Well, my Follower(s?) was upset that I hadn't blogged recently...I haven't played poker recently...I did officiate 3 games this past Saturday: 5th-7th grade girls...Very exciting.  I tried not to blow the whistle, but really they didn't foul that much.  7th grade game got a little catty but otherwise pretty standard stuff...stand in the lane and throw it at the basket until the backboard gives in and the ball falls through the net...no, surely it was better than that!

Season V of my poker league starts this Saturday.  I have won the first 4 seasons, yet I have never placed better than 4th in the Main Event...I know it would be best for the league if someone else won the league, however, I am way too competitive to let anyone win.  But, it is way too early to think about that.  I spent the last half of the season last year protecting my points.  It's now time to cut loose and play poker and see where that takes me.  We have the same 10 guys we had last season.  We have 4 guys still from the beginning of the league.

Our league consists of probably 2 pretty aggressive players, 1-2 rocks, and a several players in between.  I am not going to categorize myself as I feel that I am often mis-categorized; however, that can be used to my advantage at times.  Are there soft spots in our league?  Eh, nothing real soft.  As a matter of fact the play just gets better every season.  Players that have played together for years and should know certain consistent plays of their cohorts and still our NL Hold'em events were probably averaging over 5 hours this past season. And when you play 2 tournaments a night, that becomes an issue, especially for some us older guys.  We start with 5000 in chips and 20 minute blinds which should keep the game going...This season, we installed a rule that takes us down to 10 minute blinds when we are down to 3 players.  ShortStacks will be pressed a little harder to force the action late in tournaments this season.  I think that will speed things up a bit but there will be some bruised egos with the forced action and the resulting suckouts and such which are inevitable.

We are all so competitive that we fight over small $$ amounts like it means everything.  And by "fight" I don't mean fisticuffs.  It just gets real intense sometimes and we say stuff like "I can't force you off AQ huh?" repeatedly.  Or "1200 isn't an amount that you can call with AJ."  My favorite retort is "fuckin' John."  But alas, those generally end up with a knuckle bump and a "sorry about that, you played it well."  Except for the "fuckin' John;" that one gets left in the air!  You see, we are all friends and for the most part we all respect each other's game.  To be sure, we respect each other and in the end it's the friendship that means the most in these events.  On a side note, I would put the competitiveness and the talent/play in our league up against any league.  I think it would really be hard to find a game with better poker play than ours; and we don't just play Hold'em; our games also include PL Omaha, PL Omaha 8, Limit 7-Stud along with Limit in the Omaha games.

I think several of the players in our league have the talent and patience to play in the World Series and WPT events (not to mention the Heartland stuff) but for most of us, right now our world revolves around raising our families in this tight economy.  Could I take $1000 and fly to Vegas and play in a World Series event?  Sure.  But right now, with the economy the way it is and Obamanation running things, I prefer to choose to be a bit more conservative with my cash.  I would love to take a shot at a few events in the World Series but I think it is going to be awhile, if ever.  And I'm ok with that.

So, I have rambled on a bit and I'm sure my Follower(s?) has fallen asleep from boredom (I never said I was good at this by the way).  I can't wait till Saturday to get together with the guys and play some poker.  We will have fun, that's for sure!

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