When Even Your Best Isn't Good Enough

Thanks to my illustrious career in the transportation industry, holidays mean nothing. I've told my wife this, and prepared her for the days when we have kids, and the kids wonder why Dad isn't around on Christmas, or Easter or whenever. Being the son of an airline pilot, I got real used to Christmas being on the 27th of December.. Or the 23rd, or whenever the Old Man was in town. And so the full circle has been drawn. Now I am the one working the holidays, though admittedly I get to come home every night.

And so, lacking any particular point to make with that beginning, I shall let it trail off into the sunset.

We had the final round of the Masters on TV here at work, and for the first time in I can't remember I actually enjoyed watching televised Golf. I've been a golfer since my high school days, and I absolutely love the game, but just don't have enough time or fundage to play as much as I'd like. Anyway, I watched some unbelievable shot making. The back nine was an incredible spectacle of golf, with 2 hole in ones and an incredible shot from K.J. Choi from 220 yards out on the 11th that found the bottom of the cup, followed by Terminator like golf from him that his final standing fail to fully appreciate. Ernie Els shot an incredible 67 and had firm control of the lead until the final few holes, when Mickelson went on a tear to chase down Els for the green jacket.

And the Cubs won. It don't get no better then this.

And this has been your Sports Report for this evening.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same for my poker today. Last night after work I headed to the local watering hole to bid another of our fine employees farewell, and when I got home I was a little too amped up to simply go to bed, so I fired up a $5+$1 tourney. I was really not getting much of anything for cards, but a few well placed plays saw me to a 3rd place finish. Not yet ready for dreamland, I fire up another and repeat the 3rd place finish. Content with the $8 profit I hit the sack. This morning/afternoon I decided in the shower that I was going to play some $10+$1. Jumped into my first tourney of the day around 11:30 and was getting fed a steady diet of, as T.J. Cloutier would say, toilet paper. Everyone was playing ultra-tight and when the blinds hit level 3, everyone was still around. I picked up Big Slick in middle position and put out a 3x BB bet which got called in two places. The flop missed and I bet out for information. The guy to my left called me down, which left me guessing, and the guy to my right went away. Turn misses me too and pairs jacks on the board. I put out a feeler bet and am instantly re-raised. I contemplate and contemplate, but I don't feel that my outs are clean, so I fold out, down to about 450 in chips. The crap cards continue and I basically get blinded out in 5th. Stinging from the loss, I crawl back to the $5+1 games. I played 4 and placed 2nd twice, 3rd once and like 6th on one. Figuring the loss of the $11 tourney, and the two early morning wins, my total take for the day was +$3. Hey, it's green on the screen, so I'm happy.

I'm also rather encouraged with the possibility that my tourney game might be coming back to me. Some of you might remember that I was down to the felt some months ago and the $5+$1 sit and goes brought me from around $35 to a rather healthy bankroll for the 50/1 limit games, but then the bottom dropped out and I went on a rather severe losing streak on them. I dumped the S&G's for the ring games and haven't been back since, half gunshy about the thrashing I was taking and half thinking the ring games would ultimately prove more profitable. Since I've hit a rut, both in terms of profitability and mentally, in the ring games, I think I'll screw around in the tourneys again for a while. At least I know I've still got what it takes to win them.. There was some doubt when I last left them.

What's more... Today I was getting some absolute crap for cards.. I mean, this goes beyond what you and I would consider "normal" bad cards... I'm talking K2o, 94o, Q7o. The only time an Ace would show up in my hands would be under the gun or in early position, and even then it would be accompanied by the obligatory 6 or 8 or some crap kicker. Premium starting hands fell to pieces on the flop. In spite of all these, I was able to pull a profit. Poker might take a bit of a hiatus in the next couple of days.. I'm heading Up North to visit the P's tomorrow.

And now, a new installment here on the Intrepid Card Player, the "What The Fook Were They Thinking?" segment, here-to-fore referred to as the WTFWTT files?

In a scene straight out of The Cooler, an Englishman walks into the Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas after having sold off everything, including the shirt off his back (he was wearing a rented tuxedo). After some random bets here and there, he finally slides every red cent he has, around $135,000, onto the red 7.

And it hit.

Darwin fails us again.

Page Two... A bunch of Atheists are apparently all lathered up after a request for an "official welcome" from the governor of Colorado and/or the Mayor of Colorado Springs was answered with an invitation to pack sand. When pressed for a reason, Mayor Lionel Rivera cited his belief that scheduling an Atheist convention on Easter weekend was bad timing.

"Anybody in the United States is welcome to express their beliefs and opinions," Rivera said. "I just think it's bad timing."

Hey, Mayor, it might help if you would take three seconds out of your friggin day to realize the Atheists don't recognize Easter since, you know, they're decidedly not Christian! In fact, Atheists, by what I gather after having been married to one (not my current wife), don't believe in much of anything. It's rather depressing actually, but I digress. It's not like the Atheists were going to be marching down the streets of Colorado Springs denouncing Christians for being Christian. They were going to have their little convention in their little convention hall. I would imagine of all the "religious groups" out there, Atheists have to be among the most innocuous. I, as mayor of Colorado Springs, would be far more threatened if the Church of Scientology wanted to set up camp on Easter Sunday in my fair city and wanted a blessing from City Hall.

So much for separation of Church and State.

Anyway, I'll spare you any more of my mindless drivel...