World Mindset Championship 2011

Yes, we challenge everyone in basketball. Although - of course, we can't compete against Kertu and Andres...

Justice triumphed. What was almost lost in checkers, Othello and logic, was even sweeter in Texas Holdem - Kertu's medal, to be exact. And although he almost had to bow out to Ankush Khandelwal in heads up, the silver medal is a great achievement that finally ends Kertu's path of suffering. Well done and credit to Vindi's poker tournament series, which certainly played its part. I went to play at the Chelsea club today myself. We juggled with Frankie Lampard and chatted with Ashley Cole, and in between I gave Andre Villas-Boas tips. Okay, okay, it was actually the Chelsea bridge club, and instead of Lamps and Cole, I exchanged impressions with local pensioners. But the atmosphere was cozy and the people were nice. The only downside is that it's not cheap fun - 11 pounds per person and a train ticket. You can't afford such fun every day. Despite the whole day of playing, I still wasn't feeling fresh enough (that damn interview was also eating away at my spirit) and the game didn't go particularly well. Once I gave up a game by going double-hit (although in my defense, I have to say that I did it intentionally [going double-hit, not giving up a game]) and in the last hand I climbed under the beam. But even without these stupidities, I wouldn't have done anything special, my opponent simply didn't throw enough imps (in translation: didn't make enough mistakes). Unfortunately, I don't know the results of the important acquire in terms of the overall score, the last round was still in progress when I left. The bad thing is, of course, that all the important competitors were at the final table, de Toffoli, Pearce and Hebbes, plus some unknown character. Kertu's favorite Ken played 5th-8th place at the second table. Tomorrow morning I'll probably play mastermind and in the afternoon I'll play bone slang again. I haven't had time to go sightseeing and maybe I'll find some interesting souvenir shops. At this point I have to disappoint the fans, because due to the large pile of medals I can't bring very many gifts, but I'll still find something for Karmen and Sips (Karmen's adorable kitty). PS. If boku makes it to the Tallinn Open, nothing will keep me away from it.

I beat Hebbes in poker, reached the final table and from there came second place. Big thanks to Ankush for milking my competitors and helping me to second place. Even bigger thanks for buying me a cider 5 minutes before the shop closed. And I also beat him 2-0 in billiards. Pearce walked me to my door so I could walk 5km back. That was a favor to Andres, because Pearce thought he wouldn't be a gambler tomorrow. So nice to have a friend with whom I could travel to the end of the world or at least to Hong Kong. They are a big help to me. As was the cameraman who gave me his umbrella and sent me on the metro to see a comedian's show. Anyone would have done that if they had seen 10 minutes of my tears. I got home, I'm going to bed. Silver in Texas Holdem is a tough word, because there were the most participants. And I managed to eat 4 people out of the tournament with my cards. Thanks to the support team. PS. Pearce promised me that next year the best woman will have a medal, if I only come. And expressed hope that maybe we will manage to get it done this year. There are still two days to go. End of communication.

Since yesterday was a very long day for Kertu, we're resting today. I don't have much motivation either, because it's impossible to improve my result and every extra person participating is useful for the competitors. The only downside is that the abstract games category can now be written off, but I don't really care (there are no traditional areas there, just areas where there is no developed theory). I haven't received the Aquire results yet, but when we get to the tournament site, I'll let you know right away. Today is the day when Paco Garcia took over the leadership position last year. His trump areas are go, creative thinking and mastermind. Tomorrow there's another go tournament on a big table, so Garcia will have potential underdogs. As a strong go player, underdogs are practically a foregone conclusion, but the other areas are more questionable. I certainly hope that at least one of them fails.

Andres is playing, I have a day off. He asked me to tell you that Hebbes (I think?) was first in Acquires, Ankush was second, I don't remember the third. And Paco wasn't first in Mastermind either. I'll clarify later and then give a more in-depth overview. Since I only have Texas hold'em heads-up tomorrow, we'll probably go and get to know the specifics of the culture tonight. For example, in the morning there was a protest march by Indian people on the street, where they supported someone like Jan Lokpal and demanded an end to discrimination. Whatever it meant, good luck to them anyway. In the evening there's still Omaha and before that the awards ceremony. If I get a separate medal for the award ceremony tomorrow as the best woman in this competition, then I'll take back my words and come back here to compete again. But beforehand I'll learn the theories of all the games by heart. Yes, even chess! Yesterday I also saw the Olympic Countdown monument, which counts the days until the Olympics. David and I watched it for a while, then David said that he thought the Olympics would be in early August, but the scoreboard showed 368 days. I stepped closer and said that he was right, because that monument was for the Paralympics! Today I will try to find the right monument too! More information in a couple of hours. Relaxed Mimm.

