Happy Fourth of July

I hope everyone enjoys this holiday weekend and celebrates our Independence Day with true patriotic fervor. They say such activities will make you a conservative. Then I say celebrate, celebrate, celebrate.

And if you are a great tournament poker player this July has more to celebrate; the $100,000 Mid-Summer Classic at the Potawatomi Bingo and Casino here in Milwaukee. Not only that, but they are having smaller tournaments Sundays and Mondays most of the month.

If you are some one who considers himself a proficient player, dangerous to the fortunes of others, these are the kind of events that should excite you. The odd thing is, if we were still deep in dept I feel I would be more likely to enter the tournament. That is, in financial circumstances with little hope the potential of huge windfalls is nearly the only place one could find hope. I never really chased such windfalls, never making the casino's smaller tournaments when they were on a weekly basis, but have been calculating in how much I can truly risk and still make my commitments. So I chased that chance to win an entry into the Chicago Poker Classic.

However, now that we have found relief from our debt, finding ourselves challenged with long overdue maintenance expenses on home and body, I am more frugal as I can see we can meet these expenses through the course of the summer if we truly hunker down. Expenses in the past we simply thought impossible to meet. But who knows? Maybe I will try one of the $100 tournaments and win enough to enter the big event,...if there's room.

You should always evaluate yourself. If you are being rational or are irrationally chasing pipe dreams. But I am good. These are the kind of events I should be challenging myself with if I'm going to take my poker truly serious. It's about what you want to make of yourself. It requires decision making and risk taking, and prioritizing, putting your larger responsibilities first.

Happy Fourth of July! And remember ...Celebrate! Celebrate! Celebrate!