Garry Gates

I hope everyone is enjoying a safe and happy holiday season! On Thursday I returned to Las Vegas after a nine day trip to my hometown of Titusville, PA, courtesy of my thoughtful and amazing girlfriend Beth! Those who know me know that I absolutely despise Las Vegas during the month of December, with the exception of New Year's Eve of course; the novelty of toothless drug addicts in Santa hats, $400 Christmas trees and decorative lights on palm trees and cacti has simply worn off. I needed to be home for Christmas and thankfully I was.

My stay in T-Vegas, a nickname given to Titusville by its most recent generation of young adults due to the city's dissimilarities to the real Vegas, was loaded with good food, family, board games, bad weather, a lot of laziness, and as always, a poker game with the usual suspects. My dad summoned the old crew, and we played a $40 sit'n'go on Thursday night - I took third. It was great to spend some time reminiscing with the guys who sparked my enthusiasm for the game of poker. Imagine a home game filled with guys toting nicknames like MamaLuc (pronounced ooch), Raymone, Edgar or "The Lawyer," Junior, Senior, The Banker, and the Fonz. I promised them that if I ever make a final table at the World Series, I'd fly each one of them out to Vegas for the occasion - the producers at ESPN would be glad that I did.

Now that my vacation from Vegas is over, I'm getting ready to get back into the swing of things. Check back soon for more dirt direct from Sin City as I brush the dust off my keyboard and get back to work.

Be safe and enjoy the new year!

GG