Weekend Poker update

The summary: Pretty much sucked, both personally which I (might) update later in a (filtered) post, and poker wise because I ended up down $2400 for the weekend when I could have been up $200 for the weekend.

Friday: I was up $100, then I got stupid and cocky and thought I could play shorthanded. At least I know what weakness I have now, other than not being able to value bet the river. -$1300.

Saturday: I get paid off hugely on my AA by the resident LAG, and am up $1500 for the night. Instead of getting up to leave as my instinct was telling me, I decided (stupidly) to stay. But what really was poor discipline and a bad move on my part was when I took an initial bad beat to put me down to only $1000 up, I didn't leave. I ended up dumping the rest of my chips on several (really) bad beats on my part.

Sully called me at 10 am on Sunday, I turned over in bed and went "NNNnnnnngh I can't take being yelled at (albeit with good reason) this early in the morning," and muted the phone. He called back at a more reasonable hour, like 5pm, and proceeded to say, "What the HELL were you thinking?" about a couple plays. I told him what I thought and he agreed but still thought I was insane for some calls I made. I still stick behind the calls I made (how can you put someone on JT when you have TT and he stays in for a pot sized bet for a GUTSHOT?), and then he continues, "You know, have you ever heard of the stopgap concept?" I mutter something like, "Probably but I don't know it by that term."

So, he enlightens me, and by proxy, you, dear reader.

When you're up a considerable amount (more than a buy in), set yourself a 'loss' limit - an amount, maybe 1/3 of what you have, that you will be ok with losing, and if you lose more than that, you're done. Get up from the table and book the win. If you don't, you're likely to run into what I ran into, and lose considerably more chips. It takes a lot of discipline, but then again, what doesn't in poker?

If I'd done this, I'd be a lot happier with my weekend, even though I would have booked a small loss, but what's a small loss compared to a big one, especially when in the long run, poker is all one big game?

So next time you're up big, set yourself a loss limit, and if you hit it, get up, even if you've only been there a couple hours. You can always play Pai-gow, and come back an hour or two later if you really feel like it.

[Edited to add: And yes, you may have heard of this concept, but hearing it and actually putting it to use are two different beasts.]

I'm a STUD

Joanne, Drizz, April and I all decided on the insanity of playing a $3 stud tourney; Joanne and I even got to sit at the same table for a while. I got shortstacked after chasing a stupid draw (4 flush on 4th street), and then had to go all in with a pair of jacks,a nd was of course upagainst rolled up 4s. IGHN, at 3 freaking AM in the morning. Thanks to Felicia, Glenn, Joanne and April for sweating me in the late hours

Crankitude & poker

I've been rather cranky lately, for a lot of reasons - my job is difficult right now and very stressful, mostly. There's the other general neuroses I have, too, which are actually starting to get a little more amusing and at least they're funning and I have a wonderful supportive peanut gallery to listen to the stories of how I'm an EEEEJIOT.

However, this is not to say the peanut gallery is not a big bunch of enablers. Case in point: I had a particularly bad day at work, and I was talking to BG and April H. and said that I was cranky and they both said I should go to the casino. I said that I really shouldn't, it's a school night, I need to be up in the morning but I was so tired of being responsible. They encouraged me to screw reponsibility and go play.

... so I did. And I gotta say, taking other peoples' money is always a pick-me up. I picked up my friend Adam and we trucked down to Trump, I staked him in the little game, and sat down in the $400 / $1000 game and proceeded to win a $600 pot in my first half hour. I almost decided to pick up and leave right then! I was pretty impressed with how I won the hand, although I think my "the girl is a rock, she never bets if she misses the flop, especially if it's scary" image might have gotten a little tarnished by this hand:

I'm on the button, $5 / $10 blinds. Brian is UTG+1 and he raises a lot, so his raise to $30 brought in another 2 callers with him, and I look down and see Ah 6h.

I call, as does the BB. $150 in the pot.

Flop: Th 9s 8h

They all check to me, and I'm on the button. What are YOU going to do? Me, I have a really good draw (at least 9 outs, probably the 4 7s give me a good straight, and who knows if my A is good), good position, and a rock table image, which should get some folks to fold.

