The Other Grinding
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
For the last two mornings, and the last few weekday mornings of last week, I woke up to find my jaw clenched tight. Invariably, I was up 30 minutes to an hour before my alarm, but after futile attempts of reclaiming my sleeping hours, I resolved myself to an early, if slow, start to the day ahead.
Its funny how stress can affect one's body. The stress is mostly coming from one thing, work. About a month and a half ago, I found myself mired in shit, the result of another bout of uber-stressful workload combined with the challenge inherent in learning new skills. Now, a month and a half later, those days are long gone on everyone's mind, with the exception of mine. After all, a lot of those things that I worked on 6 weeks ago are coming to fruition, and its like I'm back in the stressful deep end again.
No more complaints for this post. I promise. Sometimes, though, a little ole fashioned semi-anonymous online bitching and moaning can go a long way to alleviating some of my internal negative monologue.
But onto poker. After kicking some serious HU ass a few days ago, I faced Lucko in the semi-finals of the HUC5...and lost in 3 matches (best out of 5). I was card dead, but I also didn't play my absolute best. In the first match, I had a chance to win when he was shortstacked at 900 (to my 2100), and I called his all-in with KT vs. his Ace-high. He hit, I didn't, and we battled on, with Lucko eventually taking the win.
In round 2, I was also ahead for the early goings, until I crippled myself with my TT vs. his JJ, all-in preflop. I bet, he raised, I pushed, all the while, thinking to myself, "Jordan, you could be in a world of pain...maybe you should wait to see the flop." Cue a bunch of people saying that you can't get away from TT in a heads-up match, and then cue me saying that those people have already lost the HU match before its begun.
After round 2, I pretty much knew it was over. Still, wifey Kim needed some help and I needed to cool down Lucko's rush, so I took a 5 minute break. During that break, I also took some of my headache medication to change my overall demeanor. It was clear that I was not on my game, and I needed to do something to end Lucko's onslaught. I mentioned it yesterday and I'll mention it again; once you lose a HU match, it becomes exponentially easier to lose the next one. I proved that when I lost the 3rd match after a long-fought battle.
Congratulations to Lucko, who was both a great participant in the pregame smacktalk and a gracious winner. He faces RecessRampage (aka Alan) in the finals. Matt from Just Another Donkey and I were supposed to duke it out for the $90 third-place prize, but we opted to chop. $15 profit. BOOYA!
As for other news, today is wifey Kim and my 2 year anniversary. Unlike some of my fellow bloggers, I'm not going to dedicate a post to my lovely lady on this celebratory day, mostly because she doesn't read here that often. But I will say this: The most important thing to me in this world, more than this blog, more than poker, and more than myself, is the amazing woman I somehow luckboxed into marrying. When I first met Kim, I instantly fell in love with her. I didn't believe in love at first sight, but that is exactly what happened. It took us two years before we fully started dating, and another 5+ years before she became my wife. I am a better man for having met Kim, and there is no one who could ever take her place.
To celebrate, wifey Kim and I will be going to our favorite steakhouse. On a day like today, when I keep finding myself grinding my teeth and locking my jaw from the stress of my workday, just the thought of seeing Kim helps me to relax. Kim, I love you. Thank you for everything.
Back to pokery stuff. My upcoming poker schedule looks pretty sweet. I was incorrect when I stated in my last post that I would be making my triumphant return to the Lawyer's Game. In actuality, I'll be joining Matty Ebs for a 1/2 NL game filled with financial types, which means I'll have to feign interest and knowledge in sports and finance. Whatever the case, at least I'm the new guy to the game. The new guy always seems to win.
Next week, Dave Roose and I are heading to AC for the weekend. We initially got a room at Showboat for both nights, costing $299 per night. I love Showboat, especially since it is the official Atlantic City casino/hotel of High On Poker. Alas, $299 was a tad high, so I went about seeking a better rate. We eventually settled on the Tropicana Casino Hotel, my old stomping grounds as a kid (literally, as a kid, when my family would stay at the Tropicana on our usual trips). I got a special poker room rate of $99 the first night and $129 the second. There is only one catch...I have to play 4 hrs of cash poker per day. Somehow, I have a feeling I can handle it.
Oh, and if you are looking for a good read, check out PokerPeaker's most recent Pokerworks article. I helped by answering a few questions from the Peaker, which was then used for some of the article's content. I may post the full Q & A here, so keep an eye out, if you are interested.
Until next time, make mine poker!
posted by Jordan @ 4:06 PM,
1 Comments:
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At 5:10 PM,
Alan aka RecessRampage said...
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Congrats on the 2 yr anniversary. And I'm not sure I can get away from TT heads up...
