I'm rich!!
Just a few hours ago, I came back from a euchre tournament. It was sponsored by the University Activities Board (UAB). Basically, teams of two could preregister or register at the door. Or you could enter by yourself and get paired with someone. Laura told me a few days ago that I should go. She was partners with Krishna, a friend of ours, and said it would be fun for me to come too. I wasn't particularly excited and decided I'd only go if someone asked me to be his/her partner.
Then today, I got a call from my friend Ben asking if I was doing anything that night and if I wanted to be his euchre partner. I agreed and at 8:00 we headed to the International Center where the tournament was held. There was a huge line of people getting registered. I saw a lot of people I knew. It was a slow start, but we finally all headed into the food court where all the tables were set up with a euchre deck and a number. There were 154 teams total. We weren't sure if we were supposed to sit somewhere in particular or what. Every team just chose a random spot. Ben and I picked table 59 for no good reason. Some of my friends came and sat with us, but then we decided we didn't want to be the one to send the other team home (since it was a single elimination tournament) so they moved. Another team of strangers joined us later. One of the guys was kind of odd. We played a warm up game. I definitely suspected that guy of stacking the deck.
Then the people running the tournament read off who was playing at which table. It took forever. Finally, at around 9:00, play was set to begin. Team 89 (Ben and I) were seated at table 66 ready to take on our first challengers. Games ended after 8 hands or when a team reached 10 points or after 20 minutes, whichever came first. For us, every time, the game ended after 8 hands. Ben and I crushed our first opponents. Laura and Krishna won also. Then the second round they were out. They went to go ice skating with some friends. Ben and I said we'd join them when we lost, but then we just kept winning. The number of teams left kept dividing in half. Before we realized it, just 20 teams remained. Then the tournament coordinators announced that of the 10 winning teams, only the 8 with the highest scores would move on. That way, we'd have an even power of 2. But then they changed it to the 10 winning teams plus the top 6 losing teams so that 16 would move on. We made it past that cut, and I was beginning to think we actually had a chance at a prize. The top 4 teams would win something. Another close game and we were in the Elite 8. The girl on the next team we played recognized Ben; they'd gone to the same high school. That was pretty neat. It was a close game, and there was definitely some table talk going on from the guy on the team. But we won anyway. We were in the top four! Guaranteed a prize!
First place team each got a Wii. Second place prize was an iTouch for each person. Ben and I lost our next game. It was super close. It was tied at the end of 8 hands, so for a tie breaker, we played another round. Not just an extra hand, but everyone dealt again. If it had just been an extra hand, we would have won. We took 1 and then 2 points. But the next hand, the guy on the other team had a loner, and we couldn't pull it off in the last hand. So we went to play and win the consolation game for 3rd place. Out of 154 teams, I'd say that's pretty good! Ben and I each walked away with $150 gift cards to Spartan Bookstore! It was so exciting!
Then today, I got a call from my friend Ben asking if I was doing anything that night and if I wanted to be his euchre partner. I agreed and at 8:00 we headed to the International Center where the tournament was held. There was a huge line of people getting registered. I saw a lot of people I knew. It was a slow start, but we finally all headed into the food court where all the tables were set up with a euchre deck and a number. There were 154 teams total. We weren't sure if we were supposed to sit somewhere in particular or what. Every team just chose a random spot. Ben and I picked table 59 for no good reason. Some of my friends came and sat with us, but then we decided we didn't want to be the one to send the other team home (since it was a single elimination tournament) so they moved. Another team of strangers joined us later. One of the guys was kind of odd. We played a warm up game. I definitely suspected that guy of stacking the deck.
Then the people running the tournament read off who was playing at which table. It took forever. Finally, at around 9:00, play was set to begin. Team 89 (Ben and I) were seated at table 66 ready to take on our first challengers. Games ended after 8 hands or when a team reached 10 points or after 20 minutes, whichever came first. For us, every time, the game ended after 8 hands. Ben and I crushed our first opponents. Laura and Krishna won also. Then the second round they were out. They went to go ice skating with some friends. Ben and I said we'd join them when we lost, but then we just kept winning. The number of teams left kept dividing in half. Before we realized it, just 20 teams remained. Then the tournament coordinators announced that of the 10 winning teams, only the 8 with the highest scores would move on. That way, we'd have an even power of 2. But then they changed it to the 10 winning teams plus the top 6 losing teams so that 16 would move on. We made it past that cut, and I was beginning to think we actually had a chance at a prize. The top 4 teams would win something. Another close game and we were in the Elite 8. The girl on the next team we played recognized Ben; they'd gone to the same high school. That was pretty neat. It was a close game, and there was definitely some table talk going on from the guy on the team. But we won anyway. We were in the top four! Guaranteed a prize!
First place team each got a Wii. Second place prize was an iTouch for each person. Ben and I lost our next game. It was super close. It was tied at the end of 8 hands, so for a tie breaker, we played another round. Not just an extra hand, but everyone dealt again. If it had just been an extra hand, we would have won. We took 1 and then 2 points. But the next hand, the guy on the other team had a loner, and we couldn't pull it off in the last hand. So we went to play and win the consolation game for 3rd place. Out of 154 teams, I'd say that's pretty good! Ben and I each walked away with $150 gift cards to Spartan Bookstore! It was so exciting!
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