Ascent into Degeneracy
Thursday, December 01, 2005
A while ago, whenever I would spend time with brother-from-a-different-mother Dave Roose, and the conversation would turn to poker, he would tell me where I stood on the degeneracy scale. At first, talking about poker a lot got me a weak-moderate status. When I'd go out of my way to find a game, I became moderate. When my blog became a topic of conversation, I moved to moderate-extreme. The conversation hasn't come up in a while, but its safe to say that my excessive play, constant poker focus and blogging activities, including the upcoming Okie-Vegas trip, place me squarely in the extreme class of poker degeneracy.
I couldn't be more proud.
But something interesting happened to me recently. I was speaking to resident-Hellmuth, Mikey Aps, and the topic of our friends' (and our) poker play came up. Roose and Robbie Hole had played twice that week, and were playing twice as much as me live. Roose had began playing online. I had played on over a dozen sites, had my blog going strong with 100 hits daily and a couple of potential (minor) revenue sources. Dave Ruff and Timmy Bones were taking day trips to AC which consisted of playing poker until 5am and then driving 2 hours home. Aps was playing tons of online poker and had a weekly game, as well as random HU matches in various varieties of poker amongst his poker crew. Here we were, six of us, who had, for the most part, all grown up together. Yet, we came to the extreme class of poker degeneracy individually, and all at the same time.
Poker is like a drug. When you get that buzz of excitement, that shot of adrenaline coursing through your veins, waking you up, pumping your heart, it can be like heaven. The downs are bad, like many drugs. But most of us degenerates, we know this. We accept it. Because those highs are spectacular.
But it's more than that. Poker is a game. In college, my buddies Sheedy, Mav, Todd and I would skip class and play Risk! Yep, RISK! Why? I don't know. It's not a particularly enthralling game. But we got into the strategy and the competition. It got our brains going. It was something to do. Poker is my new Risk (how appropriate). It serves to satiate my desire for competition, for strategizing, for social interaction. And I love it. Because it is my Sport. Yes, people. SPORT! I throw like a girl. I have the athletic skills of a door knob. But in the poker arena, I can compete with the best of them.
And then there is the money. Poker is "easy" money. Why work? I can make money playing poker! Well, not quite yet for me, but the dream is there.
These are the things that have sucked me into this extreme poker degeneracy. It's likely the thing that sucked my friends in as well. It's definitely the thing that has brought me closer to the friends I've made online. I thought I'd never say that. "So, I hear you are going to Oklahoma. How come?" "I met a guy online and we have the same interests! We're friends! And we have other friends and it's like a club!" Sounds kinda gay, actually, not that there is anything wrong with that. But it doesn't matter. Because it's the truth. I met these guys online and they are my friends. I know them and they know me. And it is all because of poker.
Poker is a drug. But it's one hell of a drug!
posted by Jordan @ 4:28 PM,
3 Comments:
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At 4:59 PM,
said...
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amen!!!!
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At 6:36 PM,
said...
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I already used your referral code even b4 your post...I hope it works for u. I decided to go with hollywood poer for some odd reason, didnt realize royal vegas was so easy, that will be my next one.
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At 9:02 AM,
said...
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You have got to stop this!! I just pissed in my pants from laughing so hard.
"I throw like a girl" - we'll fix that when you get to Oklahoma.
"Sounds kinda gay, actually." - You're right, it does sound kinda gay, but I'm secure enough in my manhood to take the teasing. Hell, my 9 year old thinks it's kinda gay too.
Funny, funny shit, J. I was rolling this morning and needed something just like this. Thank you.
G
