Globetrottin’ Gumshoe

Airport terminals and planes will be serving as my office today. And tomorrow as well, I guess. That’s because for the next 20 hours or so I’ll be winding my way to Marrakech, Morocco where I’ll be helping cover the WPT Marrakech tournament scheduled for Saturday through Tuesday.

Made it through airport security this morning with surprisingly little fanfare. No body scan. No touching of the junk. No request to remove my prosthetic limb. (Just kidding.) I also managed to keep my pants on the entire time, something I occasionally have had trouble with when traveling before.

Came to the airport much earlier than necessary, in fact, and so I have a couple of hours of sitting around before my first flight takes off. There are a number of folks milling about, though not too many. A few families. A basketball team heading to a holiday tourney. Much fewer, though, than were traveling yesterday, I would imagine. Most folks have already arrived at their Thanksgiving-day destinations, presently readying for a long day of feasting and football.

I suppose I have done enough of this traveling thing (and tourney-reporting thing) by now for the novelty to have worn off a little. Not as much as some of my reporter buddies, of course, the full-timers who do this stuff year-round. But enough to have developed a set of expectations -- for the wide-eyed innocence to have worn off just a bit.

Even so, I’ll admit to feeling a little of that familiar mix of anxiety and excitement, particularly given the fact that I’m heading to a new country. (Heck, a new continent!) And really, every poker tournament necessarily is going to offer something unique or unexpected. Part of the reason why people keep playing ’em, I suppose. A brand new starting stack. Possibility. Promise. Something to play for.

Am certainly thankful for the opportunity to take another of these trips. And hopeful I’ll be able to share a little of the experience here over the next few days.

Am thankful, as well, for your stopping by Hard-Boiled Poker. Enjoy the day. Talk to you next from the Kingdom of Morocco.