The burning question

Clearly, there's something wrong with me. I keep saying "I'm going to play less live so I can play more online" but somehow keep finding myself on planes to some live event with nothing better to be doing than tapping out another blog. This morning, I worked out that I'm going to be away from home for two and a half of the next four months. When I told Mrs. Doke, she asked the very legitimate question "What the Hell is wrong with you?". If she had her way, I'd never leave the house.

This particular plane is (hopefully) on its way to Lisbon. If not, this will be a matter of some concern and disappointment not just to me but to the two young Waterford lads I keep running into at these foreign events currently sitting one row in front of me, and Chris Dowling currently minding the world's largest carry on bag several rows behind me.

These EMOPS have been good hunting grounds for recent Irish raiding parties, and in addition to those on this plane a few others like Gary Clarke and Roy Brindley will also be in attendance. All of which is building nicely towards the first Irish EMOPS in Clontarf castle in July.

On Monday, a few hours after finishing tenth in the warmup, I went into town to meet Stephen, one of my best non-poker friends. When I told "emsgawa9" Jono this, he expressed immediate sympathy for my friend on the basis that "I can't imagine someone who just final table bubbled a major is going to be pleasant company", a very valid point. I therefore resolved to do my best not to take my frustrations out on my friend, but of course I couldn't not tell him what had just happened. He smiled happily and said "Great, so you won 6 grand". I started to explain that this felt like a kick in the bollocks compared to the lost opportunity to win a major title (and the small matter of 160 grand) but I remembered Jono's words and stopped myself. It also struck me that my friend was right: at the end of the day I'd won 6 grand, and that was something to be happy about. Sometimes you need the perspective of a total outsider. The other thing that struck me was that there was no doubting that Stephen was genuinely happy that things are going well for me. It's easy to forget sometimes that your best friends are those who want to see you succeed, and when you do their reaction is one of genuine happiness untinged by any trace of jealousy.

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