The Flight There
I headed to the airport early Thursday morning — in my car by 6:30am early — which, if you know me, is normally a time that I might still be up, but normally do not get up! A quick flight (probably due to me sleeping through much of it) to Chicago later and I was in the hotel working, taking a quick nap, and then heading to my game. I worked my second Mid-Con assignment — Western Illinois @ Valparaiso. Cool.
The Game
I headed off to the Valpo ARC, with the assistance of the GPSes — this thing is a lifesaver! I had entered the ARC’s address into my Nuvi before I left Houston, and had marked the Marriott hotel as favorites, so it was easy to just choose Where to? –> Favorites –> and then my destination. The map and directions were flawless, however, Chicago traffic wasn’t. Although I left in plenty of time — including extra time anticipating traffic — I didn’t anticipate enough though, and ended up being a little late for my game. That’s why we get there an hour and a half before game time though! No worries — I was there in plenty of time to get dressed to take the court thirty minutes before tip, as per NCAA rules.
Just after we had finished dressing and meeting with the table crew (the clock operator, shot clock operator, and book personnel all come into the officials’ locker room before the game to discuss procedures), my coordinator walked in. I hadn’t thought that he might make the drive up to observe the game, but it was a welcome surprise — a chance to work in front of him and get feedback. One of the NCAA’s four “regional coordinators” (a position created this season to help give feedback to the NCAA throughout the season) accompanied him as well.
It took me a bit to get into the game, as my partners were more experienced than I and everything seemed to be happening in front of them. No problem — I just waited and the game came to me… I found my comfort zone and worked the game hard. Afterwards I received very positive comments from my coordinator as well as the NCAA regional coordinator — that was great! In this business you have to keep improving and I definitely feel like I am on that path.
The Pokers
Valpo is about an hour and a half from O’Hare, were I was staying … and about halfway in between — in Gary, IN — there lies the Majestic Star Casino. I don’t know if I would have been brave enough to get there and then back to my hotel using just the Mapquests or the Google Maps (Double True!!!) — but after my game, I selected it as my destination and hit the road — eating my sub sandwich that the school had given us after the game.
The Majestic Star has a pretty nice poker room — they had about 10-12 tables going, spreading 1-2NL, 2-5NL, and several limit Hold ‘Em and Stud games. I put my name on the list for 1-2NL and was seated in about 20 minutes — they had 3 main tables going and one “feeder” table, so it didn’t take too long. The 1-2NL game was a $40 minimum / $100 max — a little short in my opinion (I’d have rather bought in for $200), but the format wasn’t too bad. In a game like this, once you have a bunch of chips in front of you it’s easy to pressure the guys that have to rebuy for only $100.
I sat down at 11pm and finally decided to call it a “night” at 4am … I had gone from $100 to $450 or so, back to about $200, and finally finished the night at $436 — a sizeable profit, especially considering I had paid the casino $72 by that point (every player pays $6 per half hour at the table) and had paid for a few Red Bulls as well (soft drinks were free, but Red Bulls and alcohol wasn’t comped …. strange).
I’ll spare my family and non-poker friends the details, but will post some of the more interesting hands here.
The Flight Home
I finally laid my head down to rest around 6am — I had stopped to fill the car up with gas (so that I wouldn’t have to the next morning) and had packed everything so that I would be ready to head out the door quickly. I was right next to the airport, but I assure you that waking up at 9:50am for a 10:55am flight is not the recommended approach!
The car shuttle took forever and I finally got to the terminal at 10:30am … I went to reprint my boarding pass (I had checked in online, but didn’t have a printer) and was “gate restricted”. Not a good thing. The Continental agent originally told me I was “Too late”, but fortunately I had checked in online, so he was able to print my boarding pass. I glanced at my BlackBerry to look at the time — 10:37am.
I’ve been late for flights before (I know — hard to believe!) and know that asking to cut in front of people is not a very effective process. Sometimes they make an issue out of it and you receive absolutely no assistance from the TSA or other agents at the gate if you are running late. So, I did what Brendan would do in this situation — acted like I knew what I was doing and just went past every single person in the 100+ long security long. I did at least say, “Excuse me.” as I passed them by. Then, as I approached the conveyor, mentioned to the people in line that my flight left in about 10 minutes — they actually let me in front of them, but I didn’t really give them a chance to say no!
The Security Line
I don’t know everything about TSA, but I do know that they suck at life. If we do have another terrorist attack involving airlines, I assure you it will be because someone that would otherwise be asking you if you want to “SuperSize” your order, is carefully inspecting my hair gel and toothpaste to make sure that none of the containers are over 3.4oz
I went through my normal bag check as quickly as possible — remove laptop from bag and place in bin, unzip carry-on luggage and remove toiletry bag, unzip toiletry bag and place it on belt with my government-approved quart-size Ziplock toiletry bag on the belt, remove my shoes, remove my belt (a new one that I was wearing sets of the metal detectors), and remove my jacket. Make sure it all goes into the X-Ray, make sure that I have my boarding pass in hand, and then proceed through the metal detector.
On the other side — put shoes on, put toiletries back in carry-on, laptop back in bag, etc, etc. I didn’t take the time to put my jacket or belt back on — I just headed to the gate. As I showed up to E4 I was relieved that the door wasn’t closed … there were about 10 people standing at the gate and I knew they weren’t going to be happy to see me — they were obviously on standby.
I approached the gate, putting my belt on, as the desk agent asked, “Are you on this flight?” The crowd of hopeful travelers let out a collective groan when I replied in the affirmative. The agent then told me I would have to check my bag … My response: “Whatever!” — I was just happy to have made it!!
I made my way onboard — the very last passenger to get on — and to seat 14A. The flight attendant joked that they were just about to put my seat up for auction to the highest bidder — mostly because it is one of two of the best seats in coach — an exit row seat with no seat in front of it. It wasn’t a mistake that I reserved that seat!
The End
I’m incredibly relieved to be getting back to Houston on my scheduled flight, especially as Carrie has made dinner reservations at a steak house tonight (I don’t know where, but can’t wait!) We’re going to celebrate my birthday and it will be a nice time to catch up as she has been working crazy hours and I have been gone for games a lot recently.
The trip — notwithstanding travel woes, mostly self-inflicted — was very enjoyable! It’s great to be working in February and there are only a few more weeks of basketball before we go back to “camp season”.
And thanks to all the donkeys at the Majestic Star that paid for my flight and hotel!
I was randomly ego surfing last night and saw that Carrie and I not only made the Review It! magazine, but were in Reflections in the fall month as well! Cool!
Filed under: Personal
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Huge birthday thanks to 
) … I typed in “Toyota Center” and it took me right downtown, telling me every exit along the way, which way to turn, and my approximate arrival time. Afterwards, instead of spending 10-15 minutes trying to figure out how to get to I-45 and asking directions, I just punched the HOME button and was off on my way!