Plotting Vengeance

My reign as Pineapple Maze Champion has come to a quick end.

When Kuro and I visited the pineapple maze at Dole Plantation yesterday, we saw that some dude named Jason Bernard had taken over first place, bumping me down to second. He completed the maze in 10 minutes; my previous record set less than a month ago had been 12 minutes.

This aggression will not stand.

I'll be back at the pineapple maze to regain my throne. It may take several tries, but I will fight hard to set a new record with a single-digit time.

Look out, Jason Bernard.

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During Kuro's Memorial Day visit, I was reminded of a few pieces of classic poker advice he's given me over the years:

You don't need cards: I have this text message saved on my phone, nearly three years after it was sent. It reminds me to try to play the players more than the cards.

Don't push it: There's no reason to play too often or overplay hands.

Cally cally don't fly in Vegas: Calling down is seldom the best line to take in a hand.

Was it ever in doubt?: Of course I win, fish.

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Sometimes I feel like a dense idiot for playing poker when I know I can't bring my best game.

I woke up on Memorial Day imagining all the vacationing drunkards sitting down at the online tables. I thought money would materialize in my lap, even though I was still half asleep and cranky.

How many times do I have to learn that it's better to not play at all than to play poorly? I incorrectly tell myself I can fight through it, but I find that it's difficult to elevate my play to its top form by willpower alone.

Of course I lost money (although there were a couple of coolers). I would have needed a suckout to come out ahead in my tired state.

I'd like to think I'm catching on to this trend of bad results flowing from playing while sleepy, but it's hard to remember not to play when all I want to do is play.