So, there I was in the Media/Celebrity tournament. Notable celebs playing included Jimmy Woods, Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond guy), Penn (of Penn and Teller), and a handful of others. An old time player names Oklahoma Johnny was at my table. Cool guy. The hottest celeb, of course, was Shannon Elizabeth. As we were getting started, I jokingly asked everyone at my table if someone would be kind enough to switch seats with her. No takers. So, as players were eliminated, I kept hoping (out loud) that they would break her table up and she would come join us (a long shot with a field this big - 250ish, I believe). When he guy to my left got busted, I again begged the poker gods for her to come join us, even brushing the seat off for her..... and for once..... the poker gods came through! I could barely believe my eyes when she came over and sat down maybe 5 minutes later. Neither could the rest of the table, who could only laugh.
BTW, to this point, I had won just about every hand I didn't fold preflop, but the blinds go up FAST (*doubling* every 15 minutes, starting at 25/50 (antes kicked in at 100/200) - we started with 1500 chips). I knew it was going to be a crapshoot, but I was sitting next to Shannon Elizabeth, so I wasn't going to complain! My stack was pretty low in comparison to the blinds and I got JJ in the BB the hand before the break (her second hand at the table). I SO did not want to get knocked out here, but everyone folded to the button who raised. I called all in, and my JJ held up to beat his 88. Sweeeeeeet.
I managed to survive for nearly another hour after the break. With blinds of 800/1600 and 200 antes, my 2000 chips were look awfully small! I finally decided to pick a hand and went with my old lucky 8Ts (for a whopping 200 chip raise). Shannon reraised all in behind me and everyone else folded, including the BB. She turned over 55, which I was thrilled to see, but her hand held up, and that was that. I finished around 40th, knocked out by none other than Shannon Elizabeth. She made it to the final 15 or so before getting her AA cracked by JJ. She was very nice, and I enjoyed playing with her. And yes, I told her that I thought her friend on E's Hollywood Hold'Em was hot. I have a bunch of photos that I will post after I get home.
To Be Continued... Again.
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