On The Road Again

Few people reflect the American spirit as well as Willie Nelson.

Wearing his traditional stars and stripes bandana, the grizzled cowboy vocalist comes on stage and in his raspy voice belts out 'On The Road Again' nd other standards that have made him famous across our great land.

Every time I hear him sing that song, my spine tingles and I feel the urge to travel.

I love seeing new places and especially visiting new casinos and poker rooms. Except for slight variations, the games are the same. The dealers are professional, the cocktail waitresses (most of them) are cute and the players are grimly determined to take away their share of the table stakes.

As I write this, I am sitting at my computer in the basement of my brother's house in Sutersville, PA., about 20 miles south of Pittsburgh. In a couple of days, I will be heading for Columbus, Ohio where the Hollywood Casino is located.

I have never been to the Hollywood Casino before. It has 36 poker tables and spreads a variety of limit poker games, including Omaha High-Low and Texas Hold'em.

For a player like me, that is the best of two worlds. When you have the option of playing either limit Hold'em or Omaha High-Low, your chances of winning increase astronomically.

Columbus is a great city with good restaurants and coffee shops. It has a wonderful public library system to give me access to any information I need in order to research articles for this website.

The casino also has some good tournaments coming up for the month of September and I plan to play in some of them. It has been a while since I won a tournament so your good thoughts and wishes are appreciated.

I don't know how long I will stay in Columbus. I know the winters can be fierce just as they are in my hometown. But as long as the poker games treat me well and I enjoy the play, I plan to hang around.

During one of my interviews with Willie Nelson...

...I asked him what his favorite thing in life was. He didn't hesitate with his answer.

'I love to travel, Son,' he said, lighting up a toke. 'When I'm on the road, I feel adventurous and free, just like one of those eagles soaring high in the sky.'

On the road again.. I can't wait to get on the road again....

Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.

(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).