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Monday, November 26, 2012

Out of the Bunker....Firing!!!

So by now, I'm sure you all figured out there wasn't any 'follow up' good news. It's amazing how high this game of poker can lift you...and how low it can drop you.  Adding to that...I hear stories throughout the poker world, so and so got screwed out of his job. So and so can't get their money off of Site X. I read a few of these comments that get left on here...and just wonder to myself, "Self, what kind of an asshole leaves a message like that? What person invests THAT much emotion to try and get a rise out of me? Why hasn't God dealt that person a case of penis cancer yet? How much longer will it be before he does? Will I have to wait long? Should I fire up some popcorn and throw some beer on ice?"

I came back for Day 2 with what I would call a 'decent stack.' Three times the starting stack was perfect...coming back I had 35 BB's...which was just fine. Well, my day started great. On one hand, Eric Froelich limped from the SB into my BB. I raised with A10. He called. Flopped an ace. He checks. I bet about 3/4 of the pot. He calls. Turn was nothing. He checked. I bet about 1/2 the pot. He folds. Nice. Button min raises. SB goes all in for a small amount. I just flat with KJ. The button (Froelich again) also flats (with 66 it turns out). On a flop of J-8-2...I bet out a sizable amount...he folds 66 face up..and the turn brought a 6. Whew! I knocked out the SB. We had the kid who finished 3rd in this year's Main Event...Jacob Balsinger, at our table.  Pleasant kid, then again, why WOULDN'T he be pleasant!??  He lost pretty early.

We got down to 50 from 75 in almost one level. Wow! And things were going great. After calling another min raise from the BB with 9-10 against the guy who's girlfriend one-outed me with the 7 on the river in the nightly the previous week (when I had JJ and had done everything to let her know how bad her 77 was on the board of 9-10-3)...he liked min-raising UTG....(and btw, she ended up winning that nightly. We talked about the hand, and he said she admitted she played that hand against me horribly. I'm glad she won...they both seemed like nice kids). The flop came 9-10-3. Sweet. I checked. He bet 7500. I raised to 16,000. He called. An ace on the turn. Hmmmm. Helps me? Hurts me? Decided to find out where I was. I lead out 17,500. He fidgets, tanks...then folds. Suddenly, I was up to over 100k. With the blinds at 1500/3000. Things were feeling great.  Only 23 till the money...which was a fairly decent $6500 (on a buy in of $2500). I really, really wanted to cash. Just to get a little positive return on the trip. Once that happened, I could go from there.

Everything went to shit. And it didn't take long. A pretty aggressive player, who came to my Day 1 table late the night before...raises to 7500 at 1500/3000. He was sitting on a shortish stack of 42k. I'd watched him raise like this the night before...making small raises that constituted about 25-35% of his stack. A sort of strange play. I look down at 99 in the SB. It folds around to me. I felt like I most likely had the best hand. And if not, I definitely had the chipstack to convince him that I did. I re-raised from his 7500 to 17,000. Did he shove? Or fold? Neither. He smooth called. Yeah. Huh? Weird. And all his body language prior to the flop let me know he didn't have AA or KK. No, he was making a very tough decision...and that made me think I was up against AQ...maybe AK (though most players like him usually reshove AK in that spot)...or a pair smaller than mine. When he just flatted, I decided he did that with the intent to see if he could either FADE the AK...or HIT the AK...which created kind of a quandary for me. The flop came J-7-4. 

He had about 32k left in his stack. I led out for 22k. He tanks. Forever, Now I really like my hand. Finally...he shoves. Huh? Hollywooding? Guessing? AJ? Well, I couldn't really fold...since there was about 89k in the pot and I had to call 10k or something. I called, and he turns over 10-10. Wow. Did he make the right call? Do YOU make that play? I know I didn't like it...especially when I bricked the turn and the river and was now cut in half almost...down to 63k. Shit.

Just two hands later...I get  88 at cutoff...and raise to 8500. The big blind looks down...and shoves. Older guy. He'd already pulled this move about 4 times. He was in for 24k. I couldn't find a good reason to fold. Plus I figured he had Ace-something...and hoped I could win a race...and get half of what I just lost, back in my stack. I was right. He had AJ off. Would my 8's hold? Fuck no. He flopped a jack, and rivered an ace. Shit! Now down to under 40k. 

