Travel Report, EPT12 Dublin, Day 8 -- You’ll Know Them By Their Limping

Bookmarks are pretty ephemeral things. For most of us, anyway. I tend not to use actual rectangular-shaped thin cardboard products specifically designed as bookmarks, but rather whatever odd index card or other scrap is lying around for the job.

I have a memory, though, of having had and used repeatedly a laminated bookmark at some point during my college days, one that had an old, familiar Irish blessing written on it in some sort of calligraphy. Or was it a curse? You’ll no doubt recognize it:

“May those who love us, love us; and those who don't love us, may God turn their hearts; and if He doesn't turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles so we'll know them by their limping.”

That one suddenly came back to me today amid another long one of racing around the tournament floor, and realizing it was an eighth straight day of doing so and I’m more or less starting to limp to finish. I speak figuratively, of course, referring to a kind of slowness of thought and creativity that tends to creep up toward the end of one these jaunts, especially the longer ones.

That’s not to say I don’t feel like I can think or be creative, it just takes a little longer. Just as walking with a limp doesn’t keep you from your destination, it just makes it a little more arduous getting there.

Gonna go ahead and put a bookmark right here for now in this ongoing story of my Ireland adventure. Got one more fun excursion planned for tomorrow, another venture with my friend Gareth who carried me to Dalkey earlier in the trip. We did a ton of hiking that day, and I imagine we might do a little more tomorrow. We’ll see.

We’ll also see how well I manage to limp to the finish of the High Roller tomorrow. Check the PokerStars blog for updates and reports on the conclusions of both the €10K High Roller and the Main at EPT Dublin.

You can watch the live stream of the Main final table on EPT Live, too. Look in the background as you do and you might see some of the reporters, whom of course you’ll know by their limping.

Image: Old Gaelic blessing.