I was notified that I had been selected for jury duty in Clark County (Las Vegas) several months ago.  Like any warm blooded American, I tried to get out of it.  I postponed it once, didn't show up another time, and finally gave in today and went down there.  I'll be traveling for about 90% of January - March of next year, so I wanted to just be done with it all, even though it could mean missing a Bellagio tournament or two.

I arrived for the noon session, and was in the waiting area less than an hour when I saw Jon "PearlJammer" Turner walk in.  Turns out he was there for the 9 a.m. session.  He managed to dodge jury selection and was headed over to the Bellagio for the $5k HORSE event.  I was more focused on making it to the $1,500 NLH the following day, since the HORSE was obviously not gonna happen.  He told me to have a badge number toward the end of the group (which I have no control over) and I wouldn't get picked.  He was excused, and I headed up to the court room with my group.

I had a relatively early number, so I knew I needed to make an excuse to avoid trial.  Jon warned me against the poker tournament excuse, predicting that I would be laughed out of the court room.  At least if I was laughed out, I would be out of there I figured.  After standing in line with some interesting characters, we were seated and the general questioning began.  The session ended with the "undue hardship" question.  The judge was asking if it would be an undue hardship for anyone to serve on the jury for the trial, which was slated to take just a few hours the following day.  She made it very clear that we were already there that day, and it would just be one more, and that any hardship excuse had better be good.  I suppose I could have conjured up something more likely to get me out of it.  But it's not in my nature.  Plus, I was under oath.  So when the judge posed the question, I was the first to raise my hand. 

"And what is your undue hardship?" she asked, with a not so subtle touch of sarcasm. 

"I'm a self-employed, professional poker player, and I have a poker tournament tomorrow at noon," I replied.

"Where are you playing?"

"At the Bellagio."

"Well I'll try and take that into consideration, but I can't automatically excuse you for a poker tournament."

"I didn't think you could", I retorted extracting a smile from the judge.

After a few more bullshit excuses, everyone was sent on break.  When they lined up the prospective jurors, my number was pulled from the line up.  I still had to sit there along with everyone else for the next few hours, but when all was said and done, I didn't have to stay for the trial.  By the end of it, I was becoming more and more interested in the process and regretted not being part of the jury experience.  I'm sure I'll be happy tomorrow morning though, when I can head straight to the Bellagio instead of hauling all the way to downtown Vegas. 

So, as it turns out, a poker tournament is a valid excuse for jury duty.  Hopefully, I can make something out of it tomorrow so that my excusal doesn't cost me $1,500.