Small win city

Ever since I've been back, I've been laying pretty low online. I've had a few small wins in cash games and nothing real big in tournaments. But all these little tiny wins add up and it beats dumping 1k every day in tournaments and not doing anything. I really have been trying to clear my mind and just not play poker that much. When I have played in tournaments it's really been more of the same. Get deep and lose a big race or get sucked out on.

Congratulations to Josh Cribbs and Braylon Edwards, two Browns selected to the Pro Bowl. Considering there were probably two players more deserving on the Browns in my opinion, Joe Thomas and Kellen Winslow, I think the Browns are getting snubbed by the league for what they believe is a fluke year. Putting Joe Thomas at left tackle along with Steinbach at left guard has turned one of the worst offenses in the league into a team that can finish the game with the run and pass handily on almost anybody. This is not with Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, but Derek Anderson, an average NFL QB. On top of that, Kellen Winslow has made almost every catch when a ball is thrown to him this year. You can't count the huge plays on two hands from this guy. 3rd and 10 against the Ravens late in the game with the game on the line, Winslow grabs a ball full extension only to get nailed by two Baltimore defenders at once and still hangs on to the ball. Add that to the highlight reel, but this guy got screwed. Thomas is a rookie, so I can understand that snub more, but to tell me that Tony Gonzalez on the 4-10 KC Chiefs or Antonio Gates on the lackluster San Diego offense that was in a coma for the first half of the year deserve the pro bowl nod over Winslow is an absolute joke. Edwards and Cribbs are both very deserving.

Other than that, when I decided to play poker professionally, I remember telling some of my friends that the reason I don't want to do it is because I will be wasting probably 15 days of my life every year having to explain what I do to people. Most people can't handle the non-traditional. It is hard for people to understand how to make money "gambling." Quite frankly, it is impossible to chance an already stereotyped mind into thinking what actually is the reality. These concerns always come to the forefront when I have social interactions now, and it's very tough to deal with. Mainly because I've always been perceived as an intelligent, motivated person and those are not the characteristics associated with poker. All that matters is supposed to be my happiness, but I've always tried to be a people pleaser. Being a people pleaser is probably something I have to give up if I want to remain sane throughout this trial period in my life. When you are younger, you really think that people can change and lose their stereotypes, but I have to take a much more cynical approach every year I live. People are ignorant and not everyone, but for the most part, people don't want to change their opinions about something even if it is wrong. Keeping an open mind though is often the only way to really grow as a person.