T3chlady’s Inaugural White House Tournament

The cheerleaders were a great touch T3chlady, but the "first" tournament is not spelled Anagaral.

The write up, from the hostess herself!

"Hi NPP’ers,

Players: Jean (T3chlady), Dave (LittleRedElf). Doug (douge2), Fred (Beerhog), James Rizor (rijzor), Tom (tomservo2), Jeff (tomservo’s assistant), Kathy (tomservo’s daughter), John (k9isadog), Mike (Mikeniks-Faldo), Randy (rjmech),

Details: Dinner: Hamburgers on the grill and assorted salads and dessert.

Tournament Started at 5:40

8:15 Doug busted out by Kathy

8:18 Jeff busted out by John

8:32 Dave busted out by Kathy

8:43 Mike busted out by James

10:01 Randy busted out by Jean

10:02 Fred busted out by Jean

James busted out next

John busted out next (sorry I did both of those well after the fact, time not noted)

Then by chip count we declared Kathy the winner, Jean 2^nd and Tom 3^rd

Here’s the real story:

About a week before the tournament I finished up phase I of my poker room decorations but could not figure out how to get the ambient temp of 60 degrees! OMG. Way too cold for sitting and playing cards. The primary ducts for the air conditioning run the length and width of that room in the ceiling. Rest of the house is 74 but basement is 60.

I bought a heater! Can you believe it? July and I’m looking for a heater. The best one was one I could use in my barn for the winter as well but it was 220V and I had to have a new plug put in to use it. My barn already had 220. So my electrician came out and installed the plug. The heater I ordered is a 4000W two speed heater with a blower. I opened the box to test it and the plug looked like someone had run over it. Good grief.

I took the unit to my electrician and the replaced the plug. I picked up the heater on Friday.

The night before the tournament I was putting the finishing touches on my two older 8-seat octo poker tables. Each one received a new felt top. The green table needed a couple of small nails to secure the middle plate and I started pounding. After about 5 minutes of that, about a DOZEN YELLOW JACKETS visited me in the basement. Yikes! How could I have a party if we were going to be surrounded by swarms of mutant wasps! Apparently the noise disturbed their sleep and they sent out the front guard.

So at midnight Friday I went to Meijers and purchased some pest bombs. I got back, bees were gone. Scary, don’t know where. I set off one bomb and sealed the basement. Went to bed and told myself I would finish next day.

So, next morning I started sealing off every open crevice in the basement, topping it off with some plastic and decorative duct tape (yeah, right). No yellow jackets. All was good. But I could hear them in the wall upstairs near the window well, behind the siding. Then I went outside and saw where they were coming and going. I called a pest removal place and they will be here in a day or two to get rid of them. These pests usually just keep to themselves unless to annoy them (hammering nails, for example).

It was still 60 degrees down there so I turned on the heater and within 45 minutes it felt quite comfortable. Sigh and thank goodness. Add 10 people and it was just right for the remainder of the evening.

At 3:00 I started getting phone calls that people would be late. Doug and James arrived before 4 to help. At 4 we were still the only ones here and we were hungry so we decided to run the cookout first and then play afterwards. People started showing up and we had burgers and salads ready. My sister Janet and her husband Jon came over to eat too. It was Jon’s birthday and combining the two events seemed like a good idea, and it was! Janet brought strawberry shortcake instead of the traditional birthday cake.

We started the tournament at 5:40 and the rest is history. Everyone had a great time. Killer Kathy was reigned queen. K9 is to be commended for feats of strength helping us roll Tom up the stairs. Thanks go to our professional dealers, Mike and K9.

With only a few adjustments I think the next event will be even better, like sound deadening on the chip trays and chairs that don’t go “pop”.

You can expect a fall classic, probably October. - Jean"

Thanks Jean! Ok, we got Rijzor to join NPP. Tomservo2, start working on Kathy and Jeff to join us on Tuesdays!