Welcome to my World

Posted by longclaw

December 26, 2007

Hey everyone, welcome to my crazy world. I think I have started my first post here about five different times and I have ended up scraping everyone. I am really not all that good at introductions, but once I get to know you a bit I should be able to open up and really let you guys and gals into my head. My blog here will probably be more stories than strategy. I am a small time grinder, not a high-stakes pro. Some of the other writers here make their living playing poker, and hopefully someday I will be able to say that as well, but right now I am just trying to put together enough of a roll to move from the “micro” tab at Pokerstars. I do OK for myself but I have trouble staying focused. Hopefully this blog will help me stay on track. I really think I am close to making my move next year.

In those first drafts that I ended up trashing I was going to tell you about the games that I play in and why but nothing sounded right to me after I read it. I have been trying to break into Pot Limit Omaha this past week but it has been pretty brutal, I am down about six buy-ins over two days which is something I am really not use to. I know that your variance in PLO is much higher than NLHE but it has been a little hard to deal with and the tilt-monkey got out of the cage a few more times than usual. Losing 200 big blinds after getting the money in as a 70-40 favorite a couple times can wear on you. It can make you wonder if the cards will ever fall in your favor again, if you will ever get lucky again.

I was hanging my head today after I lost a buy in with set over set again when my son Grant came over to the computer. He got a Wii for Christmas and he was having trouble in a tough spot of Lego Star Wars and he wanted my help. I really didn’t want to play. I wanted to get back in the PLO game and try to win my money back. Grant is only four and I knew how much he likes that game so I relented and traded my mouse for a nunchuck controller and got him past the sticky spot he was in. He took back the controls once I was finished and I headed upstairs to the kitchen to get another cup of coffee. Grant followed me up the steps a few minutes later and I asked him how he was doing. He said he was doing good. I asked him if he had a good Christmas and he told me yes.

Then he said something that really got to me. “Dad, thank you for my pwesents” (hey, he is only four.) Then he said “I love you dad.”

It really isn’t as materialistic as it may sound here. I love my son and he knows it. Yes, I do spoil him, but it isn’t just the stuff that I buy him. It is the time that I put in with him, playing video games, coloring with him, reading him a bed time story, building Lincoln logs, all the little things that a kid needs but doesn’t always get. It isn’t easy working 70-80 hours a week out of town, coming home and taking care of all the little things that owning a house entails, being a husband and a father to a wired four year old and still trying to find time to play poker. Sometimes I think that people who can play all day without worrying about anything are really lucky, and sometimes I get a little jealous of their freedom. But it only takes one moment for me to forget about all that, to forget about all the bad beats and cold decks I have been getting, all the buy-ins I’m stuck. You can’t really know it until you have kids, but one of the greatest things in the world is when they say “I love you”, because even if they can’t truly comprehend what they are saying you know it is true, and that is something you just can’t beat. I am a lucky man, and I hope I remember that.

Well, that is a little peak behind the curtain. I hope this wasn’t too melodramatic for you all. I promise the next post will have some actual poker in it but for now it is Christmas and it is a good time to remember that wether you are running hot or running cold, somethings are more important than a turn or a river card, no matter what stakes you are playing.

Thanks for your time,

Chris

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