playing poker with phil

this past friday, i had the opportunity to play in the poker tournament in the annual company 'g' picnic. when i arrived to play, i learned that non other than the great phil gordon was the host/master of ceremonies of the event. who's phil gordon? i had no idea, but apparently he's some famous poker player. from a field of 230 participants, the winners of each of the twenty-six tables moved on to the semi-finals. by virtue of playing at a table primarily populated by tight passive players as well as a healthy helping of good ol' lady luck, i was able to vanquish everyone at my table and move on to the semi-finals.

at the final 3 tables, i changed my strategy to super tight. the top ten players would win prizes. by playing tight, i hoped to wait out the more adventurous players and make it to the final table of ten players. my strategy worked, though predictably leaving me with a rather small (though not the smallest!) stack. the final table was quite crowded and the organizers set up bleachers for spectators to watch. each of the players even had their own fans. it was a bit strange to have a bunch of people cheering my name even as i made dumb plays. phil gordon even called me out on a dumb lay down once towards the end of my run in the finals. ultimately, my tight strategy would only get me so far and i bowed out in fifth place.

and my prize? a phil gordon autographed book set on poker--the contents of which, i undoubtedly still need to review.