Monday, September 18, 2006

Doing My Homework

To prepare for my Total Coverage of the 2006 Ultimatebet Aruba Poker Classic, yesterday I read the entirety of John Vorhaus's blog about the 2004 event. After waking at eight and having a nice breakfast, I pulled my tapes of the last 3 Aruba Classics and I'm watching the 2003 event right now. This is the one where Juha Helppi beat Phil Gordon like a rented mule. Mostly I'm watching to see what the place looks like (nice) and to pick up some tips about the island. For example, did you know that there have only been 16 documented shark attacks near Aruba since 1554? That means I can leave the shark repellent at home.

I also did some surfing last night looking for tips about how to combat my fear of flying. I was looking for a technique better than the one I used when I flew to Vegas (when I drank myself giddy at breakfast). I'm gonna try some deep breathing exercises. Along with a beer or two, of course. I'm not uncivilized.

I've been seriously remiss in not lauding the work Amy Calistri and Tim Lavalli did concerning the extra 2.3 million in chips that ended up at the final table of the World Series main event. If there was a Pulitzer for poker reporting, this three part series would certainly be on the shortlist. And while I'm sure there will be NO problems with the chip counts at the Aruba Classic, if I notice that the chip tallies are way out of whack, I assure you that I...will call in Amy and Tim to figure out what happened. 'Cause chances are I'll be too confused to suss it out.

So I'm still watching the 2003 Aruba event, and I'm wondering, why the hell is Juha Hellpi wearing a long-sleeved purple shirt and black slacks in Aruba? Isn't it hot there? Very very hot? Especially for a Finn?

When they did the money presentation they had a heavyset guy wearing a mask and snorkel come out of the surf flanked by a bevy of bikinied beauties. Was that Robert Williamson?

OK, it's too nice out, think I'm gonna go for a bike ride, work on my deep breathing techniques.

posted by Gene @ 9:35 AM   |