Love and Poker

Is there a safe mix? For everyone who doesn't know my story here it is. I was married for 6 years and have 3 kids. I was a HVAC tech making enough money just to get by even with my ex wife working as a teacher. One day my next door neighbor came over and introduced me to Texas Holdem. We played for about an hour and I was hooked. I think I see the game different from everyone esle. I believe you can learn it in a matter of mins but never master it. I was also at that time playing basketball, but some injuries had me on the side line. With age comes injuries. So when I found poker I found a outlet that I had been searching for. I took it to another level I was playing everyday once I got home from work. I am from Atlanta so there is no poker rooms or casino's. I started playing in free tournaments in bars, and online. People started to notice tha I was ready to play for money and I was invited to home games. It didn't take long before I was making more money playing poker then I was working 50 to 60 hrs a week. This goes on for about 2 years. Then I start seeing things out of place. My wife was always the one who would say we need more money. So I had finally had the income to support her and the kids like they needed. But with that came more and more time at the games making the money. I was so intentent on making more money I lost site of them. I couldn't spend the time needed with them to make them feel loved. Not long after I was divorced. In the divorce I lost everything, my house, cars, dogs, but most important my family. It took awhile to see that poker had been the reason I lost them but when I saw it I took some time off.

I found what I thought was the love of my life sometime later. She was my back bone thru it all. She always had my back no matter what I did or what I said. I thought she was the one for me. I hadn't played poker but a couple of times while I was with her. So she really didn't know how much I loved it. About six months in I lost my jobs and couldn't find any work making the money I was makin. About a month later I found what I thought was a dream job 3 months later i was fired due to the fact I was put in jail by my ex for something I never did. She just couldn't stand that I was happy. She has made my life a living hell since the divorce. Still to this day she has not let up. So I lost my job again and the same thing happens couldn't find any work no were in the area, this was also not a go time of year for a HVAC man. Still I did not return to poker fearing that I would lose the love of my life. Finally I found a great job and had moved up in the company very fast. I was told I had a management job waiting for me in Florida all I had to do is say yes. I said yes and about 2 weeks later I had a falling out with a customer over a mis understanding that wasn't even my fault. Come to find out he was a big wig at our #1 customer HOME DEPOT, I was told if I wasn't fired they would lose that contract! So guess what I got fired. Needless to say thing were not good on the home front! One day she came up missing for about 3 days, I didn't know where she was or if she was dead. When she finally came home I pretty much knew it was over. Come to find out I wasn't #1 anymore! It has taken a long time to get over her. But I have. Oh yea in the middle of my divorce I lost all my family and most of my friends. So I have on person I can and always have depended on Mike. He has been there thru it all and has never left my side. A month goes by and Mike says have you ever thought about moving to Biloxi. I say yeah a long time ago. So why don't we do it now, I think about it for alittle while and say hell yeah. We come and play in a tournament, 1st live game I've played in forever and I pick up were I left off. I take the tournament down and that day we get and apartment in Biloxi. If I had went back to poker before all this maybe I would still be with the love of my life. Or maybe I would have drove her away along time ago. Whatever it may be I'm glad to be here now doing what I love as much as my kids. I have always heard life is to short to be misrible, so why be???????? I love what I do. Just not sure Love and Poker are a good mix for me.

Till the next time Do Work son