Morgan: Mos Eisley Poker

"You ready to call it quits?", Byrne asked me today. Oh crap, I thought she's breaking up the blog. She wasn't mad, or upset with me for not blog responding to the last post...She just wanted to know what the hell I was waiting for, probably because she has so much to say. I'm back. I really don't have any response to the last post. Wierd. Must be that new stream of consciousness blogging. Vanilla Sky? ughhh. I do like Philip K. Dick - Genius. I had to read it six times to understand what you were saying, but I got it eventually. Doh! I'm a simple man.
So I'm going to write about my latest obsession...No not Second Life.

If, after the first twenty minutes, you don't know who the sucker at the table is, it's you. ~Author Unknown

Last night I went to the local Carlos O'Kelly's in Fairfax, VA for my weekly poker tournament with the Stars-n-Bars Poker League I really get excited for this weekly game. As you may know poker has been pretty big part of my life the last couple of years. I don't play for big money. I play for love of the game. It hearkens back to my caveman DNA and this incessant need to hunt. When I step into that smoky bar something primeval triggers inside of me. Not only am I hunting, but I am being hunted by my prey. I have to be very careful...and bold.

I sat down at my table and looked around at my opponents. After a few weeks of assessing my victims I feel as if I am beginning to see some patterns which I might be able to exploit. We were crammed 10 people deep around a little rickety fold up table of green felt. The odd assortment of people are something you might see at the Mos Eisely cantina on Tatooine (Star Wars Reference) There was the big friendly Joker to my left who plays really well...I need to be careful of him. Next to him was a little old lady with grey hair reading a library book...She's dangerous, need to be careful of her. The man beast sitting next to her was as big and smelly as Jabba the Hutt, his chair strained to hold him up as he greedily shoveled tortillas and salsa into his maw...he likes to raise big and bluff. On his left is a young hispanic boy with a shirt and tie on...looked like a a young fish to me. Next to him is a grizzled old man with no teeth anxiously shuffling his chips, and chain smoking Marlboros...Looks experienced, better be careful. A middle age woman in a Virginia Tech sweatshirt talks to another woman sipping a margarita. Better not underestimate those two. At the end of the table was a stranger in dark sunglasses and black clothes with long silver hair, he looked exactly like the intense actor Edward James Olmos with his pockmarked skin. Although I usually play tight in the beginning, I got involved in our first hand with this intimidating man as he tried to raise me off the hand with a thousand dollar bet...As I had top pair, I cautiously called. He frowned at me, I couldn't see eyes, but I could see his brow furrow in frustration. He threw half of his chips into the pot trying to scare me off...my heart beating, the adrenaline rush was overwhelming as I showed him my winning cards. I scooped up the huge pot...thinking, I may look like a scared chubby white guy, but you guys better watch out, because I...am...SPARTACUS!


BLOG-OID Alert!

Gallup suggests that blogs are catching on with web users and their online activities.

Their latest poll, who surveyed 1,013 adults nationally, found that:

• 73% of Americans who use the Web
• 87% use email
• 72% check news and weather
• 52% shop
• 52% plan travel
• 28% use instant messaging
• 23% participate in online auctions
• 22% view videocasts
• 22% download music
• 20% consult blogs at least "occassionally" and "frequently"