The Twilight Zone
It’s been a few months & this is the best I can come up with; here are one or two odd situations that have occurred over the past year or two:
Barcelona 2006
I have no logical explanation for the following hunch but the chap I eventually got heads up with in the 260 runner €500 side event, Daniel Dodet, was on my starting table. He was a pretty straightforward player and about two hours in I just got the strangest premonition that the two of us would get heads up. A vision of sorts & it really helped my focus throughout the day, looking over & seeing him plugging away.
Sure enough, the following day we had both made the final table & a few hours later we were heads-up.
Plymouth & Brighton UKPT’s
The Plymouth leg was my first big win for quite a while & was the turning point of my 2007 season. During the breaks I always like to try & get some fresh air & during one of my brief strolls I noticed a young guy walking towards me; he wasn’t beaten up or anything but he was balling his head off, very, very upset. This wasn’t a nice thing to witness & I was torn between checking he was OK & not disturbing my focus & getting back to the casino on time. I took the selfish option, hurried back to the game & thought no more of it.
Cut to January of this year & we’re down on the coast once again & I’m outside getting some air on the windswept promenade during one of the breaks – & the same thing happens, young guy, in bits, openly sobbing his heart out. Once again, I opt for the selfish route, but this time I see the incident as a sign that, as in Plymouth, I’m destined to win this thing.
I won’t be able to play the Manchester leg in April, but I’ll be on the lookout for a young broken-hearted male up in Newcastle in May.