Ironic

Yesterday Troy and I headed to the Bonita Poker House, the place that was built after the old dog track was torn down, a place Troy and I visited a long time ago. We weren’t going to play poker but to bet on horse racing which they also have there. As we were sitting at the bar and eating lunch I was telling Troy about my ex-employee that retired. I mentioned how he is real big into poker and that he sometimes plays at this venue. No more than 10 minutes later I look to the right and see Mike grabbing a beer.

He didn’t see me sitting there and was very surprised. He didn’t have much time to talk because he was in the middle of a 50 person hold em tournament. He said he was doing well so far as he had reached top 5. After he finished, where he got third he stopped back and talked with us some more. He did really well, turning his $125 buy in into more than 1K in prize money. He showed me how he is ranked number one regionally in some bar league he is in and number five nationally. Mike definitely seems to be enjoying his retirement.

It was very cold in there as I sat in my shorts and t-shirt. I was cold enough that I overpaid for a Poker Room hoodie to keep me warm. My horse betting did not go well. I lost every pick I made except one but the good news is I was only down $17 when I cashed out. There are some “interesting” characters that we saw at the venue. The hardcore horse race betting crowd is an older generation for sure.

I dropped off Troy and said my goodbyes as he flies back to PA this morning. It was good to see and spend time with him. I spent the rest of the day descending deeper into illness. This is feeling very similar to the last time I got sick which was only a couple months ago where it came on very slowly but settled in to the point where it felt like full blown flu. I am hoping to not get that bad this time around.