Poker News

Jennifer Matiran

I fell in love recently. The world’s incredibly beautiful. The colors all around are brighter. I appreciate what I take for granted at times. Such as, how much I love my family and friends, how fortunate I am to be living in this day and age. The awesome possibilities the future may hold, that I may achieve with commitment and Faith. I’ve realized how precious and short life is, whether one lives a hundred years or even a fraction of that number. This enables me to slow down and experience each day, hour, minute and most importantly, moment. Yes, this is indeed a gorgeous time and I feel like a billion bucks, wow Love is always really the answer and the greatest…I’m in love and I know this feeling will last forever!

I was of course, referencing my love of Poker in the preceding paragraph. It was a bit over the top but that’s how one feels at the beginning stages of new love. Then, when the smoke clears and the sparks lessen, things change. One begins noticing all the annoying characteristics of the same thing/person they fell in love with. Don’t get me wrong, I do not think the game of Poker is annoying in any way, shape or form. I love Poker today and forever more. In fact, I wholeheartedly believe this sport should become an Olympic event, just as Chess is.

A very small percentage of the time, my opponents at the table get on my nerves. Surely, I irritate them as well at times because nobody’s perfect. We’ve all experienced it, the certain types of players who can, if you’re not in the right mood, grab hold of your last nerve and swing on it from side to side as if it was a pendulum…*

THE WHINER - This individual sees the glass half empty. This is the person at the table who no matter what happens, even if he wins, he still whines. Let’s say the whiner wins a big pot he’ll say something like “well it’s about time, do you know how much I’m down?” No, we don’t know how much money you’ve lost and we don’t care. The Whiner always tells you about all of his bad beats, the bad beats of today, yesterday, last week, last month and I bet you even last year. Never are there any positive words coming out of “W’s” mouth. This can be absolutely draining; just writing about it makes me want to pull all my hair out, one at time.

THE CHATTER BOX - Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a good conversation as much as the next person but the Chatter Box usually just talks a lot but really has nothing to say. This person wants to chat at the wrong times, like when you’ve just lost with three aces because your opponent caught a running flush on the river. The Chatter’s are usually sweet people whose parents probably didn’t pay enough attention to them growing up, so I do my best to listen. Sometimes though, I just want to put plugs in my ears or say “put a sock in it buddy.”

THE DEALER - Not the dealer that is dealing the cards and organizing the table, I’m talking about the Dealer who’s playing Poker. They don’t mean to, but instinctively they, at times, try to run the table. That’s fine but what they need to understand is then every Tom, Dick and Harriet at the table wants to throw in their two cents and chaos inevitably ensues.

THE SPACE TAKER - This person turns their chair around and straddles their seat. “Hey Space Taker you take up at least 4-6 inches on both sides. Buddy, please, everyone’s table space is small to begin with, just think about it my friend.” When I first started playing I always wondered why people kept to themselves and seemed kind of cold or listened to their walkman, etc. Now I realize it’s not because of game strategy, it’s for peace of mind. Until next time, may you be happy, healthy and hopeful.

*This has been an exaggerated illustration that is intended solely for entertainment purposes.

Filed under: Poker News