"Hallelujah Brother I'm Even" is exactly the message I sent to my buddy Hatfield last night about 4 a.m.

Hatfield had tried to send me message about something around midnight and he got this away message from my messenger

"I'm stuck $600... piss off." <readmore>

I didn't mean it personally, anyone who messaged me during those few hours was going to get that message because I had set it to automatically reply with that as my away message. This was definitely out of character for me. Anybody who knows me will attest to the fact that I am a very even keel kind of guy, real mellow.

Every once in awhile though, when I'm at a table full of idiots that are completely running over me and the cards have gone cold I do get a little grumpy. I stopped 3 times during the session and relaxed, took deep breaths, and made sure my head was still on straight. I was playing just fine, but the idiots defending their small blinds with 74o were flopping bottom two pair when I flopped top pair. In a four handed game that can get expensive.

Anyway, here's the story...

{<span>Scene opens and we see fox staring at a large flat screen monitor, empty coffe cups line the desk in front of him. His steely blue eyes are reflected in the glare of the monitor and a look of determination is sullied only by the slightest hint of a grin</span>}
<flashback apartment="" fox?s="" sees="" now="" audience="" the="" and="" wavy="" gets="" screen="" begins="" sequence="">

"The session started around 11 p.m. with 3 tables, two of which were ten handed 5/10 tables. The third was a (6max) 10/20 table. The 10/20 table was filled with insane fish, calling with anything, putting in the third raise as a bluff on the turn and generally playing like they hated money. Within a few minutes I had closed the 5/10 tables. I had found myself a cash cow!"

"Within half an hour PokerTracker and I had a good read on the three remaining opponents, and not one of them could play a lick. I named them Corky1, Corky2, and Sneaky. Sneaky - by the way - was not. By that time I was down about $120. Corky1 had defended his SB with 42 and caught two pair when I caught top pair top kicker with my ATs, and Sneaky had put in the third raise with an inside straight draw on the turn, which he caught on the river."

<fox the="" and="" screen="" to="" on="" locked="" steely="" are="" eyes="" his="" focused="" straight="" up="" sitting="" upbeat="" still="" but="" annoyed="" bit="" a="" looks="">{<span>Camera pans out from monitor and we see Fox sitting back down at his chair, a fresh cup of coffee in hand, the grin gone from his face. His eys are steel grey now, the blue gone almost entirely and his face is stone. He looks more like a predator now, stalking his prey</span>}

"Two hours later I had these guys read perfectly. I knew their games inside and out, but many of their moves were random. I could guess their exact hands more than half the time; a rare thing at a four handed table. I was also stuck almost $400"

<fox sees="" audience="" the="" and="" a="" looks="" sandwich="" eaten="" half="" cups="" coffe="" styrofoam="" empty="" 3="" desk="" computer="" over="" pans="" camera="" slouching="" posture="" his="" long="" after="" soldier="" of="" that="" is="" countenance="" worn="" battle="" haggard="">{<span>The audience now sees a different person as the camera moves in for a closer view of Fox's face. The grim determination remains but the stone face looks weathered now, an old statue that still stands tall but shows the wear and tear of the elements after years of standing alone in a quiet park</span>}

"I stopped and took a few deep breaths and cleared my head. These guys were going to play all night it seemed. The game was still excellent and my head was still okay. I kept at it and made sure to play solid poker; these guys were too dumb to get tricky with. 'If I had just gone to the bar I'd only be stuck $50' I thought to myself. By 2 a.m. I was stuck almost $700."

<we fox?s="" now="" the="" and="" are="" eyes="" his="" a="" of="" is="" breathes="" he="" when="" moving="" barely="" stone="" like="" looking="" determination="" grim="" look="" in="" set="" face="" gone="" spark="" dark="" shallow="" detail="" see="">{<span>Camera now focuses on a coffe cup, a large chip i is missing out of the rim and a thin crack runs down the handle. A hand comes down to pick up the cup and it appears to be ashen, very little color remains in the skin. When the camera follows the cup up to watch fox take a drink we see a battered statue. Still standing, but worse for wear. A bead of sweat stands alone on the right temple and the eyes are sunken, darker than they were before</span>}

"The hands finally began to come to me about 2:15. A quick run that brought in $200 invigorated me. I began to climb back up. By 2:45 Corky1 was broke and I was perking up, with $750 of my original $1,000 sitting in front of me. I contemplated quitting after every hand, knowing that another streak of bad cards now would really get to me and I would have to quit anyway. The next bad streak didn't happen."

"I kept raking in pots and the money kept climbing back toward my original $1,000. I had a goal now, and by about 3:15 I had it in sight. I just wanted to get even."

<we fox?s="" now="" and="" are="" eyes="" still="" but="" is="" in="" face="" spark="" see="" returned="" has="" alight="" stoney="" flat="" there="" determination="" the="" screen="" reflected="">{<span>The bright blue eyes now gleam and the slightest hint of a sneer can be seen tugging at the corner of the mouth. The scene is brighter, but the tension remains high</span>}

"At exactly 3:54 a.m. I raised with A8o from the small blind. The big blind folded. My stack now read $1,001. I clicked the box to sit out, and leaned way back in my chair. It was over. In five hours I had managed to lose and win back $697.50. I was exhausted, and playing any more was just pointless. Time for bed."

"I opened up my messenger and found Hatfield still signed on. I typed 'Hallelujah Brother, I'm even' in the window, hit enter, and went to bed."

<fox and="" screen="" on="" still="" a="" his="" is="" in="" the="" curtain="" up="" come="" lights="" house="" out="" fades="" as="" roll="" credits="" background="" plays="" guitar="" acoustic="" lone="" away="" pulls="" camera="" asleep="" immediately="" socks="" wearing="" bed="" collapses="">{<span>The shot now fades to black and white and "Hallelujah brother, I'm even" is in focus while the rest of the shot is blurred. The contrast gets higher and the shot gets grainy just before we hear a light switch and everything goes black. Roll credits</span>}

I suppose that might be a bit dramatic...

Yep, that was my night last night. Never been happier to win a dollar. Hatfield has a new book out by the way, called Singer of Souls. I read it a few days ago, and it gets five stars from me. Music fans, and those of Scottish or Irish blood, may get a particular kick out of it. Ask for "Singer of Souls" by Adam Stemple at your local bookstore or pick it up on Amazon. Check out his poker blog at www.adamstemple.com as well, the guy's a lot better writer than I am.

See you at the final table,
Fox

</fox> </we></we></fox></fox></flashback></readmore>