Friday 27 January 2012

Packed my bags....

Hey everyone....I have moved my blog! 

You can find me at http://www.talonchick.com so come on over and check it out!!!

Happy January!

Saturday 31 December 2011

Happy New Year everyone! 

May 2012 bring you so much love, happiness and success in whatever matters most to you!


Thursday 15 December 2011

December Blues

Up here, December can be an awful month, the days get really short and the temperature starts to plummet.  Despite the forecast of a brutal winter up here, we appear to have been saved for the short term.  It is almost balmy here, some days getting above zero, but the sun goes down near 4:30pm.  It is easy to see why bears hibernate!

To avoid hibernation myself, I allowed my schedule to get packed full of activities, which has led to me not getting around to blogging in the last few weeks.  I signed up for an unlimited month of yoga just up the road, keep my joints from freezing up!  This probably saved me yesterday, we decided to hit up a community league and go curling for a couple hours.  My friend Jakz came up from the US on Monday, it seemed appropriate to immediately grace him with a cup of Tim Horton's coffee and a broom.  We had a blast, I will try to post some videos later into this post.  Worth a laugh for sure!  It was a bit nerve racking at first to start firing the stones into the house (ha...where can you do that??) while the league players watched on.  No bones were broken and even without helmets, there were no concussions.

 With regards to poker, I have another 12,099.54 VPPs to go to hit my last milestone bonus of 2011, then I will be focusing all my energy into tournament strategy and preparation for PCA.   It's hard to believe that in 3 weeks I will be packed up and headed to the airport!  Come join me!

Oh yes...Gibson won an 'elder pet' photo competition earlier in the month, getting him a bag of goodies.  I decided that this year, I would get his picture taken with 'Santa/Grinch' for the first time, seeing as they were fundraising for a good cause!  He was not impressed....





Wednesday 30 November 2011

Preparedness is Key

Earlier this month, I was able to get away on a vacation.  My first real vacation in a long time, where I haven't had to concern myself with OT work and well I couldn't play online poker.  It has often seemed like I take time off to escape to the WSOP, or Vegas or make sure I drag my laptop along to get a few hands in.  So off I headed to the beautiful beaches of Florida for a bit of relaxation. 

I was thinking about making some videos detailing how I was going to prepare for the PCA Canada Cup final table, and while chatting about it, the idea came up to consider making a bit of a spoof, probably sometime after we saw Kevin Nealon in Ybor. 
Hans and Talon
 The video took a bit more work than I initially expected (don't they all), but it is hard to complain when you are in paradise!  I can't wait for the Bahamas, and hope that many of you can make it out also!

So with as much cheese as possible...allow me to present to you...PCA Canada Cup preparations! 

Wednesday 16 November 2011

Video Release Day: Poker, Slo-pitch & the "Fat Cat"


The day my slo-pitch team has been waiting for is here!

Earlier this year, I was presented with the opportunity to have my ‘story’ filmed and published for the poker world (and I suppose, anyone else who may randomly happen upon my video).  I was super excited and equally nervous at the thought of being interviewed and being recorded.  Some people are naturals when it comes to being in the public eye and expressing themselves, but I am not sure I belong in that group.  

So you can imagine, that my nerves weren’t settled too much as the crew set up their gear in my living room.  


Thankfully, the guys were wonderful, and kept me laughing.  The sound guy even wound up making a bit of a cameo...can you spot him?  A special thanks to Ryan, Greg and Mike for all their work!  It certainly wasn’t the nicest weekend to visit Edmonton.  This video will give you a glimpse into my life, from poker, to working as an Occupational Therapist, to after hours fun!

Here it is...the moment many have been waiting for....drum roll please!  


So after watching the video, I hope you have had a good laugh or two, even if it was at my expense.  I think it is important not to take yourself too seriously! 

Sunday 30 October 2011

....Get Set....

The VPP race continues for me from now until the end of the year.  Last updated October 10th.  As I sign out for the night tonight, I have 166,628.08 VPPs....33,371.92 to go to get my next Milestone Cash Credit. 

Brag:  Will be great to get, just in time for the Bahamas baby!  :)

Monday 24 October 2011

Canada Cup, Januar-eh Nine and Bonus Brags

Woke up early (10am) yesterday morning and got to a yoga class as quickly as I could.  I had been during the week but other than that, very neglectful.  Class ended at 1140, giving me just enough time to get home, showered and ready to start my tournaments.  I have really tried to focus more on cash games, but the weekend tournaments are such good value and hard to stay away from.  Quickly registered in the Women's Sunday, the Sunday Million, the Daily Bigs and some PCA/Canada Cup satellites.  Things did not go well.  It felt like I had a bounty on my head in each (of course in the Women's I did...), which is a good thing, but I was falling prey to two and three outers galore. 

The Canada Cup opened up....and I tried to leave everything else behind me.  As always, easier said than done, but a double up KK vs QQ put me in a better mood.  I will have to review my hand histories, but after that I didn't have many show downs that stick out in my memory.  Just tried to gather small amounts of chips whenever other players were leaving them lying around.  I especially got to make my move at the cash bubble, chipping up from 28k to almost 60k without a showdown, it was a great hour or so.  Once in the money, there was no question....final table was where I needed to be. 

The rest is history...

The incentives offered by PokerStars are awesome.  Hotel, flight, spending money in the Bahamas, not to mention....whoever ships this tournament gets to freeroll the 25k high roller tournament.  I get really excited just thinking about potential! I slept only for an hour or so last night, will have to get over that ASAP. 
So, now I have the "Januar-eh Nine" in my sights, and have some fun preparation work to do because I have every intention of showing this field how an Edmonton girl plays poker.  I will dust off a spot on my mantle for the trophy.  Stay tuned....I will show you how I train!

Then....as if I wasn't already pumped, Ryan shipped the last WSOP Circuit even in Hammond!  Now he has a big old ring to show off!

He was there today, in large part because our favorite....Eric was working at shipping the Main Event, unfortunately, it wasn't to be today, but 4th prize and a six figure score will be a decent consolation!

These guys have set the bar high...but I am so pumped and ready to crush my own final table....just a few more months...

Hopefully, I get some sleep tonight.