Poker....

Truth be told, I have not been very good at hanging around the house and resting as I was told to do. I've been fishing once and tried to go again today, except the rivers are too swollen with the recent rains.

I thought that might be the case and came prepared. You see, the highway to the river I wanted to hit passes right by the local casino, so I brought three hundo. Just in case.

Now, if I was to have put on my waders instead, getting to the river at dawn would have been part of the plan; and it was, but one slip on a deserted bank would have found me  feeding crabs part of my face and hands a few miles further downstream. A losing day at the casino would be a better option, but arriving at 0815 hrs finds an equally empty poker room.

"How long before things get going in here?"

"About nine."

So I fooled around with $20 in the penny slots for a while and checked back occasionally until I saw a table full of white chips. Yeah, I'd play Limit for a bit in hopes of a NL table opening before dinner.

"You gonna play in the tournament?" an older gentleman asked.

"No."

"It's cheap. 40 bucks."

And by the time I got my rack of whites, the table broke for said tourney, so I bought in.

The levels were 20 minutes, 3K in chips, 25/50 to start. By the end of the first level I was short stack on the table. AK and JJ didn't cooperate, loosing both to the same codger. Yet, by the fourth level I had a well above average stack and he was gone. AA and QQ held up nicely, as did some well-timed aggression. And so it went until the final table. I did manage to make the bubble (4th) and jammed with my three big blinds from the big blind with deuces. (The first time I was able to actually defend my blinds.) Spades. Nice hand, sir.

Oh well.

Truth be told, I had a couple cups of joe beforehand. And, having not had any for a while, let me tell you I noticed a difference. I was wired for sound when I first sat down. And then I remembered my little tin with gum, Immodium and Thumper pills. I was chomping the gum, I was plugged up for the time being, and by the second level I was as cool as the seasoned pro.

So, I would like to dedicate this post to beta blockers.