The brink

Poker is a unique game, like golf, in that as soon as you have it all figured out, things can turn against you like that. You have a great round of golf or a great poker session one day and then the next day it seems like nothing can go right. Poker is at times exhiliriating and at others maddening because some days every play you make is the right one, each decision is correct and they just keep pushing you pots. But the next, it seems like all your reads are wrong, and even the right ones end in disastrous river cards. The highs and lows are very extremes, and it's a main many people can't handle it. They can't handle being on top of the world one day and in the bottom of the barrel the next. I'll admit it's not easy. I've taken a few walks away from my computer with my arms up in the air in disbelief at what just occurred. I usually end up by my front door shaking my head from side to side and asking myself why I put up with this. Why I put up with a game that can torture you so, can take you to the brink of ecstasy, tease you with illusions of granduer, and then yank you back as if to say, "Yeah, right, you didn't think you were going out there, did you?" And after seeing The Dark Knight last night, I think the Joker is involved in this scenario somehow....

But the anguish from tough beats and bad plays passes quickly, because ultimately it doesn't mean much. It's a game. It's a pasttime, a hobby, but it will never define me. I think about how hard some people have it in life, think about how lucky I am to have what I do....and that spade on the river that knocked me out of the tournament doesn't hurt at all anymore.