As Friday afternoon rolls around, I begin thinking about potential evening activities. Before coming to any conclusions, a friend stops to ask if I want to play in a local charity Texas Holdem Tourney. With poker as an option, the rest of the choices typically pale in comparison. We head over to the game, sign up, and get our seating assignments. The tourney is a low-cost event with 168 players registered at the start. Charity events can be a fun weekend activity, but the low entry fee brings with it a lot of low skilled players. At best, you may have 1 poker player at the table that has any idea of the true strength or weakness of his hand. It can make bluffing very difficult as players routinely call all their chips with bottom pair or an inside straight draw. However, with blinds doubling every 30 minutes, you need to make the most of your good hands and extract as much money as possible with the hands you play.

As we hit the first break, I'm sitting on $1,300 which is just a few chips more than my $1,000 starting stack. With blinds now $200/$400, I throw away 5-2 offsuit from the small blind leaving me with $1,100. A few hands pass and I am on the big blind with 8-8. The action moves around to the dealer who doubles the bet. With $400 of my $1,100 in the pot, I have little choice but to move all-in. I reraise and find myself against K-K and quickly out of the tourney.

Eliminated out of the money, I walk over to check on my friend. At this point, there are 36 players remaining vying for the top 18 places to make it into the money. He is starting to build a nice stack and looks to have a good chance to make the top 18. I watch him play a smart conservative game with a few strategic bluffs to keep himself in contention. When the field is thinned to 18, play is stopped to color-up and select new seating assignments for the final 2 tables. With only $4,000 in chips and blinds of $1,000/$2,000, he has a long road ahead if he hopes to get into real contention to win.

I watch the color-up as he gets a soda and a Twix before play continues. For his new seating assignment, he draws a black 3 which puts him on the big blind in the first hand. Not exactly the position he was hoping for as he would like to see a few hands before having to take a stand.

As he picks up his chips and walks to his new seat, he passes a trashcan and tosses in his Twix wrapper. At that moment, he glances back at me with a terrified look on his face as he says that 3 of his 4 remaining $1,000 chips went in with the wrapper. We call the floor person over to let him know what happened as the laughter is heard from around the room. The floor person said "if you want those chips, you better go get them."

With only a few minutes before play resumes, he begins the quest to find 3 small poker chips in a 50 gallon overflowing trash can. As he starts the search by picking up a plate with a half eaten hot dog, he hears the sound of chips clinging and clanging as they make their way down through the layers of trash. With the precision of an archeologist, he systematically analyzes each piece of trash as he takes it from one trash can and puts it in another. Cans of chew spit, wet cigarette ashes, mangled food pieces…

Play begins at the table with only one $1,000 chip sitting at his place in the $2,000 big blind. In a more frantic maneuver, he pulls out the trash bag and dumps the remaining garbage on the floor. He ensures the floor person that it will be cleaned up, but with only a few minutes remaining before his turn to act, the mess is the least of his concerns. Just in time, a chip is discovered and then another. As he holds 2 soiled chips proudly in his trash blackened fingers, the action is on him. With no one at the table wanting him to touch anything, I pick up his hand to show him his hole cards. He looks down at Q-J offsuit and checks.

Paying no attention to the flop, he resumes the task of finding his last remaining chip. Play continues around the table as a bystander discovers the final hidden treasure lodged under a soda can. My friend lifts his hands in triumph as if he had already won the tournament to celebrate this momumental needle in a haystack task.

Back at the table, he quickly calls a bet with his top pair and two remaining chips. His hand holds up to bring home a $12,000 pot and the successful conclusion to his trash adventure. He and his 3 grimy chips make their way to the rest room to wash up as I'm left with a shovel and broom to clean up the mess.

As play resumes, the laughter continues and the nicknames begin. "Trashman" was the name that stood out and some were hoping to see him take home first place so the name could be placed under his champion's picture. Unfortunately, the trash to treasure story doesn't have the Moneymaker ending with a championship title, but he did make it all the way to 3rd place. With a nice payday, the "Trashman" tragedy became a highly profitable adventure. But, I'm betting next time he holds his chips and trash in opposite hands. Unlike George Costanza, the poker chips didn't fall on a doily on top of a magazine, and they were most definitely not above the rim. I'm hoping the tragedy doesn't happen again, but if it does, you can be sure I'll be there to write about it.