All the world's a poker game.

I have discovered a passion for playing poker. I have been an occasional poker player for years usually playing seven card stud. As with everyone else I have watched the rise in the past 4-5 years, in popularity, of Texas Hold'em Poker. I play No Limit Texas Hold'em almost exclusively now. It is very easy, these days, to catch a poker tournament on a cable sports channel. It is fun watching these guys try and out maneuver each other to win the big pot at the end of the game. The last WSOP tournament had a final table jackpot of over twelve million dollars. Thatsa lotta dough. But, I digress.
The title of this piece is because having played a lot of poker, live and online, I have discovered that it in fact mirrors life quite a bit. You have winners and losers, you have fast players and slow ones, you have neophytes and professionals and you have the weekend players. For a long time, in life, I was a weekend player. My youth was easy, good cards came all the time and winning was fun. My early adulthood was easy as well, I met a lot of new players and formed good friendships with them. Life was good, but I wanted more. So, I found a mate. I was sure that my life was going to head straight for the final table with a huge pot at the end. After another 16 years of more or less weekend playing, I hit a losing streak to beat all losing streaks. Two of a kind (my ex and her boyfriend) beat my full house (my family). It went downhill from there. It has been a long painful journey down to the bottom. I reached it about a year ago. I landed back home with no money, no job, no family and no sense of self worth. After you hit the bottom, you sit there and wonder what the hell happened and why you are there. You go over every hand, in your mind, that you have ever played and try to figure out where you went wrong. Should I have sat at different table, raised more, folded more, played more, played less, found a different partner? You will analyse until your brain hurts, but you won't be able to figure it out. The reason is that you never will know what cards the other players unless you call them. And being a weekend player, I ususally backed down from a big bet. I figured it wasn't worth fighting for. I was wrong. It was worth fighting for.
I started back uphill after I got a job this year. It is a nice job. I enjoy the work I do and I like the people I work with and for. With child support, however, it will be a while before I can get my own place again. It is hard to start over again after you have lost it all to a better hand. It is hard to scrape up a stake to get back in the big game and try for the final table, again. I see the goal, but I can't get in the tournament right now. I have decided, though, that this time I am going to be professional player. I am going to play the game to win. I don't want to be that weekend player anymore. I want the bracelet.
I play a lot of online poker under the names alabamaslim and alabamaXslim, so if you see me on, say hello, but don't sit at the table unless you don't mind losing. I am keeping my eyes on the prize.
PS. Sometimes, the Queen of Hearts will hurt you too, boy.