8.31.09

I paid month end bills, or 1st of the month bills, or however you wish to refer to them, and I hated it. The end of the month means a review of what has occurred, and it was ugly. This was one of those months that I will undoubtedly want to forget, as far as poker goes anyway.

I lost money. I was gone from home much of the time. I did not enjoy the poker rooms I visited. I basically had a rough time of it from a professional perspective. However, I did have a few high moments.

I spent a lot of time, when I was at home, with the family. We went swimming. My daughter started soccer up again. My son and I played golf a couple of times. My wife and I even got to hang out a few times, together, with just each other, and it was good.

We spent time on the brother and sister-in -laws boat out on the St. Johns River, at dusk, and it was peaceful. It was exactly what you would imagine the perfect sunset boat trip to be like. We had a few beer, and the wind was down. The sky at dusk was a blaze of red and gold. It was a very quiet evening with the silence broken by the occasional splash of whatever rather large creature was lurking in the dark creeks off the river.

I visited my cousin and his wife in Charlotte. I met some wonderful friends of theirs. We played two beautiful golf course, for free might I add, because my cousin is in the golf business. One of the courses we played is currently in the top 5 courses I have played in my lifetime. The list includes the back nine at Thendara Golf Club in Northern New York as well as the TPC at Sawgrass in my home city of Jacksonville. Well, it also now includes Irish Creek in Kannapolis, NC. Thanks cousin, that was a lot of fun.

I played in a 9-hole 2-man scramble with a buddy of mine. We stunk it up but drank nearly a twelve pack of beer. The hops were nice. I also played 18 holes with another friend. This is my buddy who made me sign my picture from the poker magazine I was in, and he carries it with him all of the time. I wonder if he is going to put me in a shallow grave or something? I hope not, Russ. He claims it brings him luck. I think he stole my mojo or something. He enjoys giving me a hard time, but I probably deserve it.

I also played golf with my sister and her husband, Dave. It was fun, and once again I played poorly. I'm pretty sure I am steadily getting worse and worse at golf. I don't like that much. I guess age is catching up with me. I do enjoy it though.

So, looking at the whole deal in retrospect, and including all of it, I guess it wasn't so bad. In fact, it was really a pretty good month. But, as it has to be, my decisions and actions at the poker table are what matter the most. I really do not want to lose sight of the good in my life though. It is far too easy to do.

I did something earlier today that I have not done in quite a while. I told a guy he had no chance to win. More specifically I told him he should just put all of his money in without looking because that was the only chance he had to win. He really did not play well, in my opinion, and he beat me in a big pot because he called my all-in with a 5-6, PREFLOP. I still did not need to give him a hard time. I just did it because I was pissed. I went Phil Hellmuth on the guy, well, sort of. I said that one thing and then he said "you can't be mad, you want me to call". I could not argue with that. So I shut up and brooded under the brim of my ballcap. I like to hide there sometimes.

I played again tonight, and won a little bit. More importantly I quit feeling sorry for myself and played some fine poker. I won some hands and lost some hands, but I felt very confident in my play. I saw something this evening that I found to be interesting. I think I've recognized a new fashion, or style, or something.

I saw these two guys standing there with only part of their shirt tucked into their pants. It was like a handful of shirt tucked into their pants above their right pockets. I have no idea if the side matters, but it looked different and rather cool. Go ahead and give it a try. Tuck it in and look in the mirror. It's bad-ass. My daughter says it's ridiculous, so maybe I am wrong. She's only 13 though so what does she know? It is probably a style, somewhere, and these guys brought it from there. Possibly they saw it on television or a movie. Who knows? Maybe they invented it. Either way, it looks cool.

Quenton Tarrentino did a heckuva a job with "Inglorious Basterds". Seriously good. It's not even the gore in the movie that is good, or shocking. It's the damn realism. That, and incredible performances by the actors involved. The SS Major, played by someone I don't know, was outstanding. I recommend this movie to anyone who liked Pulp Fiction, and that's nearly everybody. Enjoy.

The weather is getting cool again, and the NFL is getting cranked up for another long season. The Jaguars will probably be bad, and most of the radio personalities are picking them to only be .500 at best. Well, I don't see it like that, but I only watched one pre-season game. So, take this opinion for what it is worth, which is not a lot. I think they'll be better than last year, and barring big time injuries will be 9-7 or maybe even 10-6 and maybe even make a playoff run. What can I say? I'm an optimist at heart.

The Jags just have to finish ahead of those boys in Houston. No, not the Oilers, they went to Tennessee. I'm talking about the Texans. I have a friend from Houston, and Buzzy is going to buy me dinner when the jags end up with a better record than the Texans. It has got to be a lock.

Soon I'll be in Biloxi. The Gulf Coast Poker Championships are beginning this weekend. Maybe I'll win 100k. That would be the absolute nuts.

Codsey out.