Texas Hold 'Em

The card game Texas Hold 'Em started getting really popular in about 2003. That's when ESPN started showing the World Series of Poker Main Event on their network. That tournament used to get about 2,000 people. Now it gets between 5 and 6,000 people. My family, minus my mom of course, started picking up the game around then. To say I was a horrible player is the biggest understatement in the world. In this game, you get two cards face down. You either play with them or fold them. No matter how bad the cards were, I would almost always play with them. You aren't supposed to do that. Long story short, we used to play for $5 and I would rarely make money. I would be thrilled if I made money. Now, I cash fairly often and have grown tremendously as a player. I am not happy unless I get first place. There are even times that I will win a hand and be upset because I didn't feel like I played it correctly. Last Sunday at Turning Stone, I got 20th out of 102 players. Top 15 got paid. I was very upset because not only did I not win, but I was so close to cashing. We play Hold 'Em at my house once a month. Tonight, for the second straight month, I got 2nd place, losing to my brother. Second place is no fun, especially when it's to my younger brother. I am not good when it comes down to two players. I need to learn how to play that part of the game better. It's completely different than playing with a table full of people. It was another disappointing night of poker even though I made more money than I started with.