We then scrapped the first session and just kept chipping in the decisive rounds. George Lane won Mastermind, Tim Hebbes was second. As Kertu mentioned, Hebbes won Acquire last night and since he has been leading the poker overall standings for a long time, he is suddenly in the gold medal race. He should hold on to his poker lead, he already has 467 points, and on the last day Abalone will be exciting. Although hopefully he will still be a pale color in the medal distribution, according to preliminary calculations he will not threaten my 489. De Toffoli was destroyed both yesterday in Acquire and today in Mastermind, so he is out of the game. David Pearce is also no longer dangerous, despite today's first place in Azacru - according to his own words, 460 is the absolute maximum that can still be reached. Paco Garcia did not medal in Mastermind and intelligence data says that he will not be able to get first place in Creative Thinking either (although the points are still being counted). So he should not be dangerous either. Ankush Khandelwal won last night's poker and was second in acquire, with over 190 points more. That really put him in the medal race, but that's about it. In short, it seems to be going well. I had barely written down in the morning that I was going to miss the abstract games category when I started to feel like I should give it a try. I checked the standings and found myself in 5th place, almost 150 points behind the leader David Pearce. But considering that I had only played three games in this category so far and the others had already played five, the situation seemed quite promising. I then looked up the rules of azacru and rushed over. The game's creator, Mike Wellman, gave me some quick tips (good enough that I beat him in the 3rd round). The result was beyond all expectations - I got 3rd place out of 12 participants with 4 wins and 2 losses. Of course, the scoring system used in the game helped me, where a win was valued at 3 points and a loss at 1 point. The first place was shared by former world champions David Pearce and Martyn Hamer, who were also the only ones I had to accept a defeat from. With this 3rd place result of over 80 points, I should now be a sure contender for a medal in the abstract games category (if tomorrow's abalone goes well at all), maybe even a chance for gold (probably not, because Pearce is the favorite in abalone). The poker will start right away, but that's already late at night.

I'll also add a small comment - probably more so that anyone interested can look for you in this picture to make sure that you are not only a part of the world, but also of the Estonian championships :) But good luck with your final efforts!

Omaha is over for me now. There are about a dozen players left, Andres, Hebbes, Pearce, Ho and Khandelwali among them. He'll write about what happened later, right? Ken just finished. Ennis didn't mention that he only has one crutch today, which means he's probably starting to get better. What more can I say - I'm waiting for some friends to leave and then we'll go see the monuments. Tomorrow is 16:30 Heads-up, by then I'll probably be awake and on the field. And after tomorrow's competition I'm already packing my things for the trip home. Isn't it great. I'll tell you the time the plane lands tomorrow, then you know to meet Andres with flowers. You can put the gifts in an envelope! In the morning, the window at the competition venue was open and by chance the one behind me. It's nothing bad, I'll get over the cold. Thank you to the great supporters, it's good to know that someone cares about your achievements. And so much for the Hold'em medal that the organizer mistakenly gave me a gold one and Ankush a silver one. When they realized the mistake, Ankush came to me and said, let it be, I'm worth the gold! Considering what I've been through, that was very polite of him. He gets a few new medals every day anyway.. and they're not as valuable to him as they are to me. So - I have the Poker gold from the World Championship! The final table is starting, I'm going to take a peek. New and fresh news tomorrow. Cheers!

I just finished poker in 7th place. In the deciding hand, I lost to Ankush on the river as usual. Most of the evening was spent accepting congratulations, but it seems to most people that even theoretically no one can pass me. I'm not entirely sure about that myself, my mental calculations of the decamentathlon showed that it's not worth trusting. But the feeling is good anyway. Tomorrow morning I'll play abalone, that is, if today's celebration doesn't last too long. Since an unplanned azacru came in today, I'll skip tomorrow's holdem heads up and go hunting for the gifts promised to Sipsu and Kammu. Our plane leaves at 9.55 local time, 11.55 Estonian time, and the flight takes about 2 and a half hours. It was just said, without any meaning.

I'm going to Karepa for a couple of days today, where everything will be ready to welcome the heroes, if you want to stop by :)