First Words

Hello, world. Allow me, if you will, to introduce myself. Well, when I say introduce myself, I mean to those who don't know me. For those who do, just talk quietly amongst yourselves for the next few minutes.

My name is Landon Blackhall, I'm 26-and-a-half years old and I live in Melbourne, Australia. For the last three years I've been touring all around Australia and South-East Asia reporting on major poker events. You might have seen my work on PokerNetwork and PokerNews (I blog under the handle LandoCalrisian) and I've also done some work with the PokerStars Blog.

I've also written numerous columns for Bluff Australasia Magazine (which is now PokerNews Australia, Asia & Pacific) and I've recently been appointed the Editorial Co-ordinator for Shuffle Magazine, the official publication for the Australian Poker League (APL).

It's been an exciting three years, don't get me wrong - the opportunities to travel, the people you meet and of course being front and centre for some of the world's richest poker events (including the Aussie Millions, in my hometown) is something that most people would only dream about.

And believe me, they do - I constantly have people telling me that they wish they could have my job. "You're so lucky," they tell me. "You get to meet all the pros, go to all the parties ... you have the best job in the world!"

From the outside looking in, they're absolutely right. It is one of the best jobs in the world. However, like any job, it can become boring and tedious. It's also a very lonely job - even though you're surrounded by so many people you know, they're all constantly living, not just playing, poker. It's like you're in another world half the time and when you drag yourself home from the airport and try to wind down after another long trip interstate or overseas, you can get withdrawals.

Then again, I can't really complain. It's certainly better than what things were a few years ago. But I digress. There is a reason I started this blog - I need to break the mould and expand my vision outside of poker and the gaming industry.

I want to be able to work on other things and at the same time, give my brain some much-needed stimulus apart from trying to wind down from a poker tournament by playing Super Mario Galaxy non-stop for weeks on end (although I am a huge Mario fan, it's not doing me any favours, for what it's worth).

My long-term goal is to develop my skills and gain more work as a journalist, not just a poker reporter. I also want to gain some steady work (not wait for each paycheck to come in every few months) and ultimately branch out into other areas of the media. One day, I would love to run my own radio show or be a video presenter. I would love to get into voice-over work or commentary as well.

Right now, I'm focusing on improving my health. I have done this in a form of a wager with my fiance. Starting next week, we're on a race to lose 20 kilograms each - whoever loses has to buy our new bed in full.

We would have started earlier, but unfortunately I was almost out of action due to a mysterious foot injury (which had me in crutches for the most part of this year's Aussie Millions - more on that later), and the fiance's tooth fell out (due to a botched filling by the dentist), so she's currently recovering from that. We'll be getting there, we promise!

Anyway, that should do it in terms of my first post. It's now just past 10pm AEDT and I should be getting some rest. As for this blog, I'm hoping that I can at least type something every day. From there, I'm also going to be starting a video blog too. I can't say when that will be, but it will be very soon.

And I make this promise - unless it's massive news (or relevant news, such as the results of the WSOP or Aussie Millions), there won't be one word written about poker on this blog. No offence to my colleagues in the industry, but the last thing I want to be doing is "talking shop".

This blog is the first step towards "rebooting" my mind and getting back in touch with the rest of the world. I hope this works - and I also hope that you, dear reader, will join me for the ride. It could get a little bumpy.