Barack Costs Me Money
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Barack Obama 1, Jordan -$60
Barack Obama cost me money, damnit! I don't want to get into the whole political jag, since you are all probably sufficiently exhausted from patting each other on the back or yelling at the TV about how a Communist Muslim President will destroy this fine land. But voting last night was a real trip and a half.
I'd only voted for one presidential election prior to yesterday. In 2004, I put in my vote for Kerry, hoping that we could get Bush out of the White House after the Iraqi War debacle. Back then, I was still officially registered to my LI town. I headed home, caught a ride with my ma, and waited in a small church for my chance to vote. There were maybe 10 people in line, tops. I did my civic duty, caught a train back to the city and the rest was history.
Last night, I agreed to join wifey Kim to the polls for her first ever presidential vote. I had since registered in NYC, and our voting booths were set up in the lobby of a retirment center. The line snaked out the door and down the street. We hopped on and waited. About 5 minutes into the wait, we saw my brother and sister-in-law about 10 people ahead of us. We began jabbering back and forth. They tried to goad me with their campaigning for McCain: "If you make more than $113,000 your taxes will go up under Obama!" I big my tongue and tried to remember that it was all nonsense. I could've fired back that if you have health insurance, you will be paying taxes on it under McCain, but what was the point. There mind was made up. In actuality, mine was not.
While waiting to vote, I considered voting for a third-party candidate. NY did not need my vote to elect Obama, so a third-party vote would be a big middle-finger to our two-party, one-agenda system. The line was long, and as it slowly progressed, I began to fixate on my watch. I had a poker game to attend at 7pm at the Wall Street Game and it was 6:13 when we got on line. As the clock ticked, I became more and more anxious. By the time I had voted, it was 7:55. I ran to the WSG and took my seat, near the end of the 150/300 level. I was down from my starting stack of 2500 to about 1925 or so. Not too bad, all things considered.
One thing about the voting process though: it was a real clusterfuck. I will never again wait on a line that long unless there is a Space Mountain on the other end of it. There were four districts all voting at the polling place, and only my district had the long-ass lines. 100+ people lined up for District 8, but District 9 had about a dozen, and district 97 was even more empty. It was ridiculous, but who was I to buck the system. I waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, once inside, the line split based on the alphabet. Unfortunately, the volunteer working the line at the polling center lacked a chromosome or two. As a result, my alphabet line led into the wrong voting booth, and I eventually had to call over the challenged helper to get the line back on its intended course.
Whatever the case, I did my civic duty and was happy to run, in full work gear, to Jamie's apartment. The tourney had a lot of familiar faces and just as many new ones, but I was a man on a mission, with the sole goal to focus on making that paper. I was at my table for a good 5 minutes before I said hello to half the people in the room.
So, remember that post title? Yeah. Tourney didn't go so well. Long story short, I came in with just under 2k in chips and blinds of 75/150, going up to 100/200 within 10 minutes of my arrival. So, I tried to play push-or-fold poker.
The odd thing is, I really like push-or-fold poker. It really is largely about reading your opponents and the table to determine when you can make a push with mediocre cards but still more-than-likely take down a pot uncontested. Card-dead, I was down to only 1200 and change in little time. So, I finally decided to make my move from the button when everyone folded to me. I held K4o, and decided that it was a good time for a push. I like K4o for this play, even if I don't love it. More likely than not, you'll take down the pot, and if you are called, you may be facing a pair (worse case scenario) but you may very well have two live cards if called by an Ace, like AT-AQ, etc.
Well, none of that mattered anyway, since I was called by KTo by Cheryl. I should've known better too, since she is a fairly loose caller. This was merely me not thinking it through enough. I knew I needed to accumulate chips, but I wasn't considering my opponents' tendencies. So, all the blame is on me...an Barack. I mean, jebus, if I wasn't late, I wouldn't be in that mess.
I headed home and asked for Ebs to text me if a cash game started. I never got the text, but that was fine with me. Once home, I was happy to be with Kim.
Of course, the $35 buy-in isn't my only loss attributable to our new Prez. I also lost $25 on a Bodog Bet that McCain would win. I liked the odds they were giving him and I wanted to hedge my vote. This way, no matter who won, I felt like a winner.
So, Barack cost me $60 already, and if you listen to the propaganda from either side, that's either the first of many dollars he has cost me or a small price to pay for entry into the gates of heaven that is Obamanation. Whatever the case, today feels an aweful lot like yesterday and the day before it. Hopefully, all the political fanatics can take a couple of months of vacation before the hellfire and brimstone language gets going again.
On an unrelated note, I continue to read Gus Hansen's new book and its fantastic. It is a real pleasure reading the hands of a pro throughout a tourney. It's a vast improvement from some of the other books I've read. Instead of theoretical thoughts on poker, you get to see how a real pro goes about his business. The fact that it is Hansen is just all the better. I can feel my game changing as I read. I can only hope that the trend continues, because I feel more confident than ever.
Until next time, make mine poker!
posted by Jordan @ 10:48 AM,
