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Leaving Paradise
by Zpaceman on 06/10/09
I’m undertaking some big lifestyle changes this year. Quick recap: I worked regular jobs after graduating from university from 1988-2002, ran my own company as a consultant from 2002-2006 and gave that up for poker in 2007. I’ve made a reasonable living from poker for the past two years, but somehow I’ve lost some of my passion for the game over the last year or so.
I went back to part-time consultancy work in mid-2008 and honestly enjoyed doing that more than the poker. Recently I was offered an opportunity to return to full-time employment for a company based in Montreal, Canada. It was an easy decision to accept their offer as I’ll be getting a good salary plus benefits at a solid company with excellent prospects for growth and personal career development.
Some of you may know that around 2 years ago, I turned down an offer of employment in Dubai to pursue my poker career. I don’t regret that decision one bit. The company in Dubai seemed pretty flaky, the Dubai economy was going crazy bat-shit with ridiculously spiralling accommodation and living costs, and in hindsight the resulting crash would most probably have negatively affected me if I had been there.
I’m very happy that I spent the last two years pursuing my poker dreams while living in paradise and enjoying many new experiences. My life really was a paradise: sharing a luxury apartment with my beautiful and caring wife on a marina in the Costa Del Sol area of Southern Spain; sleeping-in until noon or later; swimming, sunbathing and working-out in the afternoons; and playing poker in the evenings.
Reflecting on that today, the day that I left paradise, it felt like it had been a two-year holiday of fun and relaxation, although I know I went through some tough times due to runs of bad luck at the poker tables. After that I really will be returning to an ordinary world, which coincidentally is one of my favourite songs by Duran Duran. This segment reflects very much how I feel about it:
But I wont cry for yesterday, there’s an ordinary world,
Somehow I have to find.
And as I try to make my way, to the ordinary world,
I will learn to survive.
Before finding my ordinary world in Canada, however, I still have my summer in Las Vegas to look forward to, which will certainly be far from ordinary and hopefully extra-ordinary if I can make a big score. I discussed it with poker playing friends, as well as my wife, and we agreed that even winning $500k and/or a bracelet wouldn’t be enough to stop me going back to work, but if I made the November Nine then that would be a game-changer. I can still dream of that, at least for the next few weeks.
As my plane ascended over the Mediterranean today, yet another perfect day in paradise, I felt a little sad. We wheeled around back towards the land and I could see my apartment block in the marina. Then we nudged forward, over the Sierra Nevada mountains and it edged away, finally slipping out of view, perhaps forever. I wasn’t really sad though because it had been a great experience. I smile as I recalled a line from The Cure’s Lovesong:
However far away I will always love you
I went back to part-time consultancy work in mid-2008 and honestly enjoyed doing that more than the poker. Recently I was offered an opportunity to return to full-time employment for a company based in Montreal, Canada. It was an easy decision to accept their offer as I’ll be getting a good salary plus benefits at a solid company with excellent prospects for growth and personal career development.
Some of you may know that around 2 years ago, I turned down an offer of employment in Dubai to pursue my poker career. I don’t regret that decision one bit. The company in Dubai seemed pretty flaky, the Dubai economy was going crazy bat-shit with ridiculously spiralling accommodation and living costs, and in hindsight the resulting crash would most probably have negatively affected me if I had been there.
I’m very happy that I spent the last two years pursuing my poker dreams while living in paradise and enjoying many new experiences. My life really was a paradise: sharing a luxury apartment with my beautiful and caring wife on a marina in the Costa Del Sol area of Southern Spain; sleeping-in until noon or later; swimming, sunbathing and working-out in the afternoons; and playing poker in the evenings.
Reflecting on that today, the day that I left paradise, it felt like it had been a two-year holiday of fun and relaxation, although I know I went through some tough times due to runs of bad luck at the poker tables. After that I really will be returning to an ordinary world, which coincidentally is one of my favourite songs by Duran Duran. This segment reflects very much how I feel about it:
But I wont cry for yesterday, there’s an ordinary world,
Somehow I have to find.
And as I try to make my way, to the ordinary world,
I will learn to survive.
Before finding my ordinary world in Canada, however, I still have my summer in Las Vegas to look forward to, which will certainly be far from ordinary and hopefully extra-ordinary if I can make a big score. I discussed it with poker playing friends, as well as my wife, and we agreed that even winning $500k and/or a bracelet wouldn’t be enough to stop me going back to work, but if I made the November Nine then that would be a game-changer. I can still dream of that, at least for the next few weeks.
As my plane ascended over the Mediterranean today, yet another perfect day in paradise, I felt a little sad. We wheeled around back towards the land and I could see my apartment block in the marina. Then we nudged forward, over the Sierra Nevada mountains and it edged away, finally slipping out of view, perhaps forever. I wasn’t really sad though because it had been a great experience. I smile as I recalled a line from The Cure’s Lovesong:
However far away I will always love you
