All In

Six years, that’s about how long I was a real poker fanatic. I was never really much of a player, not to the extent I dreamt of being. But it was always fun, and it’s still fun. But it was as much as an obsession as it was a hobby. At first I played about twice a week, and with god awful players. So it was quite profitable for me. Then I joined this “league” and it became more challenging, and even more fun. We played once a month, and I never missed a game. The nights I was knocked out of early (and often) still didn’t send me home early; I simply waited for the “cash game” to start.

But things sure do change. I had a Cal Ripken like streak, and now I’m MIA as often as Chuck Norris. Priorities have shifted, focus has changed. When before, there was nothing going on that I couldn’t shift around to make to make room for a poker game, there is now events I wouldn’t dream of moving. Events like today.

Today’s the first day of first grade for the Kyd. And there just so happens to be a poker game tonight. There’s no coin to flip for me to decide, and I haven’t even given moving our, now annual post-first day dinner, back a day. I’m looking more forward to hearing about the first day of school than I am seeing the first flop.

And oddly enough, a few years ago, there was no excuse good enough to get a guy off the hook. If you missed a game, you were given loads of crap for your absence, more often than not, by yours truly. But the whole dynamic of this group has changed. In the early years the table talk centered around porn or watching Skinamax. Now there’s talk of diapers, schools and trips to Disney.

I’m sure I’ll get back in the swing of things next year, and get to most of the games, if not every one. But it’ll never be my main priority again. Winning a few hundred bucks before, meant either planning a trip to the boats or day dreaming of a trip to Vegas. Now I want to win, to offset the price of school supplies and to take the fam out for a nice meal (defined as any meal that doesn’t come on a tray, in a bag or a box.) See, even my definition of a nice meal has changed.