OK. I know a FEW things now that I didn’t know a week ago. Like I know this:

“Day 1” of the tournament is broken into two divisions with 230 people starting on “day 1A” on Tuesday Feb. 19 and the other 230 starting on “day 1B” on Wednesday Feb. 20. I know I’ve been assigned to day 1A. All the survivors who make it through their respective first days will continue on Thursday Feb 21.

I know that the players include Team PokerStars Pros PCA champion Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Daniel Negreanu, Tom McEvoy, Bill Chen, Katja Thater, Noah Boeken, Luca Pagano and Dario Minieri. Some of those people I’ve never heard of and some I have, but I’ll absolutely guarantee you that NONE of those people have ever heard of ME. Negreanu and McEvoy are legends. This guy Elky came second in this very tournament in 2007 and won over 2 million dollars in the 2008 PokerStars Carribean Tournament and has won like a bazillion dollars online. Dario Minieri has won 2 bazillion. I don’t care. What’s that old saying? We all stuff our pants one sock at a time? Something like that?

For whatever it’s worth Negreanu and McEvoy will be starting on Day 1B, so I avoid them, at least initially. I take little comfort in that. It’s like eliminating two turds in a shitstorm.

There’s this 18 year old whiz kid from Waterloo named “Timex” in my division who just last month won The EPT Dortmund in Germany. 800 Grand. EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD! I have a pair of Tretorns older than that. He’s made 1.5 million dollars in the last 6 months and he’s got braces on his teeth. Imagine the poise it takes at that age to be continually making decisions over hundreds of thousands of dollars.

When I was eighteen I was working part-time at Big Steel at The Yonge -Eglinton Mall selling bad checkered suits to middle-aged accountants, and the biggest decision I had to make was whether to carry the afro-pic with the red-and-green handle or the one with the black handle in the back pocket of my Sergio Vallente Jeans.

So? What, I should be intimidated?

Whatever. Bring it on, I say. It’ll be what it’ll be.