A reminder to myself.

Played live poker on Friday in the hood. Had a pretty good night playing OH/8. Its so loose its not even funny, nearly every hand gets paid off. I'm the nut low master and was up ~$100. Until the end of the night and the bank is off by ~120. I'm seriously pissed, because its my responsibility, and I left some cash with the chips since there was a point which I was still in the tourney, and I let some guys buy their own chips for OH/8. I don't think anyone intentionally stole money. I mean none of these guys are worried about 100-200 bucks, it's just not that type of group. However, whenever more than one person handles the cash, stupid crap will happen, there's plenty of drinking going on. Ultimately, I was a lazy ass for not keeping all the cash under control, thus, I lose. YAY. When it leaks, it floods. I'm on a downswing now, and need to get out. erg.


NON POKER CONTENT TO FOLLOW.


The rest of my weekend was certainly the best of my weekend. Saturday was a rough start, the wife was perturbed (fuming) at my late (early) arrival and my desire to sleep as late as possible. Her sister was coming over to sit with the kids and give us a nite out. So date night wasn't starting out so great. Also I still had no plan whatsoever for what we might do. I am the king of last minute 'surprises' and creative planning, so I wasn't really worried.

The wife has been begging for years to take some dance lessons. I don't have a huge issue with this, but timing is a factor. We're very busy. Anyway, I found a place that does introductory salsa lessons. Now I really do like to dance, I'm not your typical 'too cool for it' guy. I actually take some pleasure of making an ass of myself on occasion. However, I just don't get salsa. The wife has been trying to get me to salsa forever. I an simply too white, my body doesn't understand how to move like that. Gimmie a foxtrot, a waltz or a box step, and I can fake it with the best, there's something about salsa I just don't get, and it looks like so much fun. (when done correctly) Well we danced for an hour or so and I was able to get some moves down. I was self conscious and frustrated though, which is not standard for me.

After South America, we moved on to Asia. We went to a Sushi/Yakitori/Noodle restaurant. It was a beautiful night, a little crisp in the air, but nice enough to sit outside, which I really wanted to do being overheated from dancing and dehydration. The wife had warmed up a little from earlier, and this is one of her favorite places to eat, so I'm batting 1.000 so far.

After a nice leisurely dinner we took a walk down to the Irish pub. 3 continents! I rock! My wife and her immediate family are all Irish and parts of my family are scotch/english/irish. She spent a summer there and wants to live there at some point. So needless to say, we had a good time at the pub. There's a twinge of cheese, yes, but this is actually where alot of the local Irish folks hang out. So the cheese factor moves down a bit. Also the Guinness is awesome there. Its one of the few places that doesn't serve it too cold, which is KEY off the tap.

Now things are going swimmingly, we have a nice little buzz and decide to check out one more place. The wife has a friend who's husband is a professional guitarist. He plays in a popular bar on the weekend to make a little extra cash and hang out with his buddies. We go to see if he is playing, and he is! Here's your typical American bar. So we stroll inside (its packed) and stake out a spot in font of the stage.

I feel so old.

Mostly 20-somethings standing around getting sloshed, looking to hook up with whoever will pay attention. This was never my kind of scene. I'm really not interested in crowds. But a few beers and 'knowing the band' helps. We had a good time, joining in the debauchery and before I knew it, it was 2:30. Time to get gone. A fantastic night.


These are the times I cherish most. Hanging out, talking doing SOMETHING, having an activity, especially with my wife, she's all kinds of fun. I don't do this enough. I am a selfish bastard with my time. I think I have earned or deserve 'me' time. This is somewhat true, but I don't regulate me time. I do a whole lot of regulating not me time.

Thus is the crux of my addiction to poker. My hour or 2 a week turned in to every night for hours. I knew it was wrong, and I didn't care.

So, some of you might not see me around as much. I will continue to play on WWDN Tuesdays' for awhile. and may just limit myself to that for a bit. I definitely will not play more than 2 nights a week. I simply have other shit that I could/should be doing instead.

It sounds like its addictive behavior, and it is. I've said this before, and if I can't put myself in check now, I've got some serious issues. I wanted to get this in print somewhere. As much as I love it, poker can not be my life's goal.

Reality Check

I will never be a professional poker player.
I will not make millions of dollars playing poker.
I am a tourist, a donk, a wannabe.
I am an addict.

A reminder to myself.