From my balcony, I can see two cruise ships on the horizon, two weddings on the grounds beneath me, and the stetting sun bathing the entire scene in a golden light. The sound of waterfalls and reggae music drifts up on a light breeze, which was a fierce windstorm as recently as last night.
The white sand of the beach is dotted with washed-over footprints, and the sting rays in the pool beneath me are settling into the shallows, now in shade, where they spend their evenings.
When I landed here in Nassau, and did some interviews to promote PokerStars and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, I commented that even if I didn’t make the money, the "consolation prize of a week" in paradise with my wife would do quite nicely.
It turns out that I was right.
Catching up on the last few days . . .
After Anne and I slept for fourteen hours to catch up from our post-holiday and red eye flight exhaustion, we wandered around the grounds here. We ate lunch, and had our first experience with the absolutely abominable service in the restaurants here. (Rude, slow, and disinterested seems to be the standard theme, always rewarded by the mandatory 15% tip which is helpfully included in all of our bills.)
After lunch, we went down to the beach where we played Scrabble and watched people parasail, ride jet skis, and play in the surf and sand. I’ve lived all over the world, and I’ve been to some really beautiful places, but there is nothing like the beauty of the Caribbean water on a sunny day. Even when the weather was lousy, like it was yesterday, the seas still managed to look excited, rather than angry, and when the sun poked through the clouds, it shot brilliant shafts of light down that looked like something from one of those awesome 1980s oil paintings you see over your grandparents’ couch.
When the afternoon got late, and the wind kicked up, we headed back upstairs and got ready for the welcome party that PokerStars had for all the participants and staff. Before the party, I had a meeting with all the Team PokerStars members, and met 2005 WSOP Champion Joe Hachem for the first time. I didn’t think it was possible to meet a poker player who is nicer and more friendly than Greg Raymer, but Joe is just as amazing as Greg is, and just as patient and kind to legion of fans who want a piece of him. After the meeting, I picked up Anne, and we walked with Greg, Joe, Isabelle Mercier (sigh), Lee Jones, and several of the PokerStars staff over to the welcome party.
The party was held poolside on this place they call The Royal Deck, because it sits in the shadows of the luxurious Royal Towers, and there was live music, lots of food, and enough open bars to keep a bunch of rowdy poker players happy. Dan Goldman took the stage after we’d all been there about thirty minutes, and introduced all the people who worked so hard to make this tournament happen. If I recall correctly, he said something like, "To make this happen, it takes six months of planning, three months of work, and two weeks of complete panic." One of the many reasons I’m so proud of my affiliation with PokerStars is because I get to work with people like Dan and Sharon and Lee, and too many other hardworking people to count, who really care about their players. I know I’ve talked about it before, but I don’t know if I’ve written about how much it feels like a big family. I’m exceptionally lucky to be part of this company.
After the staff introductions, Dan introduced the members of Team PokerStars, minus Chris and Evelyn, who had flight issues, and after Joe made a brief speech where he said, "There are only two rules: when I raise, fold. And when I go all-in, fold." Ah, poker humor. While it lacks the subtlety of "pull my finger" jokes, it certainly makes up for it with the obscurity normally reserved for Monty Python jokes.
We all ate and drank (just water and juice for me, thanks) for a few hours, and I managed to, while completely sober, drop an entire 16 ounce cup of cranberry juice on the ground while talking with Terrance Chan and his girlfriend Jacqueline. Awesome. We also finally met Otis’ wife, Mrs. Otis, which confirmed that poker bloggers always marry up. I don’t know how we do it, but I’m glad we do. I also met a few people who were fans of my blog, my books, and my acting work, which is always cool, because I still feel out of my league at these things, and I’m always terrified that someone’s going to figure out that they actually meant to recruit a different WIl Wheaton for Team PokerStars. I resolve to accept that I deserve to be at the next thing, whatever it is, and quit doubting my abilities as a player, and my legitimacy as a member of the team.
After the party, Anne and I were still hungry, so we ate in that Cafe place again, mostly because it was close, open, and we knew there were things on the menu we liked, before we turned in early enough for me to fall asleep before midnight, wake up at 12:30, and toss and turn until 5AM. When the alarm went off at 8:45, I felt like I had gremlins gnawing on my head and spikes shoved into my back, but I drank some coffee, ate a muffin, and shook it off in time for my interviews at 10:00.
The weddings below me are in full-swing, and the sun has dropped beneath the lowest bank of slowly-drifting clouds, flecking their edges gold and painting the horizon orange and red. I’m going to take this down to the PokerStars office so I can use their Internets to post it.
Next time: The Tournament. (For those of you who can’t wait, check out Otis’ updates at The Official PokerStars Blog.)
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Sounds like you are having Multiple Fun Times yonder! Enjoy. Back to school for me. Ah, learning…
Sounds like you are having Multiple Fun Times yonder! Enjoy. Back to school for me. Ah, learning…
Wil.. Cherish the adventure.
