This was fall conference week. Tuesday Wednesday, Thursday and half of Friday - sitting in too cold rooms, listening to too clever session presenters, or 'droners' who could make the Sahara drier than it already is. Monday I requested to have the rest of Friday afternoon off. Tuesday, after getting home, I spent time on the computer working on a project I'm assisting with (which will go live this weekend I think) - no poker, no tv. Sometime around midnight my cell-phone rings. Somwhere in the Big Apple a bender is well on its way and a butterfly flaps its wings. Wednesday and Thursday - no poker - I watched tv and worked on the project some more. The phone stayed quiet.
The conference finished and I chased my bosses down to confirm I could have the rest of the day. I received an affirmative. I was cleared to get some shopping done - I'm making brunch for mi bruncheros in the morning. In the back of my mind, I'd tucked away the information on Wil's invitational over at Poker Stars this afternoon. Shopping done, I fired up the computer to catch up on some blog reading. After about an hour, I looked at the clock - 2:58 pm. The tourney was to start at 3:00 pm my time. I got Poker Stars fired up and registered with seconds to spare.
Several of my brethren were playing as well. I went into it determined to play my "fossilman" game - that is, I was determined to make the best decision on each hand and to avoid playing stupid. And I did. Until the last hand. It only takes one, doesn't it? Shortstacked, I pushed with Q-something suited. And was called by wide awake bullets. One more diamond on the board would have redeemed me, but my stupidity wasn't rewarded.
I'd negotiated my way to the final table and, once again, failed to cap it. That table was a tough one, too. Bloggers dominated it. Going into it - Derek had the chip lead, Joanne, April and Columbo rounded out the complement. I had to strap on my brass ones and start stealing as my stack dwindled and the cards became frigid. That Q-something suited looked too good. I was in a push or fold situation with the blinds looming which would have cut my stack in half. So I leapt.
Congrats to Joanne on an awesome win. And whoever has Wil on speed-dial - give him a big thanks from me for setting it up. He's planning these on a weekly basis so join in if you haven't already.
I'm heading to the T-Bird to see how many good-ol-boys can suck out on me. Heh. Poker is nasty.
