When I wrote this blog a week ago I was laying on some rocks on Deli De Mare a rather unknown beach on the rocky island Malta. These rock beaches suits me fine as I am not a big fan of sand. A lot of things have happened since my last blog and I do apologize that I blog so rarely.I am so busy with work and it takes me time to write down my thoughts and experiences and before I manage to write something down a whole bunch of new things have happened so I can start all over... This time I would like to share my trip to London and Prague with you...

 

Friday 21st of May – Kidnapped

About a month ago the CEO of VictoryPoker Dan Fleyshman kidnapped me from my office in Malta with his business partner Keith Gipson. They gave me one hour to to finish all my meetings at work, go home and pack and meet them in the airport. I was brought to the Mayfair hotel in London to hang out with the VictoryPoker team and experience a photo shot with some of the hottest models from United Kingdom. The hotel was overbooked so we didn’t get two of the rooms Dan had booked. After a great amount of hassle Dan called the manager of the hotel who ordered that we would get the Azure Suite which is where Matt Damon stays when he is in London. All for no extra costs. The suite had several bedrooms and the living area was the size of a small night club - totally amazing!

 

Saturday 22nd of May - The poker lesson

I woke up earlier than anybody else so I went to the minimarket across the street to get the some breakfast. When I exited the front doors I was wondering what all the big guys were doing outside the hotel dressed like tourists in shorts, t-shirts, sandals and a big ass cameras around their necks. Later I found out they were paparazzis since the hotel apparently is one of the hot places for celebs to stay.

 

Keith, Robl and I spend most of the day walking around in London in the amazing weather. The atmosphere that day was great and it was hard for us to find a place where we could sit outside and enjoy our lunch. Later in the evening Dan had arranged an educational Sit & Go tournament where Keith and Robl were going to teach Sarah Underwood some advanced poker. After each hand everyone had to show their cards so it could be analyzed. Keith was not afraid of telling people how terrible they played and gave some good basic advice on starting hands from different positions. Robl and Keith both gave a lot of good hand advice and I am not afraid to admit that I learned from it.

 

We ordered room service and later hit the clubs where we had a great time. Normally when I arrive to a club I have been drinking in advance but this night everyone was sober so it took a few drinks before our table exploded in various dance moves in the sofas as light flares from the bottle service lid up the room. We had a lot of fun and ended up having an after party at the suite with a bunch of girls...

 

Sunday 23rd of May – An unforgettable day

We moved from our suite to the penthouse suite where VictoryPoker was doing a photo shoot with Sarah Underwood, Rosalie Jones, Emma Glover & Victoria Moore all gorgeous women who besides looking astonishing were fun and friendly to hang out with. Trevor the camera man was in great pain because of back problems but I am sure shooting the videos and taking pictures with the girls made it all go down a bit easier... Right buddy?

 

Video shot at the Mayfair Hotel London 2010

 

You can imagine why I found it hard to concentrate reading my dad’s latest book where he solves the murder mystery of Olaf Palme the Swedish Prime Minister who was gunned down in 1986. It was a murder where the Swedish police did everything in their power to fake and manipulate evidence and witnesses in the attempt to frame Christer Petterson. 

 

Back to London... In the evening when the filming was almost over we were having some beers on the terrace sharing stories from our lives. It was the first time I had a chance to get to know Antonio Esfandiari who has an amazing charisma not to forget John Tabatabai who was doing rock/scissor/paper for an outstanding 200£ restaurant bill with a friend of his as Antonio came out for a beer and wanted to gamble. He suggested doing a $5000 coinflip and Robl snap-called him as he argued Antonio was bluffing. See for yourself what happened here...

 

Antonio wanted to gamble but Robl didn't believe him...

 

Monday 24th of May – Happy Danish Guy

Monday morning we were heading to Prague for the iGaming Super Show taking place that week. I was staying with the VictoryPoker and Coinflip crew at the Hilton Hotel who host the EPT circuit. Antonio Esfandiari, Andrew Robl, Sarah Underwood, Keith Gipson, Emma Glover , Dan Fleysman and Trevor the cameraman represented VictoryPoker and made some hilarious videos of which some has been posted recently here on Coinflip.com. 

 

I was sharing a room with Andew Robl who strikes me as a very dedicated member of the VictoryPoker pro team. He is constantly writing blogs, wearing his patches, exercise a lot, eat healthy and he is a very analytic poker player on top of being a very fun guy to be around. This leaves me to the next topic...

 

The 3 best laughs in the poker industry

With me being the sole judge the current rankings are as below

1. Andrew Robl, VictoryPoker

2. John Tabatabai, Betfair   

3. Antonio Esfandiari, VictoryPoker

Can you imagine gathering them all in the same place mixed with some drinks, hangovers and generally the fun gaming conference vibe? Needless to say it was a lot of fun and I even got a new nickname which I believe was made up by Antonio: “HDG – Happy Danish Guy”. Antonio claims he has never met a Danish guy who wasn’t happy and I am no different.  A study actually shows that Danes are the happiest people despite paying the highest taxes in the world. Source

 

I better stop for now but I will report back soon from Los Angeles and Las Vegas when I find the time for it. Till then keep smiling folks!