(L to R) Veteran Lodge amateurs John Manby, Aaron Autry, and Fubu … still tearing it up on not-so-faded felts harkening back to the old-old days of Pokerati.com.

As those of you following @Pokerati on twitter are well-aware, I ended up at my old stomping grounds at The Lodge last night, totally not realizing that, being a Sunday night, there was an amateur poker tourney going on.

Not only did I get a reminder of why it’s good to be the Phil Hellmuth, or at least the Former Jeffrey Pollack of Dallas Amateur Sunday Strip-Club Poker … they snuck me into the tourney somewhere around level 5, and even gave me a nicer chair … but I had a really good time en route to making the final table and quickly giving my chips away once the Tuaca shots started flowing.

Anyhow, that is all … the tournament we started back in, um, yikes, 2003 is still going strong, drawing five tables of action weekly. They’ve changed the prize structure and point system … the tables are a bit beat up … you can’t smoke at’em any more … and we won’t even talk about the way my attempt to steal the blinds from two absent seats was handled … but many familiar faces (and breasts, hi Lindsey!) … and plenty of absolutely terrible play. 🙂

I think by making the final table (8th place – top 3 won Lodge gift certificates) I qualified for some special mini-semi-finals six weeks from now. Perhaps I’ll have to return?

Click below for an impressive (?) list of known poker pros, authors, and celebrities who at one time or another played on these (same) tables:

(Oh, also, congratulations to Liz the longtime Lodge poker waitress and LAP player Michael Tiegs, who will be getting married this week in Las Vegas!)

More…