What I Like About You #3

Where do I begin? I think for Sirfwalgman (Waffles) and his blog, I must start at the beginning...

We meet...

It was early summer 2005, and I was playing online Poker at Party. At my table was a player named Jester. Now knowing that being entertained is a big part of why I play poker, I could not resist engaging in coversation with a Jester. And he delivered entertainment as his name implied. We played a few games together and exchanged IMs. Jester is good friends with ChiefBigToke, a fan and regular reader of Waffles blog. So one day, Jester ask me if I want to join a converence with a "blogger". I had no idea what he was talking about at the time. Never read a blog. I ended up in the conference with Waffles, Chief, and Jester. And this is where it all began.

First Impressions...

Waffles was typing incessantly. Play by play. Every hand. Every detail. Chief seemed to keep up. But my head was spinning. I tried to participate in the conversation, but it was hard to get noticed within the endless stream of Waffles chat.

On the side, I started a separate chat with Jester. I asked, "How can you keep up with all this? And how can you play poker while you read all of this? I can't concentrate with all of this chat. Are you laughing? That is what I thought at the time. Now I can't get enough of the endless commentary.

Jester and Chief convinced me that I needed to check out the "blog". This would be my first exposure to blogging. They were kind enough to point me to some of the "juicy" postings. I was hooked. I went back through all the archives. I read them all. And still wanted more. I had officially become a blogger fan.

What did I find? Let's take a look:

In the words of Waffles himself..here is an introduction - "So... Hello, my name is Sir and I have decided to write a Poker blog. It will probably lead to me getting a swelled head and let everyone out there have a good laugh, but what the hell, it sounds like fun anyways. I will keep you posted with every tiny detail until you are so nauseated you can not stop coming back. Wish me luck!"

* The Bad Beat stories - "Man am I bummed. Basically in the span of 3 minutes I had AA cracked by QQ and a set of 6’s cracked by runner-runner hearts. “That’s Poker”.. Monkey Boy Poker! I guess since it was a rebuy.. people say what the fuck.. oh well.. Frustrating so far.. but let us see if the Poker God grant me some revenge."

* The Best personal dramas
"God. Does my wife have to be so screwed up. I mean if she is paying a therapist I want my money back."

* The most original metaphors
"I LOVE poker and I hate poker. Right now it is on my good side. It is like a relationship where one day your woman is smacking you with a frying pan and the next day she is giving you the best oral of your life with one of her cute girlfriends helping out."

* Attitude - "Know what I miss about poker. That superior feeling. Like nah nah, I am better than you! I mean fuck that felt good. Sneering down at all the losers. Lol."

* The Good - "Anyway, I want to thank Dr. Pauly for hosting what has to be one of the MOST fun events I have played in for a long time. It has been a long and interesting path. It has been some of the most fun I have had in months too. I somehow managed to play well in all of the events except one. I have been bubble boy and victorious. I ended up 7th out of all bloggerdome in the series. Wow! Usually I am a solid middle of the pack type of guy. I got to bust the Blogfather, and cripple Pauly. I even made time in between events to meet the illustrious Doctor and had a FANTASTIC time doing it. PLEASE!! PLEASE!! have another event sometime."

* The Bad - "I know you guys enjoy my pain and suffering and who am I to disappoint you? I am not going into detail cause it still smarts a little. However I will say a few words. Bankroll. Bad. Titan. New. Game. Blackjack. Very Bad! At least it was not poker this time.."

* The Ugly - "So luckily I get a banging on my door. It turns out to be the cops. Apparently my good buddy decided to call them and get me taken in to the hospital for evaluation. I can not tell you how much fun it was getting led out of my hotel by four police men and taken to the hospital. I think I only swore at them a few time. Now I could have refused to go but some talk about pink slips and handcuffs seemed annoying so I decided to cooperate. So anyway I get to share my story with a cunt of a social worker and and nice psychiatrist. I think the cunt wanted to commit me on principal, but the shrink listened and let me go. I decided to walk home. Felt good. Of course it was 2AM in the morning. Oh well."

* Interesting Poker strategy - In reference to MTTs - "In playing a few of these I think that I have found there to be a minimal pace you need to keep up to. If you do not you will be constantly worrying about the blinds. So when I initially start a game I play very loose (even for me) and weak. I basically am looking for my KJ to connect and make something nice without getting killed by KQ. All I am trying to do here is get ahead. As far ahead as I can while the blinds are small. If I hit the second break and have less than 2K I am in trouble. I will have to push at some point with cards I would normally not want to push with. I will not be able to see flops with moderate cards. Once I get over 2K in the first break I can slow down a little. I still want to see some flops, but I can stick to better starting cards. So keeping pace is important. This is where some of the luck comes in. You have to get some cards and have some flops hit early to survive."

* Amusement - "In this whole world there was one person who OWNED me, until tonight. Even though she still holds a slight lead Veneno is no more. I have defeated her in two HU matches in a row and I fear her no longer. I can not wait for my prize for beating her!"

* Tilts - "Last night was no fun at all.. I know my tilt well at least. It has become VERY specific. I do not get mad when I lose a hand, or when I lose a buyin. It really is a set of things that have to happen. I do not tilt in game and start playing poorly. My tilt is induced by winning and then taking a sharp downturn....So I lose another buyin.. and that drives me over the edge of no return. I will not stop until I win MY money back. So there you have it. A look into a very bad form of tilt. My personal pet monkey."

* Frustration - "I have had it with poker. Cya. I do not think I have the mentality for poker. Also I am starting to beleive if you put enough monkeys at a poker table you will get rivered every single time. It gets to the point where it is pure luck to win a hand, because 8 other people are seeing the river. I know, this is supposed to be a good thing. Bah! I have had it. I am taking a break. Next post will be sometime in June. I guess I at least owe you guys the secret mystery of my name.. however it probably is not worth waiting for."

It's the roller coaster of blogs. The one for which we will wait in line. He leads us into the dark side of poker. Never sure what will happen next. Will it be a thrill, a disaster, or something else? It's the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. When he takes a dive we feel the tingle in the pit of our stomachs. But one thing is certain. He is fearless in sharing his thoughts and experiences.

Thanks...

Outside of the enjoyment I get from reading Waffles blog, I must thank him on a few other accounts.

I am a much better poker player today because of Waffles. He has often been willing to share and help me with my game. He is an awesome sweat partner. I especially value his advise for playing in MTTs. And finally, thanks for inspiring me to become a blogger.

So Waffles, thanks for the many good times, coaching, and inspiration. Poker would just not have been as fun without you!