The Poker Gods Have Mercy

Saturday was the big tournament. I woke up at 5:30 in the morning to await whatever fate the Poker Gods decided to bestow on me. The tournament didn't start until 9:00am, but we had to be there early for signups. Since there were only a certain number of seats available, I didn't even have a seat right away. I had to wait until 3 people were knocked out for me to sit down. Luckily, that only took about 15 minutes. What a tense 15 minutes that was though. Not quite the tension I have before a big soccer game, but pretty damn close. I think it could have had even more if I had had the slightest bit of confidence that I would actually do well. So, I found out that there was going to be 87 people in the tournament, or as I like to call it, 86 people against me. That includes the three people I went with. However, once they called my name, all the tension I had instantly disappeared. I was ready to play and ready to show what I had. Top 10 people were going to get money. These would be the people who would make it to the final table. So I sat down, and all of a sudden, I started winning hands. I won when I had the best cards and I won when I bet enough to make others think I had the best cards. After a couple of hours, I heard there were about 30 people left. Huh? I had already gone through about 40 people? Awesome! I should have known considering the fact that I had already seen 4 different people who were sitting on my left get eliminated. I should have known this was happening elsewhere. Suddenly, there were now 20 people left. By the next hand there were 18. And then it happened 15 minutes later. I was now at the final table. I had made it. The tournament started with 87 people and there were 10 left. One of those chumps just happened to be me. To make it even better, a friend of mine made it as well. We got a 5 minute break to relax. I tell ya, that 5 minutes was so exciting because I just got to relax and reflect on what I had accomplished. I finally ended up in 8th place. Disappointed that I didn't win? Sure, who wouldn't want to? But really, the disappointment is so minute that it barely even registers. I had beat 79 other people. A crowd of people was watching ME play poker! How friggin' cool is that? I got about $100 for my 3 hours of work, but really it isn't about the money. 6 months from now, I won't remember how much money I won, but I will remember what place I got and how the whole experience went. My buddy did even better - a 4th place finish. Just an unbelieveable day. When I dropped him off, I finally let it all out. Driving home, I let out a giant scream and pumped my fist in the air. I had achieved something that I didn't even begin to think was possible. Apparently, the Poker Gods had something up their sleeves for me. They work in mysterious ways.

The tournamant also finally gave me the closing signature I have been looking for...

"To do well, all I need is a chip and chair."

And do well I did.