Well we are partially recovered from the trip, but what an incredible time! Got to see so many of our bars, meet owners, tournament directors and hundreds of players. AWESOME!
Here is the final tally…
7 Days
5 States
16 Bars visited
13 Tournaments Played
2 Days working a Trade Show
2,187 miles driven
0 Tickets
1,687 Jager Shots
THE WINNERS
We had 8 players follow us to at least 6 tournaments to earn their FREE VIP BADGES TO THE OPEN IN OCTOBER!
From Maryland
G.I. Joe Motley
Dave Menusan
Corrie Atkinson
Brian Deiss
Lisa Deiss
From Raleigh - Photo Coming!
John Owens
Carl Rigsbee
Steven “with a V” Dorsey
Unbelievable that you guys/gals followed us so far…Glad you had so much fun!
We also had another 20 or so players that made it to 3 tourneys to earn their free tee shirt!
THE TRIP
I'll try to keep this short…
Wednesday June 18
1:00pm Mike heads out of the WTP Offices in Durham, NC on a 4 hour trip to VA
5:00pm Arrive at Main St Bar and Grill and head into the bar for my first shot of the night! Over 70 players there…so crowded that they didn't have enough chairs! Thanks so much to the wonderful staff and to Lynn and Barb for putting on such a wonderful tournament.
8:15pm Jump in the car and drive 90 minutes to Seaside Marina in Benedict Maryland.
10:00pm Arrive to Seaside followed by the Raleigh and MD crew. Great bar and restaurant right on the water! 42 players strong and who is at the final table? ME!!!! J
2:00am Head to the hotel
Thursday June 19
11:00am Head with the Raleigh, NC crew up to Baltimore…do a little shopping and eating along the way.
5:00pm Arrived at The Charred Rib in Timonium to a crowd of over 60 players! The shots started flowing. Thanks to Pat and the staff at The Rib for such a great event.
8:30pm Head out to York, PA. Thanks to Steven for being my driver for the evening.
9:50pm Arrive at Mr. T's Road House just outside York to a huge crowd of players waiting with shots in their hands! One guy bought me 4 shots at one time…No, I didn't do them all J. Thanks to Mike & Theresa and the wonderful staff at Mr. T's!
1:00am Head to the hotel for a much need night sleep.
Friday June 20
8:00am Wake up and call Nancy because it's her 40th birthday today!!! Head 2 ½ hours to the Philadelphia Airport where Ben Dawson is flying in. We then head over to Jersey to get ready for another night out. (I still have chips)
6:00pm Arrive at Bubba Dean's in Mt. Ephraim, NJ. If you've never been to this place, it's simply awesome! Great food with huge servings…and they even have the sounds of the ocean playing in the bathroom. TOO COOL. And who is at the final table again? ME! J I grew up in South Jersey so also had a number of old friends come out to join in the fun. Did I mention more Jaeger shots?
2:15am Head back to my parents house. Yes, I still stay with my parents when I'm up there J Luckily they don't give me a curfew anymore!
Saturday June 21
11:00am Head up to North Jersey
1:00pm Arrive at Avellino's Restaurant and Bar. What a great crowd and a great bar. Got to see so many players I haven't seen in a while. And what was waiting for us when we arrived? Shots of Jager from the infamous Chris.
3:30pm Head 90 minutes to Croyden, PA just outside Philly.
5:00pm Pulled into the AMF parking lot followed by Arnie, the TD for AMF. TRUE STORY! He said he had to make a pit stop…he called the bar on the way and asked how much Jager they had…apparently not much so he had to stop and get another bottle!!!! Too Funny! Great time at AMF with Shari, Keith, Steven, Rob, Kelly, Mike, Sandy and all the great people up there!!! Thanks for an awesome time.
Sunday June 22
7:30am Ben and I head to NY City for the Bar & Nightclub Trade Show where we had a booth. During the show we got to see a number of our bar owners and managers including Brian Pfizer from Tim's Ugly Mug (that's him riding the bull below), the bartenders from The Cornerstone and the entire crew (20 of them) from The City Lounge in North Jersey.
5:00pm Head to the City Lounge to have a drink after an invitation from Tony the owner….and what are they doing when we arrive…Playing Poker. Great bar with a deck that has a serving window you can knock on when you need a drink. AWESOME!
8:00pm Head to Cryan's Ale House in Central Jersey. THIS PLACE ROCKS! Great bar, Great TDs and got to see their entry for THE BEST DAMN POKER BAR IN THE COUNTRY! We had an awesome time. Thanks to George, Linda, Lorraine and all. I think I also found someone who can do more shots than me. Mike the GM from Cryans made me look like I was an amateur. Great time…Plus, guess who was a the final table? ME! J
Monday June 23
9:00am Head back to the Trade Show in NYC for a full day of talking to drunk people at a trade show…not bad J
4:30pm Scoot out of the Trade Show early and head down towards Atlantic City, stopping off and seeing Shawn at High Velocity…A WTP Bar in Toms River NJ.
7:00pm Running a little bit late, we arrive at Mangia By The Green in Egg Harbor Twp, NJ greeted by the infamous G. Dull and his WorldTavernPoker.com Truck. YOU ROCK G! Good food, good drinks and lots of great people at Mangia!
9:00pm Head 60 miles west towards Philly and arrive at Harpers Pub in Clementon, NJ. We are 1 minute late..walk in and guess what…THEY STARTED PLAYING WITHOUT US! Thanks guys J Great to see Carlos, Tiffy and many old time WTP faces!
Tuesday June 24
9:00am Wake up late and start getting ready for the last day. Get on the road and start heading south. Made a couple of stops at other WTP bars along the way…The Corral Inn in Baltimore and the VFW in Morningside, MD.
7:00pm Arrive at Destry's in Emporia, VA. This place was great! Thanks so much to all 3 Willie Browns (3 generations of owners) and the great staff there!
8:30pm Head back to Raleigh to play in the last event of the Road Trip back on our home Turf. Thanks to Crowley's and all the players.
Overall…it was a simply awesome time! Thanks so much to everyone who came out and to all the bars that invited us with open arms!
NEXT ROAD TRIP? We are already talking about Indiana, Michigan and Western PA! We'll let you know!