Running Like Antonius...

Continuing in the blogging drill vein, this is another small update on how things have been going lately.

Edit: Wtf***

What an insane weekend!! I traveled to Belfast on Friday to play in one of the regular games up there, lollivepokeraments, obv. The fun twist was that the other players were mainly people who had been regulars in the games I TD’d until last year. Needless to say, I’m very familiar with their games and this, combined with the awesome banter and some timely run goot made for an incredibly fun session.

One of the things that came up over the course of the night was whether any of us still enjoyed poker. Obviously, the answer should be ‘yes’…why else would we play? In all honesty however, my truthful answer at the time was ‘no’. Sure, I was having a great time mixing it up and seeing old faces again but this was an occasional and fun trip, with people who’s company I genuinely enjoy. This really couldn’t be further removed from the online experience where we often face a sort of solitary mental battle for hours on end, at stakes which may not seem particularly important and with the potential for little reward, either mental, emotional or financial in the end.

Grinding poker, even simply becoming caught up in the lifestyle of poor diet, late nights and waking up when most people are having lunch….is an impossible existence in some ways. I really believe that those who get mired in this sort of dissociative fugue are doomed to failure in the long-term, regardless of study, poker ability etc.

In essence, despite what we may think or believe about humanity in general, meaningful contact with other people is absolutely vital and will keep you in touch with life outside the grind. You’ll notice that I haven’t included the phrase ‘like-minded’ in that last sentence. Other poker players are important; they’ll empathise, criticise, motivate and cool you down at the right times and this is vital both to improvement and sanity ;), but there are other people, other schema’s, other world-views out there…don’t miss out on these for the sake of another .1 bb/100.

I’d really like to make a coherent blog post, just one time, but let me finish this rambling with a piece of cheese.

In life, as in poker, balance is key.

Cliffnotes:
Went to Belfast.
Tourney was essentially a homegame.
QQ < K9 3 handed vs drunk guy.
Talk to people…..even when you don’t want to or think they have nothing to add that could possibly interest you.
Be honest with yourself and those around you
Live poker is ez, Three 1st place’s, one 3rd.

• Go Cry Emo Kid

Skype: jonnyczz