you think you've got a hold of it all? you haven't got a hold at all

Note: At first glance, this may seem like a boring poker entry. It's not entirely about poker (though it may be boring; that's up to you) so if you're normally turned off by poker stuff, you may want to keep reading, or skip to the end. KTHXBYE!!1

I'm going to play in a few preliminary events at the World Series of Poker this year, so I'll be spending the next few weeks "training," by studying the essential poker books, pestering bloggers I respect with requests for advice, and playing lots and lots of multi-table tournaments at Poker Stars.

I'll be taking a break from the ultra-fun micro-limit O/8 games I've been donking around in, and focus exclusively on No Limit Hold'Em tournaments. In addition to the weekly WWdN games[1] (which I totally final tabled last night! Third place finish on a tough beat, baby! Rock!) I'm making an effort to play one of the 180x22 SNGs, and maybe a couple of other large-field daily tournaments, to hone my tournament strategy and just get comfortable playing patient, solid, smart poker.

Oh, speaking of tournaments at PokerStars, we're doing another blogger freeroll! To play in the last one, you needed to have a poker blog, but this time around, anyone with a blog can play -- for free -- for a chance to play in the World Series of Poker Main Event, and a bunch of other cool prizes, including a $1000 heads-up match with me.

Over at CardSquad, where I do most of my poker blogging, I'm going to keep track of whatever insights I puzzle out during this time, and I hope to have a pretty useful chunk of information assembled at the end, and I can put "WSOP Ass Kickin' Guy" on the cover of the eventual CafePress book.[2]

This should be an interesting time for me, both as a writer and guy who is just seeking to find and restore Balance at every opportunity. I've sworn off lots of TV (easy, now that Lost and House are over for the season) and until I realized I really needed to work on my game so I'm as good a player as I can be for the WSOP, I'd sworn off most poker, too. I will have to work very hard to balance important writer stuff like blogging and reading books (finished Cell yesterday afternoon, started Bimbos of the Death Sun last night), plus important me stuff, like my reawakened love for running after the joy of the half-marathon, walking our dogs with my wife, and gaming with (and just parenting) my kids. How I choose to invest my time right now could be the most important decision I've made in years, maybe in my adult life. I'm keenly aware that I've been out of Balance, and off The Path in recent months, but I feel like I've found my way back in recent weeks. Now I have to see if I can stay on. (Heh. It's sort of like an addict getting and staying sober, isn't it?) There is a lot I want to do right now; will I have the grace and wisdom and maturity to find Balance in it all? I hope so.

[1] Tuesdays at 8:30 Eastern. Look for "WWdN" in the Tourney -> Private tab in the lobby. Password is monkey, buy-in is $11.

[2] Probably not, but if enough people are interested, I'll do it. If it's good enough for Joe Straczynski, it's totally good enough for me.