Outlined against a blue, gray March sky the Five Horsemen rode again
St. Patricks Day Weekend, 2007

Hopes were high as we started our 4 hour "trek" down to Toledo, Iowa to take part in the Heartland Poker Tour stop and try our skill at a prize pool of over $200,000.

The drive was great and the scenery was gorgeous! Actually that's not true, this is Iowa we're talking about. Anyway, we arrived with enough time to "pound" a few beers to take the "edge" off before making our way to the poker room. The Saturday afternoon qualifier consisted of 19 tables and 187 players. Brian, Robert and myself were all seated at the same table. Charlie and Miah at another together.

The top 20% (37 players) were to advance to Sunday's main event and a seat worth $1650. About an hour into the tournament, Brian was the first to go. His pocket queens didn't hold up and he was eliminated and forced to watch NCAA hoops while losing money at the roulette table.

A few hours and few table consolidations later, Charlie was re-seated right next to me. We played together for a few hours before Charlie was eliminated. We had a few very good players at our table, but we were holding our own.

Now we get to the sad part of the story.

So the top 37 advance to Sunday's finals and only Miah, Robert and me are left from "Team Sth Street". Miah and Robert are rolling and have what I perceive as plenty of chips to make the top 37. At about 40 players remaining, I realize I probably won't advance with my stack as the blinds were at $10,000 with a $1000 ante! So after seven hours of playing we get down to 38 remaining, and the next one out is the bubble boy and will be sent packing with nothing to show for his/her effort. Well, I don't have to tell you who it was do I? Yeah, me!

After my elimination the qualifying tournament is over. Everyone is cheering, shakings hands, and playing 'grab-ass" with each other while I have make the walk of shame out of the room. Let me tell you something... people thought I was going to be mad and upset. To tell you the truth, I was happy with the way I played and the way we all played. It lets me know that my poker is improving and I'm able to hang with some of the "better" players.

The highlight of my night actually was hanging with the locals at BumbleBee's after the tournament to celebrate St. Patricks Day. We all bought some "sweet tee-shirts" and got to see Robert in action.

I look forward to the next HPT event that I play in, and I congratulate Robert and Miah for advancing. Advancing is not easy to do, I can tell you first hand.