A few hands later...I try to steal the blinds with KJ. Get called by that same guy who had the 10-10. Flop brings a king. He checks. I bet. He calls. Turn an ace. He checks. I check. River was a blank. He checks. I bet about 11k. He calls. KQ. FUUUCCCCKKKKKK!!!! And now...I'm freaking out. 47 players left...and I only have 12k left now....4 big blinds. I shove all in with Q10. Get a walk. I shove all in with A8d. Get a walk. Okay, okay...I can do this.

Then 'Mr Min Raise' does it again...and I call in the BB with 9-7. The flop comes 8-Q-7. Not bad. I check. He checks. I've got to be good. Turn is a ten! Open ended with a pair! Maybe I screwed up here by betting out 3/4 of the pot. Maybe I should have just shipped all in. I couldn't check raise there...since any bet that he made he'd be pot committed to call my shove...as I was when I was up against him with my 99 vs. 10-10. So I bet a strong amount...to try and just take it down right there. He postures a bit...then shoves all in. What!?? Wtf??? Did he have a set of queens? And was slowplaying it the whole way? If I fold...I've only got 9k left. I've come back from worse. But holy crap. Could this dealer...who'd been ruining me for three orbits now, bring me one of 8 outs necessary to get me back into this damn tourney? I found I had no faith in her. None. And folded. I probably should have just shipped all in on the turn and let the cards fall where they may. Hell, he might have had nothing...but had the position and the stack (now!) to pressure me into folding, which he successfully did. 

I will probably think about that hand for quite a while. I really needed to cash this Main Event. Especially with the Holidays coming. But it didn't happen...and as I thought I was about to catch a miracle double up...picking up AK in the SB in a heads up shove vs. the BB...who 'woke up' with KJ...not like he was folding anyway probably...with K2. But it was the perfect scenario...and if I won...I'd be back up over 20k...with a pulse. Flop brought a king. Hate that. Why can't it just bring the ace...and no other face cards? Why? Because...it allowed for me to get pummeled when the dealer slapped a jack on the river. The guy looked at me, apologized...I told him nice hand, wished everyone well...and walked in a trance-like state...to the front of the poker room...where I sat in one of the leather chairs...and just sank.

Busted. 20 from the money. All I had to do now was kill 5 or 6 hours...then go catch my flight. So I sat down and played cash game...more to just amuse myself and burn off some steam. I booked a modest loss...then at 10:30pm...hopped a cab, took it to my hotel, asked him to wait while I go get my luggage, which he did...made it back down in 4m 26s's...the guy timed me, under 5m and he was giving me a $5 discount! I won. We headed for the airport for my 12:50am flight. The first hiccup came when the exit to the airport was closed for construction. We had to go two more exits up...then turn around and come back the other way. Lovely. We pulled up to the curb at 11:45pm. Should be fine. Get inside with my bags...after paying $60 to the cabbie. The lady at the United counter gives me this "your not going to like what I'm about to tell you" face.

"I'm on the 12:50am flight to New Orleans." 

"Sorry sir...the baggage belt has been turned off. You are too late."

 Huh? Too late? ONE HOUR early for a red-eye flight? Closed? Just give me my boarding pass...I'll check my luggage at the gate. She wouldn't bite. I was ready to flip my lid...but I remembered that I was in an airport...and these people LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to get the police involved whenever possible. So I resorted to begging. Nope. No good. Fuck! I guess the only saving grace was that I still had my hotel room reserved til the morning. So I got on the phone...called United, booked a flight for the morning...which I had to pay a damn $150 change fee...on a ticket that I had only paid $190 for! (one-way) and jumped in a cab and headed back to the hotel...another $30 down the tube. I was so annoyed. I just laid on my bed...fell asleep and woke up at 7am...to try again. This time...I made it with time to spare. Paid an extra $30 for the exit row...which when I got on the plane, discovered there were two black girls who simply moved INTO those seats (despite not holding a ticket for them) and proceeded to smack their gum and listen to their bad headphones (the kind where the music comes blaring out of them) the whole flight. 

If this was what WWE was all about....

And if we could get MORE of THIS....

and LESS of THIS....well....I can dream.

I'm watching 'E!' right now and the show 'The Soup' and they are doing a full show committed to clowning on the WWE. I really, really, seriously want to meet the person who is a hardcore fan of that crap...and just pick their brain for awhile. I mean, you watch it...and its SO FUCKING STUPID....but there are people who literally LOVE that stupid shit. Why? What do they find appealing about it? This is proof that all men are NOT created equal. Things like that? That are stupid on that kind of a scale? Just make me wonder how ANYONE could POSSIBLY think there isn't more intelligent life out there in our universe. My question is: How could there NOT be???

