Tuesday, September 28, 2004
The First Story (ya gotta start somewhere) Part I
I enjoy poker. The mental gymnastics that have to take place to play successfully are what draws me to the game. Unfortunately, I'm an hour and a half drive from the nearest casino, so playing in a B&M is something I rarely get a decent chance to do. When I have done it, it's great, and really like the interaction.
So I'm stuck with a smallish home game for extremely low stakes that takes place 4-6 times a month, and of course, the almighty Gore invention, the Internet.
I started with PartyPoker, just playing with play money. Yeah, that's realistic poker for ya. I love it when a fish decides to make a deposit and play for real, because after all, "I turned my 1000 play chips into 10,000 in a weeks time, it can't be that hard, right?".
Then I decided to enter a B&M tournament one weekend, it was a 10 table NLHE shootout, with 10 table winners advancing to the final table. $150 + $15 buy in. It was a Sunday, my girlfriend was out of town, what the hell, why not drive down to Kansas City for this one?
All week long, I'm excited about this. But as the week ends and the weekend begins, the excitement is replaced with nervousness. I'm a wreck. I'm doubting whether or not I have any business doing this. The money wasn't the issue, it was more of a self confidence thing. Would I have the balls to push my stack in the middle at the right time?
So Saturday night, after a few beers, I was horsing around on the PartyPoker free tables, and I decided to make the plunge and deposit $20-$25 to try and get the feel for what it's like to play for some real dough. Right off the bat, I'm forced to make a minimum deposit of $50.
The money's in, I'm ready to gamble, feeling like a high roller. I AM Sammy Farha at the final table of the 2003 WSOP Main Event. Or am I the fish that I mentioned just a few paragraphs ago?
To be continued...
- posted by NumbBono @ 10:15 AM
