Welcome to Vegas, Here Are Your Pocket Kings

As you may have heard, last night we played "Blogger's Poker."  Pete Peters, ~Coach and the awesome Alysia Chang all at the same poker table, along with yours truly, laughing, joking, ostensibly playing poker, having a total blast. PPP has already done his report on this epic event here. And ~Coach's report is here.

Sadly, I had to work today, at not one but two jobs. I had to work because of the money I lost last night to Alysia with that outrageous bluff I just two minutes ago found out she successfully pulled off against me.  Did I say she was awesome?  Awesomely evil, I meant to say.

Anyway, the point is I didn't have time to write up the blog post about last nite's festivities today.  I will likely not get around to writing that post until I return home next week, but we'll see.

In the meantime, I'll be sticking pins in my Alysia Chang doll, and you can read the post here, which I have ready for your amusement..... 

It was my first night back in Vegas for my late June/early July visit.  I had only been at the table for about four hands or so and hadn’t played one yet.  A hand or two earlier, Michelle pushed into to deal.  Michelle of course is the dealer who “never pushes me a pot.”  She’s also famous (at least to me) for saying “Jack-Ball me” (see here). After saying hello to her, I said, “Come on, Michelle, “Jack-Ball me.”

She didn’t do that, but on her second or third hand, she King-Kinged me.  Yeah, she dealt me my old pals, the dreaded pocket Kings.

Really, I thought, really?  Hadn’t played an orbit yet, hadn’t made or called a bet yet, and I’m starting with the cursed hand so early?  And from Michelle?  Was there even a point in playing these things?  Should I just fold?  I tell you, it was probably the closest I’d ever come to folding them preflop.

But no, the player in front of me had limped and so I made it $10.  One guy cold-called and then the limper called.  The limper was a regular based on his conversations with other players and the staff, but I was having a hard time placing him.  But he is one of those non-stop talker types.  Friendly, perhaps just a tad overly so.

The flop was 4-4-2 and all I could think of was, why the hell didn’t I have the most powerful hand in poker instead of those lousy Kings?  I bet $20 and it folded back to the limper on my immediate right, the regular I didn’t remember.  He called. 

The turn was a 3.  He checked, I bet $50 and he called.  Did he really have something?  Ace-5? A four?

The river was another 3. Double paired board. Ugh. This time he bet….all of his chips.  But he only had $45 left.

Hmm….my Kings could easily be no good.  After all, they were Kings and I had them.  Plus it was Michelle dealing.  I never win with her.

But…..it was a pretty small bet considering the size of the pot.  I really couldn’t fold to that size bet for all the money in the pot.  So I called.

The limper said, “good call” and just mucked his hand without me having to showing mine.

Wow, winning with pocket Kings so early in the trip, and with Michelle yet.  Nice.

I have to say though, Mr. Regular I couldn’t remember, you just didn’t have enough chips left to bluff me. Lucky for me.

 Not long after that, Michelle dealt me pocket Kings again.  WTF?  I raised to $10, and had two callers.  The flop was Jack high, I bet $20, and no one called.

Two for two with pocket Kings. 

A while later—after Michelle had moved on—I had Ace-2 of hearts and limped in. Four of us saw the flop, 10-5-3, two hearts.  I called $12 and we were heads up.  The turn was a blank and I called $18.  The river was a red 4, but the diamond, not the heart.  I had to settle for the wheel.  I called $25. I was a bit concerned of a higher straight, as unlikely as it was.  He had Queen high!  I guess he wouldn’t have called my re-raise anyway.

And another similar hand.  I limped in with Queen-9 and the flop was Queen high.  I called $12 and $18 on the flop and turn, and we checked the river.  I was worried about my kicker but the guy who bet the flop and turn showed King-7 for absolutely nothing.

Then I got pocket Kings for the third time this session.  I had been there less than two hours, so that was pretty amazing.  The other amazing thing, the three hands with the Kings were the only times I’d had a pocket pair all night!  It was a little freaky, honestly.

I raised to $10 and had three callers.  The flop was Queen high and after two folds, the last player before me bet $10.  Pretty small raise into a $40 pot.  I made it $45 and he folded.

Three for three with pocket Kings on this night, and zero for zero with every other possible pocket pair.

I had played a little over two hours and was up over $200.  I was having a good night and it may well have been the start of a great night.

But…..I was really tired from the long drive into town, and from all the unpacking I’d done at the place I was staying in the 105 degree heat.  And it occurred to me that starting the trip with a nice win—a bit more than a double up—would not only get the trip off to a nice start but put me in a good mood to start things out.  This was the next trip after the Vegas Trip From Hell, so starting with things going in the right direction was important to me.

Plus, I had beaten the odds (my own personal odds, that is) of winning thrice with Kings.  And winning a couple of pots from Michelle.  Could my luck hold up indefinitely?

I think the only thing more demoralizing than just a standard losing session is a losing session where you start out up a good amount and then lose. 

And I feared the fact that I was more tired than usual made that more likely than it might otherwise.

Faced with the opportunity of leaving the poker room with an extra $200 in my pocket to start out my first full day in town, I decided to grab it.

So I picked up and cashed out.  And then I enjoyed the scenery.  This was, after all, a Friday night.  So there many pleasant sights in the casino to enjoy.  The kind that can distract a fellow from poker. 

It was a good start to what was going to my longest Vegas stay this year.