Getting into the first stop, in Houston...I was unusually annoyed by the one thing that ALWAYS irritates and annoys me, but for some reason was peaking on this day. I was seated in business class, in row 10. I had no carry-on, so getting off was going to be pretty smooth. Suddenly, and you know this moment...when the pilot pulls up to the gate, and that bell goes off? Nearly EVERYONE on the plane does that jack-in-the-box move where they spring out of their seat! And that is irritating, yes. And annoying, obviously...because we all know, that no one on that plane is moving one inch for at LEAST five minutes. See...if you have a connection to make..and you are cutting it close? I understand your desire to get the hell off that plane. But the thing is? Nearly all the assholes that are jumping out of their seats...have no where they need to be other than baggage claim. 

So here we have this douchebag...and its not just him...it happens all the time...where they come from 2...3...sometimes more...rows back...push their way forward...which results in a bunch of people standing there, all up in each other's shit...shooting each other dirty looks, while the people/passengers who SHOULD be able to stand up and occupy that space...are now trapped in their seats...waiting for these mutherfuckers to clear out of the aisle. I honestly think there should be rules that allow every human to carry tazers...and that there will be offenses that are punishable on the spot. Without repercussion. 



"Scuse me sir...who couldn't wait his fucking turn to get off this piece of shit plane? Who is now preventing ME from getting off this piece of shit plane? Because you're an asshole? I hope you enjoy these 15,000 watts of electricity that I am about to deliver to your body."  BZZZZBZZZZBZBBZBZBZZZZZZZ!!!  Dickheads!


So....yeah, I get home. Sleep pretty much for two days. And get caught up with my wife and Carley. Then...here comes my sister and her two kids from Wisconsin, for Thanksgiving and the weekend. She has two special needs kids that she adopted after serving as a foster parent. She does a terrific job with them. Frankly, I don't know how she does it. I would lose my mind. Kids are all sweet...ya know, but there is a limit to what I can endure before I lose it. As far as Carley goes...she is now crawling...and she is really starting to develop quite the personality. She is starting to really be a lot of fun to be around...its not so much just hours of change her, feed her, change her, feed her...now she actually wants to do stuff...crawl around, play with things. Play with the dogs. Go outside. I took her on a 2 mile stroller ride today...she loved it.

The radio show we have been doing for 6 months? Not sure what's going on with that. Scott Clark had some kind of deal with Lock Poker where they functioned as the sponsor...and paid him something. What, I'm not sure. All I know is that I wasn't seeing any of it. Which wasn't a real huge deal. I took on the role of co-host with the understanding that if/when it 'took off' and was a success, that I would realize some kind of financial benefit down the road. Well...I don't know how far down the road I was supposed to travel, or how you gauge 'took off' so I haven't done an ounce of complaining about anything. It wasn't too much of an inconvenience to put aside two hours every Sunday to just basically fire from the hip about whatever the hot topic of the week was. Well...he seems to be having some kind of dispute with the owners of Lock...and thus, the show is kind of being placed on the back burner. (for now) Not sure if that is a posturing move or what. Frankly...it doesn't really matter to me either way. The more I play this game, the more I am exposed to the characters in this game...the more I just want to run and hide from it. I don't think you people can even begin to comprehend how bad I wish I'd finished in the Top 50 this summer in the Main...so I could have just taken about a full year off from poker and just focused on my family...and my other business ventures.

Ah...speaking of that kind of stuff...let me share this asshole's comment...that I didn't bother to publish. Judging from this prick's writing style, I am pretty sure he is the author of several of the anonymous comments that have been left here (and not published) in the past. I will break down this jerkoff's latest.

