SACRIFICES

I am but a lowly poker player while my wife makes all the real money. Actually, I made more than she did this year, but that may have been a fluke. Besides, her job brings us the medical benefits which mine never will. So, I was honored to be selected by PokerRoom to sit on their panel at the European Internet Gaming convention in Nice, France this November. I was very much looking forward to a week in the south of France, until my wife learned that she would need to be in Florida for a vital meeting on the same day as the poker panel. I scrambled for backup, but in the end I was forced to withdrawal from the France event so I can stay home and get the kiddos off to school. Wife's job comes first, and kids can't be left in the care of just anyone. There is one family that I trust enough with the job, but besides being a school night (they have two kids of their own to get ready), it also happened to be their anniversary. So I couldn't saddle them with my party animal kids on a Wednesday night when they should be looking to unload their own. So sad - even though I am far from a top tier professional poker player, I've gotta figure I've got some sort of Q rating in Europe since I made the final table of their most prestigious tournament. I'm sure that's why I was asked to participate in this event, and I'm sad that I can't go, both for letting down PokerRoom and for missing whatever opportunites to network may have presented themselves.