I bet $100. BB folds, Brian folds, JJ calls, otherguy folds.

Turn is Ad, JJ checks to me.

I know I'm good here. This is because JJ, if he had the straight, would have checkraised the flop massively, being afraid of the flush - that's just how he plays, he will want to take the hand down there, and can't slowplay something past the flop. JJ doesn't have the straight; I think he's on a OESD or the flush draw.

I bet $200, JJ calls.

River is a Td.

JJ does something, looking at his cards, and then his chips and my DINGDINGDING bluff detector is going off loudly; he says, "$400" and starts pushing chips in. I think for about 10 seconds and say, "Call."

The act of saying "Call" does make my heart race, because it's not an easy call, actually. But I'm trusting my instincts, and my instincts say that JJ thinks I can be pushed off pots [which is true, but my 'screw you i have the best hand' detector is working much better now] and that's what he was trying to do. If he had a real hand, he would have make a big move earlier, and I have to trust that read.

JJ says, "You win," and doesn't turn over his cards. I immediately flip over my A6h, and the table erupts in an, "Oh my god you bet that flop, what were you doing in the hand in the first place?" I said, "Hmmm I have this button thing, and I had a huge draw, and y'all checked to me, right?"

Brian was especially annoyed because it turned out he had A9. Raising on A9? What the heck is that kind of move anyway? Maybe I am a rock...

I'm a little burned out on a lot of things these days (including poker, to be honest), so instead of writing about what an IDIOT I was this weekend (despite making a profit, one can be an idiot and still make money, donk donk), I share a Good Thing instead:

Greenstein wins one for Charlie

Hmmm

I'm not playing that much poker these days, and I'm actually staying away from Hold 'em, playing mostly Razz on Full Tilt, or O8 on Party for low stakes so I can practice these "other games" Felicia talks about.

She wasn't kidding when she says you can just play the rock solid nuts and you'll get paid.

I have AdQd KcQc in the big blind, so hell yah, I raise so the other 6 people in have to pay something. Cut off re-raises, so I cap that baby, and look at a beooooutiful flop of:

5h Kd Jd

I bet, I get everyone calling me. Turn is a Td. Chaching! I have the rock solid mortal nuts - no low is going to hit the board, and quads can't even beat me, so I check, hoping someone else has a worse flush and bets. Of course, guy two to my left does so, I get 3 folders, so I check raise, and get not one, but two callers! That's right, the guy to my left cold calls two bets.

I don't remember what the river is, but I bet it, and I get two callers. Guy to my direct left has 2 pair (!!), guy to his left has a baby flush.

That's right, kiddies, ship that $93 pot all to MEEEEEE!!

Ok, here's the tiara...

tiara,
originally uploaded by maigrey.

Pauly caught a decent picture with my headgear on, so I'm sharing it for your amusement...

quick weekend update

My flight out of Phoenix was delayed, so what started as a tight 'am I going to make it there on time' got to be a 'wait an hour to board the plane'. However, LawyerMark called to catch up while he was stuck in traffic on the way to the poker room, so both our delays passed pretty quickly as we caught up on the last couple weeks, and I got to tell him what Hank and Felicia said about my poker playing skills, so he could bask in the happiness as well.

Also, he said going back in October was not soon enough and I should consider the July 4th weekend. I'm considering.

Saturday I made it to Trump and played some $400 min / $1000 max NL, and made back everything I lost in Vegas plus the idiotic $5-$150 fake No-limit Casino Arizona game; I guess it's really spread limit, but ugh, how annoying. Having my 66 hit a set on the flop and having KK and QQ bet into me made that recovery a little easier. Lesson #1 - when Felicia says a game is stupid and you shouldn't play it, don't play it. Lesson #2 - Call ahead to see if the Fort mixed game is going before driving all the way out there.

But it's so good to be home. Sunday I made it to church and was going to spend some time going through all my email, but turns out it was the picnic, so I spent some time outside and then headed home and ended up sleeping for 5 hours. I then took the dog for a walk and was going to go see Mr. and Mrs. Smith, but the showtimes were too late, and I was still exhausted, so I read and watched a little TV and then went back to sleep and had a considerable number of Really Weird Dreams.

