Hello everyone, please let me introduce you to myself. I am a Bay Area resident who migrated from the deep south, i.e. Houston, Texas. To be more specific, the city of the reigning World Series Champions of Major League Baseball. That's right, Dodgers, suck it!! 

Clearly I am still learning the ins and outs of this platform. And hey, I couldn't find a pic of me in an Astros cap, so you get my second favorite team. Who would have also been the champs had CP3 not broken his ass. Shit's rigged anyways. 

In addition to following my beloved Houston sports teams, I also get my jollies at the poker table. 

I have been playing poker for about 15 years now and gotta say, I love and have loved every minute of it. I am not super good by any means, but I get by. I have quite the wild game. If I had to choose a similar playing style celebrity poker pro, it would have to be Gus Hansen. Although, he seems to be better at his method than I am at mine. In fact, a recent poker loss is what inspired this post. 

After spending a solid year plus on helping my best friend build an online crypto poker site, I decided it was time to hit the tables again for some live poker play. I had taken a break from the games, mainly because I was getting my fill of poker from the endless hours of online play. Living in the Bay Area, I am fairly close to Reno, NV. So I packed up the car and headed north. 

My favorite, and arguably the best poker room in Reno, resides in The Peppermill. It's a Tuscan themed casino with a massive poker room. Large TV's everywhere, and free food for the players, and plenty of bonuses like 'High-Hand' of the hour. 

Since I was easing back into the game, I decided to take a seat at a 1-2 NL game. I bought in for $300 (the player with the most chips at the table was $600 and you can only buy half of that). I played tight for the first four hours. I shit you not. Was folding non stop; just waiting for premium hands. Limped in a couple of hands pre-flop with suited connectors, but I was not hitting any flops, and the loose play was quickly becoming expensive. I stopped the shit hands and went back to the premiums. Another hour or so of folding, and I finally look down and see pocket Kings. After so many hours of nothing, I was ready to get involved in a big pot. So instead of putting out a $15 raise, I kept it on the low side and put out $7 - knowing well I would get at least a handful of callers - and I'd just take my chances with an ace hitting the flop. Stupid I know...but yeah, like I said, I am not very good. The flop comes 10c Jc 4h - I am already not liking this flop, so with about $60 in the pot, I decided to take it down early. It was checked around to me and I laid out a $30 bet. I did not really want anyone calling, but did not want to lose more in case someone hit a set on me. All but one player folded and it was now a heads up match. The turn comes 7h. At this point with two flush draws on the board, I was not happy. It was time to take down the hand. The player in front of me checks, and I bet $100. This guy literally flash calls. (with that move, I put him on AJ - what else would someone flash call with? Maybe pocket 10s, but shit he would have to be super tight to be calling with a set.) The river falls and it's a 3h. The guy is first to act and he goes all in for about $200 more, putting me all in. At that point I knew some bullshit occurred and this guy flushed me. But I had to see it. So I called. He turns over Ah8h. &$#@*(&$^&@#7 You gotta be kidding me. 

That loss was soul crushing. I got up and walked out of the room. This was the catalyst that led to some extremely poor poker play for the remainder of my trip. The anger I was feeling towards what happen was warranted, but I let the emotions consume me. All I was doing was playing the hand in my head over and over - which mostly consisted of cussing out the guy who played like a supreme donk. I mean runner runner flush and the flash call - jeez. 

The problem however, was not the player. In reality he cost me only about $250 or so. It was the anger I was fueling from withing that led to that week's bankroll demise. I was so pissed about losing the way I did, that every other game I played in that week was doomed. Whether I played cash or tourneys, I played hot headed and angry. Played way too many hands and loosened up my game to an unacceptable level. 

After 7 days of poker, I was down $1500. I left the casino a little more broke and still angry. It took me a solid week to come to terms with what happened and talked myself into turning it into a lesson. 

The lesson is...DO NOT LET EMOTIONS TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR GAME. Bad beats are a part of the deal. Poker has it's ups and downs, but if you can keep your mind right, you will most likely come out ahead. Or at least, give yourself a fighting chance. I did not do that, and I let emotions cost me a lot of money. 

Thank you for spending some time with me today. I look forward to many more poker stories on here. I live very close to many poker card rooms and will be visiting them frequently. I hope you will join me on my ventures. Till next time, stay fat and happy. And keep a check on those emotions.