Three Weeks Until the Winter Gathering

...of donkeys extremely talented and witty online poker bloggers.

Just about the last time to get the great air bargains, maybe, so hop to it.

That's what I told myself before checking the dates. Sadly, I will not be there (once again, as I've never made a winter event).

The culprit? The date.

You see, the Good Doctor Mondo and I tend to live rather low-key casual lives. You know, jeans and sweats outside the office, bare bones scruffy (one of us, anyway). That is, except for one night a year, the night of my firm's annual Holiday Party. It's the one night a year when wifey very much looks forward to going full on to the nines, and party it down high-stylee at the Cherry Hills Country Club (home to several U.S. Opens over the years, most recently the 2005 U.S. Women's Open).

To me, it's just a shindig. To her, it's a chance to get all fancy watusi, and it really means a lot to me to see her enjoy the experience so much. In fact, this year, we're getting a hotel and staying down there for the night.

The downside? It's December 13th, right smack dab in the midst of the Gathering of the Bloggers. Quelle bummer. The weekend before is my birthday giving me pretty much carte blanche. As I recall, last year, both events were a week earlier than this year, and I still got hosed by the calender, but such is life.

I was really looking forward to the idea of taking live chips from live bloggers, especially as Falstaff has put together a SWEET tournament deal with the folks over at the Venetian:

Private Blogger Tournament
Venetian Poker Room
Saturday, December 13th
3PM
$135 ($100 buy-in, $25 juice, $10 toke)

Please email Falstaff your real name and blogger name if you want in. I need to let Tim at the Venetian know by a week beforehand. If you have FOBs (friends of bloggers) who want in, let me know how many.

You have to have a Venetian Player's Card to play, so if you don't have one, get there early.

Bring knockout bounties, that's the coolest part of a blogger gathering.

Perhaps next summer, the more unofficial gathering won't be spread out over two weeks, like it was this year, and I'll get to see more of you than I did this past June. I'll miss the fun, but will thoroughly enjoy the huge smile on the Good Doctor Mondo's face on the 13th, which makes so much so worthwhile.