Thanksgiving 2008: South Beach

Thanksgiving 2008: It has been 4 days since the marathon and I have recovered nicely I am back working out, trying to keep my fitness and allowing me to stuff myself with turkey and dessert and not gain weight. Margarite and I are heading to South Beach (Miami, Florida) for a few days of rest and relaxation. We took a mid- morning flight on Thanksgiving Day arriving at our hotel around 1:00pm. I arranged a top floor ocean / pool view room. The global economic crisis is having a great positive effect on people that have been savers and conservative with there savings. The hotel we are staying is the Sagamore. Since August the room rate has dropped 40% and occupancy is down 50%. Once we arrived at the hotel I went to the pool and Margarite took a nap.

(More to the story and some videos below)



The Sagamore is a art hotel more like an art museum then a hotel. There are sculptures and pictures throughout the hotel. One cool exhibit was the stairwell project where each floor of the stairwell was done by a different artist.

Thanksgiving Dinner was at Barton G a very unique restaurant local to Miami. At the restaurant we ran into Dan and Naomi, what a small world. They had read on LifeOfDUG that I was heading to South Beach and they decided it sounded like a great place to hang for Thanksgiving. They reason they had not told me they were headed to South Beach was they thought LifeOfDUG was 100% fictitious and did not believe Margarite and I were actually going to be in South Beach for Thanksgiving. We ended up having dinner together. Everybody had a great meals, Margarite had Foie Gras served with a replica Eiffel Tower bringing back memories of our recent trip to France. Naomi had a wheel barrel full of veggies.

Dan and Naomi were going to the Everglades National Park on Friday and invited us along. We did a 10 mile canoe trip through the glades. We started at Nine Mile Pond and followed a trail that winded its way through the glades and then back to Nine Mile Pond. It was a great trip the only disappointment is we did not see much wildlife.



On the way home we stopped at “Robert is here" which is a family owned and operated fruit stand, which is known for milkshakes. The milkshakes were good but not the world’s best.

Margarite and I were wiped out and called it an early night. I think Margarite is falling in love with me. Saturday I got up and ran an easy 4 miles on the beach I am amazed how quickly I recovered from the marathon. The plan for today is layout at the pool all day.

There is a crazy rumor that Naomi was seen at Miami Ink Friday night and got a very wild tattoo I have no idea if it is true or not, I just over heard some people talking at the pool about a situation that happened at Miami Ink and it sounded like something Naomi would be involved with.

Pee-Diddy was at our pool most of the day with his entourage you know the wrapper. Margarite got his autograph she thought the kids at the orphanage would get a kick out of it I found it strange as I have no idea how any of the kids would know who Pee-Diddy even is. There were also a lot of women with Pee-Diddy with what I would call artificial body parts. What would possess a woman to augment what nature gave them? I guess only a woman would know the answers to that one.

After a day in the sun for me and the shade for Margarite we hung out in the room until about 8:00 pm and then went out in search of food. Our hotel is just off Lincoln Road which is a pedestrian road with many local tourist restaurants and boutique shops as well as national chains. There are also many street vendors as well as street artist on Lincoln Road. There was one guy with no arms doing drawings with his feet, unbelievable. Lincoln Road was crowded so we walked down to Española Way & Washington Avenue. This is a small side street with a couple of local restaurants and Bohemian shops.

Sunday was a rainy cloudy day fortunately the pool has covered cabanas so we were able to hang out at the pool. Since we were the only one at the pool we had great service. There was a contest to see who could tread water the longest Margarite won she lasted 1.5 hours (see video).



We walked up to the Fontainebleau Hotel for dinner the Fontainebleau is a long time Miami Beach classic made famous in the late 1960's by Jackie Gleason. It has recently been remodeled and we thought it might be cool to see. It was a little overwhelming a rather large complex for two individuals from Botswana. We had dinner at Vida it was just ok. The walk up and back was a total of 4 miles and Margarite’s foot held up fine. On the way home we got to see a great fireworks display out on the beach, I am not sure what the occasion was, but they were great fireworks.

Monday, we fly home to Botswana. We fly direct from Miami to Dubai then connect to a direct flight into Botswana. Then the awesome 3 hour bus ride to our village. It has been well over a month since I have been home and can not wait to see everybody. We have a few hours to kill before our flight since it is raining we plan to do some shopping on Lincoln Road get some lunch and then head to the airport for the 20 hour trip.

We did find a great place for breakfast and lunch it is just south of Lincoln Road and Collins Avenue on Collins. It is called La Provence and is an authentic French Bakery. Unbelievable French Pastries, Mobe would love it. All and all South Beach was great for a few days of R&R.

As far as poker, I only played a little bit this week between the marathon and traveling I had no time, here are my Poker Statistics. I played less then an hour, only 89 hands. I won $154.90 which is $157.53 an hour.

Here are my biggest losing hand and winning hand.

