Spreading the Love.
Posted on March 22, 2009 by Brian under Health, Poker.
Friday night is usually poker night for Ching and I. This Friday though we decided to stay home because she had been sick for the last three days. Her fever finally broke Friday morning and after I came home from work she said that she just wanted to stay home and rest some more. We were going to go to the Invitational on Saturday anyway and on top of that we had Cory and April’s poker party Saturday evening. What we didn’t take into account was my hyperactive immune system letting me down.
Saturday morning, at about 5 am, I woke up in a puddle of sweat. I was so wet that I seriously thought I had wet the bed. I had to pee so I decided I should probably get up and go before I actually did wet the bed. This is when I realized that I was really sick. I tried to get out of bed and my body felt like I had been run over by a truck (and I actually know how that feels, another story for another time) and I was having trouble actually getting up and moving off of the bed. At this point I wished I had some Depends so that I would not have to get out of bed, since that was not an option I had no choice but to get my ass moving. Every step was agony, even peeing was uncomfortable. I finally got myself back to bed and decided that I needed to go ahead and pop a NyQuil and see if I could cut this think off before it gets started. I slept till about 11:30 but was in pain the entire time, my body ached all over. My fever broke at about 10:30 but I was so tired. However, I was determined to not let this illness ruin my plans. I felt like crap but I decided that I wanted to go play in the Tourney, I mean I worked hard to win that seat, I was determined to play.
We showed up and everyone immediately noticed that Ching and I were not our normal selves, after we told them we had been sick they wanted to know what the hell we were doing there. We told them that we were not going to let this illness get the best of us. Once we got started all I could think about was “man i want to go back to bed”. I just knew that I was not going to make it far. I figured that I was going to make some stupid call because I was not focused and was not paying attention to what was going on. Well the poker gods had another plan for me. Instead of getting knocked out early I ended up taking third place. It was unbelievable. I mean here I am sicker than crap, feeling like someone threw me off a cliff and I take 3rd place.
Later that evening I went to Cory and April’s. I was getting tired and was running on fumes. I figured that I had used up the last bit of mental energy for playing on the Invite. But no, the poker gods saw fit to bless me again with a second place finish. I was told that I should play sick more often. Cory said that it was hard to get a read on me because my expression never changed no matter what hand I had. I played my normal game but because I was sick and was not in my normal psychological state I just kept this expression of “I want to go back to bed”. I need to remember that. Maybe I will go farther if I just remove all emotional facets from my game play.
So it ended up being a profitable night. I got to play in the tourney, I proved to myself that I can play in any condition and I proved to my friends that my skills are not limited by my health. I am looking forward to next Friday now. I am going to practice this emotionless play, see if i can throw a few people off by making them think that I am still ill.
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Ching on March 22, 2009
LOL. You crack me up. That’s how I felt while I was sick. Didn’t you ever wonder why I never left the bedroom? I didn’t shower for three days because I couldn’t stay upright long enough to do so!