Yes, I'm serious now.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't have any intention of taking poker seriously until I was in the car on the way to Hustler. Up to the morning of the day we went, I waffled whenever I was asked whether I was hitting the felt again on Monday. The trip to Pechanga was a welcomed escape from the couch potato existence I was starting to develop. A one time thing.

Taking another trip to the casino, twice in three days, could only mean one of two things:

a.) You're serious about playing poker

b.) You're forming what could be an unhealthy, costly and destructive addiction

At least that's how I thought of it. Coming from a relationship in the distant past where my money was spent on other people's gambling problems paints this in black and white for me. I really do not want to end up as a mooching degen.

When we got inside the casino, I immediately noticed how hard the interior tried to achieve a sense of upscale poshness but only ended up somewhere near faux classiness. The aubergine color palette, the reproduction Klimts (a shame there was no gold foiling, it would have made such a difference) the lack of nap in their velvet upholstery, I could go on. I have to say though, it was much more fun than Pechanga which is sparsely decorated like a school gym. Another plus for Hustler, I must mention, very nice and clean bathrooms.

They called me up for my seat with the name "Lady CL" which I thought was amusing and I sat at the $50-100 1/3 table. It felt like the entire table was full of regulars. A man to my right reminded me of Steve Martin and the guy to my left seemingly was always a young asian guy, no matter who sat down.

Afterwards, I went over hands with my coach over In-n-Out so I don't remember many hands other than the best play of the night that I felt I made. I laid down AA.

I raise pre-flop holding my first AA ever in early position. Two callers. The flop comes two toned with suits I don't have and extremely connected JQ9, I believe. I bet moderately and am called. The turn comes a K complete a straight and a flush. I check because I'm sure I've fallen behind and am betted into. So, I folded.

At least that's what I think I remember happening. See, the two things that I learned from this trip out were:

1.) I need a more reliable way of tracking hands because my poor memory can't store significant hands after 3 hours of play (as exampled above). If I can't study my hands later, I can't improve.

2.) When you get tired, get up. The last hand I played reinforces this big time. I raised on the button with Qx suited, c-bet on a dry K-high flop was called unexpectedly and checked the rest of the way against one opponent. When the dealer asked me to showdown, I flipped over my cards to see who had won because I couldn't remember what I had. That is awful poker. A $15 dollar mistake.

I got up when the blinds came and cashed out my first winnings ever from a live game. Forty-six dollars! While I left the casino with fewer heart jitters, I felt like I was more behind in understanding the game of poker than I had been when I entered the casino.