Grand Adventures of Glory

It was a day that started typically. I had just finished playing poker for few hours at my computer, but tonight something was different - I had won a trip to Tallinn to take part in a poker tournament there.

Tallinn isn't a big city by global standards. But for a country boy that had not in his 20 years of life ventured much out of his home village of 900 people, it was not his natural habitat. In fact, it left him a little bamboozled.

As the taxi pulled over at the Swisshotel Tallinn couple of months later. It was a surreal feeling. It all seemed very luxurious, and I didn't have to pay a dime for it. I took a piece of paper and wrote "WTF" on it just to emphasize my amazement at being in a such a place.

Soon I was invited to the meal preceding the poker tournament. It was a buffet with all kinds of tasty foods. Quite the wider assortment than in my normal everyday life.

After being satiated, it was time for the tournament. Of course, refreshments were all on the house during the tournament. I sat down and looked around me. Bunch of people playing poker, I among them. I folded my hand and got myself another small bottle of lemonade.

I played well, in fact thought I was one of the best players there. But poker, while a game of skill, is also a game of luck, and Lady Fortune was showing me her ass that day on the table. I fell out of the running soon.

After recuperating the stinging loss in my room I returned to enjoy the rest of the tournament in the sidelines. This adventure was capped off with a restaurant visit - everything on the house again. Food was abundant and a Finnish professional poker player, Ville Wahlbeck popped by to talk to the group.

As I walked back to the hotel on the wee hours of the night, I reflected on the day. It was an experience unlike any other. I had gotten a taste of a high rollers life - An experience not many can lay claim to.