Ma-ma-ma-ma-Mookie, Musings and Fantasy Sports Live

I had no intention of playing The Mookie the other night, much as I've not had any intention of playing poker at all these last few months, aside from a trip or two to the local Indian casino. As I was driving home from the train station, I was mentally lining up my tasks for the evening and one of them was that I had to transfer Pauly some cash. And then it hit me: It's Wednesday! I've got nothing going on! If I'm to take the time and trouble to actually log on to Full Tilt, I might as well play The Mookie!

I'm pretty sure that's how Moneymaker got started.

Anyways, there was an early reminder of one of the reasons I've put online poker and blonkaments in my rearview, a snide comment on the way I'd played a hand (which I won) from one of the many experts that populate the field and who have never taken a wrong step on the felt. I indulged in what I thought was a clever and benign retort and left it at that.

I know this. I never got all my money in wrong. I made one or two small-ish mistakes, but had the good sense not to compound them. I felt like I knew what I was doing, which is a far cry from the way I'd played before taking a break. I was aggressive with the re-raises. I didn't shy on the bubble. I didn't allow myself to get run over by bigger stacks. Maybe I forgot how shitty I was.

My withdrawl from both poker and blogging has been nice. For a while there, my days revolved around both. The realization that I was a) never going to have the time, interest or the natural ability to pursue poker as anything more than a recreational thing and b) spending too much brainpower on blogging, brainpower that I could use more wisely in the writing arena (and what I do have to spare, I try to use at Offsprung, though my output there has faltered, as well). The unintended consequence of both those was more free time to reconnect. There's the exercise, which is good. Playing soccer on Sunday, also good. I'm coaching AJ's U8 AYSO team and loving nearly every second of it (except when they space out on me and when they do, it's like a team-wide thing, not individual, the very essence of herding cats). Heck, there's even the possibility of dating.

And I have been writing. I entered a story in a contest last month. I don't have high aspirations for it, simply considering the publication and their preferred style, but I like the way my story came out, especially since I started it almost a year ago and it's gone through several incarnations. I've tried to make writing a ritualistic thing. Again, like poker, I'll always see writing as an interest, rather than a vocation, and, ultimately, I think blogging is a help to that, if one is possessed of the requisite amount of discipline. So, that's what I'm trying to achieve and then I can hopefully come back here more frequently.

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Okay, good. Congratulations to me. I suck less now that I did 8 months ago. Very proud of ya.

Now onto important things. I am so totally ready for the National Fucking Football League. Last year was the first time in my life (I'm serious) that I had free Sundays. No all-day church, no weekend shifts, no soccer games. I immensely enjoyed my NFL Sunday Ticket and my sportsbook.com account and my fantasy teams and...of course..



That's right...Fantasy Sports Live is back with a wide range of daily options, including the Blogger Battle (money added!) and Sundays With Dr. Pauly (prizes galore). I got killed last year in these games (so look for me), but had a blast nonetheless. Bonus code: Speaker if you're not already signed up and if you are, tell your friends. Tell everyone in your fantasy league that they don't have to wait the entire year for the thrill of victory or a cash payout. It's just a few clicks, people, half as many as you'd go through for new porn.





So, do me this one favor: Sign up! Play! Win! And maybe I'll be around more in order to show my appreciation for you. Or less, if you prefer. Your call.