I’m not. I’m cruising PokerStars right now, grabbing a seat in the Chasing Chris Ferguson project. I wish I had this gigantic urge to race across town and fade everything so I could take a seat in a game. I don’t. Perhaps I will soon. I hope so, not for any other reason than what I do and have done forever…is poker. It would be nice if I still wanted to play live.

But I really love online poker vs. live poker. A lot of the reasons are listed here.

But as poker goes, I’m trapped in the bleak, dark land of never finding a playable hand – stumbling along, tripping over the unfriendly, broken pieces of busted Aces and crushed, trampled sets that get killed by a wild herd of clubs or hearts. But I keep moving forward, like any good donkey would, looking for a mouthful of hay and shelter from the maddening beats and unplayable tickets that seem to always find me as if I had a ‘bad card heat seeking missile magnet’ surgically implanted in the left cheek of my ass.

On the family side of life, my little buddy Riot came to spend the night with me and terrorize BOWSER on Super Mario Galaxy. He always wants to wear my glasses, even the magnifying ones from the drugstore. I had a pair that I took the lenses out of for him. He wore them for hours, barely taking them off for any reason.

My working buddy from Bellagio – and long time buddy before then – Sylvia Hart came over to spend the evening with Riot and me. Nice. Nice that she always finds time to call me and keep in touch, and come over now and then to hang out.

The following day I had Riot and his sister Kate together for a few hours. Certainly makes me aware of the fact that I’m very happy I’m not raising kids anymore…well…at least the little kind that require constant care. This girl would bring a smile to your face any time of day because she’s always got one for you.

I keep trying to talk Miss Kayanna into leaving home for a week or two and come to Vegas to see me. It’s been two and a half long years since we’ve had a hug. She’s always too busy and wants to stay home. But isn’t that the way life is? They love you to death for awhile and then they are off and running. Riot always wants to come to Grandmom’s house but someday soon he’ll be much too busy discovering life. Guess that’s why God invented poker…something to fill those empty spaces left behind when those we love move on to grow up without us.

Bellagio’s Five Star World Poker Classic is rocking on right now. Maybe I’ll make…maybe I won’t.