Keep these moments in your soul. Thank you for taking the time to tell us about it. We all know you don’t have to write about the experience. Yet, you do and it feels as we are right there along with you. So thank you again for taking time out of your life to enrich your fans.
Plus, I was flipping through some channels tonight and I landed on your 2003 TV appearance in BOOK OF DAYS. I loved your performance. I look forward to when your new movie
‘Americanizing Shelley’
comes out. You have not yet begun to show us all what you are made of.
Here’s to you having a long career in anything you set your mind to, as we your fans will always be there to support you.
That’s Terrence with three e’s 🙂
Terrence has been getting as much blog coverage at this tournament as some of the much better known poker celebrities… see these two posts on the PokerStars Blog, and these two posts on Bahamas Poker Blog. Even Wil Wheaton mentioned
How common it is to have the question, “Do I really belong?” Sometimes its hard to tell whether those are really insecure moments or the struggle of the little child inside trying to grasp the moment with a sense of faith that it really is happening just as you wished when you blew out those mythical candles and hoped for such an experience. The fact is simply: You do belong, so enjoy yourself. Best wishes as you compete, worthy player!
Ah, and one more thing to remember that a friend taught me once…now I pass on to you. Three words: You are enough.
Sounds like a lot of fun, Wil. Except for the cranberry juice incident. But, if it’s any consolation, you have no idea how frequently otherwise sane, sober individuals will drop, dump, or otherwise lose their drinks in very embarassing ways. It rocks. Take it from one who’s used just about every tactic imaginable. Anyway, have fun with the rest of your trip!
Shauna
Sounds like a cool adventure despite a few flaws. Well not literally cool… the warm seems very appealing as I look out at snow-covered trees.
Thanks for sharing it.
I just checked out the Poker site to see how you were doing at the game. Sorry that you had such a tough hand. However, my comments about your abilities still stand. You do belong. You are enough. Hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in Paradise.
“I’m always terrified that someone’s going to figure out that they actually meant to recruit a different Wil Wheaton for Team PokerStars.”
Wil, I find your humility very admirable. Don’t ever lose that.
From your whole approach to doing the poker tourney for fundraising for tsunami aid to this… You are an icon.
Not sure how your poker skills are. I know you were playing SNGs regularly – did you track your ROI? In any event, I never thought “PokerStars” implied a certain skill level, but rather a level of celebrity. Raymer, Moneymaker and Hachem may have gotten their celebrity as a result of their poker play, but it doesn’t make it less valuable to pokerstars that you didn’t. Maanwhile, it’s not as though you billed yourself as a poker badass, so you have only upside. Good luck next time, and I’ll see you at a WWdN tourney sometime soon, as my Paradise roll is getting all fat now that I’m playing more and I’m going to be diversifying it soon, and I’ll have some at PS so I can play in your tourneys.
Not sure if your aware of this Wil…
Atlantis is reporting that “50,000 identities have been taken from the hotel’s database.”
Better check on it quick..
Cheers
Sounds like you are having a great time. Looking forward to your next pod cast. I hope I have not missed any.
Saw a post on boingboing and immediately thought of you in “D&D nerd mode”. Even though you’re so far away, I’m sure you’ll get such a kick out these that you’ll order them immediately, so they’re waiting for you on your return.
Fuzzy d20s for your windscreen. That’s right. Fuzzy d20s to hang from your rear view mirror.
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/08/fuzzy_d20s_for_your_.html
or direct to…
http://www.jinx.com/scripts/details.asp?productID=572&catID=-1&affID=-1&n=70
Happy 2006 Everyone! Best wishes for you all–
“Hey Wil”,
Are you gonna get a ‘game’ part for your site? Paizo is not enuf for you!
Tell us like it is for you when you are gaming / would love to see this side of you online more often: do you have a game group in your hometown that is interested in working on developing game stufff?
[like http://www.montecook.com/mpress.html ]
Would love to work on OGL game material (d20) with you, as a writer it is always very fun.
Dork Tower > rulz! roxx!
Come to Australia…no mandatory tipping! And the service tends to be great.
You’re so right about Carribean water. I went home to Barbados a couple of Christmases ago and I couldn’t stop staring at the ocean, drinking in the colour.
I love the idea of Scrabble on the beach. Just something about that image that works.
Sorry about the poker tournament. I hope you two had a great time there.
By the way, you’ve been TAGGED
FRANKL
Review of the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island in The Bahamas
Although the Atlantis is a gorgeous place to sight-see, it’s not a very great place to stay. The rooms really weren’t that impressive given how much they cost. I was also amazed at how many things that broke or were
Did you meet a Joe Cassidy at the tournament? We are friends with his dad but I don’t know if Joe does all the poker events. By the way, a co-worker just got back from macworld and said you didn’t speak there this year. Did you just go last year? Keep up the good work on everything you do.
Did you meet a Joe Cassidy at the tournament? We are friends with his dad but I don’t know if Joe does all the poker events. By the way, a co-worker just got back from macworld and said you didn’t speak there this year. Did you just go last year? Keep up the good work on everything you do.