POKERSTARS GAME #22348698931: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/11/25 - 08:14:25 (ET)
Table 'Alekto' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 4: Marijo03 ($60 in chips)
Seat 5: 99killed ($166.40 in chips)
Seat 6: DUG ($97.25 in chips)
Seat 7: redbull+pkr ($98.50 in chips)
Seat 8: Livity ($100 in chips)
Livity: posts small blind $0.50
Marijo03: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DUG [4h Ah]
99killed: raises $2 to $3
DUG: calls $3 I like my position and 99Killed is aggressive so if I hit the flush I will get most of his money.
redbull+pkr: folds
Livity: folds
Marijo03: folds
*** FLOP *** [6h 5c Qh]
99killed: bets $5
DUG: calls $5 I have the nut flush draw, I am not getting the right odds about 2 to 1 and I have about a 38% chance to hit, but the implied odds are very good because I know this player.
*** TURN *** [6h 5c Qh] [Ks]
99killed: bets $12
DUG: calls $12 This is a bad call. The pot is about $17 so I am not even getting 2 to 1 and I only have a 20% chance to hit a heart.
*** RIVER *** [6h 5c Qh Ks] [8s]
99killed: bets $30
DUG: folds I only have Ace high I have to fold.
Uncalled bet ($30) returned to 99killed
shmaf joins the table at seat #3
99killed collected $39.50 from pot
99killed: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $41.50 Rake $2
Board [6h 5c Qh Ks 8s]
Seat 4: Marijo03 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: 99killed collected ($39.50)
Seat 6: DUG folded on the River
Seat 7: redbull+pkr (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Livity (small blind) folded before Flop

Winning Hand

POKERSTARS GAME #22377869491: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($1/$2) - 2008/11/26 - 08:44:00 (ET)
Table 'Misam III' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: ibiza007 ($196 in chips)
Seat 2: DUG ($191 in chips)
Seat 3: vincewarby ($51.70 in chips)
Seat 4: BIGAUD257 ($21.05 in chips)
Seat 5: Haugiboy1986 ($76 in chips)
Seat 6: ab26 ($126.15 in chips)
Seat 7: Koldan ($78 in chips)
Seat 8: gosha15 ($51 in chips)
Seat 9: When in Rohm ($196 in chips)
ibiza007: posts small blind $1
DUG: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DUG [Ts 6s]
vincewarby: calls $2
BIGAUD257: folds
Haugiboy1986: folds
ab26: folds
Koldan: folds
gosha15: calls $2
When in Rohm: calls $2
ibiza007: calls $1
DUG: checks This is what is known as a big blind special. Remember I got into the hand for free, since I was the big blind.
*** FLOP *** [4d 8c 7s] I have a gut shot straight draw. This is not that good a hand, I need a 9 to hit my straight and someone could have Jack Ten which would have me beat. I just want to hope for a free card.
ibiza007: checks
DUG: checks
vincewarby: checks Perfect
gosha15: bets $6 Damm, I wish I got to play for free. This is a ¾ of the pot bet so he wants us to fold, so he must have top pair, and he wants to chase away any straight draws. Now someone could have 5 6 and already have a straight.
When in Rohm: folds
ibiza007: folds
DUG: calls $6 Normally this would look like a bad call, but I know Vincewarby will call, he is what is know as a calling station he will call every bet to the river, and then fold on the river unless he has a good but not great hand.
vincewarby: calls $6 Perfect, so I bet $6 into a pot that is $22 so that gives me the correct odds, considering I believe a Ten will also give me the win, 7 outs.
*** TURN *** [4d 8c 7s] [9s]
DUG: checks Perfect I now have a straight and a ten high flush draw. I know someone will bet so I will check raise.
vincewarby: bets $2 Wow he bet so he must have something. He would have bet more if he had a hand better then mine.
gosha15: calls $2
DUG: raises $13 to $15 I want to raise to chase out a better straight draw, also if I do get called this bet will disguise my flush draw if a spade comes on the river.
vincewarby: calls $13 Wow
gosha15: calls $13 Wow
*** RIVER *** [4d 8c 7s 9s] [As] Hit my flush, just hope one of these guys had an Ace.
DUG: bets $12 I want both to call so I make a weak beat.
vincewarby: raises $12 to $24 I hope he hit two pair on the river.
gosha15: calls $24 Wow.
DUG: calls $12 Have to call, I believe I have the best hand and even if I do not the odds are to good to fold.
*** SHOW DOWN ***
vincewarby: shows [Ac 9d] (two pair, Aces and Nines)
gosha15: mucks hand
DUG: shows [Ts 6s] (a flush, Ace high)
DUG collected $142 from pot That Ace was the best river card for me, they both hit two pair on the river.
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $145 Rake $3
Board [4d 8c 7s 9s As]
Seat 1: ibiza007 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: DUG (big blind) showed [Ts 6s] and won ($142) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 3: vincewarby showed [Ac 9d] and lost with two pair, Aces and Nines
Seat 4: BIGAUD257 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Haugiboy1986 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: ab26 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Koldan folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Se at 8: gosha15 mucked [Ad 8h]
Seat 9: When in Rohm (button) folded on the Flop


Cheers,

DUG