WOW...it's been a long time since I've posted.

Okokok... I haven't put up Christmas pics, or posted anything since New Year's Eve. I've been busy. I'll post that stuff later.

I'm playing in the Degree Poker Championship again. I ALMOST didn't get to play...

In order to get into the Degree Poker Championship (DPC), a person had to go online and fill out a form. There were draws for five or six consecutive weeks, and if your name was picked, you got to play. I got the call on April 6th, telling me that more details, and a waiver form, would be sent to me via email. That email never came. I phoned, and emailed, and finally received another voicemail on April 26th, telling me that another email was sent that afternoon. That email never showed up in my email box either.

Not knowing WHICH preliminary round I was in, but knowing that the first preliminary tournament was at 8AM on May 3rd, I showed up there at around 530 AM (you had to be there two hours early to register), I gave them my series of emails, and was told that they would look into it, and to come back at 6 AM. When I came back, my emails were sitting on the desk of the person who was checking IDs, and I was told that I would have to wait until the line cleared before I would be taken care of. I stood there for forty-five minutes until the line cleared, only to be told that because they hadn't received my waiver within 48 hours of their email, I wouldn't be allowed to play. My head nearly exploded!!! I calmly (well, as calmly as I could through clenched teeth) explained to the guy that I had been emailing, and phoning since I received the initial call on April 6th, saying that I had not received the email. When I asked to see the person running the tournament, I was told that he was off on tournament business elsewhere in the casino. I was then told that my only other option would be to go stand in line for a walk-up place in one of the other preliminary tournaments.

As part of the DPC the Casino was given about 20 "walk-up" seats per preliminary tournament for their customers, and it was a draw. When I went to stand in line at about 7:45, there were already a couple of hundred people in line, and they weren't taking any names until 8 AM.

I was standing in line, fuming and talking to a guy standing in line with me, when I got a tap on my shoulder. It was one of the tournament directors. He apologized for the confusion, and said that I shouldn't lose the oportunity to play, simply because of a technical glitch. They had to verify my story before they let me play, and I guess having me stand in the Walk-up line was one sure way to keep me in the casino while they sorted it all out.

I was escorted to the Tournament Registration desk, and had to fill out the waiver forms, both for the tournament, and TSN (Canadian equivalent to ESPN, for you Americans). I hope I answered the skill-testing question correctly, I was so flustered. I was then given my seat assignment and I went into the room where the tournament ws being held.

It was just like last year's tournament, in that blinds went up every 20 minutes. By the end, they were at $3000-6000 with a $300 ante. I won a few pots at the beginning, but then could hardly get a face card to save my life. I was pretty short stacked, and when I would finally get a decent hand, I would go all-in before the flop, only to have everyone fold to me, buying me another round.

The preliminary tournaments played down to 20. As we neared 20, people were getting more and more cautious. At our table, one guy two seats over from me was all-in on his big blind, because that was all he had left. The big stack called him (he was small blind), and had him dominated. That was player #21. I made it to the next round!!! Someone leaned over to me and said "Ya know..." I finished the thought "...in two hands, that would have been me. Yeah, yeah...but it WASN'T!" I don't know who I felt worse for, the guy who went out in 21st place, or they guy who went out in the FIRST hand of the tournament, with his full house beaten by four of a kind.

More on Monday night...

TTFN,