"If I die and go to heaven, please God let it be this place", thought Mark Levy, now age 89. He slowly turned in a 360 degree motion and stared in awe at the ring games and satellite action, now taking place in the largest poker room in the world, the two thousand table Grand Poker Salon, located on the main floor of the Final Table Resort. Only the poker gods could have conceived of this wonder of wonders; an oblong green structure standing out as an illuminated hold'em table in the stark Las Vegas night. The Final Table Resort, unlike the other mega casino resorts, did not offer any of the other gaming 'leaks' and distractions, but was dedicated only to the art of poker. This six star resort with 3680 rooms, twenty one eating choices, international entertainment, five pools, body pampering health spas, exquisite shops, tennis and golfing complimented a true shrine to poker and was now the home of the 2033 World Series of Poker.

* * *

Mark turned over his pocket aces at the same time that Alaska turned over his 7-2 off-suit, and all the players at the table, including the small crowd and tournament director that had gathered among the television crew, gasped at Mark's horrible bad beat, when his deuces full of aces were beaten by Alaska's quad deuces. Mark, quietly, separated one $25,000 chip from his stack and pushed the balance into the pot. "Nice hand, Alaska," Mark said with the true strength of a professional. "Dealers, finish the hand that you are on. All players, this is the end of level five. Congratulations to all of you. You have made into day two of the Big Dance. We will be coming around with plastic bags with your names on them.  Please, place your chips into these bags and activate the zip top. We will resume tomorrow at noon. Get a good nights rest. (PA announcement) Mark placed his lone chip into the plastic bag and zipped the top as he heard the "kind" voices coming from the rail. "Hey Risk Taker, ask them to double bag it."" (Laughter) "Hang in there Risk Taker. When we come back tomorrow the antes and blinds will still be small and your chip will be changed for smaller ones. You still have two and one-half times the buy-in and you can still make it," comforted Russ Jansen.

* * *

Mark entered his cowboy retreat and lay down on his four poster. He clicked on his cell phone and reached Peggy. "Uh oh, I know by that face that something's wrong,"" said Peggy. Mark did his best to bring her up to date and finished his sad story with. "I would have been better off if I had just raised him all in and then this bull shit would be over. I wish that he would have been kind enough to have raised me all in and given me the coup de grace that I deserve. "What you deserve is to win. For some reason he gave you another chance. You still have $25,000,"" interrupted Peggy. "But, you don't understand. I had well over $700,000. What am I going to do with one chip against all those big stacks?" "Mark, you've heard the stories and we've both seen how someone has won with a chip and a chair." "A chip and a chair? A chip and chair? Do you really believe that crap, baby?" "Yes, I do. Mark, don't you remember that in 1982 Jack Strauss was down to one chip and he came back and won the main event of the WSOP? Mark, listen honey, you held your own with the best and if it wasn't for that bad beat, today, it would have been perfect. Honey, look, I don't want to criticize your play, especially now, but there were many times that I've seen you lose everything, in an on-line tournament, by one reckless play. I know that you thought that you had him beat, but in that hand, you didn't have the nuts. It's better, sometimes, to get away from a hand. Listen, Mark, you've got another chance to learn from this mistake and not get emotionally involved over one hand. Do you understand that you can still win?"