You just told me that you felt alive for the first time at a f@!king card table!

You're Goddamn right I did!

Wifey and I got into it again last night about poker and gambling. She/we were watching a new show, Moment of truth, were folk take a lie detector test, and show personnel interview the contestants friends, and then ask him/her questions while family members and friends sit idlely by. As you answer questions correctly you move up in money earned. But if you answer one question wrong (lie), you lose everything. (answers are yes or no) Here is a taste

Last night some asshat, now a personal trainer, and a former NFL player, answered some pretty hard questions. Another feature is that your friend, or wife, or whoever you have there has the ability to hit a button, allowing you not to answer any particular question.

Mr. NFL player got through the first 8 questions fairly easy, with minor embarrasment. Then comes this beauty... "have you ever had sex with a man?" bbllahahhaaaaaa!!

GOLD! Why is this question even being asked? and since it is being asked, does he even really have to answer it? His wife is sitting there, a hot little thing named Catia, and just smiles like there is no way he answers yes. You could see the guy looking at her in an attempt to non-verbally get her to push that button. She didn't, and of course he answered yes.

He answered two more questions about her having a reason not to trust him, both were answered yes, as if anything could surprise her after he admitted having sex with a dude! Then he answered in the affirmative that he was holding off having kids because he wasn't sure if Catia was his life companion. Then the douche lies about touching someone inappropriately while training them and he loses everything, AND, admitting that he had sex with a dude!

I don't see this show being on after another season, 'cause quite frankly, who would put themselves out there like that for a measely 100k? Christ after taxes, and fees you'd be lucky to clear 40 of it.

At any rate, the next contestant had to answer a question about his gambling addiction. He worked at a Horse track as a marketing rep, and admitted to losing his first wife because of his addiction. Sports betting and horse racing were the culprits. Then he mentions poker.

Wifey looks at me as I jam QQ into AA against lightning in the very first hand of the Mook...

So wifey takes the opportunity to utilize that example to tell me that I am in denial. I hate that word. Denial. almost as much as entitlement. Two of the gheyest words in the english vocabulary...

See, she equates my poker HOBBY, as an addiction. She should I guess because of her experience. Life long thereapy sessions over addiction problems in her family have led her to the conclusion that everyone is addicted to something. So I ask her, am I addicted to flyfishing? Reading? Walking? Breathing?

I explain to her, no, TELL her that if I had an addiction problem with gambling, I would be betting on sports game, which I never do, or horse races, which rarely do, or playing black Jack, Craps, anything else at the Casinos while i'm there to play poker, which I NEVER do.

She said something about fantasy football being an indicator of having a gambling addiction. I came back at her and said, this was the first year in 5 that I participated in any FF league. Heck I even paid my entry fee to Skidoo's pick'em league this year, and bailed on picking games around week 4 because I didn't have the time every week to look through the schedule and THINK about who I would pick....

Please tell me people, do I have an addiction? a habit? I/ most of us, don't gamble when I play poker. I just don't. Too many factors go into every decision made to consider it a gamble. In the end of any certain hand, flop, turn, or river, we might decide to gamble on any one instance, but for the most part, the totality of the game is not one big gamble. Theres just too much math, analytical thinking, and phsycology that goes into every decision.

I don't think she has that much of an issue with it. She's just irish, and needs to be right about the argument. Stubborn little vixen. Maybe thats why I married her. For her feistyness (sp?).

But the argument is really getting old.