If poker’s only a game, why do we play so hard? That thought popped into my head yesterday and has been running around, racing through the hallways, careening off the sidewalls, dancing with the ganglia, and popping to the front of the other thoughts that are crowding around, waiting to be heard and experienced.

I have a complexity of thoughts about that and I can’t/don’t want to share them right now. I still need to allow them to ferment, scrape off the foam, saturate my soul in them, tuck them away in a darkened corridor to ferment some more, and then try to put them into a specific time slot where they are logically patterned and can be interpreted into rational thought.

WTF did I just say? Please catch up…Kee-rist I hate having to spell it out.

Before I hop into the Poker World, this is a little bit of my world.

I’ve been strangely detached from everything that’s going on around me lately. It’s kind of like having a front row seat in a movie without the popcorn and sodas. I just drift along watching the scenes, catching the lines, and simplify it all into a little jumble of life that really has no consequences or bearing on what or where I will be in the next five years.

So! As my ongoing plan develops, I sold my trusty steed a few days ago…my sweet little Toyota Tacoma, Double Cab, dirt munching, 4×4.

This is on order and should be in within the next few weeks. Only picture it in Silver.

This machine is part of my plan. Stay tuned, more on that as the details develop.

Now – without further ado – I return to the action. PokerStars is hosting an Inaugural Blogger Championship NLH Tourney. Check here for the event and action…to date there are 1437 entrants. It’s going to be a toughie but I will be there, trying my best to finish…no explanation needed there.

Bellagio has just been crankin’. The games are slamming, Bobby’s Room has had two games every night, and all the ‘name brands’ are in action and milling through the room.

The players in lower limit games are in awe of the fact that all the ‘name brands’ are there and moving freely about the room. Like what are they supposed to do – teleport themselves from the casino or valet to Bobby’s Room?

It’s funny to watch the newbies ogle and gaggle over the ‘name brands’. And when they hear a list or name being called for a $100-200 or higher, they start jabbering, “Wow! Who could play that high?” – “Can you imagine playing that limit?”

I like that new, clean attitude – the nervous hand that releases chips, the giddy excitement over winning a pot, the chip clatter and table chatter that goes on when people are there to have fun and aren’t trying to mask their emotions and don’t mind explaining why they called a bet or played a hand. I like the seasoned player also. It takes a mix to make poker what it is, which returns me to the question. If poker is only a game, why do we play so hard????