I don't know if I'm constipated or seriously close to giving birth.
Metaphorically speaking, that is.
I've had a post gestating, inseminated by recent discussions and posts regarding the pros and cons of being a poker pro, which has me at the stage of wanting to scream "Get this out of me, dammit!"
So, I'm going to engage in a rambling mental walk here in the hopes it will bring on labor and get the baby into the blogosphere.
I wish to mention something I read in Iggy's latest tome. It had me smiling for the rest of the day. Approximately 56 spins of the mouse wheel into the post ( yeah, I counted them... sue me) he comments on an assessment made of him by TenMile over at Poker Solstice. Here's the comment I thought was golden:
TenMile says of Iggy: Married
Iggy comments: Almost 11 years. It's my life's work.
It's my life's work.
Folks, in that one little statement is everything you need to know about making a marriage (partnership, significant other-ship, whatever-ship) successful. I hope one day I have the distinct pleasure of meeting the person who inspires such devotion. We should all be so fortunate.
The folks over at Oddjack made mention of the recent debate regarding women only poker tournaments. So sorry we couldn't have generated a real mud-wrestling, hair-pulling, nail clawing, bitch-slapping cat-fight for them - NOT. I have a lot of respect for all who responded to my little rant and I will concede one thing - these events do get more women playing - and that is a good thing.
I have one little admonition for Oddjack... which I will preface by saying that I appreciate satire, intelligent cynicism, and even a well crafted insult. That said, I thought the pictures (which were presumably meant as a visual joke) that accompanied the "Gawker vs. Onion" article were in extremely poor taste.
I've been wrapped in a blanket of blogger nostalgia these past few days. Partially because I've felt my latest efforts have fallen way short of the mark. I browsed through my archives and came to the sad conclusion that 80% to 90% of the near two years worth of blogging falls way short of the mark. But I have to remind myself that this blog began with the intent to chronicle my foray into poker, not to become a brilliant, witty, sententious and astute writer like most of my esteemed colleagues.
Somehow, I've fallen into the cracks, though. Even my outright poker blogging has little reason to be lauded. Again, there are those of my colleagues who run rings around my efforts with salient, well-crafted poker posts, the likes of which have you clipping them for repeated review 'cause what they™ have to say about it will make you a better player.
OK OK - done with the link fest - but you get my drift, and that only scratches the surface of excellent poker blogging out there.
That's not the direction I intended to go when I started down this street, hmmm, where's the way out of this alley....
I found my very first blogroll through the Way Back archives:
Love and Casino War
Guinness and Poker
Guppy to Shark
Cardspeak
Poker Play Online (aka Vagaries
of an Online Poker Player)
Tao Poker
It showed up next to a post dated December 10, 2003, 4:38 pm. One year later to the day, the blog roll had blossomed and I was waiting to board an airplane, eager to begin the Great Vegas Adventure and about to meet many of my blogging heroes for the first time.
I'm frustrated that I haven't been able to grow my bankroll any faster than I have. I've refused thus far to seed it with money of my own. Every penny of it is 'other people's money' right now, and I really want to keep it that way BUT .... sigh... I want to move up desperately. I have enough confidence in my limit game right now that I feel I could hold my own at the 5/10 tables. So, I've been contemplating seeding the bankroll in order to move up. I don't chase bonuses any more (did I hear a collective gasp out there?) - and this is why:
Early in my online career, I chased every bonus available but, when I began to keep records, I saw that my bankroll had survived more through the bonuses and less through pots won. I had a false sense of my progress. So I stopped chasing bonuses. I take advantage of reload bonuses on the sites where I play regularly, but I don't go after new bonuses at new sites any more.
I also don't multi-table. I can't split my concentration doing so.
Anyway, without the bonus supplement or multi-tabling, and relying on pure grinding plus a steep learning curve, my bankroll has grown very slowly - but steadily - since its inception. I have the means to supplement it, I just don't know if that's the wisest thing to do. And, perhaps, I'm deceiving myself that I'm ready to move up. I dunno. Something to ponder.
OK. Clearly this mental stroll is getting me nowhere but to the dead end street called Drivel. No labor pains, only a desire to sleep. So I will put us both out our misery and cease. Maybe I'll try some Metamucil instead...
