Take it to the limit!

Kip and I met up around 8:30 this morning and we were at the poker tables by 8:45. Kip was working on 1 hour of sleep, but as usual he was ready to go. I was a little nervous, like Kip predicted, for about 15 minutes. So it was actually nice that we were able to play some limit before the 11am tournament. It gave me a chance to ease my concerns about how to play at a real table.

The table had an interesting array of characters. There were even some rumors that The Joker himself had been seen playing at the n0-limit tables. He wasn't playing at our table, but he certainly would have fit right in. Probably in between Kip and his buddy Earl. I know, his name wasn't actually Early, but Earl sounds like the perfect name for a yapper that hasn't quite figured out how to integrate with the society around him. It wouldn't have been so bad, because he was a nice enough guy, but he kept not paying attention to the table.

So, after about 2 hours or so of play I finished down $8 and Kip finished down about $20. Kip's assessment: Successful. He played in maybe 3 hands the whole time, just wasn't getting the cards. As for me, I won my share of hands. The other interesting note, you are supposed to tip the dealer after every pot you win. My tips were more than $8 overall... so I can't complain. I also didn't realize that they change dealers so frequently. It was about every 20 minutes.

Someone came around to the tables in the poker room while we were playing to ask if anyone was playing in the 11am tournament, and signed us up right there. So that was nice. Near the end of the 1st session before the break this guy was moved to my table. I don't know his name, but he was your typical joker wannabe! Whenever he would raise, he would start saying "Please don't call, please don't call, please don't call..." while covering his eyes with his hands. Then he'd look through his hands right at you and say "I'm peeking", and just go on and on. It was really annoying. Kip and I both made it to the first break. Kip had a strong run near the end of the 1st session to go on break with about 10,000 chips. I was down to about 3200.

On the break we just went and grabbed some hot dogs. There wasn't enough time to eat real food. Then it was back for the 2nd session. I wish I had a lot to say about the 2nd session, but I was out in about 10 minutes. I was running out of chips with the blinds at 400/800, so as soon as I had a decent hand I had to push and pray. I was in late position with QJo, and noone had raised the pot. I was the low stack, followed by the guy in the big blind. He called me, and everyone else folded. He had KK, and the rest is history. As I was leaving I gave Kip the "you're all alone now, it's up to you to save the world" look, then proceeded to head back to the hotel.

On my way back I happened to notice the box office. If you're not familiar with the box office story, here it is. To sign up early for the poker tournament being held tonight (it's a satellite, where the prizes are seats to play in a bigger event next weekend), you had to call the box office. Thursday night I called the box office to sign up, and the guy (Josh) who answered the phone told me not to bother. He said that most people wait until the last minute and just buy their seats at the door. So I called Kip back and he convinced me not to wait. He said the lines get really long and you could be waiting for hours. And if you're near the end of the line, there's no guarantee you'll get in. When I called back Josh answered again. I told him that I had given it some thought and I wanted to sign up ahead of time anyway. He said Ok, do you have a Diamond Card. I said No. He then proceeded to tell me that without a Diamond Card I couldn't sign up for the tournament. So I needed to wait until I got here to sign up. Since the box office phones close at 8, and I didn't get here until 10:30, that wasn't going to happen last night. Today I went to the box office and I told the woman that I wanted to sign up. She said Ok, asked me to wait a minute, then said that they couldn't take the entries anymore. I had to go to the poker room to sign up. So I head over to the poker room where they tell me that I need to go to the box office. I told them that the box office just sent me here. After a brief discussion, I was told that once the box office stops selling you can only sign up at the door. So I should come back at 6pm. Doesn't sound so great to me. The good news is, I was considering not playing in it anyway. Spending $100 to play in a tournament where the best case (winning) means that you have to pay (for travel, hotel, ...) to come back the next weekend to play in a bigger event. It's not exactly motivating for me. I may just try to play some limit tonight while Kip plays in the event.

That's where things are at now. Keep your fingers crossed, and we'll see how Kip does a little later.

Ed.