If your friend is RUNNING a game couldn't they have saved a spot for you? (i.e. set the max one person lower and you just fill that slot?). I kinda expected to not get into Paranoia, somewhat expected to not get into Numenera and was more optimistic about new Star Wars RPG... I had 2-3 backup slots for each of them and didn't get a single one.
I was 3610 in line. My friend that's going was like 1500 or so. I don't think it had so much to do with timing of you hitting the button as just how long it took for your computer to communicate the info. Mine sat for a while before it gave me a number... that window was much shorter for some than others from the sound of it. It would be interesting to see what number people were across the country and how long their wishlists were. Overall I think they (Gen Con LLC) did a good job though. Considering housing sold out in a day I was half expecting the fans to crash the event server when it opened up the flood gates (to be fair it did go down for a VERY short time, but they fixed it faster than I've ever seen someone do it).
Anyhow... now that the initial mad dash is over you shouldn't have as much trouble getting into almost any of the events that are put in from now on so long as you stay on top of it. Really popular ones like Paranoia and Numenera might go quick, but it's not like they'll disappear immediately (might not last the day though). I'm sure those on the boards here running events will give us a heads up when their events go live (so long as they are told I guess). Just use the "Find Event" button and put Rolemaster as the system (try Role Master also just in case someone spells it that way).
So, the dealer hall hours are 10am-6pm Monday-Saturday and 10am-4pm Sunday. I always try to pack in as many events as I can after the dealer hall closes, then go back and fill in events I 'must' have during the hall hours. I like to have at least a full 8 hours (spread over the days) open for the dealer hall, with Thursday and Sunday afternoon being the more likely times. That way I can really check it out on Thursday when the crowd is smaller, pick up the stuff I know for sure I will buy at the con, then Sunday to cruise the booths I want things from but am willing to gamble on them not selling out and hopefully get a deal cause they don't want to have to pack up the merchandise and take it back home with them. Also remember that some companies will be running demos of games in their areas, so that can eat up some of your time if you want to try something you didn't get into an event for.