Back to the Monkey Board!!!

It looks like it is back to the monkey board!! Poker is such an ugly monkey, you play well for over 6 hours avoid a moderate number of coin flips, beat out over 1000 entrants and you miss the money by 35 people. That is my life I suppose. Anyway this the result of what happens when you play in the largest World Series of Poker Circuit Event in history. There were 1,187 entrants at the Horseshoe in Hammond, Indiana on October 24th and 99 of those entrants were paid. My luck ran out at 134th place. I can say that I didn’t play bad and that I did get my fair share of cards. Having pocket aces at least four times and twice on the short stack in the big blind. So, it came down to a toss up of ace, king versus pocket queens. Any need to tell you how that ended? Didn’t think so. Now it is back to the drawing board for me. Back to grinding it out in small tourney’s online to get some bucks generated and see what I can do. Couple of months ago I turned $50 into $1300 in two weeks, to bad I blew threw that trying bigger tourney’s and cash games. But I was able to salvage sum and pay some overdue bills. Now once again I am back and gonna try it again on Full Tilt Poker. I will let you know in about 2 weeks how everything went! Good luck me!!!!

Is It The Nuts or Did I Just Get Kicked In Mine???

No, I am not talking about a bad beat in poker here; I am referring to drawing hand that is my love life. As a poker player and a guy with a very liberal view in politics and in the world, I have found that the women I date are probably my polar opposite. Maybe that’s why I am drawn to them, because for lack of better words they are not a sick individual. I mean I’m sorry any person that basically gambles for a living or gambles in the hopes of turning it into a living, ah to hell with it, anybody who plays poker is a sick, sick, sick person. By being an introverted person, I have issues already and it is only compounded by the fact that I play poker. (A game that at times can put a toll on you emotionally) Now when it comes to the women that I have been dating, they often ask me about what I want to accomplish in life, so naturally poker comes up. And then I get a fribbin’ flood of questions but mainly, I get the boo boo face. If you don’t know what that face is, let me notify you. It’s when the night is going perfect and the passion and flirting is frickin’ insane and you fart. Fart so loud that the whole restaurant can hear it... Better yet, it’s when you flop the nut flush and the guy catches runner, runner for a full house. Your response... That’s the boo boo face. When they look at you and their eyes pop out of their skull like a damn Looney Toon’s joint. I try to avoid that talk until at least the fourth, fifth, sixth, date. Hell I just hope were married before it comes up. At least that way I have some leverage. Seriously though, the black blanket of death to any potential relationship I want to have is now derailed due to my aspiring poker career. I mean don’t get me wrong there are other factors that come into play, but the poker trail is the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back. While in most regards I can accept the fact that these women have a right to be particular in the men they see, it’s the misconception of me being a poker player that irritates me. No, I am not a gambling addict. No, it is not just a hobby that I will grow out of. No, it’s not about how lucky I am. No, it’s not about me winning $50k and then spending it all on poker. No! No! No!!!! The intricacies of being a poker player is more than just sitting at a table, making bets, looking at cards, and hoping for the best. It is so much more than gambling and the fact that people who don’t understand it can scrutinize and belittle it without even a working knowledge of it is amazing. I am not calling these women stupid or bad people. But with all do respect, is being an entrepreneur anything more than having an idea, getting a loan, and hoping the business is a success? Is being a doctor anything more than going to school, learning about the human anatomy, making good grades and hoping a patient never dies on your watch? Is being a teacher anything more than going to college, getting a degree, and going somewhere to regurgitate the same information to younger students? The answer to all of those questions are no. How can we have such a poignant view of someone’s life and or craft without first attempting to be empathetic and sympathetic to their views? I am not saying that poker is the end it all of life. But it is a part of my life. And in choosing the people we like and or love, we can’t only say I will be with you if you do this for this long, or say that yeah, I care about you but, you have to set a timetable to stop. Understand that the stress and pressure of playing for the dollar is monumental and at the same time invigorating. Poker is more than gambling. It is in some respects competition in the purest form. Everybody at the table is equal. What it is that separates us is not our tax brackets, who we know, or where we live. What truly separates us is our skill, willingness to learn, and dedication to the game. We are no different than doctors who go to school in the hopes of attaining knowledge that will save someone’s life. Not because they want the paycheck or the title, but because it is what they love to do. It is their passion. What they know they were born to do. I know that in this life of mine poker is a part of who I am. And for the women that date me and fellow poker players, understand that we would never ask you to change anything that is true to who you are, so don’t ask us to do the same….But I mean if we are down like $300k, club us over the head and pull us away from the damn table…..PLEASE!!!!!

There's An Evil Monkey In My Closet!!!

I am not losing my mind. There is an evil monkey that lives in my closet...And it seems that no matter what I do it just doesn't want to leave me alone. It is always there laughing when my aces get cracked by Jack, Five suited. It is forever showing its grtty, ivory teeth sniping down on me with an extended finger and piercing eyes calling me a "sick pup". That dang monkey is going to get a banana shoved down its fribbin' throat!! I HATE YOU EVIL MONKEY!!!!

Okay, now I hope I didn't scare you off with that flashback. Seriously people, I would like to welcome you all to my blog, Beware of The Monkey. Strange title for a poker blog right? But what do you expect from a former Theater Major, who took creative writing classes. I took the evil monkey reference from the cartoon sitcom, Family Guy. Chris Griffin is constantly at war with a psychotic monkey that resides in his closet. In a sense that what poker is to me, something I am constantly at war with. Yet, still I have a positive, comical outlook with it. Plus, I mean I have an active imagination and I am a big goofball. So, naturally I had to incorporate my eccentric personality and creative juices into my poker. Whether its the tourney's I play in online or the cash games I play in live at the Horseshoe Casino, I will discuss openly what I was thinking, why I did what I did, and I welcome any questions or thoughts into what I post. And no it won't be all poker. I will have a full plate of ideas that leave my head and head onto the world wide net. From events that are happening around the world or down the street from me. Well maybe not down the street. Not a lot intersting there, maybe there is a bum or two. I just hope that all who read this will take something from what I write and what I think. Some is relevant and some may be some of the most ridiculous stuff you have ever heard. At the very least you should get a kick out of it and the events of my life. I think the things I experience in my life are funny, comical even. All I can say is enjoy, and Beware of The Monkey......