So, today, it's time to get back into the work groove; I've got to grind through 200 emails, among other things, so wish me luck.

Live WSoP coverage

For those of you who don't already know, there's a little month and a half long tournament going on down in the little down we like to call 'Las Vegas'. One of my buddies, Pauly, is working 20 hours a day to give us all live updates on this wee piece of poker history.

So, if you're reading this, and you're interested in what's going on down there, and about the fight that broke out yesterday because someone gave a thumbs-up, you should check out:

Tao of Poker (Live WSOP Blog)
WSOP Photo Gallery (courtesy of Las Vegas Vegas and flipchipro)
2005 world Series of Poker News (brought to you by Las Vegas Vegas and The Poker Prof)
WSOP Tournament Results

You'll make me, Pauly, and probably yourself a whole lot of happy if you do.

WBPT Part IV

Part I - Wednesday, Thursday
Part II - Friday
Part III - Saturday
Sunday

• Slept 7 glorious hours and woke up about 10:30


• Packed, and checked out of The ORLEANS


• Just so you know, The Orleans is WilWheatonApproved, and the Plaza is not


• Headed down to the Wynn to check out the poker room and possibly play some of the $5/$10 NL game


• Wow, was the card room dead


• So, since Wynn was pretty empty, I figured I might have a shot at the Bellagio $10/$20 NL game


• Ok ok, you can quit laughing now


• No really, you can, any time now


• At least I self parked this time, so when I got there, saw the packed room at 1 pm on a Sunday, I didn’t have to tip the valet for almost parking my car


• Called Eva to see what was up, and if she wanted to eat


• Eva already had half a sandwich, so I grabbed some Wendy’s and headed down to the Plaza to catch up with the contingent


• Saw Geek, Pauly, Derek, BG and a WSoP entrant playing in the Plaza tournament, and Hank and April playing in a $3/6 game


• Scarfed down my Wendy’s (mmm spicy chicken) at the poker table behind Pauly, and put my name on the NL list


• While waiting, go play craps, and win $64 playing the DON’T


• I always play the don’t, as you get better odds for winning


• Hank says it’s just bad karma, and I’m going to lose at poker for winning while betting the don’t


• I think it’s just bad karma to tell Hank that I won while betting the don’t


• I proceed to blame Hdub when I lose my $300 buyin with set over set


• And then just to add insult to injury, that got the guy even, and he picked up his chips and left, dammit!


• I hate that so very very much


• Played a little longer, and Eva joined me to play


• Pauly and the Grub stopped by, and I’m sure I looked horribly hung-over, which I wasn’t


• No, really, I wasn’t, I was just entirely sleep deprived


• You could bang cymbals in my ear and I wouldn’t wince, and I didn’t have a headache, I just wanted to go back to sleep


• Watched BG’s friend Nate win the Plaza tournament


• Cashed out


• Gave everyone who was left a hug


• Retrieved my car, and zipped off to the airport, got on the plane, and landed in Phoenix about ½ hour late


• And very very tired


• And I still had to log in and check the email I accumulated over the last week, since I didn’t crack open my laptop once the entire weekend


• Which means it was a very very good vacation

Lessons Learned:

• Come a couple days earlier than everyone else if I want to play “real” poker


• When everyone else comes into town, don’t bother playing poker, just drink and visit with people


• Everything in Vegas is better when you wear a tiara (and if you’re reading this and have tiara pictures, PLEASE send them to me)


• I could have gotten $20 from the Geek instead of just $12


• I have a serious name-warp when it comes to CHRISHAL


• Phil Gordon is super freaking tall


• Renting a car in Vegas is definitely the way to go


• I am not better than Felicia at mixed games, but then again who is?


• Next time, I’m pushing for everyone to stay at the Orleans.


• If you need convincing, guys, they have the skimpiest cocktail waitress outfits I saw all weekend


• Plus $5 craps


• Plus a shuttle to the strip


• Plus, hello, bowling!

So when are we going next?

WBPT Trip report III

Holy crap this was a long weekend, and I'm only doing bullet lists.

