Cut My Finger And Yeah I Like Barry

I cut the ring finger on my right hand. Happened just moments ago and makes typing a little more difficult. Two people are concerned right now:

Vegas and my Grandmother.

Vegas wants to know because I opened up as an 11 point favorite in a writing competition against a guy with no thumbs. The no thumbs part gives me a huge edge as it takes him an obscene amount of time to hit the space bar. Don't laugh - those spaces between the words add up. Just like a rake. And of course Vegas immediately heard about my cut and dropped the line all the way down to 7.5 points!

What's up with that?

Look people. I'm gonna cover. It's the desert. It's dry. The cut will heal.

My grandmother is the other entity concerned with my bleeding but Grandma you need to understand that if I was cut real bad then I'd be going to the hospital. But I'm not. In fact, it's mild enough that I'm openly mocking this cut. Just like the red ants. (If I did blog tags or whatever those things are called I think we'd file this entry under hubris.)

Reader do yourself a favor and understand that this no thumbs guy is NOT the world's fastest thinker. He's not the world's fastest typer. Save yourself some money and do not take the 7.5 points.

I'm a lock to beat this guy. If you still feel the urge to bet against me typing against someone with no thumbs, I'd seriously recommend that you bet the moneyline rather than the points, because this match will not be close. If I win I will cover. It would take a blackout for me to lose. I mean it. If for any reason at all he does keep it close, it absolutely means something went wrong. Security has been compromised. Abort the mission.

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So I was flipping through the cable television when I came across coverage of the 2007 WSOP Horse tourney. I can't remember what game they were playing. Probably seven card stud. All I know is when I started viewing there were 3 players still in the hand and 1 of them was all in.

On one of the streets Barry Greenstein makes a bet with his incomplete hand. This bet gets the 3rd player involved to fold a hand that was better than Barry's.

When the cards were revealed there was a comment regarding Barry's bet. As if maybe he shouldn't have bet with nothing into a dry pot with a 3rd player all in.

To my surprise, Greenstein actually responded. Part of me was disappointed. It's Barry Freaking Greenstein. He's a master at this stuff. If he's made a bet on a street I'm sure there's a good reason. Sure I want to learn, but Barry doesn't need to explain to me. I already believe there's method to his madness.

Barry told the table how if he hadn't bet then he'd be showing he had nothing and this might allow his opponent to bet him off the hand on the next street.

One of the other players mildly chastised him. Not for the move but for explaining it and teaching the table.

I share this moment not so much to discuss the actual strategy of play but because I thought to myself how in most of the tournaments I've played in, there would have been someone at the table calling Greenstein a donk for betting into a dry pot.

But here I finally I get to watch a pro deal with the kind of situation I live with all the time: Hearing someone criticize your play. Of course you have a reason for whatever you did but your opponent just doesn't get it. Unlike Barry I often keep my mouth shut in these spots. Or at least feign ignorance. Truth be told, I thought Barry would as well.

Hey I'm a huge Barry fan. I love his book Ace on The River. I really like the way he conducts himself at the table. Barry does an audio blog these days. Listening to a recent entry I heard something real valuable. I heard Barry say that he needs money. Something about "Several mortgages and causes."

How about that?

Barry still needs money.

Just like me.

Part of me assumes that these pros have all the money they could ever want and that they don't ever need to make more money.

On some level it's real good for me to hear that they're still out there working too.