We Are Family

Editor's note/update: I've been trying to post this stupid post all day but stupid E-Blogger is being stupid. Really, it's all very stupid. Anyway, the evening's drive for the Top 100 stalled miserably, though losses were re-couped and profits credited with a win in a two-table $20 SnG and, get this, a shocking double-up on an Omaha Hi/Lo PL table.

Anyway, I'll have a running diary beginning in 8 hours or so on Poker Marathon Wednesday. If this stupid thing works.

This is what my life has become:

Sitting at work and get pinged by a poker-playing buddy who wonders why I'm playing a $5 SnG on Party, since he knows it's below my usual level. I'm not, of course, the dear and patient wife is. So he sweats her and keeps me updated.

She just slow-played a flopped boat and took all the chips when a guy made a flush on the river!

That's my girl. Three in the money finishes (one of each) in five attempts. That's right, five attempts. Addicted, much?

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I am on the cusp of a marathon poker session. In my quest to qualify for the Poker Stars tourney leaders freeroll for 4 WSOP seats (top 100 tourney points players from the months of March, April and May), I have taken tomorrow off from work. Which means I'll be up late tonight, first trying my hand in the $20 MTT at 8:30 local time, followed by the $10 MTT at 12:15 am. And I'll be back at it bright and early tomorrow morning in the $10 re-buy and $20 MTT. After that...we'll have to see.

The problem is, I don't know how Stars goes about allocating tourney points. Obviously, the finish is the prevailing factor. But are others taken into account? Like number of players, amount of buy-in, etc. so it's hard to gauge exactly what kind of results I need.

I figure I'll need a final table slot or a couple top 20 finishes in those four to have a realistic shot at the Top 100. I'm currently ranked in the mid-300s (I don't know exactly because I cashed in the $20 MTT last night--41st of 700--and the standings weren't updated when I went to bed). I'm about 600 points short. If I can make up half or more of that by tomorrow afternoon, I'll have to play in the Wednesday evening tourneys, as well (while also joining the revelry of the WPBT event, which, at the very least, gives me a built-in excuse for sucking against my fellow bloggers). If I get shut out in those four, I'll have to give up the ghost. It's a long-shot, but the tourneys have been profitable anyway, so it's not like I'm pissing away bankroll for an unreachable goal. And I'll be free to enjoy y'all's company while also trying to not suck. Hope to see everyone there.

I might even try to have a running diary in this space. Which means I'll have to drink. If I must.

As an added bonus, I'll also be home for the US World Cup qualifier vs. Guatemala. Must win game after the relatively poor performance in Mexico on Sunday.

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So I was passing the time prior to the Sunday night $20 MTT on Stars by watching the final table of the $500K Guaranteed tourney. Not real earth-shattering on the entertainment scale, until it got down to four. One player wondered if anyone wanted to talk deal. Silence. For a good five minutes. Guess not. Then one player got his stack whacked in half and he decided "he'd talk" about a deal. A third player said sure, he'd listen. The fourth? Donde esta? The other three players continued to inquire. He remained silent. Lee Jones jumped in and asked for a response. None came. As the dear and patient wife and I watched in fascination, it came to me. The guy was trying to tilt the others. They were so focused on talking deal, on getting his attention, that they weren't giving full weight to the game at hand. And Silent Boy was taking their blinds, moving from second to first in chip count, with the margin growing ever wider.

After a few minutes, the idea seemed to have dissipated, play resumed normally and quiety. Then all of a sudden Silent Boy jumps into chat with a mysterious and utterly non-committal, "I'm here." He's a good-sized chip leader at this point and his "appearance" sets off another frenzy of requests and pleas to talk about a deal. None are answered by our reluctant hero. One of the other players goes so far as to ask Lee Jones if the other three can split the 2nd-4th place money. Um, that didn't go. It was borderline pathetic. Like the Algebra Club repeatedly asking the head cheerleader for a date while she copies their homework.

This soap opera repeated itself after a player was eliminated. Did he want to talk deal now? And again, Silent Boy completely ignored the table. Until he stuck the needle in later by typing in, apropos of nothing, "Hello."

Even down to heads-up, the other player couldn't resist asking one more time. Silent Boy is brilliant. Had the others completely annoyed/distraced. And he won. Took down $140K for the top spot.

Hello.