Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Not yet

Dead money.

That's what they call people like me, wide-eyed amateur poker players about to buy into a big tournament without any realistic chance of winning it. The idea of dead money is that it's just sitting there in the middle of the table, waiting for the real players to come along and divvy it up. The money's not "live," it doesn't have a chance, and therefore neither does the poor donkey anteing it up. The money and the player are as good as lost before they've even entered a pot.

This tournament I'm about to play, the 2007 World Series of Poker $10,000 Main Event, is nearly as big as they come and surely still one of the most prestigious. Does that make my money, and me, even deader? Quite possibly. There will be thousands of players competing, some of them world-class and many of them with more experience than I have. And yet, two days before Michelle and I head from Seattle to Las Vegas, and three days before the start of the Main Event, I don't feel dead. I know I can play the game. For now I'll just consider my money on life support.

That's maybe not such a bad metaphor anyway, given the health crisis that brought me to this place. Since I was diagnosed with brain cancer this year I've not only gotten used to the idea that nobody lives forever, but also that "nobody lives forever" is a gross overstatement. One way or another we're all on life support, for who knows how long.

And so when Michelle suggested I fulfill this longtime dream of playing in the World Series -- right now, not next year or someday -- I decided to go for it. Long odds, sure, but not insurmountable.

My money's live! Me too. Deal me in.

No comments: