A Bright Future

Well I hope everyone liked the video! I know the resolution sucks I know please don't email me telling me that 2 +2 = 4. Also, if the captions are hard to read Im sorry but in order for me to host a High Def streaming page its apparently really expensive but I plan on making a lot of these and want to be able to access them anywhere in the world so the potential is there. Ill keep you posted. On to the gooooood stuff!

As many of you know I have my first and last triathlon this weekend. It entails a 1 mile swim, 25 mile bike and a 10k (6.2 mile) run. My goal is under 3 hours and I have been very hard on myself the last two months of training. I genearlly spend 15 hours weekly doing cardio (divided up among the 3 disciplines), an extra mile ocean swim on thursdays, yoga monday and wednesday nights, with 3 extremely high intensity weightlifting sessions with a personal trainer totalling around 20 hours weekly. I hope it pays off on Sunday. It has physically though. Perhaps I'll post a "before" and "after" picture because the contrast is quite amazing. I've also been dieting (perhaps thats not the right adjective) heavily the past few months. However its not realy a diet like you might think. I genearlly eat 5 -6 times a day with 2 protein shakes in between as well as energy supplements on the bike and run compiled with electrolyte water. I think (although I dont keep track) that I consume somewhere around 300 – 400 grams of carbs and 4000 – 5000 calories a day. I had no idea it would come to this when I started training but let me tell you Im soooooooo glad its almost over. Unfortunately I had to take several months off during April – May when I was in Europe as well as June and July for the WSOP and Maui. It wasn't until early August that I picked up training again and it took nearly the whole first month to get back to where I was before I left. Im hoping it didn't hinder me too much; but I guess we'll see Sunday. Follow up to come!

Post Triathlon; I have a lot of good news. First the place is coming along amazing. I'll try and post pictures soon but they don't do justice. Maybe it's just because I put a lot of time and effort into it (when you cook your own food it always tastes better) but I still think its pretty damn cool. I'll wait to go into more detail after the pictures (if i can find my digital camera) but just wanted to take 4 lines to boast quickly! Thanks for listening.

My October schedule is pretty set. Immediately following the Tri on September 29th I leave to Vegas where I will meet up with Andrew Robl and we are heading out to do some hiking and camping in Zion National Park. Located in Southwest Utah, Zion is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. We are planning to spend 5 days there, hiking Angels Landing, Temples and Towers of the Virgin, Emrald Pools and the famous 16 mile Narrows. For pictures and more information visit www.nps.gov/zion and click on photos and multimedia. Its quite amazing. There was also a special on it this past week on Travel HD's premier called "Untouched America." From Zion we will head out further East to Bryce Canyon National Park and spend a few days there. Its back to Vegas after that on the 6th for some Bellagio Cup Preliminary tournaments. On the 10th I leave for Niagara Falls WPT and Im playing Day 1B on the 11th. On the 12th my parents are coming in town (which is a good thing in case it is unclear) and we are going wine tasting at Niagaras Icewineries. They host tours where they show (in detail) how Ice Wine is made. For those unfamiliar its a process that only takes place in the Niagara Falls region where grapes are frozen in the winter and only the nectar of the grape is used to produce an extremely sweet, yet delicious dessert wine. While they are exquisite, the price reflects this due to the labor and "waste" of the rest of the grape. I think I remember last year they said that for every bottle of Ice Wine they could produce 4 or 6 bottles of regular wine. Thus the bottles are pricey and small but the sweetness level is such that one glass is plenty to satisfy even the biggest sweet tooth.

After Niagara (depending on how I do) I'll head back to Vegas for some more Prelims and the FIesta Al Lago on October 20th. After I ship that; its back to Cali to relax. Im really excited about the month and its got a lot of potential both with tournaments as well as fun! Its a good mix in my opinion and Im always happy when I can find a good balance and coordinate things to work out perfectly. Somehow this month they seemed to do just that.

November hopes to provide an turning point for me. I am set to take on new challenges (after the completion of my triathlon) and after completeing many of the workshops of Timothy Ferris' book "Four Hour Work Week" I have set new goals or "dreamlines" for myself. I want to make it a point to expose these for accountability because some are going to be challenging for me. For those that are confused about the term "dreamlining" it is essentially goal setting but more specfic in that it incorporates a step by step process to completing each as well as the cost and time. Sounds lame? Yes. But Mr. Ferris is obviously doing something right and I don't mind swallowing my pride and giving it a shot. I'd strongly recommend reading the book and I can safely say its the best book I've ever read ….. by far. The dreams (6 month timelines) are as follows.

1) Learn Italian Fluently: I bought all three sessions of Rosetta Stone as well as am taking private Italian lessons commencing in November. I am gearing up to be well spoken enough to be able to sustain a converstaion with native speakers when I go back there in early May.

