The road to Team Canada....

....is not paved, it is dirty and covered in loose gravel.

Well, I am playing in the tournament mentioned in the post below this one, however I use the term "playing" very loosely.

I received a bye for the first round, so here I sit until 416 players are knocked out.

I don't know if this is an advantage or not - my head isn't in the game like it was an hour ago, and I am working on beer number three as we speak. However, I may not be as burned out as some of the players for the next round.

Time will tell I suppose. I will update once there is more to write about.

Round 2
That was fast. I barely had time to chat with Rod and Pauly who were sweating me on the sidelines, and the match was over. (Thanks again guys - as well as to Don who visited me off and on too!)

The first seven hands were fairly uneventful, but hand eight was the deciding factor. I was dealt 3h 4h and called my opponents pre-flop raise of T180. Flop brought 3,4,6 rainbow. He raised, I re-reraised, etc until I was all-in (he had more chips than me at that point.) The river brought the magical four, giving me a full house and a very dominating position.

My opponent disconnected after that hand (I figured he threw his computer out the window) however he resurfaced just in time to call my pre-flop raise with Hilton Sisters. He raised all-in, and we both showed the same hand to the amazement and delight of my spectators. Tie pot, as neither of our suits made any progress.

Last hand - he bets pre-flop, I raise, he re-reraises all-in.
My pocket aces hold, and I take it down.

Victory is sweet my friend.

Round 3
Uneventful until I caught my gut-shot straight draw, only to lose to his draw which was one card higher. Sigh. It was an all-in call that I would not have made while playing a regular tournament, however, in a heads-up situation you have to put your chips in with the best of it.

Unfortunately, his "best of it" was better than mine.

Oh well - Thursday night I will try again.