On the other hand, obviously my actions had removed playing poker from the entertainment category and put it into the work category, with the result being that at times it was as unpleasant as any job. Playing tight can actually be pretty boring, and I found myself doing strange things to mix it up a little, like checking the bottom right corner of the card first (checking for the telltale border of a face card, or the blankness that meant either an ace or a 2/3) or checking flops without my glasses.
Ken Goldstein, professional gambler. You know, it really says something about Ken that he utterly fails to mention the late-night coke-fueled slapfights with his stripper girlfriend, the several Mercedes won and lost, and the huge mansion down the coast that he’ll forever return to, standing wan and forlorn on the sidewalk, staring.
At least he managed to hang on to the clothes.
Seriously, Ken mentioned to me that he was playing poker for expenses, but it almost seems as though he didn’t self-identify as a bound-for–greatness pro. I find this interesting, because Ken is clearly a gifted person in many things.