Total bullshit lie by you.[nice opening] Your comment speaks for itself [huh?] and the tax hit. You keep spinning your lies Monkey Man.[anyone notice how he comes out firing, calling me a liar, then fails to tell me what it is, exactly, that I'm lying about? I find that rather puzzling] From the look of your recent poker results this year I don't think you have anything to worry about with regard to taxes anyway.[there is ONE thing I will agree with him on. So if he thinks that, why is he calling me a liar? Am I insane to be confused?] Tough year for you. Well at least your wife has 2 jobs [I know this guy has made several comments because he has alluded two or three times that my wife has two jobs. I am wondering how he has come to that conclusion. Because she pitched in one Sunday and helped run a benefit to pay for a friends' funeral costs? That counts as a job now? Or is it that she is taking on the role of 'mother' which could easily be counted as a job? Not exactly sure...but for your info...she has just one job that she shows up for every day and pays taxes on. That would be cocktail waitress at the Beau Rivage. If, however...you know of a second job that she is working...in secret...please, do share!] and pays taxes. Most of us are going shopping on Friday[I would have to disagree. I firmly believe the ONLY ones who go shopping on the day dejectedly known as Black Friday, especially those jackholes who camp out in the front of stores the night before...are the same asshats who attend WWE events. No, see...I'm the clever one, who uses my 'card status' privileges with companies like Best Buy to simply make my purchases of the same shit those parking lot losers are making...but from the privacy and comfort of home, so no, you can't lump me into the 'everyone else' category, Deliverance] I assume you are making your cardboard sign and are staking out a good spot at your Walmart [I don't even know what this means. Is this related to their strike? Am I about to come upon a litter of puppies or kitties that need to be given away? Oh...or was that another reference to my 'broke ass' going there to panhandle? Yeah...thats probably it, huh?]

IF you ever...EVER...see me standing in one of these lines, you will know that aliens have abducted me and swapped out my brain with someone else's and returned me to Earth. Please....just walk up to me...and KILL ME!!!


I'm pretty sure this is the same guy telling me, after busting the Main...to tuck my tail between my legs..and take my broke ass back to Biloxi. He tells me to 'leave his town' and that it will become less seedy the minute my plane leaves the ground. Buddy...first of all, its comical that someone like YOU...who slinks his way around poker blogs looking for someone to cut down behind the veil of anonymity...would try to pass himself off as a 'representative' for the fine city of Las Vegas. A guy who can't even sign his name to a comment. What's wrong? You came to Vegas...chasing the dream? And now your just a pissant hourly employee? Who found out the cruel truth about living the 'Vegas Life' and who resorts now to trying to bring guys like me down to your level of misery and self-loathing? Pfffft! Naw! No thanks. You wallow down there by yourself. And don't forget to get that vest of yours dry cleaned...its going on two weeks now...it's really starting to stink, pal.

To the lady? Who did the most creative 'tip-toe...tickle my nuts ever so gingerly while at the same time smashing them with a mallet when I wasn't looking' message? I just have one question for you. You say you 'finally left your husband' for the 'same kind of crap' that you project me as putting my wife through? What would that be exactly? Supporting her for the past 5 or 6 years? Filling our house with nice things? Making it possible to bring this beautiful child into our world? Judging by your schizophrenic message...hopscotching from 'you are an entertaining writer who clearly has the support of many friends and family' straight to 'you come off as arrogant and an abrasive asshole, who acts as if he is the greatest poker player in the world, but who lately, doesn't have much to show for it...who comes off as a whiny cry baby when anything doesn't go my way. I easily go on tilt and are broke!'  You follow this up by telling me I should take your advice, and then wish me a Happy Holidays! 

Wow. Seriously? Um...so, curious, if I was lying on the sidewalk, dying of a severed leg, would you hand me a band-aid to stop the bleeding? Was it really YOU who left your husband? Or maybe it was the other way around? I don't even know  what it means to 'act' like I think I'm the world's greatest poker player. What exactly would that behavior encompass? And by the way...when was the last time you actually sat at my table? I'm guessing you had an experience with me, perhaps...in a nightly tourney somewhere, probably about three or four years ago, when I had an extremely difficult time biting my tongue while watching the worst poker that you could EVER pay money to watch. Am I getting warm? And sure...usually by the time I'm in a nightly...I've probably already endured the day from hell...so if someone that knows me should happen to ask 'how things are going' they are probably going to hear something negative. I like how, and you see this stupid shit a LOT while playing online...when you make ONE comment about how some nimrod played a hand, and suddenly you are a 'whiny cry baby.' How creative. Is there even some kind of lead up to 'whiny cry baby?' Or do you people who lack the ability to loop together even three intelligent sentences just defer straight to the only catch phrase you can come up with? 

"Boy...the gas here is .30 more per gallon than right across the street, how weird is that?"

A:  "Oh...shut up, your just a whiny cry baby!!!!"

"Does it strike anyone as odd that we are sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic at midnight in Council Bluffs, Iowa?"

A: "Why don't you just whine and cry about it, you baby!!!!"

