World Series Final Day

The day was a bit hectic working up to the final evening. All the last minute thoughts and preparations were being brought together while at the same time answering questions and solving problems of the day.

I was dealing with a headache that I wonder if it were caused by that latte that I drank in the morning. I recall as I drank it, that I realized that I was ordering a regular latte when I usually order a decaf. The headache worsened as the day progressed and I ended up going home for a short nap as Judy and the kids left for Eugene and their concert.

Jim asked about a group that normally uses the backroom on this day of the month and checking the calendar I found that their was one scheduled by mistake. A quick call to that group solved my dilemma in that many of their group were away on vacation and they choose to put off their meeting for the month.

I had produced some bug eyes and a hat that I was intending to use on the final table. I had confidence that I could make that table. I know that I am a good player even though good players must have more than skill, they must also have luck. I had my outfit ready, however, just in case.

Frank showed up around four or so to help me set up and we quickly got all or our tables ready for play. We set up a display on the big table of the final table prizes and put our heads together on how we were going to seat our tables. We decided to alternate every person on the list and thus giving us the ability to keep family members at different tables to start out.

We then sat down and ate some supper while we waited for the players to arrive. A quick check of my totals showed me that the 24th player to sign up would be the one that would take us over the $19,000 mark and so I decided to award that player with a free meal courtesy of Jake's.

The players began to stream in and we let them sit where the wanted knowing that we would adjust them later before we started. Just before we did this, we made a couple of announcements going over the prizes including some booby prizes that Frank had come up with . He found boxes of Candy Boogers that he lovingly placed the World Series logo on the boxes. These were for the first few players to go out.

Stan Schliep was our 24th player and was applauded and given his free meal. Frank then assigned players to their tables and the play began. I was placed at the first table along with my marine buddy, Zin and Leslie James from the twins. I knew all of the players at the table and knew that it would be a strong and hard fought one.

I started off slow building my chip stack carefully with good hands and shrewed bets (yes, I did bluff from time to time when I felt myself in a strong position to do so). My chip stack grew as the blinds went up and I soon had the strong stack at the table. Zin was doing quite well on his own and I recall the one push that I felt confident on with a suited Ace/Four in my hand. Zin thought it over and I was hoping that he would fold since my bet matched his chips putting him all in. Zin thought long and hard before accepting my challenge and flipping over his Ace/Eight. Zin won that hand but I still had a healthy stack of chips.

Carrie and Jay showed up and Carrie began taking pictures of which I will load on when I get the chance. Jay got a kick out of ringing the bell and handing out the booger booby prizes. Leslie was short stacked and I soon took her out and our table was split up and moved. I found myself to the right of last years champion and considered the most feared player there, Bob Head. Bob and I have played each other many times and I think pretty much know each other fairly well. My stack continued to grow and I was looking very strong as a candidate for the final table.

Then it happened. I looked down at pocket kings. I tripled the bet hoping to push everyone out. Bob raised me and went all in with his remaining chips. I thought it through carefully. Unless he had pocket aces, I was in immediate command of the hand and since he was right next to me, the odds of the happening are rather slim. I accepted his challenge and watched as he flipped over an Ace/Ten. My heart sunk as another ace showed up on the flop and Bob soon had most of my chips. I tried to hold on with my three remaining chips but soon found myself in the position of having to go in on one of the next two hands. There were ten players remaining. Just two away from a final table prize. I had a suited 5/6 come up and I pushed all in. I sprinted to the cashier station and retrieved my bug eyes and cap. My table laughed as I sat myself down for my last hand. A four and a seven on the flop gave me a open ended straight draw and I thought I might be able to survive but no card came to my rescue and I was knocked out in tenth place. Another strong player was soon knocked out and we had ourselves a final table.

Since most of our players are male, it was a treat to find that we had three women players at that final table. Bob Head, who we acknowledge as making the final table in each of the three years was there along with Davie, Jimmy, Frank, and my buddy, Zin joined the three women, Mindy, Sue, and Ann. One by one, the awards were given out and we were happy when the fifth place beauty aids award from Kings Razor actually went to a women, Ann. Frank went out at fourth, leaving a hanging on Dave against two strong stacks of Jim and Zin. Dave soon went to third place and we had our heads up. I helped Jim with his chips as he sometimes gets confused about keeping them in order which makes for a quicker game. The two battled back and forth before Zin finally won an all in battle that just barely took Jim out and our new champion was crowned.

After a photo op of the winners, Frank and Jason helped me set up the tables for the next morning before they too left. Kara informed me that the Pepsi drain was not draining properly and I began working on that problem as the crew finished up it's clean up. The clog was in an awkward spot so I had her flag the bin to not put any ice in it in the morning until I could fix the problem and we set the alarms and left.

I arrived at home exhausted. I figured that I would not eat or drink anything that might wake me up later and I drew myself a bath and was fast asleep upon hitting the pillow. But, to my dismay was wide awake just a few hours later probably since I am in the house all alone. Maybe placing this blog will allow me to get back to some of that needed rest.