A Doggy for Mommy
During the tournament at the WSOP my mother has been watching Mushu for me during the days and most nights. I’d noticed more, and more that when I’d go over to her place to pick him up that it was getting harder, and harder for her to let go.
She loves my dog like a child of her own. She feeds him “Mommy food,” takes him for walks, bathes him, plays with him, talks to him… he’s become her best friend.
Of course, Mushu is MY dog! I too love him very much and couldn’t bear to give him up. So, today after a miserable day in the Stud H/L event I decided to head straight to the pet store and pick up a little dog just for my Mommy.
I knew it had to be a female dog since if we had two males they would be marking their territory all over her place and mine. Turning white carpet yellow! I looked at a few dogs and finally found the one I thought fit my mother best.
I called my mother from the road to let her know I had a present for her and that I was on my way over. When I finally got there my mother called me to the kitchen to try something she’d been cooking (big surprise!)
I had the dog hidden in my jacket (it’s just 3 pounds) and when she grabbed the wooden spoon to put it to my mouth I said, “Why don’t you let her taste it,” at which point I let the dog’s head pop out.
My mother cried (again, big surprise) as she grabbed the dog and kissed it. “So what are you going to name her Mommy,” I asked?
“She is like a Princess. She is. I’m going to call her Princess,” she said.
Mushu barked at Princess for a little bit, but within less than 30 seconds they were running around together playing with toys. When I finally left my mother’s house, I didn’t feel so bad about taking Mushu with me.
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As for poker, things haven’t been going well for me. I’m trying my best to stay focused and positive, but it can be hard when the cards are mocking you and spitting in your face.
I do feel great about the way I’ve been handling it though. Despite day after day losing, I’m not losing confidence and still focused on trying to play my best. That can be hard as I said, but I’ve been through worse runs before and I always seem to get through it in the end.
Last night I played Barry after another early exit from the tournament. I thought I played well in the $5000 buy in No Limit Hold’em event, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
Going into my match with Barry I was up $92,000 from the previous session. In the first dealer I won almost $100,000 more and thought things were going smoothly. Eventually, though, Barry went on a monster rush winning $250,000 in one dealer. Oh by the way… Tam, you’re fired! Just kidding.
I struggled for most of the session, losing the majority of the key big pots where we’d have close hands. In fact, I lost a ton of big pots when the hands weren’t all that close either.
The MO for the evening was ugly: I’d have aces and a flush draw on fifth street and we’d jam it. By the river I’d end up with that same pair of aces, while Barry would turn over sevens and fours. It’s tough to win if you can’t make two pair.
Actually, I did make two pair on fourth street several times. Too many of those times, though, I’d lose to a straight or a flush on the river after getting in a raise or two along the way. By midnight I was stuck $237,000 and the match will resume later this week.
I hate to sound like a broken record in all of these blogs:
“Knocked out early”
“Can’t make two pair”
“Can’t make a flush”
Blah, blah, blah, but that’s just the way things have been going for me this month. I guess I was due for a bad run of cards, what with 2004 being such a monster year for me. In fact I haven’t “run bad” since… well, it’s been a while!
Overall I really can’t complain too much as things could be much worse. I can handle it. All I really need to do is keep plugging away with a positive mindset and focus on playing each and every hand well and things will turn around. That much I’m certain of.
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