Poker. Poker...oh, yes! Now I remember! I'm actually supposed to be writing in this thing, eh? Well, well, let me see here.

I've learned that I am a terrible ring game player. Beyond terrible, really. So, it's in my best interest to look into why, I suppose. Really, it's not that tough to figure out exactly why. I need to tighten up and try not to limp in with crap cards, like I might be able to in a tournament. I'm a much better tournament player, but I definitely need to work on my early round aggression. I consistently get deep into tournaments and close to the bubble, but many times, I'm left short-stacked, and unable to work my way up to a larger stack, and larger payout.

Speaking of tournaments, I've been playing a ton on Stars lately, and I think I'm on the right track. I finally cashed in a NLHE tournament, though it was only for 2x my buy-in. $2. While this may not seem like a huge amount, it lets me know that I'm at least not a complete poker dunce. I know one mediocre money finish doesn't make me Johnny-fucking-Chan, but I've bubbled in two others where I got caught trying to "steal" the pot with top pair, only to have someone call me with trips. Had I not been stupid, being "in the money" would've been a normal occurrence for me over the past week.

I've also been dabbling in Pot Limit Omaha lately with the $1 buy-in tourneys on Stars. Honestly, I know very little about the game right now, but the people who play in these tournaments know less about Omaha than I do. Throw in the fact that they play it like it's a limit game, it makes me look like I know what I'm doing. Crazy, I know.

Ok, enough about my poker habits.
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This game, it's a crazy one. It has this way of boring into every concious and subconcious orifice, and I just can't get away from it. First off, there are the dreams about poker. I suppose that's to be expected with how much I play, so that's not something I'm extremely concerned about. Then, there's the thoughts that run through my brain just randomly. They...they worry me a little. For example, I'll be sitting at a bar talking to someone, and all I can think "I bet they'd be easily bluffed" or, I'll order a beer and the bartender will say "$3.25", and I'll think "Oooh, that's a hell of a flop for the A4 I'm holding in the BB!". Now, when I see someone do something extremely stupid, instead of telling them that was indeed extremely stupid, I say "Well, that was a -EV move on your part". Of course, they look at me like they feel sorry for me. Poor boy, he's so stupid he's not even making sense anymore.

I'm not the only one this happens to, am I? Well, am I?