Don't Mention The

It's been an exhausting two weeks. With one tournament in Germany followed almost immediately by the EPT Polish Open, the massive effort required by all has taken its toll. But we've nearly done it. We have nearly managed to get through the whole thing without mentioning the ...

Of course it's been a team effort. Troops piled in to help when EPT blogger Simon Young, at the end of his strength and unable to fight any longer, tried to write a paragraph about the French resistance falling as the last Parisian bit the dust in Dortmund. We all worked hard to expand our German vocabulary as we chastened slack waiters for not bringing the drinks fast enough in the Hohensyburg casino.

And everyone pulled together to stymie tactless quips about invasions and pincer movements as we trudged towards the Eastern Front last Monday .... it's been hard but we've done it. We've nearly got through the whole thing with mentioning the ...

Of course, it's been harder for some than others. Tori Coxon thought we weren't allowed to mention any wars at all - and visibly blanched when I brought up the Falklands. And in Warsaw, it's almost impossible not to mention the... if you head for the city's Old Town - faithfully, movingly and quite spectacularly rebuilt from scratch after being utterly destroyed in the ..

Plus it was so hard not to feel touched as we saw the happy faces of the Poles as we arrived at the Hyatt Regency en masse at the start of the week. Starved of decent poker for years, liberated at last from the boredom and drudgery of endless flops, turn cards and rivers, they were visibly stirred by the spectacular and sometime reckless bravery of the liberating forces. All-ins every hand, swift retributions for bluffs and weak play, it was clear we - and particular the Scandinavian para-divisions - were a welcome force.

But as we head into the Final Day, we can feel proud .. not only have we taken the Polish capital by storm, we have done it without a single moment of tactlessness.