Since my last latest trip to London and Prague I have been to Helsinki which reminded me of how much I miss Denmark. I look forward to visit my family and friends at the end of this month. At the moment I am in Santa Monica in Los Angeles and I just spend a crazy week in Las Vegas. It is always a lot of fun as something new, weird and unexpected always happens there.


On my second day in L.A I was at a party at The Playboy Mansion. Needless to say it was a great and unreal experience and thanks again to Dan Fleyshman who got us the best table at the entire party with a fun group of people. Puff Daddy, Busta Rhymes, Scarface, Mase, Snoop Dog among other rappers performed at the party and they played “Victory” funny enough and “Mo Money Mo Problems” with Notorious B.I.G which always makes Erik Smith give it up on the dance floor.

(In the picture: Me & Victoria Moore @ The Playboy Mansion, L.A.)

 

The title is my inspiration
People that know me are well aware that I do not care much about fame and fortune. I never understood the whole thing about worshipping people just because they are famous. Many people might think it’s a bit ironic given my position but I never took much notice of the poker scene either. Who is famous, who is running hot, who is crushing the tables online, who is behind certain nick names and who is dominating the games at Bobby’s room etc is not something I kept track of.

I generally think it’s because it has no impact on my life. It is knowledge that do not change my life. I feel the exact same way about actors and models. I do not read gossip magazines nor do I want to support that industry. I much rather let a person who happens to be a celebrity have a chance to make a good first impression themselves. In the movie “A Bronx tale” the gangster Lorenzo explains the kid Colegero that he shouldn’t care about Mickey Mantle because he would never pay his rent. Why should he care about him? I remember after watching it as a teenager I stopped taking much interests in the football clubs I used to support around Europe because they truly did not care about me neither. Now I only support FC Barcelona for playing great soccer and having one of the most admirable football histories in the world. Aarhus GF since its my home town and Denmark because of my nationality. I don’t follow the players or clubs closely but wish them the best and when my country plays its always a special feeling. Sorry I went off track here...


 

Celebs
Lately I have been around a lot of celebs and had some funny experiences with it. The ones I have been so lucky to get to know better all have a place in my heart. (You know who you are and keep being bloody cool!) I will give some examples from the past months which give you an idea of my lack of awareness about the rich and famous but also how interesting it can be to be live the life I am living. Just the other day Phil Ivey went into the same restaurant we were having dinner and Phil Laak and Antonius Esfandiari was chilling at our BBQ at the Panorama Towers.

(In the picture: me & Antonio Esfandiari @ Surrender nightclub, Encore, Las Vegas)

 

How it started
In London after a night out a lot of people ended up in our suite. I remember I gave a pair of socks to a girl who was in need for it. The day after I found out it was a top model from the UK named Victoria Moore and that she was taking part in a photo shoot with VictoryPoker that weekend. I told her this story later on and said to her that I could be standing next to Tom Cruise thinking: “Isn’t that uhmmm what is his name? Nahh it’s probably just the guy who sells Hot Dogs around the corner...”

It is funny because my 2nd day in L.A (about two weeks ago) I was sitting in the hotel lobby at The W waiting for a few friends. For people who don’t know much about the L.A scene, the W is a very famous hotel and many of the scenes from the popular TV show Entourage take place there. Actually that day you couldn’t even get into the hotel unless you knew somebody staying there or had your name on a list. Outside Lamborghinis where lined up in the drive way which gives you an idea what kind of place it is. As I was sitting there waiting my friend Dan showed up asking “So did you talk to Nicholas Cage?” I replied “Why do you ask that...?” “Well he was sitting next to you in the sofa. Right there...” Dan responded pointing at the couch I just got up from. Nicolas Cage might not be the greatest actor of all times but he is certainly famous and even I know his name. I liked the movie "Leaving Las Vegas" he was starring in many years back. I guess normal people would take notice of him... I didn’t at all and simply laughed at the situation.


Nice Americans
It was only the day before that I was having dinner with the VictoryPoker crew at a really nice Japanese restaurant in Hollywood. Keith Gipson a poker pro and friend of mine brought a date or girlfriend with him to dinner I wasn't sure at the time. During the dinner I asked her if she had been to the restaurant before. She told me that she had never eaten there before but that she had been shooting an episode of Entourage there. Naturally that made me think she was an actress so politely I asked her if she was an actress and she smiled and said a bit confused “Uhm more of a model.” Her reply didn’t raise any suspicion as she looked like a model. 

Later the same night I was chilling with my friend and I randomly said it was cool to meet Keith’s girlfriend and that she was a nice typical American girl in the sense that she was friendly and easy to talk to. Generally speaking in my opinion Americans are easy going compared to other nationalities which are more reserved or shy due to language barriers.

(In the picture: Lacey Jones and Keith Gipson)

As I said that I was told it was Lacey Jones who recently got signed by Full Tilit Poker. Her name has even been mentioned on our forum and argued to be one of hottest poker babes in 2009 & 2010. I guess I do not spend enough time looking through all the pictures on the forum... If I had a girlfriend I would probably get some credit for that? Now I just felt a bit embarrassed asking such question being an executive in a large poker company hehe. You can check her poker results & winnings here

The life in Los Angeles and Las Vegas is definitely very far from the lifestyle we live in Malta. There is an insane amount of very rich and famous people here. You need to know somebody to get in to a club and the minimum spend for a table in the clubs starts with $1500. In Malta you can get a bottle of Smirnoff incl. mixer for €50 at a gentlemen club... At least so I heard ;)

 

Appreciate life
Travelling all the time makes me realize how lucky I am but at the same time my friends keep telling me “you make your own luck in life.” I think there is some truth to that. It is definitely not all luck but also a lot of hard work. I like being on the road experiencing all kinds of things as I know one day I will have to slow down and put a limit on the madness and trips around the world. There is no morale of this story other than I appreciate everything that is happening in my life right now which couldn’t take place without my friends, family, business partners and brilliant staff.

Thanks for reading guys!

I will go and watch an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm which is a hilarious TV show made by Larry David, the creater of Seinfeld. It is taking place right here in Santa Monica which makes it extra funny to watch while I am here ;)

(Roof top picture from where I am staying in Santa Monica)