I was worried that I wouldn't get around to writing this piece, but "technical difficulties" have taken place on the poker site I use, and my tournament has been paused for at least the past 15 minutes. I played one hand and then got booted from the servers. When I was finally able to get reconnected, the lobby wasn't showing me any available tournaments, ring games, or sit and go's. I was able to take my seat again 15 minutes ago, when the tournament was paused and site announced that all tournaments have been paused to address issues. Have no idea how long this is going to take.
So... that Notebook
In the summer of 2009, I put together a notebook of interesting topics. All of these topics were taken from Helium.com, of which I had written a few articles for way back when, and it was my intention to write on these topics for the website. These topics covered a wide range of subjects, from African cultures to chemistry, from Islam to ecology and environment. I never did get around to writing on any of these things for the site (I wasn't going to get paid anyway), and for most of them I couldn't tell you what the topic is or why I found it interesting four years ago.
I do need to go through them and decide which ones I'm still interesting in writing on, and get them on that editorial calendar. No, I didn't get around to scheduling more ideas, or even coming up with them. This notebook of weird and interesting topics should help. Helium has also completely redesigned their site and how people create content, so it's not the easy minefield for topics that it used to be. Maybe I can do that now, since I have an indefinite wait for my tournament to restart, and perhaps I could win this one by having the luxury and willpower to wait it out while everyone else considers it a loss and does something else. I admit, I'm afraid I'm going to miss that it restarts, and then I end up folding pocket aces and kicking myself for doing something else with my time.
Or not...
First, the site says that all tournaments are cancelled and that remaining players will be paid out according to the policy. Okay, great. I at least will get my buy-in back. Then, I go back to the table and I'm being dealt a hand. Don't get me wrong, because I'll play. It's just now weird and confusing. The tournament is now on its hourly five-minute break.
Scratch that..
After the tournament went on break, it officially got cancelled and the site said that the tournament will be paid out according to the cancellation policy. It took a quick Google search, since I couldn't find anything on the site's own website (they could use a good marketing agency, hint hint nudge nudge), to find their cancellation policy, and here it is:
50/50 Tournament Policy
If a tournament is canceled before the money, we will try to compensate all remaining players based on their play up to the time of the cancellation. This is best achieved by awarding 50% of the prize pool to all remaining players and the other 50% of the prize pool will be awarded proportionately based on each player's chip count. All remaining players will also receive a refund of their entry fee. Any player who was eliminated prior to the cancellation will not be entitled to a refund. All awards for a tournament canceled in progress will be cash. If the canceled tournament has a guaranteed prize pool, only the entry fee will be returned (not the guaranteed prize).
Considering that everyone played, like, three hands, and it was a $400 guaranteed (where $400 is automatically added to the prize pool, no matter how many players enter), it looks like I'll make a few on this one. Awesome.
Now, I'll go do something more constructive with my time, since I've just finished going through somewhat of a fiasco.