I feel sorry for you folks doing a full paragraph by paragraph write up; I think the over under on bloggers getting through a write up of the entire weekend in detail is about 4.

Part I - Wednesday, Thursday
Part II - Friday
Saturday

• Dragged butt out of bed and made it to the Aladdin just about 9:25


• Took advantage of the half hour before the tournament to go to Starbucks and get some Elixir of Life


• Ran into BadBlood, the Geek and I think the Head but no it was CHRIS FREAKING HAL, who were also acquiring caffeine


• Manage to drip mocha not once, not twice, but three times onto my shirt, dammit


• Attempt to change into the jacket/hoodie thing, realize that I spilled soda on that at the Bellagio on Wednesday night, dammit


• Change back into the original shirt with the mocha flavoring, become slightly grumpy


• Grab seat ticket from CJ, find out I got seated at the TV table with BadBlood, April, Tanya, Pauly, Geek, Shelley and a couple other folks including CHRIS FREAKING HAL


• Get my butt kicked with 99, as has been happening all weekend


• (I lost to A9 with 99 at one of the Excal NL games, and then got my KK cracked by a set of 9s at the same NL game)


• I actually thought about folding those preflop because of the way my weekend had been going with 99


• But I didn’t, and the flop came down JJ2; I lost to Shelley’s TT because I was not aggressive enough


• I should have gone all in instead of just raising 300


• On the verge of getting blinded out, I see KJo and raise all-in


• Pauly calls with KK and IGHN


• Pauly feels bad and says he will buy me a drink later, but I still haven’t seen it!


• And I don’t even get to be in the write up of the tournament because he’s all professional and stuff now, dammit


• I decide to go head to the shops attached to the Aladdin to buy a shirt that’s not mocha-flavored, and purchase what I think is a cute ‘Las Vegas ‘05’ shirt’ that looks like what Annie Duke wears when she plays poker


• I change in the bathroom and it is not that cute, dammit, and change back into the mocha-flavored shirt


• Revisit the tournament, see that it’s going strong


• Decide to head over to the Bellagio in an attempt to play the $10/$20 NL game


• Put my name on the list, which is 6 deep, and the $2/$5 NL is about 15 deep


• Get gelato ice cream while I’m waiting, yum yum


• Return to Bellagio poker room, and realize that it’s going to be at least an hour if not two before I play


• You’d think I’d have learned that I’m not going to play at the Bellagio again this weekend, dammit


• Since the cantina is going to be happening in 4 hours, it does not make sense to wait 2 hours to play 2 hours and then go eat


• Return back to the Aladdin, see that we’re down to three tables, head to bar where Al is holding court


• Refuse to do another SoCo shot with Al, because I don’t like SoCo


• I don’t like Tequila shots or Jack Daniels, either


• We decide on a Lemon Drop shot, and the bartender goes off to make it


• He comes back with a martini lemon drop, and I’m dared to down it as a shot while the rest of the crew does their shot


• Far be it from me to pass up a challenge, thank you very much


• I then spy a genie bottle that is bigger than my head, and convince Al that I must have this


• As he is being convinced and ordering the drink, Eva and Rachel come up and decide we must go shopping


• For Jewelry, which is on a par with Alcohol for entertainment.


• I am torn, but then we decide to get the alcohol AND go shopping with it. Brilliant!


• Cruise the mall until we find the shop, where Eva, Rachel and I all buy beautiful necklaces, and I get two purty rings


• Which I then show off to everyone, announcing I’m engaged to Eva


• Which if a) I swung that way and b) Eva wasn’t married, I’d be so there


• The party proceeds early to La Cantina, and I make my way tipsily there with everyone


• Then, I order yet another drink bigger than my head, mmm yard of margarita


• On the safe side, I order a shrimp burrito, too


• Party foul Pauly, but I think now we’re even for knocking me out of the tournament, dammit


• Since Eva missed my tiara escapade, I had brought the tiara with, and it became quite slutty


• It managed to land on the heads of The Fat Guy, Al, Iggy, BoyGenius, and Felicia among others


• I think there was also some kareokeing to Love Shack, but I blame the Nerd for all of that


• Eventually the party winded down, and most people decided to head to the Plaza for poker


• Michelle, Eva and I, however, decided that there were some butts that needed to be shook


• Specifically, ours.


