Tourney #2

"It's gonna be hot and wet! That's nice if you're with a lady,
but it ain't no good if you're in the jungle."
-- A2C Adrian Cronauer (Robin Williams): Good Morning Vietnam

GLENVIEW, IL -- 5/21/04 - Let's start off with a thanks to Keith, who was gracious enough to host the May tournament. The space was great, there were plenty of seats, but damn was it HOT!

Another tourney, another F'ing Geertz at the final table. Somehow this guy finds a way to be so far down on chips at the final table that he has to go "all in" -- and somehow, he manages to wiggle his way back into the game. In April he won the whole damn thing and this time, he managed a 3rd place finish. If I were a betting man -- oh wait, I am -- I'll put my money on Geertz running a football route -- a "quick fade" as the season progresses. We'll see if his luck changes.

Anyway, let's not take any of the glory away from Jake, who pulled out the victory. We've run these tournaments 3 times and Jake has won 2 of them. The first one was a pre-season event, but the cash is still green. Hey Jake, you gonna tell Katie about your winnings or do we have to?

The final table consisted of Jake, Steve Levitas, Geertz, Noah, Tito, Brian, newby Christian and Keith, our host.

Overheard at the final table, "Who touched my chips? I had like $40,000 more in chips. Who touched my chips?" Can anyone guess which drunken lips those beautiful words flowed from? Here's a hint -- his name is Keith. Maybe if he hadn't been pissing off the porch, he'd have known the whereabouts of his chips. Geez, hope the neighbors didn't see that.

Levitas made a noble effort. He had more chips than Jesse had beers, if you can believe that. Keith at one point had stacks, but let his liquor effect his bets. Soon after making false accusations of chip thievery, he bluffed his way out of the game. Noah stuck around, despite being the low chip guy, battling with Brian.

We must give props to Tito -- who didn't say 8 words the whole night -- but did manage to pickup his second top-6 performance and secure a tie with Chris Brown for 3rd in the rankings. Christian, a newcomer, made a good showing.

There was another newcomer, who quickly secured a nickname. Zach will forever be known as "Barbie" for his boyish good looks. I wouldn't be surprised if he rolled up in a pink 'vette next month. He was at my table and was throwing chips around like Lou Ferrigno hurling Judd. Also new to the RWPL was Ed Serrano. He's a school chum of Uncle Pat's and made the trek from Kansas City. He finished a respectable 14th.

And this month's 1st-out honor goes to Berko!

George was out before just seconds before Chuck and only moments before myself. Congratulations, Berko!

Alright, now down to some business...

There were several issues raised with the way the league was running and we will address those prior to the next event. With that said, we're going to ask really nicely that each of you keep the complaining to a minimum. It's difficult enough to run the event and try to make sure everyone is taken care of -- and still play, without having 10 people trying to change the rules. If you don't like how something is done, have some damn respect and come up to either Brian or myself AFTER THE TOURNAMENT IS OVER!

Seriously, the first tournament was a blast. This time, not so much. And I heard that from several people, who were just sick and tired of all the bitching. So if you have a suggestion we'll be glad to listen -- but do it in a way that's respectful and ensures that everyone can still have a good time.

We'll be discussing some issues that were raised last week and then we'll send out an email to keep everyone informed.

NEXT TOURNAMENT: Scheduled for Friday, June 25th at Keith's house,
also affectionately known as "The Swamp."