Back in Black, track 4

At last keystroke, I'd been hoping SuperGirl would allow me to show more revealing degrees of her photogenic essence, reward for doubling my online bankroll AND providing her a pair of shoes (equal in price to that of my Polk audio receiver). Near the end of the term, I had abandoned the idea of pursuing this task on-line for reasons already hashed, and headed instead to the local casino where I'd managed to win steadily, but not enough to satisfy the chief criterion of my side of the bet.

When SuperGirl returned from the Sunshine state -- she was bronzed, luscious and looking perfectly suited for exposure. I've yet to ask if she met-up with her ex-boyfriend -- though her following response to my camera may have been more telling and revealing than a picture I might have taken otherwise.

Tragically, she didn't care how good 'full exposure' might look. "A bet's a bet", she said coldly. Lines like "what about my pretty feet?", and other self-righteous phrases plucked directly out of her cheesy Spanish novellas were thrown around cruelly and indiscriminately, followed by a curt dismissal of me, my poker aspirations and any future discussion of me quitting my day job.

So, I had to do the unthinkable: Purge myself of the poker affliction for just enough time to let her tan fade, and show SuperGirl that I wasn't going to make "l'affaire Poker" a do-or-die issue. I had no choice. Like anything formal from which you need dispensation, the surest way to live with the pain is via total amputation.

I stopped writing, stopped playing, stopped reading Blog content and stopped taking pictures. I asked the local Barnes&Noble to refuse me access to their poker shelf and unloaded 90% of my Amazon.com wish list. I refused to watch any Poker on TV, ignored Poker chatter at work, and even stopped playing in our Thursday night home games. Lastly and most painfully, I surrendered any opportunity to win a seat at the WSOP. I don't think SuperGirl realizes how tough it all was for me. It's almost like getting a seat change away from the table that wins the bad-beat jackpot. You just want to get out of there and not think about it.

And here we are ... Almost 4 full weeks of living in the Matrix, void of all things poker, eating my fair share of humility boiled chicken and mediocrity carrot pudding, seated in my vat of blah.

As I lay awake wondering if perhaps I should have opted for the red pill, I'm reminded that TIVO, the arch-patron saint of misguided regret, had, like Mick in Rocky II, never given-up hope, and continued to record Poker shows despite of my vegetative avoidance of Poker material.

I replayed the recent WPT event ... WOW!! What a show -- perhaps my favorite among favorites.

And, as fast as you can say running 7's, I hit the road! I went to Casino Arizona and accepted the absurdly high ATM fees as a compensatory offer of forgiveness. It's one of the few times I felt that ATM fees were well justified.

Struck by a very unusual act of confidence (SuperGirl has a way of sending waves of motivating images to my consciouseness), I chose to play with the Gold Dragons of the room in what appeared to be a very solemn 20/40 HE game. I played for 3 hours. I made no moves and folded often. Everything worked out...you know, stars aligned and the evil forces of Poker seemed to shy away from me, likely preferring to target the folks at the 4-8 HE game instead.

I made a very tidy $710 and ran back home to tell SuperGirl that we needed to revisit my Poker ambitions. Since money talks and bullshit walks, I presented Supergirl 3 crisp one hundred dollar bills (to apply towards her under-financed shoe fund) and a ten dollar bill to help subsidize any over-the-counter medication she'd require once firmly entrenched in her new shoes.

I then told her to pick a fancy cape and get ready to go out dressed to kill bad guys. I was going to treat her to a great Steak dinner at our favorite steak house, courtesy I told her of "kickers never pairing-up, good cards holding-up" and plain ol' poker magic. Man's gotta know when to lie from time to time.

A few cosmos later, SuperGirl is back on board, sanctioning another 'run'. We make no wagers this time. We make only a broad stroke agreement to allow that certain time and monies be allocated for the Poker Cause, with a re-evaluation period to follow in 3 month's time. Since at least 4 cosmos and 4 rusty nails have come and gone, we also agree to iron out the finer points of the arrangement in the morning.

This morning, my first order of business is getting up to date with what's happening in Poker Blogdom. I see I've missed a TON. So, if there's anyone still reading, bear with me today while I catch-up.

In wishing to re-ingratiate myself back with the poker blogger family, I felt obligated to post a shot of SuperGirl selecting which cape to wear prior to the steak dinner -- the dinner which will have hopefully changed it all! See you soon.