Doesn’t it almost feel as if there’s nothing new to discover? Everything that was out there waiting to be conquered or done has been done? Are we a mindless bunch of lemmings just racing off the edge of life without stopping to suck air and eat a pound of bacon now and then…relishing the salty crunch if it’s cooked the way I like it? I’m in bit of a black hole right now. Some of us would refer to it as depression. So be it – I’ll go with depression. It just happens every now and then…no reason…no rhyme…just can’t figure out a damn thing to laugh about and things feel sort of grouchy all over — for no reason. Not sad, not mad, nothing wrong, there’s just no light at the end of the tunnel. *DEPRESSED* Perhaps if there was some new, wonderous adventure going on, or if mankind abolished war and decided to save the Earth, or if parents took care of their families above all else, or if EVERYONE PLAYED POKER…life would be golden. Maybe there isn’t an answer…maybe depression is on the menu now and then and I should enjoy it so I know how great it feels when it’s not around…maybe…just maybe.

I can’t swim around in the dark waters of self any longer so let me jump right into POKER! My last post was about a $4-8H game with straddles and blind betting, imagine my surprise when I found a seat tonight in another $4-8H game with one of those players on my right. Larry! Larry was in the game gone whacko in the last post. He was probably the most sane of everyone in the game and managed to sit snugly through the chip wars and jammer explosion, even making quad fours on one hand and winning a gigantic pot – yes, kids, I paid him off in that hand. I can’t even remember what I had at this moment. it was the kind of game that if you had anything, you were forced to call; the blind raiser was capable of showing down 5 high at the end of the hand so one could never leave all of those chips out there in the middle without at least paying off – if one had anything at all.

But to tonight’s game. This was the first time I intro’d myself to Larry. He is young, energetic, filled with a great sense of humor and his eyes laugh before the smile reaches them…nice! Larry was putting the straddle on the blind, trying to start some action. I followed suit a few times and straddled also. Tonight I was in the favor of the Card Fairy. OMG! It’s so nice to be shielded from the wrath of the Card Fairy, to find playable hands, and to actually make a hand and have it stand up…and SUCK OUT!

I did the gigantic suck out on Larry. We’d been visiting, he was straddling, blind raising, I was hitting some hands, could never make a flush but haven’t been able to for weeks so that is not news, but the best part of that is that I flopped a four flush in hearts with K-5 of hearts in the SB. The flop brought a King and two hearts. I didn’t make the flush but I won with a pair of kings…lucky me, if I’d made the flush Larry would have stacked the chips, he had an Ace high heart draw. Then we laughed because if he’d known I had a flush draw, he would never have played the hand because I can’t make a flush so consequently neither could he. WOO HOO! I found out that Larry set up Junior Golf Tournaments or amateur events – perhaps I was too busy playing poker to really pay attention – and that he had been a lawyer.

Larry was still jamming and throwing chips at the pot, he was on the button, I was in the SB. He raised, I looked down to 2-3 of Clubs. I raised. We had four or five way action and I got the last raise in because I just refused to call – it was $20 to go preflop. I thought Larry had blind raised because he’d been doing that since I sat down. Not that I would have thrown my hand away at that point – I wasn’t going anywhere. The flop came A-5-8. I checked, it was checked to Larry, he bet, I called, and so did one hitchhiker. The turn was a 7. I checked and so did the hitchhiker, Larry bet…seriously…I almost threw my hand away and then my brain went WTF???? you put $20 in preflop with this hand. I called, so did the hitchiker. A four peeled off on the river. I checked, so did the hitchhiker, Larry bet, I called, so did the hitchhiker. Larry had flopped a set of Aces. No good, Larry. Send it to the 2-3 of Clubs. Kee-rist! Hello Card Fairy in triplicate!

Larry is on the right, Mike is on the left…this is when Larry still liked me – before the 2-3 of Clubs.

I told Larry I used to be a legal secretary in N. Idaho. He didn’t say anything. A minute later he said he didn’t know what he should say to that. I told him that I knew he wanted to choke the shit out of me for beating his set of aces and he could care less if I was a legal secretary or not. *Laughter*

So the game went, I still put in some straddles, and got really lucky once when I picked up Q-Q; I flopped a set and filled on the river and got paid off. Hey, I’m not used to this. I’m used to having sets busted into teensy scrap piles and whisked away with the pot as it goes somewhere else. I called a raise from the 1s with 4-4 and flopped a set, filled up on the turn, and got paid off…whew! This game felt really good for a change.

One of the funniest people exchanges in this game was the woman in the 8s. She played almost every hand, especially if Larry raised or bet, and if he beat her in the hand, even if he out flopped her, she threw her cards and acted like someone stuck a knife in her chest. It’s pretty amazing to watch, he’s giving action, she’s playing like shit and acting like someone bad beat her when she’s calling with an over card hoping to hit a pair. Oh the pain! But that’s why I love poker – it may have all been done before but the tapestry changes and we get to start over. I played for a few hours, picked up a shit load of chips, and said goodnight to everyone.

This week I’ll be playing on Tony G. – PokerStars – Absolute…join me.