Are two examples enough to drive home my point? I hope so.  I also get a kick out of what qualifies as an arrogant asshole in the poker world. Oh no...he's abrasive! Why? Well, he just lost half his stack when the other guy chased a gutshot for no apparent reason other than he's missing part of his brain...and when dork #2 in the five-seat asks Monkey if he's pissed off...and Monkey's response is...."No...I'm not pissed, I'm thrilled. Why would I want to be chipleader this early in the tourney?" Any more stupid fucking questions? 

Do not....NOT...ever make me a college football coach. Because, frankly, and I have all the respect and admiration for these coaches, who...at the conclusion of the half, are required to go meet up with Holly, or Traci what's her fuck with the Coco Puff sitting just under her nose, or Grunty Kolber....I know her name is Suzi...but all I ever hear when she talks is grunting. When I think Suzie Kolber, I think big, smelly dump. If I had to run over to one of these dingbats and answer their stupid fucking questions...I wouldn't be able to help myself. I would positively go Bobby Knight on their ass. By the way...how much do I miss Bobby Knight and post game interviews? The only one even close to him is the coach of the NY Rangers...and those pricks are on strike. Life is just FULL of bad beats!



See...poker is a pretty testy environment...and when you do it for a living? You take it pretty seriously. So...you should try cutting someone a little slack when you may have just caught that person at a bad time.  I have come up with a pretty good comparative analysis to describe to those who don't fully know me, what I am all about. Are any of you familiar with Chelsea Handler? She has a show on E! I've been watching her for years. Both as a comedienne and when she got her own show. I am basically the male version of Chelsea. I have zero doubt in my mind, that if I lived in L.A. Chelsea and I would be really good friends. Nothing sexual. At all. I find her almost repulsive from that point of view. But I identify with almost everything she says. But here is where it gets good. Because she is on TV? It's funny, right? It's edgy. It's great sarcasm. It's just Chelsea being Chelsea. But I'm not on TV...well, except for when my pocket kings are getting snapped by Elizabeth Hille's pocket tens to end my main event....and so when I act in this fashion...I'm an abrasive asshole, who is arrogant. Know what? That's fine. It really is. I don't give two rat fucks about most of you liking me. Most of you aren't even worthy of a conversation. 



See, I don't think I'm the greatest poker player on earth. That is just a stupid, ignorant statement. And anyone who knows anything about me, or about poker...knows that without even giving it two seconds of reflection. That statement, in and of itself...is made by a person like you, lady.  Walk into the bathroom, look yourself in the mirror, and just slap yourself...for being ridiculous. And don't do it again. It's embarrassing. Fortunately you (along with all the others) didn't sign your name to your stupid comment...cuz if you had, I'd have had to post it...and brought shame upon you and every member of your family. Lucky you.


I'm watching Monday Night Football. Carolina and Philly. Remember when they played in the Super Bowl last decade? Boy....have things changed. Dude just missed an extra point. That only happens like once every 987 tries in the NFL. I have a bad feeling that 'ol Andy Reid might be coaching his last game if the birds don't pull this out...and being down by 8 with 4 minutes left isn't exactly making it look good. He had a good run. Oh...does someone want to tell Cameron Newton that when he scores a touchdown for a team that is 2-8...that he can save all the posturing and camera mugging? I just have a hard time NOT hating this guy. Things sure are rosy at Auburn since he left, aren't they? Whatever...the joke's on Auburn...they fire a guy who brought them their first National Championship since...wow...a long time...and just two years later, they are stuck looking for a new coach, while having to pay this guy $208,334 a MONTH for 36 months! I would never leave the house!

I needed to chime in...let you folks, the ones I give a shit about, anyway...know that I'm fine. Just been home with family. Haven't played a hand of poker, or desired to. What's next? Poker-wise? Not sure. Some dude on my Facebook is getting a weekly 1-2 PLO game going over here...might have to go sniff that out. That Bayou Classic thing, or whatever they are calling it in New Orleans...the tournament they always have in December that ISN'T a WSOP event....starts this coming Thursday. Maybe I will go play that. Maybe not. Not sure. Pretty much gearing up for Christmas...Carley's first...and the time we will spend in North Alabama with Squirrel's family. Actually looking forward to Christmas for a change. I usually loathe Christmas...but now, it kind of comes with a deeper meaning. Much deeper. As I finish this blog, I look to my left, where she is passed out...with her little hand wrapped around my arm...she is becoming really attached to me. And I love it. And her. I found out this week that my old buddy Jason Young is about to become a father...after maybe the best year of his life...after his restaurant was opened and is a total success up in Suffern, New York. Josh Brikis had a boy about the same time we had Carley. My friend Joe Cutler had a son last year, too. Leo Whitt just had a boy last month...and was quick to send me a picture. A lot of us who have toiled in this miserable existence that is playing poker as a profession are finding out that there really, truly is more to life than grinding poker tourneys.

