A Lucki Duck and An Arrogant Bastard

Before I headed up to Vegas last time, I learned that fellow blogger Lucki Duck and Mrs. Duck would be in town during my visit, so I contacted Lucki and we discussed the possibility of getting together for some of that pokerz we both like to play.  I told you about the previous time I met the Ducks here, Can that really have been nearly three years ago?  Wow.  Time sure flies when you’re getting old.

Anyway, on this particular Wednesday, I had planned on playing all day and all night at the Aria tournament, taking home first place.  But of course, that plan was torpedoed by a couple of cowboys, and I don’t mean horse-riding kind (see here). Soon after I went busto, Lucki and I were in contact and we were trying to arrange a meet-up.  After much negotiation, we ended up deciding to meet at the Hash House A Go Go at the Linq for dinner.

So I met Lucki and his lovely wife there and we had a great time and a fine meal.  My only complaint was that the service wasn’t particularly good.  But the food was tasty and more than plentiful.  We of course traded poker stories, Vegas stories, and whatever gossip we could come up with about any of our fellow bloggers who had the misfortune of not attending. I’m sure more than a few ears were burning. It was a lot of fun.

One of us noticed a beer menu on the table.  I guess they had a bunch of specialty brews.  And when I looked at the menu, I happened to notice one of the beers was called “Arrogant Bastard.”  I pointed that out to the Ducks and we all got a good laugh out of that.  Great name for a beer, right?  I actually think it’s an ale, but whatever.  I can just see going into a bar, asking the bartender for an “Arrogant Bastard” and being told, “You must be looking for that guy in the corner.  He’s the most arrogant bastard I’ve seen in a while.”

Now, all during dinner, I was trying to contact the manager of the Linq poker room to see if there was any way I could get the meal charged to Lightning’s Total Rewards comps.  It seemed only fair, as the last time I broke bread with Mr. & Mrs. Duck, Lightning had picked up the check.  The fact that he wasn’t there this time shouldn’t have mattered, should it have?  Well, I guess I don’t have nearly as much juice in Vegas as some people seem to think, and I was unable to pull it off.

And so, despite my incredibly meek attempts to fight him for the check, Lucki insisted on paying for the entire meal.  So the least I can do is publically thank him for his generosity.  Thanks, Lucki.  Never let it be said I didn’t do the least I could do.  Next time, it’s on Lightning for sure.

After dinner, Mrs. D was ready to return to their hotel and call it a night, but of course Lucki and I endeavored to seek fame and fortune in a local poker parlor.  We first checked The Linq’s poker room, but there was only game going and there was a small list.  The trouble with a small room like that is that if they only have one game going, you just never know how long it will be before you can get into that game.  Could be a couple of minutes, could be an hour or more, easily.  Or it could be that enough folks show up so that they start a second game.

But we decided we were not in Vegas to gamble, so we thought about playing in another poker room; there are so many in walking distance from where we were.  Lucki had mentioned that he liked the poker room at the Mirage, but that he had not been there since the new room had opened last year.  So, since it was more or less across the street from where we were, that seemed like the obvious choice.

We trekked over to the Mirage and not only managed to get into a game right away, we were able to play at the same table and had seats right next to each other.  Of course I took the seat to Lucki’s left so I would have position on him.

Early on I won a few very small pots which I didn’t jot down any details on.  One of them I did get some of Lucki’s money when I flopped top pair with Ace-Jack and rivered the Ace.  I bet and he didn’t call.  Not sure if I even needed the Ace on the river.

I raised to $8 with Ace-2 of hearts and got one caller.  There were two bigger cards and a deuce on the flop.  I c-bet $15 and got a call.  Another deuce on the turn and my $20 bet was called. An Ace hit the river and thus I had a full house.  I bet $30 and the guy faked calling but after he counted out the bet with one hand, he mucked with the other.

I limped in with pocket 4’s and then had to call $6.  It was four-way.  I hit my set on a rainbow board and check/called $6. We were now heads up. The turn was a blank and I checked again.  But when he bet $10, I check-raised to $25.  He tanked but folded.

I was up a bit and then managed to turn that around with one hand.  I raised to $8 with Ace-6 of clubs. It was four-way. The flop was 9-9-7, two clubs.  One of the players donk-shoved $35.  Another guy called and so did I.  The other player folded.  The turn was a blank and the other guy shoved.  It was maybe $100?  I didn’t note it.  I folded to let them fight it out.  But I guess it was a bad fold.  The guy who shoved the turn had pocket 7’s for a flopped boat.  The other guy never showed but claimed to have a flush draw (it didn’t come on the river).  So unless he had a pair, I would have won the side pot either catching the flush or Ace-high beating his high card.  But I don’t think that would have been a good play.

Of course I got the dreaded pocket Kings, and I happened to be on the button.  Someone raised to $7 and Lucki called.  I meant to make it $30 but miscounted and put out $35.  The first guy folded and then Lucki looked at me and said, “I didn’t mean to get you angry.”  And then mucked.

Not long after, Lucki took off.  I believe he won some money, but he can tell you about it on his blog.  It was fun eating and playing with him, he’s a good guy. 

I kept playing and with Ace-Queen I raised to $10 and it was three-way.  Flop was Queen-high, two hearts.  A guy donked out $7 and I made it $25.  The third player called me but the donk bettor folded.  The turn was a blank and I bet $50 and took it down there,

I had Ace-Queen in the big blind and called $6.  Three of us saw a Queen high flop. There was no betting.  The turn was an Ace so I bet $15 and had just the preflop raiser call.  I bet $25 on the river and he called, but didn’t show when I flipped over my two-pair.  He said he had Ace-King.

I didn’t write down the last hand I won, but the next day I recalled a small pot where I won with top pair, lousy kicker from one of the blinds against a lady who bet her middle pair on the river. I don’t think there had been any betting before that.

I ended up booking a whopping $15 win.  The way I’ve been running in Vegas lately, it felt better than it should have.  But the big win was the renewing my acquaintance with a terrificterrific—and Lucki—couple.

Note:  I’ve decided that the best way to thank Lucki for the meal is to steal from him.  So, except for the Arrogant Bastard shot, the pics on this post were all ones I stole off his blog.  Yes, I am not the only poker blogger who likes to put pics of fine looking ladies on his blog. In fact, I think he was probably doing it before I did.  Enjoy.