The Honeymoon

I still remember the screen names.

Myself: Jefferking25
Will: 213assassin
Jesse: macbond21
Brent: beastslayer
Shane: UWEC2020

Those were our identities when we logged onto the Poker Pages site at the 213 in Eau Claire and played free poker tournaments during 2003 and into 2004. We were smack dab into that stage of the poker relationship when everything was new, exciting and fun. You could never get enough and you only wanted more. We'd go to the bars and rush home to play in the 2 AM tourney. We'd yell out different hands from our respective rooms when were involved in a big pot. We cheered for and rooted against each other vehemently depending on the situation. We were ultra competitive and hungry for success.

And this was with no money involved.

The daily discussions were delusional and unrealistic, but we couldn't help but dream big. How many WSOP bracelets would our collective group win? 3? 5? 10? The predictions were not grounded in any kind of reality, but suspended one where the paths and outcomes could play out as we please. The sky was the limit. We would take the poker world by storm.

But like most relationships, the initial love and passion is unsustainable. The unbridled feelings you never want to end do just that. Hot and heavy quickly turns to cold and light. And you move in another direction.

It happened quickly for Shane, and soon after for Brent. Other things took precedence as they realized poker was not a long-term endeavor. Shane ended up quitting before investing any money online. Brent deposited a few times and played casually before bowing out shortly thereafter. 

That left Jesse, Will and I. The games online were getting bigger with more and more people catching the poker bug. The three of us each deposited a few hundred bucks and immediately began racing against each other to find out who could make a big score first.. who could actually back up their talk with a little bit of walk? Who could sprinkle a little bit of substance on our absurd fantasies? And would that simply open the floodgates for us all to burst onto the scene?

It wouldn't take long to find out...