• Head back to Orleans to change out of mocha-flavored shirt


• Zip back to Plaza to meet Michelle, who headed there with hubby Otis to meet us later


• Eva fields call from Otis stating that Michelle is so bored she’s likely to divorce him if we don’t get there soon


• That may be a paraphrase of the conversation


• Head to EvaSuite and wait for Eva to change and eat HoHos


• Discuss purchasing an ‘SCSC’ shirt for the Southern Belle (see taopoker.blogspot.com for a hint to what that means if you weren’t there)


• Make our way to New York, New York, call Beth and Rachel to see if they want to join us


• Use Eva’s two free tickets for Coyote Ugly which means Michelle has to pay, but we buy her beers to make up for it


• Wonder just why they made girls pay as we’re supposed to be the entertainment


• And let me just tell you, there wasn’t much entertainment, as we were the only ones brave enough to dance


• Laugh as the room gets berated for being wusses, and get dragged up to the stage as we are the only ones dancing


• Well the only ones dancing that aren’t under the delusion that we’re strippers


• After being pulled up onto the stage for the 4th or 5th time, get tired of this and start pushing other girls on the stage so we can dance off the bar


• This works as the Coyote Ugly girls are now saying that we’re rocking and they LOVE THOSE GIRLS down front


• That would be us, the cool kids, thank you very much


• Get hit on and grinded upon by random strangers who just don’t get that I’m not into the picking up random guys at bars thing


• Let Michelle be my wing man and keep the grinder off me


• Be awed by Eva who gets some Brits to buy us several rounds of drinks and they don’t grind on us


• My knees eventually give out around 2 am, and thus it’s time to leave


• But Eva and Michelle need fud, so we get pretzels, though they don’t sound good to me


• I get talked into having a bite to eat anyway


• Complain about being old and why are we too tired to go dancing at another club


• Blame lack of sleep for reduced energy instead of being elderly


• Prudently decide to get pain killers from Michelle’s room at the MGM


• Stop by the poker room, say goodbyes to Mr. Michelle, Helixx, and others


• Head up with Michelle and Eva, decide the floor looks really comfortable and lie down while painkillers are found


• Have (seriously) stimulating conversation with Michelle on the media today and other things


• You wouldn’t know it was stimulating from the passed out Eva on the bed, but I promise you it was


• And damn, Otis has 3 drunk women in his room, and of course, he’s at the poker tables!


• Eventually, we get our butts off the horizontal surfaces, I drop off the lovely Eva at the Plaza


• I valet park so I may say g’bye to everyone as I’m going to play at the Bellagio on Sunday and likely won’t see anyone


• Yeah, I don’t learn my lesson on that, either, dammit.

WBPT update part II

Part I - Wednesday and Thursday

Friday:

• Wake up, head over to the Rio to check out event #2


• Get there as they’re breaking and try swimming upstream


• Run into my buddy from Trump, TomJeff and find out where he’s sitting


• Find out Joe Speaker just got busted out, go find Bobby Bracelet and watch him for a while


• Spot John Juanda, Devilfish, Evelyn Ng, Annie Duke, among others


• Try and get picture of blogger with “Jopke” hat behind Phil Hellmuth


• Watch Eva, April and Hank eat lunch


• Head back to tournament room, meet BadBlood and Mrs. Blood, G-Rob and Mrs. G-Rob


• Laugh as BadBlood sends the Mrs. to get pictures of the ESPN final table setup and she comes back with pictures of herself with Evelyn Ng and David Williams


• Cheer on Otis, and watch Bobby B get moved to TomJeff’s table


• Meet up with SolidMike from Trump as well, just as he busts out


• Decide to go grab lunch with the Bloods and the G-Robs and Pauly, Derek and crowd


• Debate playing NL at Rio, figure that it would suck to pay for drinks


• Head over to the Bellagio to play, and give Kristie and Beth a lift to the strip since I’m headed that way anyway


