The Opulence

I am not allowed to complain when I'm running over EV
I am not allowed to complain when I'm running over EV
I am not allowed to complain when I'm running over EV

If I write that down enough times, maybe I'll actually adhere to it.  Since returning back to Chiang Mai, I've won a multi-table tournament, am making $3/game in 180s, finished third in the BOP for $400, and oh yeah -- I'm running sick hot in my main game, 9 max hypers. 

So even though the last two days have been frustrating, it's been a rather profitable two weeks.  From the tables alone I'm up $4500 and there's more money in bonuses, rakeback, coaching, staking, etc.  I'm ahead of pace in my $30k in 90 days challenge, but obviously a few more bad days in a row and it could change.

That said, in a few days I won't be grinding online -- I'll be doing it live, in Macau.  One annoyance of living in Thailand is the difficulty in securing a Visa.  You'd think that the country would encourage affluent foreigners to stick around and contribute to their economy, but that's not the case.  I'm not able to get a Visa while physically inside Thailand, so that means I have to leave the country and once I'm in a different land, I can then apply for one at their Thai embassy.  Makes perfect sense. 

The obvious silver lining is that this Visa inefficiency forces me to explore other countries in Southeast Asia.  In October, I did my Visa run in Vientiane, Laos and I won't make that mistake again.  I guess it wasn't terrible, but there simply wasn't much to do.  And I wasn't about to grind on shoddy internet.  This time, Macau.  I'll handle the business stuff first in Hong Kong (Macau doesn't have a Thai embassy) and afterward ferry back to Macau to play live poker and admire the opulence.  I arrive late Monday night, expect a full trip report sometime on Sunday.