John cashed!

He made it to the money last night and was one of 12 players to end the night. So, the 12 from the previous night, and the 12 from his day, will go on to play this afternoon all the way to the final winner. It was really scary there at the end.

In poker, the term bubble is referred to as the person who goes out just before making the money. John had bubbled in France earlier this year when he was playing the previous European Poker Tour. It's the worse to make it all that way, but not cash. He was low in chips, so he and a few other short stacks had to fight to stay in. At this point they were down to two tables and I was in the actual room watching.

I had made some poker media friends and was having fun. Steve from GutShot, and Brad from thePoker Stars Blog, were updating me nearly ever play with John's stack and how he was holding up. It was so exciting.

You can read his write up, "Slithering Into the Money," on his blog, but I'm warning you, it's in the language of poker.

Finally the guy on his left, who had less chips than John, went all in, and the guy across from him called. Bingo, the other guy was wiped out and we could go home.

Living the poker life, we were asleep by 4am, and didn't wake up till after noon. Then it was time to get back to the casino. We were there a half an hour or so, just long enough for John to take 23rd place and cash out 4,000 British pounds. Now I'm back to work, with dinner tonight and visiting some dear friends tomorrow.