That winning feeling

Have you ever tried to explain to someone that has no clue about poker the feeling of having your aces cracked? The satisfaction of winning a flip? The rush you get when you double up on a final table? Or the reason why you are celebrating someone else’s downfall?

A few weeks ago I was playing my standard Monday morning grind session. On a typical Monday on PokerStars, I play every nine-handed tourney from $3.30 up to $22, plus the $55 Bigger and sometimes the $109 Bigger or Sunday Millions depending on how I’m feeling. I also play a few tourneys on Party Poker, but that schedule is mainly determined by the volume of traffic at the time.

Nothing unusual stood out when I started my session. The heater was toasting my chair-planted bum, my pyjamas hung loose to keep me comfortable and a usual run of bustouts, bad beats and priced-in call offs started to follow. However, things just began to click and stacks – well survival stacks – started to bloom. My first sign of a good day to come was when I final tabled the $22 NLH $4,500 GTD on Party Poker – and although it ended in a fifth place, it gave me some good confidence as I had my game squarely focused on three tournaments over on PokerStars. The $11 Sunday Storm, $22 1r1a and the $55 Bigger had big paydays awaiting at the top end of the tournament, and all would be an extremely helpful bankroll boost just a few days after booking my flights to Las Vegas.

Las Vegas? And not while the WSOP is running? I must be mad right? Well, the main reason for my trip back to the Mecca of poker is mainly to spend a few months with my girlfriend before returning home for the Aussie Millions. And although she is born and bred in Sin City and works at a casino (in retail), she hasn’t the slightest clue about this game that has dominated my life over the past few years. But we’ll get back to her.

As I navigated the minefield that is the Sunday Storm and the 30,702 players that were taking part, a massive $28,000 payday was awaiting up top if I could ride my luck. Unfortunately that luck decided to run out in 51st place for a little over $300, but alas, I still had both the $22 (1r1a) and the $55 Bigger running. The $22 didn’t go as I planned, but was still happy to collect some cash as I was now down to mono-tabling the $55 Bigger as we hit the money.

With the girlfriend returning from work, we began our Skype call as I continued to battle the $55 Bigger. As my stack began to climb and the field size began to shrink, there was no chance that we would be ending this phone call as I inched closer and closer to the $36,000 first prize. We rarely, if ever, talk poker, and this conversation was no exception. But when things started to get down to the wire with around twenty players remaining, she couldn’t help but asking, “How are things going?”

Obviously this is one of the easiest questions to respond to in a way that a non-poker player can understand – “Good, guaranteed $500 but still a long way to go!” However once we got to a final table, everything changed.

One screen had the $55 Bigger final table, my other monitor to the right had my Skype window going crazy, and my laptop on the left had our Skype call and webcam running. My mates were kicking it crazy and riding the wave with me, while my girlfriend only had what she could see me doing as her gauge for how everything was going. I would be dead quiet for nearly forty seconds before I’d start fist-pumping after doubling up. “Something good happen babe?” she would state with an embarrassed look as I broke into a Chandler Bing-esque happy dance.

As player after player fell, I would update her with how much I was guaranteed. From the lowest of four figures, to the five-figures that could give you some freedom for a few months – she was riding the wave with us now. She isn’t the superficial or needy girl that you may expect a Las Vegas native to be, but I’m sure she couldn’t help thinking that some hot red pumps or a stunning new outfit would be my way to celebrate with her once I arrived in nearly two months time.

As my heart beat harder and harder after being ensured of my biggest career cash (both live and online), the fairytale win wouldn’t be delivered as I fell in second place for just a few bucks shy of $25,000. “WP CONGRATS EPIC FEAT”, “GG” and “congrats” were just a few of the after messages from the rail in my Skype conversation. However the other Skype call would be the one that meant a little more as a move to Las Vegas to be with her was now not only more realistic, but more financially viable thanks to the handy bankroll boost.

Since that day I’ve obviously continued to play, and as a consequence she has taken the slightest increase in how I’ve been doing. The problem I have been having is how do I convey a horrid session and the lack of luck that occurred in non-poker terms so that they she can understand. How do you explain when your aces get cracked by pocket tens, or that you consistently lost all your flips. The more and more I thought about it, the harder it was to come up with a simple explanation that portrayed the frustration that I had endured.

I racked my brain, and it seemed the simple solution was just to teach her the game. I ain’t doing that ... so withheld poker tilt and frustration it will have to be!