Honestly, if I never 'win the big one' so be it. I've been close...yes, SO many times. And yeah...it rankles me sometimes to see how bad some of these little jerks play, watch them get horseshoe-up-the-ass lucky and lead to winning millions at an annoying age of 21-24...and wish that on just ONE occasion my hands had held up on the biggest stages, or if I had the 'gene' in my body that allowed me to make retarded plays and somehow coming out looking like a genius.You (as a poker pro) are sometimes left to wonder if you are just unlucky. If you weren't intended to ever experience that ultimate victory. I know we all go through those thoughts. And then, some guy who has spent years falling short...of taking horrible beat after horrible beat, finally has his day in the sun...wins his millions, accepts all the 'atta-boys' from those who were by him for that whole, painful journey over the years...and enjoys his victory with the required amount of modesty. Because he knows. He knows it wasn't HOW he played. He knows it isn't ANY different than all those other tourneys he played. The difference, was that on this day...the hands held. He won a majority of the races. Period. He wasn't 'great.' And his win didn't suddenly lift him to the heights of 'greatest player on earth.' Nope...because he is smart enough to know that the next time out...his pocket aces are likely to lose to J9 suited when the guy flops a gutshot, turns a flush draw, and rivers the draw (take you pick!)

The long, painful odyssey has made that guy smart though. He takes those winnings, and he puts them away. Maybe invests. Maybe buys a house. Something that has real value. He avoids the big cash games. He avoids buying fancy cars. He doesn't feel the need to start playing ONLY $5k and up tourneys...because he is afraid people (poker haters and shitheads, usually) will accuse him (always behind his back of course, because we ARE talking about poker players here) of being broke. 

"Dude, why would he be playing in a $300 tourney if he wasn't broke?"  Dude. I hope you die in a car fire. Dude.

If you haven't figured it out....I pretty much HATE poker now. And most of the players who play the game. There are a small handful who I like. And I like a lot of the dealers and floor people. And I'd say most of them know who they are. So why don't I just up and quit? Trust me, the thought crosses my mind. Daily. But I happen to think that I am good enough to play this game and make a living doing it. And somewhere along the way...the plan is to accidentally 'luck into' a big score. Like a lot of these other shitbirds have. Because that...will provide me the freedom of not having to show up so often, and worry about some fucking housewife who thinks I'm arrogant and abrasive and who comes off as an asshole because I'm not all rosey and fun. Suck it lady. There is a reason why I quit using my trademark 'monkey' at the table on this past trip. (a) I'm tired of being targeted, (b) I'm tired of people seeing my monkey, realizing its 'that guy they've heard about, who is crazy, and funny and blah blah blah' and feel this sense of responsibility to 'live up' to their expectations of me and (c) giving people, and I'm pretty much referring to the hyenas who prowl the dusty plain of 2+2 Poker Forums, a beacon to home in on.

Okay. I promise. I'm done. Good night. Now my head hurts. Shit.

MONKEY



4 comments:

Mark Shreve said...

What a great post, I have to agree totally with you on the posters who will not put there name on there, glad you answered it that way my friend. Keep the faith
Mark

CoolDave88 said...

Your pain is palpable, but I really enjoy your writing. I truly hope things get better. I gave up on NL tournaments long ago because of the heart ache of short term luck. I feel like I have a lot more control in cash games.

Anonymous said...

Monkey, I played with you about 3 years ago on a 1/3 game at the Venetian and was quite amuzed by you. You told me about your blog and I have followed it from time to time in the last 3 years. 1st off, you are still humerous as hell. Secondly, those who choose to rip you should be least common denominator in your life and are not worth responding to. My suggestion would be to focus on only positive things in your life and eliminate all the negative. You seem to struggle wtiht his because of all your near misses and your struggles in the poker world. Your frustrations become very evident. Too much wasted energy on the negative.
Lastly, I hope you really consider taking poker out of your life and focus on your daughter and family. You continue to chase a dream of hitting it big or making a living at this. Although you have skill the game involves too much luck and you can't control that. You can control everything else in your life.
Continued Luck!!

Anonymous said...

Monk,

Do my Irish have a chance against Bama? Remember I like you. Keep it nice.

KD (Donkey in Cali)