• Find out the list at Bellagio is spectacularly long, but meet up with Glenn from Trump and hang out for a bit


• Give up on the Bellago for the day, and head over to the Excalibur to meet up with folks


• Play a little bit of NL holdem, end up making $20 or so before heading over to the $2-$6 blogger table


• Take down first straddle, blind raise, blind cap hand with AQo from the cutoff, thank you CJ


• Decide I need to buy a tiara with the straddle winnings, but the one in the case is too heavy for my fine hair


• Continue to win every hand CJ straddles


• Mock CJ for folding top pair to a raise, as the turn gives him 2 pair and the river gives him a full house


• Show CJ my skills with playing 75o as he stays in with top pair despite my smoke bets


• Get sucked out on by the Geek with his K3 of clubs that he raised with preflop, losing my second buyin


• Just as I bust out, Kristie, Beth and Michelle (Mrs. Otis) swing by and ask if I want to go ride the New York, New York rollercoaster and I say damn straight!


• Make Geek pay for my $12 roller coaster ride to soothe his guilt for busting out a girl (man I love being a girl)


• Almost pee in my pants laughing as Michelle gets the 16 year old punk ride operator to not start the ride in a way only Michelle could after she gets her safety restraints set in a most UNSAFE manner


• Decided I most definitely needed a tiara, and Michelle emphatically agreed and she needed one, too


• Spent the best $4.29 of the whole trip on a tiara, and Michelle and I descended upon the poker room with Kristie and Beth


• Tried playing some more NL poker, complete with tiara, but got bored (!!) and cashed out


• Watched Hank, BadBlood, G-Rob, and CJ and Otis play 4/8 and watched CJ get quads with the hammer and chase some woman away


• Ate at Sherwood forest with Hank, Hank’s coworker, the Grub, Iggy, and CJ AND CHRISHAL


• Also, paid CJ in advance for the tournament so I could Phil Hellmuth it if I needed to do such a thing


• Came back to the poker room as Otis was cashing out and twisted his arm to go play PaiGow


• Still wearing the tiara, I became the PaiGow princess as I taught Otis a thing or two about strategy


• However, pissing the roulette folks off by yelling “PAIGOW!!” as loud as possible when the dealer got Paigow was all him


• Despite our offers of buying the dealers a tiara if we hit the 5 aces jackpot, we probably dropped $20 in the stupid tax slot


• Despite that, I ended up $25 at the game. 2 for 2 babyeeeeee!


• Said my goodbyes and crawled into bed about 5 am and had my wakeup call set for 8:30 am. Extra 30 min of sleep, bayyybeee!

WBPT update part I

I survived the weekend and am currently sitting on my hour long flight to Phoenix where I will attempt to be coherent and professional and not dance on any tables.

The weekend was, of course, pretty great. I didn’t get to play the bigger limit games that I wanted to play, but that was a small disappointment in a sea of exceeded expectations, and unexpected suprises.

I’m just going to say it right now: I love the wives! This was by far the most unexpected and pleasant surprise to meet 5 of the most amazing women I didn’t know, and wasn’t expecting to hang out with at all. I certainly never expected to turn down an opportunity to play poker in order to go on escapades with these women, and that’s the highest compliment there is for a poker player. You heard it right here, these women are cooler than poker in Vegas.

I suppose if I really thought about it, I should have realized that these women had to be pretty fantastic to put up with degenerate gamblers, right? Thank you to Eva (Mrs. Hang), Michelle (Mrs. Otis), Beth (Mrs. G-Rob), Kristie (Mrs. Blood) and Rachel (Mrs. Head) for making the trip and making my Vegas experience unforgettable.

Now, more for jogging my memory later, the weekend in bullet point format:

Wednesday:

• Arrive in Vegas, pick up car, drive to the Orleans, check in


• Try to hook up with Pokeramama, but get his voicemail


• Head to the Bellagio to play $2-$5 $200 buyin NL, as I’m too tired to try the $10-$20 NL game


• Don’t realize this is the only time I’m going to sit at the Bellagio poker tables, dammit


• Lose 3 buyins after being up $20.


