Heather, Author at PokerPilgrims

6 Reasons to Visit Las Vegas Even if You Don’t Gamble

September 4, 2018September 3, 2018 Heather Leave a comment

Las Vegas is an amazing city. Yes, it’s a mecca for gamblers. And if you play poker like we do, Las Vegas is a must-visit vacation destination. But Las Vegas is also a wonderful place to visit even if you never intend to drop so much as a penny into an airport slot machine. The city and its surrounding area offer everything a traveler could want.

Las Vegas

The Food

Las Vegas has incredible restaurants. The city has everything from top of the line eateries with menus planned by celebrity chefs to some of the best tacos you’ve ever bought in a parking lot. Food is one of the many areas where Las Vegas offers a little something for everyone. We’ve only visited Las Vegas four times (but we will be back!), so we have many meals yet to eat. In the meantime, here are some of our favorites:

How To Save Money By Planning to Leave Home

July 24, 2018 Heather 2 Comments

As our Poker Pilgrimage draws closer we’re finding that the mere plan to leave our home in four years is saving money today. We save money in a variety of ways that are all related to this long-term goal. When we devised our country-wide travel plan, we considered how much money we would need to save for it. We thought of the costs of travel and of working less than full-time. And of course, for us, the costs of playing poker.

What we didn’t realize was that we would save money in the years leading up to our journey. Just knowing that we’re planning to leave our home has saved us from buying things that we would otherwise “need”. Along the same lines, we’re no longer planning home improvement projects (remodeling, redecorating, gardening), as we know that we’re a few short years from handing our home over to another family who will have their own tastes and interests. It has also inspired us to sell some of our things rather than paying to store them while we travel. As we near our departure date, we’ll ultimately be selling, donating, and recycling most of our stuff, including our house.

How to Meditate to Reduce Stress

July 16, 2018July 17, 2018 Heather Leave a comment

In my ongoing campaign to reduce stress and anxiety, increase my levels of gratitude, and embrace optimism, I have taken up meditation. Actually, I should say that I have taken up meditation again. I have long been aware of the reported benefits of meditation. I first learned how to meditate in a college course on “Stress and Health”. At the time, my professor emphasized both the emotional and physical benefits of meditation. However, when I gave meditation a try as part of a homework assignment, I had a panic attack.

That experience stuck with me for a long time. I finally gave meditation another shot a couple of years ago, when life events sent my stress levels off the charts. I knew I needed to reduce my stress and anxiety or I was going to be heading to the doctor. This time around I had a much better experience, and have been meditating at least semi-consistently ever since.

So I learned how to meditate, downloaded a couple of meditation apps, and started practicing regularly. I have since reaped the benefits of meditation. My stress levels are definitely lower now that I meditate. Despite juggling three jobs, two teenagers, and the financial challenges posed by a child heading off to college. Meditation also helps me to sleep better and think more clearly.

5 Ways to Enjoy the WSOP Without Spending $10,000

June 25, 2018June 24, 2018 Heather Leave a comment

Disclosure: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. However, we would never recommend a product or service that we don’t use and love ourselves. We promise! For more information, see our Disclosure page.

Paul and I are heading to Las Vegas this week for the 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP). No, we are not laying down $10,000 and playing in the Main Event. While that is a bucket list item for us, we imagine fulfilling that dream many years down the road. No, we are lucky enough to be heading to Vegas in our role as ambassadors for Advanced Poker Training, the poker training site for which we also blog. APT is holding a WSOP Meet N Greet and they asked us to help represent the site. We did not have to think very hard before saying “hell, yeah!”.

We have been to Vegas a couple of times before and loved it. However, we’ve never been during the World Series of Poker. In planning this trip, we discovered that while the WSOP is in town most casinos suspend their daily tournaments. On our previous trips, The Venetian and the Aria have been our go-to rooms of choice. Both hold regular small stack (less than $200 buy-in) tournaments that we really enjoy. As we planned our current trip, we discovered that both are hosting tournament series this month alongside the WSOP. As we mentioned in our last post, we are currently facing the first college tuition bill for Paul’s older daughter. $1,500 (or even $500) buy-ins are off the table for this trip.

Low Stakes Tournament Options During the WSOP

There are plenty of options to play well-structured low stakes tournaments during the WSOP. For the purposes of this article, we define low stakes as anything at or below $200. If you are looking for such a game, here are your top five options:

6 Steps You Must Take Before You Make Hotel Reservations

The 6 Steps You Must Take Before Making Hotel Reservations

June 4, 2018June 4, 2018 Heather Leave a comment

When you are planing a trip, whether long-term or short, you will often need to make hotel reservations. On the surface, this seems like a straightforward task. However, a number of factors will determine whether you return home congratulating yourself on a hotel well-chosen, or lamenting your misguided decision.

These 6 steps will make or break your hotel reservation process:

1. Determine Whether a Hotel is Right for Your Trip

The very first step is determining whether you want to make hotel reservations at all. In this day and age, there are a wide variety of options for overnight accommodations other than hotels. At the outset of your trip planning process, you should consider these alternate possibilities:

Author: Heather