Traveling without moving...

Its stupid'o'clock and I'm sitting in Dublin Airport typing this with long fingernails, this time apparently my brand new runners constituted a threat to the US National Security and I was forced to remove them and shuffle through the metal detector in my socks. Consider that I only paid 25 euro for them, and I think you'll agree it would represent damned good value for money were they capable of mass destruction.

There is a flight leaving for Lanzarote beside me, destined to be populated by young parents with far too many children for their age. I freely admit to wishing security had stopped them and let the terrorists through. At least hijackers wouldn't run up and down between seats shouting "mammy mammy, look how fast I can run mammy, maammmy yer not lookin' mammy!!"

I haven't slept in 30 hours hours so my thoughts are fractured, while the world has that fish-eyed appearance that comes only with sleep deprivation. I feel inexplicably happy though and finishing 9th in a Speed Rebuy tournament at 4am this morning hasnt damaged my mood much either. Indeed it would be hard to dampen my mood today as I tingle with the anticipation I always feel taking the first step of a long trip. A early morning taxi ride down streets I travel every day  seemed alien and fascinating, seen at a time rarely witnessed and while most slumbered deeply awaiting breakfast, a commute and then a 9'o'clock start in the same office as last week, last month, last year, I'm starting out on what many would considera trip into madness and yet others, Mecca.

I've tried to gather my thoughts about what I expect Vegas to be. Its hard to pin down and harder still to express. I've heard much about the place. I've lived and worked in the US before so America is no stranger to me nor I to her 24/7 bussle. I've had a friend's pet taxidermed (is that a verb?) at 3am in New York. Why it couldn't wait until the morning is a question only an Irishman could ask, in New York the question would be "why wait until morning?". I am mentally prepared for the relentless life in Vegas but I will confess to my apprehensions.

You may find this curiously anachronistic but I am quite a moralistic person. I'll spare you my treatise on morality except to say that in Ireland "morality" often translates to "I tell you how you should live your life". For me it translates to "I tell me how to live my life", which is a considerable enough task. I'm afraid you will just have to work an answer out for yourself.

One of the quirks of this fact is that I dislike excess and I am uncomfortable around hedonism. A little late in the day to admit this, you might chuckle, and I embarking on a flight to the capital of self indulgence. Or at least I will as soon as this four-year-old ceases to loudly inform me that he is, in fact, four-and-a-half. Excess and unrestraint do not sit well with me so I am steeling myself to find Vegas "a bit much" after a while. I also find prostitution and hardcore pornography degrading to the human spirit. I guess I'll just keep my eyes firmly shut between my suite and the card room for the next month huh?

But you didnt hit up our site to hear about my qualms of conscience. On to the poker. My erstwhile colleague and professional out-sucker has pinned some vibrant colours to his mast and I feel I would be remiss were I not to follow suit. So here's mine:

1. I will win a ticket to the main event in a satelite and go on to beat Oscar Fred heads up to claim the WSOP title.

2. At least one Irish player will make the final 3 tables. Most will make the second day of the competition, short of ugly suckouts. I'll go one further then Mike and say that I think at least one Irish player will make the last two tables.

3. Someone will actually follow through on the threat to shoot Eamonn O'Reilly when he flops a house having called a huge bet with 64o. With Eamonn's luck the bullet will bounce off a silver dollar in his shirt pocket and disarm the assailant.

4. Mark MacMahon and Oscar Fred among others will make the money.

5. At least 2 of these predictions will not come true. Possibly including this one.

6. The winner of the main event may well be an internet qualifier but will not be an internet-trained poker-newbie.

7. Phil Helmuth will whine like a little girl with a skinned knee when he gets knocked out. On his first day.

My flight is boarding, the journey begins and the game, my dear Watson, is afoot.