Corey’s birthday party poker game was yesterday. It’s pretty rare that I can get out of the house on a Sunday afternoon, but since I had the heads up a few weeks in advance, I was able to work things out. It was a .05/.10 NLHE held at his friends Roslin and Matt’s place in Needham.  The place was great, they had a sunroom in the back of the house that was the perfect size for a poker table, and a hot tub a few feet out the door. The best part though was their pooch Phoebe, who I snuck half a hot dog to when nobody was looking. We were pretty tight after that.

Corey is what people call a really good poker player. He made a lot of money playing poker on the internet back in the good old days, and even took a swing playing semi-professionally in Vegas. When you play poker a lot you often run into people telling you they used to be pro, but with Corey, I’ve seen him play enough to know he’s pretty legit. I like playing him in smaller stakes because it’s a cheap way for me to brag that I’ve played somebody really good. I like Corey a lot, but there’s no way in hell I’d play 1/2 with him.

Since Corey is really good, I had a hunch that his friends would be really good to. I had played with Matt once before at my house, but I didn’t remember much about his playing style. As weird as it sounds, despite the stakes, I was a little intimidated going into this game. I figured that if I was at a table full of Corey’s, everybody would have fantastic reads on me, and I’d be sliced and diced into oblivion, put into a situation where losing $40 or something would be nothing compared to the beating my poker ego would take.

The other players turned out to be decent, but fortunately not Corey decent. The game started around 1:30 or 2 in the afternoon, almost everybody bought in for $40. I had run six miles in the morning and didn’t have breakfast, so after about half an IPA, I was happily buzzed. Little did I know at the time I was settling into what would become something of a marathon length game. We ended things a little before two a.m.. It was one of those games where my entire body is begging me to go to sleep but my gambling addiction won’t relinquish the wheel, a late night car ride where you are fighting with your eyes to keep them open, and with each passing 83 offsuit under the gun you are asking yourself, what on earth you are doing. Ah poker, I love it.

I finished up $21, which feels like breaking even after such a long game, but Is should probably count myself lucky, since I don’t know if anybody else was up besides Corey, who ran over the table. I took good chunks from me a few times too. I think he was up $130 or something, I forget, it was late.

I am not sure when I am playing again. Part of me feels like I haven’t been playing as much because I am so excited about the big tournament I’m hosting in October, but after yesterday’s crazy long game, I might just be tired.