have a huge bag packed and a bunch of tickets and plans to travel a little bit around Brazil with my girlfriend after the football ends. I’m actually not the biggest football fan–I prefer American football–but going to the World Cup in Brazil in a year where Mexico and Brazil get to play each other was a once in a lifetime experience.
I love poker, but I’m at the point where I’m committed to being happy and living a more balanced life. Poker doesn’t work for me when that’s all I’m doing, and now I divide my time more evenly between poker, business, family, and friends. That vacation is a big part of that balance, especially because I’m hoping to play more EPT events this year. Usually I play one per season because of the LAPT schedule and my business commitments in Mexico, but next year I want to play as many EPTs as possible.
So, I’ve been to some amazing places, including an island off the northern coast called Fernando de Noronha. It’s paradise, all white sand and blue ocean. I’m traveled a bit around Rio and checked out some little towns along the beach. No matter that Mexico lost, it was a great, once in a lifetime experience. Christian de León