Tao of Poker

A Day Away from the Tables

I did not realize how much poker I had been playing. I almost hopped on Party Poker yesterday afternoon to continue my decent into poker's version of Hades... I was not peeking at the darkness of the abyss, but I was ready to lose the last few dollars in my Party Poker account before my first rebuy and taking advantage of the April RELOAD bonus. Man, just when I hit full tilt and was ready to make the leap... I got a phone call that saved me.

There's nothing better than a conversation with someone that makes you smile. Instead of dropping into the depths of full tiltdom, I was amused by several stories that Paris shared with me yesterday afternoon. One particular story was a hilarious tale about her first Grateful Dead concert, when she was 13 years old. Her brother ditched her and left poor Paris to wander around a field in the middle of Ohio... and she recanted the story of a young Canadian girl lost in a sea of dirty American hippies.

Alas, we spoke for a while, hitting various topics, but mostly talking about writing. Our conversation made me realize that I needed a break from poker, but not for just one day. Writing and playing poker online are similar in the fact that they are both solitary functions. I need to spend some more time outdoors. Luckily, I'm taking some time off this summer to follow and tour with both The Dead and Phish... as they play throughout the East Coast and the Midwest. Paris helped put some other things in perspective for me. And that's why she's a kick ass intern.

It's not the first time a beautiful woman pulled me away from the insanity of the trecherous tables on Party Poker. And I expect it won't be the last.

Not to fear. I will not be taking a break until this summer. I will be hitting the tables on Party Poker this weekend, looking to play in a few WSoP super satellites. I might even make a cameo tonight at 8pm EST to play in tonight's super satellite.

One more last attempt to scale the Mountain. The World Series of Poker is within my sights. After watching some of the WPT Championships at the Bellagio live and in person, that made me realize how close I had a chance to making it, and yeah, I think that lit a fire under my ass. Stay tuned.