• Go back to hotel at wee hours of the morning and sleep

Thursday:

• Wake up about 10 am


• Go downstairs and play craps in order to get free mochas


• Lose $44 after being up $20


• Lose valet ticket


• Manage to get car anyway, tip valet big


• Go to Plaza to meet FelEEEEEEcia, and find out she’s not there


• Call Pauly to figure out where the heck everyone is, find out they’re upstairs


• Play Pai-gow while waiting for the good doctor, win $10. This should have warned me how the weekend was going to go, but like I’m going to listen


• Go to the Excalibur to play poker with Pauly, Derek et all


• Meet Joe Speaker in skanky non-Joe Speaker clothing and don’t recognize him


• Which could be because I’d never met him before, but I doubt that


• Lose $40 playing $2-6 spread at the Excal, switch to the $1-$3 NL game


• Lose $80 at the $1-$3 NL game.


• Go with Gracie, and GracieGuests to all you can eat sushi


• Eat Way Too Much Sushi with FelEEEEEEEcia, Joe Speaker, Wes, Wes’s Friend Tim, Mr. & Mrs. Head, Joe VegasVegas, the Gracies, Tanya, and some 2+2ers.


• Go to MGM and play in $2-$5 $200 min / $500 max while waiting for the mixed games to start


• Lose $100 in $2/$5 mixed game


• But I could have won if I didn’t get up to play the mixed game, because the game was so good.


• Go play mixed HORSE game with sushi folks


• Try and get as many people as possible to drink toasted almonds


• Try and play other table of mixed game with the Al Can’t Hang Experience, get dissed because they fill up the seat


• Meet Patrick Swayze


• Do shot with Al Can’t Hang and manage to keep shot of SoCo down


• Try and get people to play craps, dammit.


• Lose $100 or so in the Mixed Game; I’m sure it all went to Felicia


• Head downtown to the Plaza, play some $2/$4 with the gang, lose some money


• Find out the Plaza has no max on their NL game, play NL until the sun comes up and then some (lose $250 to The Fat Guy when he hits his set to my cowboys)


• But, I get the highest compliment ever from Hank and Iggy (that I can play poker)


• Drag butt back up to the Orleans to sleep for 4 hours (1 more than the 3 hours of sleep a night Eva says the body needs)

Friday, Saturday and Sunday to come, it's late, the plane ride was short, and I need to get up tomorrow. Suffice it to say there was lots of drinking, screaming "PAIGOW!!", dancing on bars and slutty tiaras involved.

You know you're too involved with poker when...

[given to me by one of the cool cardroom managers at Trump, and retyped for your viewing pleasure]

... you're fumbling with your wallet at a supermarket checkout counter and you call out to the cashier: "Time!"

... you are filling out a job application, and on the line that says 'Salary Desired' you write: Two big blinds an hour

... you're walking to work and see a local moving company truck with their name 'LAMMERS' on the side and think... Hmm - a truck full of tourney entry chips?

... you've got your money on the counter at a take-out joint, but won't push the guy the money until he pushes you the food.

... a new girlfriend (or boyfriend) asks you what your favorite position is and you respond, "on the button with pocket rockets"

... every day you play golf, the score card is always referred to in terms of poker hands: 6, 6, 3, 3, 3 - Yes, I've got a full house. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, boy do I play with bad golfers

... you're at the grocery store and the clerk says, "That will be five dollars," and you ask, "Who bet?"

... you are at a restaurant and need a fork, knife and napkin, and yell to the waitress, "We need a set up on table 15!"

... your boss gives you a raise ... and you believe he may be bluffing.

... your speed dial index is:

1. best friend


2. girlfriend / boyfriend


3. card room


4. vegas card room 800


5. parents

... you find yourself critiquing phone numbers: 754-3846 (Hmmm, inside straight draw... idiot)

... after an all night poker session, you try to figure out how many hours you've been playing and count them, "Let's see: 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king."

... when making airline reservations, you tell the ticket agent to LOCK UP your seat on the 8:15 flight to LAX.

... when the flight attendant takes drink orders, you demand black coffee and a bottled water, then tip her a half-dollar when drinks are served.

... you tuck your kids into bed with bad beat stories