"The Adventure" is a series of articles about my journey this summer that will take me from Rockland, Ontario, Canada to the World Series of Poker Big One for One Drop 1M buy-in tournament in Las Vegas...


Rare is it that a person is granted the opportunity of the lifetime, let alone at age 35.

THE ADVENTURE – ACT 3: VIVA LAS VEGAS

“Bright light city gonna set my soul
Gonna set my soul on fire
Got a whole lot of money that’s ready to burn,
So get those stakes up higher
There’s a thousand pretty women waitin’ out there
And they’re all livin’ devil may care
And I’m just the devil with love to spare
Viva Las Vegas, Viva Las Vegas”

- Elvis Presley, “Viva Las Vegas”
(Viva Las Vegas (EP), 1964 RCA Records)


MY 36-HOUR WHIRLWIND IN SIN CITY
Ten hours of sleep out of four nights – who do I think I am? A teenager going out to bars every night again? That’s the price you pay for a member of poker’s elite, right? Ok, elite may be stretching it a bit … ok, ok, a lot!

DANIEL NEGREANU 25K WSOP FANTASY DRAFT COVERAGE
I recently was summed to Las Vegas to provide “expert” commentary on Daniel Negreanu’s 25K WSOP Fantasy Draft, not a bad gig at all! I was able to finally meet my friends from the QuadJacks family face-to-face for the first time as well as meet my co-host for the draft, Pokernews’ Remko Rinkema – all turned out to be great people – this includes Remko’s father, who was visiting from the Netherlands – we both enjoyed sushi together!

Covering the draft was a blast! A pre-game interview with newly crowned WSOP Heads-Up Champ Brian Hastings followed by post-game interviews with Sorel Mizzi, Jason Mercier, Eugene Katchalov (my #1 draft pick in the WSOP Media Draft) and Daniel Negreanu certainly added to the highlights in my life.

SHUFFLE UP AND DEAL : THE 2012 WORLD SERIES OF POKER
After a night of eating and drinking, I woke up Sunday with the Rio on my mind. This day marked the opening of the 2012 World Series of Poker – the Casino Employees event would be featured on this day.

I went to the Rio to pickup my media pass and spent all day inside the Amazon taking in the experience. The ESPN “mothership” stage looks absolutely amazing this year, can’t wait to be back to cover the One Drop!

It's hard to put into words whenever you enter the convention area at the Rio every year ... as soon as I pass the Penn and Teller Theatre, I always start getting goosebumps, you can feel the buzz that is the World Series of Poker.

POKER EH! SEASON FINALE
A few days prior to my weekend in Vegas marked the final show of the season of Poker EH! on the QuadJacks Radio Network. We had an amazing final show of the season featuring two of Canada’s biggest poker stars – Xuan Liu and Sorel Mizzi – as well as the reference to poker in Canada, Joh Harnish, breaking down Canada’s chances at the WSOP. Jon has become a friend and I was very happy when he accepted to join me during the Mizzi interview.

I would to thank everyone for their support and for listening to Poker EH! on QuadJacks.com every week - special thanks to all of our guests who have taken time to talk shop with us.

MAKING @AGENTMARCO LOOK GOOD!
It’s been a few crazy weeks since my latest trek to Vegas, I have been hired on to write the news scripts (twice-daily) for QuadJacks.TV’s unprecedented Live at the WSOP daily coverage.

THE ADVENTURE ... CONTINUES:
It’s been a crazy summer so far and with the One-Drop now only three weeks away, it sure doesn’t look like things are going slow down anytime soon.


Here it is, “The Adventure” - a 50-day venture that will take me from Rockland to Gatineau to Las Vegas and to other places in between. Join me as I attempt to relive the blow-by-blow accounts of the thrill-ride that awaits me this summer.

Here I am, standing in front of you, as vulnerable as ever, but ready – win or fail – to live the thrill of a lifetime and hoping you will follow along as I live “The Adventure”.



Eric

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THE ADVENTURE: SERIES > THE ADVENTURE: BEGINS > THE ADVENTURE: SITTING, WAITING, WISHING

THE ADVENTURE: SUMMER 2012 May 19-20, 2012 Le Grand Tournoi de Poker Loto-Quebec Casino du Lac-Leamy | Gatineau, QC May 26, 2012 Daniel Negreanu 25K WSOP Fantasy Draft Aria Hotel Casino | Las Vegas May 27, 2012 World Series of Poker Kickoff Event Rio All-Suite Hotel | Las Vegas July 1-3, 2012 WSOP The Big One for One Drop Rio All-Suite Hotel | Las Vegas