Love hurts.....love bleeds....love bites........

Not that kind of love.
I pushed into a NL game tonight and as I was settling in, the 3s, who deals in a downtown cardroom, stated that I was his man. Last week I was in the box when he went on a rush. He is a player that will take the dealer along for the ride when he goes on a heater. Since then, he has done well when I sat down in his game. Tonight, when he made that statement, I chuckled and told him that Love Hurts Sometimes. Sure enough, two hands into the down he flopped a full house and ended up losing a large pot to a bigger full house. Most of the time I am satisfied with letting probability and chance play out, but once in awhile I wish that I had some control over the cards.

Another player that I have been dealing to for about 8 months is always asking if I want to do a shot with him. When I am in the box, my standard answer has always been that I needed a shot but that I still had Xhours left in my shift. For whatever reason he never seemed to be in a game when I got off of work. Tonight, we finally did that shot after I finished and clocked out. Even though I ordered two shots of Sambuca-chilled, it was delivered on the rocks. Oh well, it was "free" and tasted good. I chased the shot with a beer and then started making my way out into the Nevada evening with another work week in the rear view mirror. I got sidetracked and ended up talking to a player who was trying to get on the list for a NL game. This player is new to the game and has only been playing B&M poker for about 6 weeks. He started out playing $3-6 limit (at another casino) and quickly jumped to the NL action at our house. We talked about ego, poker and rational thought. He knows that he is in over his head in the NL game, but his ego will not allow him to back down to a lower limit. He is not alone in that predicament, but I think that he is unique in that he admits his dilemma. Of course, his NL lessons" are becoming increasingly expensive and I could buy a new, low-end automobile with what he has lost in a few short weeks. I sincerely hope that he completes his course-work before the stash o'cash dries up.
Last Saturday was spent hiking the Valley of Fire with Linda and Jim. The scenic beauty of the desert continues to mesmerize me. I saw my first petroglyphs. It is amazing to think that these carvings were done somewhere between 1 and 4,000 years ago. In some places the wind and the rain have nearly erased the designs and in other places they look as if they were freshly carved. To me, at least, they serve to remind me that our time on this earth is freakishly brief when compared to time immemorial. 4,000 years from now, will ANYTHING that I (or you)have done be of any consequence? I doubt it.