Man’s Best Friend is NOT Poker

There are quite a few things in life I love more than poker – my family, my friends and my dogs.  As immersed in the game as I can tend to be, I never forget the things that are truly important in life and love is at the top of my list.

I thought I’d blog today about my pets.  Growing up, my family never had a dog or a cat until I was in high school. We had a handful of fish and hamsters along the way.  My parents wanted us to be old enough to understand responsibility, and so when I was in ninth grade and my sister was in sixth, my mom adopted a dog named Calvin.  He was part lab and part husky, or a “lusky” or “huskador” or whatever funny name you want to call his mixed breed.  My mom got him from a place called Animal Pet Fair in Columbus, Ohio.  This place was NOT your Petland puppy mill, selling dogs at outrageous prices.  Instead, Animal Pet Fair took animals from local shelters that were in danger of soon being euthanized, and adopted/sold them out of their own location.

Calvin was seven months old, cute as can be, but he had been “marked down,” because no one wanted him.  He wasn’t really a “puppy” anymore; too old to be considered someone’s new pup I guess.  Thinking about that still makes me tear up, because our “discount” doggie created over a decade of priceless memories for my family – from my sister and I setting up an obstacle course in the backyard that we taught him to hurdle, to the annual holiday gift-opening in which Calvin unwrapped every family member’s gifts and then posed among the wrapping paper for countless photos.   That dog let everyone pick him up (even though he was like 70 pounds), dress him up in human clothes, kiss and hug on him and anything else you could imagine doing to have laughs and love with your dog.  Sadly, we lost him to illness right around Easter a few years ago.  I don’t remember another time in life that I cried that much.

In my adult life, I have known and loved many dogs; my parents other dog, Fozzy; my ex-husband’s parents three cute little dogs, Sydney, Winnie and Maggie; countless friend’s dogs and of course there are my own.

Sassy, a mix of beagle, pug and possible schipperke; she was days from being euthanized and was labeled a “special needs” dog, because she was born devoid of organs on one side of her body.  One of everything you’re supposed to have two of.  To this day, she has never required any special medicines, surgeries or anything extra from your normal average dog.  She’s a bit awkward and she barks at every person and other dog she ever sees, and is very bull-headed during walks.  I love her dearly; she was the first dog of my very own, once I moved out of my parent’s house into “adult life.”

Taco, a Corgi-Chihuahua mix that I adopted from the pound a few years back – the poor little guy had the worst kennel cough ever and I will always remember the look on his face riding in the car on his way to his new home; it was a gratefulness I will never forget.  If he could speak, he would have said “thank you” over and over, but his eyes said it all anyway.  I rocked him to sleep for many nights until he got over that Kennel cough.  He is also a tennis ball champion and has a tendency to make friends (or more likely – enemies) with the local skunk.

Caesar is my feisty little Chihuahua that I bought “on the sly.”  My husband at the time thought two dogs was plenty, but I had never had a “puppy” that I got to watch grow the whole way up.  One of my former students asked if I wanted to come see the litter of pups, which of course was a huge mistake, because you know I’m coming out of there with a puppy; there was no way I could resist these pint sized loves.  So I paid for him and asked the breeder if they could hang on to him until I got back from my pre-planned Vegas trip.  I then waited until my birthday to be like,  “surprise! You don’t have to get me a gift because I already got myself a puppy!”  Yea….kind of manipulative I suppose, but his brief anger was quelled by a photo of Caesar.  He has been the most humorous dog by far.

Now I also have Jake, a big old dopey and loveable beagle that belongs to my boyfriend.  We’ve had him here in Vegas for a year and a half and he is just so mild and good-mannered.  He gets along with the other dogs and just loves belly rubs and long walks.   He is 12 years old and blind, but it doesn’t stop him from snuggling and playing with the younger ones.  I love this dog so much that it’s almost like he’s always been my own.

Dogs just kind of have that effect on you; their unconditional love is greater than you’ll ever find with any human.  You can love your family and your significant other as much as you want, but still – your animal is completely bonded with you, always aims to please and is happy to see you no matter what kind of day you or they have had.

And so it is with great anticipation that I get to play the Jen Harman charity event tomorrow at Venetian.  It benefits the Nevada SPCA and I personally cannot imagine any greater cause for me to donate my money and contribute my poker playing to.  I have been looking forward to this event since last year when I was unable to attend due to my dealing job. I made certain this year that I had the time blocked off to attend, and then it came as a very big blessing when I found myself in a position to participate in the event at the poker table.

Anyone is welcome to come down and mingle at the event –there is a red carpet event beginning at 4pm, a special message from Jen and the NSPCA at 5pm, then the poker tournament kicks off. There are limited seats available to play in the event as well.  It is a $330 buy-in with unlimited $100 rebuys until the break, and one add-on for $100 as well.   The levels are 20 minutes for the first six levels, then speed up to 15 minute levels from that point forward.  Starting chips for the event are 1,000, plus you will receive 1,000 for each rebuy, and then 2,000 at add-on time.   The grand prize of the event is a seat into the WSOP main event.

I am pretty excited to participate among the pros and also among celebrities like Mr. Belding from Saved by the Bell – nerdy I know, but exciting to ME (complete list of participants available HERE)!   Please come out and join me for a fun night, some great poker and support a very worthy cause.  Help other animals like my pets and your pets continue to lead healthy, happy lives and find their “forever homes.”