Any one else have their F5 try to tap out and concede the match today? No? Just mine? If I were to do a running tally between now and the end of my work day, I'm going to estimate that my reload button will pushed at least 350,023 times, hoping that Otis will have a new update. So far, he's been doing a bang-up job, don't you think? I sure do.

I'm not really sure where this post is going to go and it'll probably stray more towards a ramble, than a coherent, straight-forward post, but I'm in the writing mood, so you all have to deal with it. Tough luck.

First off, I want to thank everybody in our little amalgam of degenerates, bonus whores, and chip tossers that's every stopped by my blog to impart their knowledge upon me. It's very much appreciated and I'm more than happy to accept it. Without all of you, I'd have little motivation to write in here as much as I have, and I'm finally getting to a point where I feel comfortable and knowledeable enough to write at least halfways decently about poker. Believe me, it hasn't been easy.

This post is really driven by Otis' and Hdub's amazing good fortune as of late brought about by poker and writing. It seems that, on a daily basis, I'm more and more in awe of the talent in and around our little community. A community that is ubelievably supportive and fun-loving, because really, everybody around these parts is doing what they love doing--playing poker and writing.

And that's what really amazes me--the support, not often asked for, but freely offered by the bloggers as a whole. Nobody owes anything to me, and really, most don't know me from anyone else that has a random blog. When I started this, I never imagined that it would be where it is today. I thought I'd post intermittently and hope that someone, anyone stumbles upon it. If not for the support, feedback and suggestions from the entire damn poker blogging community, I'm not so sure that I would've stuck with this. It's so much easier for me to learn from someone that's already been through it, than it is for me to get from a boring, dry book. And almost all of you have been there.

The thing that keeps me around? The comraderie and sense that all of you are just like me. True, we may be nothing alike on the surface, but it doesn't take much digging to get why we all stick around. You're a bunch of degenerates, and frankly, I like it. As much as most of you would like to try and refute that, I'm just not hearing it. We all come from very different backgrounds, but most talk like they're old friends, even if they've never met in real-life. And I think that's pretty damn cool.

Hey, I warned you.

With that, I'll give some poker content today.

I've never played live, and I think it's about time I popped my B&M cherry. I get paid on Friday, and thinking about heading down to Canterbury Park on Saturday morning. I'm hoping that it's not too busy and the waits for my micro-bankroll aren't too long.

The last few years of high school, I played varsity golf, normally in the upper positions like 5 or 6 man. A few times during the course of the season, when I was hitting the ball particularly well and making a few more putts, I'd be bumped up as high as 1 or 2 man. I hated those days, because 1's and 2's always had to tee off in front of every other person in the tournament. I'd step up to the tee, hands sweating, heart pounding in my ears, hoping, praying that I didn't shank my tee shot, or worse, whiff. That's why I liked being the 6 man--there was nobody there to watch you fuck up, and you could bet that the rest of the guys in your group would be equally sucky. Once I was out on the course, the nervousness leveled off, and I could play my game.

If I do end up at Canterbury this weekend, my only problem will be getting off the 1st tee. As long and I don't get The Hammer right off the bat, I shouldn't whiff. After that, I'll be able settle in and play a game that I'm not completely terrible at.