2) Bartending: I am taking bartending school or classes if you will again commencing in November upon my return from Vegas. The class is only two weeks (in CA you don't need a liscense to bartend) but I want to learn the basics. I am considering doing Flair (trick bartending where you throw bottles up and spin them and stuff) for fun as well but Im going to wait and see how the first two weeks go. My goal is to get a job part time; say two days a week for fun, to meet people and just because I think it'll be liberating. Since I know Im going to get a lot of emails about this; I'll elaborate. Yes, I understand that Im "losing money" bartending because I would make more hourly playing poker. No I am not "so broke" that I need a job. No I didn't lose a bet (although that's a very likely possibility). It's sheer fun and something I've been interested in since I was 15 or so (similar to my Triathlon) and I finally decided to do it! I remember getting a bartending book for Christmas one year and even to this day I take pride in being able to make good mixed drinks that don't taste bad at parties. I hate beer and don't like the taste of alcohol so I think I can make a mean mixed drink because If i'll drink it, It means that it tastes good. I also just got a huge bar at my place which is pretty sick. Pictures to come! As for the profits; Im hoping I can muster up whatever it is that I need to donate the money all to charity. I think it'll be good for me as well as make me have a better sense for the value of money. Although bartending is a rather high paying job (relatiive to jobs 21 year olds have) its still low compared to poker and I think I need some perspective.

3) Win a poker tournament: I realized that I have been playing several years (live) and this is probably the last big thing I want to accomplish in poker. Cash games are cool yes, but being the best high stakes regular doesn't appeal to me anymore. I feel like I went through that phase and got over it quickly. Its very competitive and the dedication and lifestyle needed to do this doens't appeal to me in the slightest. Life is way too short to spend it all on a computer and I try to limit myself and my hours greatly. I do however spend a lot of those hours (or plan to in the future) playing tournamens and really working to improve my game. Im definately not quitting poker until I win a major live one and I know its coming soon. I can feel it and Im going to stay positive and work harder until I get there. After that; I have several small businesses that I want to start as well as many many other hobbies and travels I want to do before I die. What good is playing poker everyday if you don't do anything with the lifestyle it allows? I have spent most of the last 2 or 3 years living out this dream and I woulnd't trade it for the world. Perhaps one of the saddest things to me is to see high stakes regulars never leave their computer. I think to myself; you have to have other interests? Things you want to. Places you want to see. Anything but poker. I mean sure its a great pass time and hobby but theres so much more to life and its so sad when someone has the luxury of youth, money and freetime and its wasted. That should be a crime. I made a promise to myself I wouldn't do that and Im making every effort to live it out to the fullest. This is why I have made a very specific; yet hard goal for myself (and while some say its not tangible) I feel that I can do it. Yes I will need some luck but the vast amount of tournaments accessible to me as well as the time and skill level I feel I have I am hoping will be enough to pull me through. Postive thinking helps a lot too and Im making every effort to believe in myself and knowing I can win!

4) Spend New Years in New Zealand and two months abroad in Australia during Aussie Millions. I also want to go wine tasting, see the set of Lord of the Rings, hiking, backpacking, and many other things in Australia that I took for granted last time I was there. I did a lot don't get me wrong. But I look back and realize there's so much more the place has to offer. It kills me too that I spent so much time there and didn't get to NZ. I told myself three years ago that I'd spend New Years in a differnet city every year. So far it's been OC, Sydney, Las Vegas and now im trying for New Zealand. I heard the hiking there was gorgeous as well and the living is cheap. I have many friends in Australia that I can room with for free and with American Express Platnium you get amazing deals on flights. If you fly International Business you buy one ticket and get a second one free. Not bad for a Credit Card company. Im also trying to travel "lighter" and I don't mean with less luggage. I mean I looked over my credit card bills last year and spend nearlly $250,000 (add that to the car and cash spend and its closer to a half million). I dont mean this to boast. I am disguisted with this number and ashamed of myself. American Express and Citibank both breakdown your numbers for you and mine are absurd. Hotels exceed $50,000 and flights are over $35,000. Thats just gross. I am taking huge measures this year to cut back as I realized had I done this in the past I'd have enough for a down payment on a beach house or could have saved the entire country of Kenya from hungar. Its pretty sick but I heard someone once say, "It's too bad youth is wasted on the young." I remember driving around in my M6, hearing that and thinking to myself, "Glad that doesn't apply to me." Oh God, how wrong I was. While I think Im making the most out of many areas of life, finances are something I've always struggled with. Im optomistic though and doing everything I can to get them back on track. A bit off topic but interesting nonetheless. I also hope a lot of poker players reading this will not make a lot of the mistakes I have with reguard to this. I remember talking recently with a good friend of mine and it was awesome to hear him take the advice I gave and cash out a ton of money, take several months off and just travel the world. Once a computer junkie; he's realizing that the world's a big place and theres more than just poker! Not to mention he's going to be very well off in several years as a result of investing correctly and saving. Lastly, I'll say that looking back my biggest misake in poker was playing too high of stakes. It really messes with your head and I've talked to countless poker players advising STRONGLY not to do this. The temptaion though could be equated to not sleeping with the hot girl who's rubbing against you in bed because its going to cause emotional stress later. Reguardless of the advice, you're going to fuck. Its just human nature. I think I'll leave it at that.

In any event Im really looking forward to the coming months. I am optomistic about basically everything and thats a damn good place to be. Any suggestions; whether it be hiking locations in Australia, New Years parties in New Zealand, poker talk, book recommendations, or life please hit me up at alectorelli@gmail.com. Thanks again for reading and Im gonna keep the ball rolling on these. Be sure to stay tuned in the near future as I'll definatly make a movie from Zion.

Cheers,

~ Trah ~