It's a Wash
The clock glowed 9:35 and my groggy brain cells reluctantly did the clock math, groaning upon determination that the time was actually 8:43...A.M....on a Sunday. Now, most Sundays, this is not a problem, however I had indulged in a bit of a marathon online the night before, getting my head to the pillow in the wee hours after shutting down and reading for a while.
I rolled out of bed while my senses shifted into 1st gear and the list of "to-dos" for the day scrolled across my frontal cortex. I didn't have to consult the list for the most unwanted "to-do" of the day. One look into the bathtub was a sore reminder that, unless I wanted to A: look like a refugee from the community closet or B: go to work naked in the coming week, I had an afternoon's worth of laundry to do (bath-tubs make for a great laundry basket...) Yes. I am that much of a procrastinator.
The most-looked-forward-to "to-dos" were the birthday poker party later in the afternoon and the HORSE tourney that evening. But first things first. No fun until the chores are done.
Buuuut, I decided to procrastinate a while longer reward myself for my early Sunday arising with a breakfast out. I would be able to beat the church crowd which meant no waiting. I could also use the time to do a bit of cramming for the tourney looming less than 10 hours away with my copy of Super System 2 I'd purchased the day before.
Felicia had given me some good quick tips Friday evening while I attempted a $5 Omaha tourney on Full Tilt. That helped me avoid some of the pitfalls of the game, but mostly I folded. I busted out fairly early (no surprise) and learned I have a <understatement>lot</understatement> to learn about that game.
Over grilled country ham, scrambled eggs, hash browns, wheat toast and coffee, I scanned the Omaha/8 section of SS2. By the time the check came, I had created my first Omaha mantra - " 3 from the board and 2 from your hand - no more, no less." This came after reviewing the sample hands listed in the chapter and my confusion over what made a winning hand and/or chopped the pot. I consistently read them wrong... I was doomed. My second Omaha mantra - "nuts or fold."
I'd applied some of the more salient points from -EV's crash course in Razz to a NL micro table on Saturday and managed to more than triple up before bleeding it away to a maniac. That notwithstanding, I felt I had a least a baby grasp of that game. Stud I'm comfortable with as that has been the major game of our home games over the last 20 years. Hold Em, of course, wasn't going to be a problem. Omaha, though, was causing brain cramps.
After the laundry was sorted and the first load was underway, I logged in to Full Tilt for some confidence building. I sat my regular $1/2 table avoiding those other games altogether - why punish myself early? While the parade of laundry cycled from washer to dryer to fold, hang and put away, I logged a nice session online. Mission accomplished.
Brimming with confidence, I prepared to head to the birthday poker party. I had my shades and my USA Poker Team cap at the ready. My nifty WPBT Holiday Classic Check 'n Raise jacket had been left at work, so I didn't have that to impress the folks...(coff). I grabbed the birthday present (poker book, WPT playing cards, a pack of dealer buttons and a souvenier WPBT Holiday Classic t-shirt) and hit the road to the game.
Next: Act I - Free-falling and the River Queen
