Christina v The Ricoh Arena Part II (Taking on the Goliath)

Christina was still in though, and looking quite healthy. She made it to the end of Level 9, which was the dinner break. We shared a curry, and talked about how things had gone through the day. She was quietly confident, and we had no reason to believe that she couldn’t get through all 16 levels and make it to Day 2. I drove back to the hotel to change out of my shorts, as it was starting to get a bit chilly, especially when going for cigarettes outside.

Came back to find Christina still in, and still competitive. I got her a beer, and as she’d suggested in the previous break, gave her a quick shoulder rub at the table as well, in the absence of other male masseurs! They were not too keen on people hanging around at the tables though, so I bustled around the casino for a bit. The final break of the day was after Level 12, and I came back to find she had made it to this break with around 80,000 chips – better than average – so I was pretty confident that she could hold on till the end of the day. In fact, more likely, she was going to end the day amongst the chip leaders!

I went away and played at a cash table for a little bit. Christina’s phone has a perennial charging problem, so I couldn’t text her for news, so it was a bit frustrating having no idea how she was getting on. I played for around an hour on the cash table, before I could stand it no longer, and had to go back for a progress update. I think at around Level 14, we went out for a quick team-talk. She had around 200,000 chips now, so surely she could make it through?! Finally, it was getting to the end. The time now was around 1am – they’d been playing for a full 13 hours! I watched the last few hands, along with other nervous onlookers – although railing was discouraged, at least you were not stopped from being in the room – and finally, the last hand was dealt, and each player was bagging up their chips for Day 2! Christina had made it!

I was spectacularly impressed. There’s no denying that the last few months have been a little stressful at times – Christina has only been playing since the start of the year, and launched more or less straight into playing for money (it probably took me a couple of years before I was regularly playing for cash!), and she has lost a bit online, but she’s tended to do better in live tournaments, and here was proof once again that she really has come on as a player, and all her hours of practice – she plays a great deal each day – have paid off.

Back at the hotel, which we went back to straight away – vlarched was not the word! – Christina joked about how I had stood by her all the way, never telling her to give up! I must admit, I hadn’t exactly done that, but I suppose she was proving me wrong again, which is fine. I have at times felt a bit like a coach, a role I quite enjoy, but it’s difficult to be someone’s coach in their early stages when they’re not always doing so well, I suppose, even if the potential is clearly there.

Making Day 2, especially with Christina’s chip stack, which had now worked its way up to over 200,000, placing her easily in the top half of the field, would almost certainly mean cashing, ie. getting some return on the £120 investment, as the money bubble would be expected to burst quite soon after all the players from the six Day 1s had been pooled together. With this in mind, despite being exceptionally tired, we probably should have celebrated, but I think it was just a few sausage rolls and cider that first night!

So for Christina, Friday was a well-earned day off. I had elected to have another shot at the Goliath. I’d bought my entry the night before, just before places were officially sold out for the day. Friday, the last day of entry, is always the busiest. I headed off, without the missing bracelet, which I could not find anywhere that morning (annoying, as I tend to think I play better when I wear it). Arriving at the stadium, there was a huge queue snaking out of the casino. I made it to the table, and there were only four of us sitting down initially, I think it was. None of these players seemed especially good, and I was thinking I might have a bit of an easy ride today. I should not have been complacent however!

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