Thus far I’ve made small progress here trying to form a private group for poker games. Meanwhile, I have signed up for a Hold ‘Em tournament at the casino in nearby Espinho. There are about 9 casinos in Portugal. Only 3 feature poker. Fortunately one is nearby. More later.
Later. Casinos here open about 4pm and close around 3am. Hmmm! Poker rooms open at 9pm for tournaments, with 10pm cash games for early washouts.
We were about 50 players across 6 tables. They had big screen displays of all the tournament stats you could ask for: #buyins, #rebuys, total pot, how many players remaining, average stack size as well as the usual blind postings and time remaining this round. Pretty cool.
I’m happy to brag about making the final table with 125+% of the average stack, and a €2300. total prize pool. I hadn’t played in 6 months. You may recall I got totally spanked and sent home last July, in Bucharest.
My joy was cut short by, shall we say “questionable choices” that knocked me out in 2 (really!) hands. How can you play so well for 3 hours, then turn into the complete poker shnook of the universe? Ahh, the overconfidence of AKs! We’ve all been there. Some more than others!
The good news: This tournament carves €50 out of the prize pool for each player who makes the final table and yet misses the cash at the end. At least I got my buyin back. (sigh!)