Perspective

I have decided to chime in from work. I am still very frustrated by my performance earlier in the day at the poker tables. I keep going through my mind regarding the hand I was felted with when I have pocket T’s and call a shove on a 3JJJ7 board. Of course I lose to quads which it is compounded by my loss to a 2 out river Q for all the money. I am down 4 BI’s in 2 days. The swing is just after I made a deposit of $500.00 for a 25% bonus. Looking back, these hands kill me. However, I think a little perspective is in order.

Tonight, I walk over to the Receiving and Release building to screen a new arrival. Sitting before me is an attractive young Hispanic girl from Orange County (home of Disneyland). She was born in 1984 and is obviously a little scared. She informs me that she just found out that she is pregnant and doesn’t want to be pregnant. As I look through her prison file, known as the Central File, I read the arrest report. It appears our soon to be mother was at a house with approximately 10 – 15 others when Tony and his girlfriend Kayla arrive. When Tony starts to make it into the house, someone steps out and blasts him with a shotgun. Tony, suffering from a shotgun blast to the neck, is rushed to the University of California at Irvine (UCI) Medical Center for treatment. Well it turns out to be a soft tissue injury. Tony now sports a much thinner neckline, as a 2 inch by 3 ½ inch chunk of his neck is now missing (this is equal to hitting the case A for quads). As his girlfriend arrives at the hospital, Tony tells her to keep her damn mouth shut about the incident. After reading this, I can’t help but wonder how our young mother is involved. Apparently she was just attending the party and gets scooped up in the crowd. As the police run names, she pops up as being on probation for a past burglary, and viola’, sent to prison for violation of probation, sixteen months in da’ big house.

As I look through the arrest report, I see 2 photos of some mean looking Hispanic guys. I come to find out “Rascal”, in his forties and a member of the dangerous 18th Street gang from Los Angeles was fingered for the shooting. I assure the young girl that time will be easy, if she keeps her nose clean and avoids “the mix”. I also inform her that she will be getting out around the middle of November because she received a lot of credits while sitting in the county jail. With that news, she smiles and tells me she is about to cry, because that means she would not give birth to her child in prison. It appears that is why she doesn’t want to be pregnant. I tell her that her child may never know she did time, but I would recommend not getting a tattoo to celebrate her new status as a “convict”.

I am the father of a young woman. I am also a husband for over 18 years. My daughter currently a senior in high school and she is maintaining a “B” average. She has thoughts of becoming a Registered Nurse, and as far as I can tell, and believe me I can tell, she does not use drugs. I believe she has tasted a cold one before, but doesn’t appear to have put herself in any situations that she can’t handle. My wife and I are still in love. We are best friends and she tolerates my poker. And I am very happy about that. I can honestly say, I will not find another, nor would I ever consider looking. She is good or bad, my life partner. The one I can go to when things suck, and the one I can go to when it’s all good. And to continue, I have a blonde Labrador retriever, his name his Mac (after General Douglas Mc Arthur) he loves me to.

So I guess my point is this, how important is calling a river shove for my stack with my full house against quads, or losing to a 2 outer on a river. When it comes to the things that matter, the $25NL and $50NL cash games I play does not define my ability as a man, husband or a father, only as an online poker player. And looking at the newest member of CDC, and the hand she was dealt, I realize that I am actually holding the nuts.