Insomniac

Here it is, 1AM, and I'm still awake. I've got a killer cold right now - sore throat, stiff neck, cough, all that jazz, and by all accounts I should be snoring peacefully right now. Maybe I shouldn't have had a Coke at 11PM. Damn caffeine.

My blah feeling hasn't completely gone away, mostly thanks to my cold, but it is abating somewhat. I hauled my ass down to the basement last week and hopped on the treadmill for awhile, and just moving around doing some walking helped lighten my mood. Of course, since my raging cough and all the mucus took over, I haven't walked in the last 4 days or so. But I think once it's cleared up, just getting back to regular excercise again will do wonders. That is if my knee doesn't go all wonky again. I'm such a damn pessimist!

Poker this past weekend sucked - I think it was a self-fulfilling prophecy on my part. I just didn't feel in the groove, I didn't think I was going to do well, and I didn't. I did somehow manage to win the draw for the comfy chair again, but that was the extent of my success. I played for about 4 hours before I went out, and over those four hours, I won a total of 2 pots. Two pots in four hours. It was pathetic. Looking back at it, I was playing way too tight at a table of horrendously loose players. Normally, I'd say that would benefit me - being able to take pots from calling stations because I'm playing better etc, but 1. I was getting crummy cards all night long, and, 2. everyone was a calling station! One of the pots I lost was where I had a pair of tens in the pocket - I raised three times the big blind and everyone at the table called. Everyone. Pocket 10s heads up - ok. Pocket 10s against 10 people - um, nope. I lost the hand, but when the people still in turned over their cards for the showdown, there was someone with J-2 in the hole. J-2! And they called my raise!!! They said later they kept them because they were suited. Oh. My. God. Now, in reading poker books and articles I'm led to believe I should love to play with people like this because I'll eventually get their money, but it took all my restraint to keep from reaching across the table and smacking them upside the head.

At intermission I had $30 left, and after reading Harrington On Hold 'Em (Vol 2.) I knew my M was in the Dead Zone. I had to do something fast. The first hand after intermission, I picked up A-Qo in the cutoff seat. Now, there were no antes at the time, so I could have seen several more hands before the blinds would come around to me. People were tightening up since the blinds were higher, so there were only a couple of callers in front of me. I figured I'd be a moron if I laid it down to wait for something better, so I went all-in for my 30 bucks. Dave was in the big blind and called me. Everyone else folded. I don't think I can really blame Dave for calling - his stack was low, too, and he was already invested. He flipped over pocket 7s. Nothing came on the board to help either of us, so his 7s held up. Pisser. He eventually ended up winning the whole shebang for $450. I'm glad for him, but I wish I would have at least stayed in a little longer.

Tomorrow night we're hosting a poker party for my family and Dave's parents. We'll be breaking in the nice chip set Dave got me for Christmas. It should be fun - we even bought prizes for the winners and a booby prize for the first person out. We didn't want to play for money since no one really knows how to play, they just want to learn. But it should be a good time. I'm probably going to play like crap since I'll be nice and drugged up so I'm not coughing all over everyone. My parents gave us a case of Smirnoff Ice for the occasion (yes, my 70+ year old parents are supplying me with liquor - the same 70+ year old parents who were doing Suck and Blow shots at Christmas and goading us to do them, too), so between that, the beer, wine and my cold medicine, it'll be quite an interesting night.

I better charge the camera batteries.