Tonight i was supposed to be playing in the $50+Superturbo Mini FTOPS, winning thousands of $$!
The plan was drive to the work christmas party (casino themed), do the necessary,eat the 3 course meal
and enjoy the free drink then GTFO of there by 9pm in time to speed home and get on Full Tilt by 10pm for the tournament.

As it turns out i didn't make the tournament but still managed to have an ineresting and enjoyable poker experience!! woop!
I'm laughing as i write this because it seems ironic that i can actually have enjoyed a charity play money poker game so much but have had
so much anxiety over playing for serious money both live & online this year. Poker is supposed to be fun!!!!

So i was finishing my meal, having just instigated some drinking games and having some great laughs despite not drinking alcohol myself,
about to leave the xmas party when a girl came round offering tickets for the charity casino games. I had been told and expected it to be roulette
and blackjack but no poker so showed no interest in the tickets until i overheard her mention to someone that they were playing 'texas' ...

'You're playing texas holdem?' I ask casually, and she tells me she's the dealer and that they will be. 

Then came an announcement that a magnumn of champange will be given to the person who finishes with the most chips in the casino at the end of the night..
And a VIP meal for 4 at the racecourse where the event was being held, for the winner of the season.
£5 for 100 chips, £10 for 300 chips.


So i buy 300 and head over to the poker table.. The standard is pretty bad and i run over the table, at one stage a drunk abnoxious guy is asked to
leave the table for being abusive to the dealer, luckily midway through a hand with me where he had the best of it!.. And before long i had turned my
300 chips into 3000, (i ran pretty good!) & completely outclassed every player.

One of the biggest pots -

I have 89o on the button, so call a few limpers -
Flop is 882, I call (slowplay)
turn is 2h, i minraise and get it all in 3 ways vs J2o & K2s!!

My firend who i'd travelled there with sat down shortly after and i dumped a load of chips over to him going blind pre vs his stack (He had AKs),
and hit the nut flush. Evetually we finished up sat with my boss and my friend, me with close to $4k chip and my friend with $2.5k.

I then remember the magnum of champagne and wonder if i might have the most chips to win it. Some of me other colleagues had ran up $10k on the
table games but i guessed most of that would have been blown, and just as i was ready to submit my $4k chips, my managing director ushers me over to the roulette table
where they are having the last spin of the night. I go to put 100 on a couple of numbers but am somehow convinced that i MUST put the whole $4k on 1 number.
I end up panicking as the wheel is spinning, placing ~90% of it on RED, make a few small side bets, and the ball lands on BLACK 11 so i lose everything.

My friend who i'm playinjg poker with earlier then wonders over and unwittingly hands in most of his chips (apart from keeping a $25 as a keepsake),
turns out the be the ONLY player in the whole casino to submit ANY chips and gets called to the front of the DJ booth to collect his Magnus of chapagne!!
 
I then drove home with him and my boss, had a pretty cool journey and have just arrive back home having had a very enjoyable night.
Learning is something i've done so much of this year with regards to poker.. And tonight I learnt a free but very valuable lesson in staying AWAY from table games.
It must be devestating for someone to spend time grinding money in a poker tournament or cash game, then to go and lose it in 5 minutes in a casino game like i'm sure
so many poker players have done.. Stu Ungar or Willie Tann spring to mind, and an unknown guy i've spoken to who was rolled for $2kNL and lost the lot on roulett,..
(I would guess the list is very long!)..

I've learnt tonight that the table games are definnnitely not for me and i will only ever be playing on the poker tables when i visit casinos.

As well as this tonight i've remembered to take pleasure in more than the money in poker - I took great pleasure in the competition of poker,
and the thrill of being talented and skilled at it (which has taken a lot of work), and being able to demonstrate that (show off) with my work colleagues.

Certainly more pleasure than winning a few hundred $ online, or playing my usual weekly game. (NOT as much as a MTT final table!)

Anyone whose read this far down, thanks, its 3am & i've probably rambled on a bit, thanks for reading, and try to remember the enjoyment in playing poker aside from the financial aspects!
GLGLGLGLGLGL

PS My boss has a bottle of Champagne waiting for me at work on Monday to make up for helping me lose my chips!

GLGLGLGLGL