Today
I am running a post that originally appeared a couple of years ago. I don’t have a new post to give you, so I
thought the post below would be especially appropriate for the today for a
couple of reasons. You’ll realize why
this is the perfect time of the year to revisit this story when you get to the “reveal.” Also, there is quite a bit of salaciousness
in the news right now, so I thought you might appreciate a break from all that
with one of the most wholesome, family-friendly posts I’ve ever done. I won’t even add a typical “robvegaspoker”
pic to spoil the mood.
This
remains my all-time favorite poker session, and is also likely my personal
all-time favorite blog post. It is
certainly my favorite G-rated blog post.
One
change from when I original posted it.
At the time, I spoiled the surprise in the title of the post. This time, I am presenting it without identifying
the “Mystery Man” until the appropriate time in the story. So even some of you have read the story
before might possibly have forgotten who I am talking about. Some of you may just have such bad memories
that you’ve forgotten the entire story and can enjoy as if it is new to you. New readers are
hopefully in for a pleasant surprise!
This
post is from July 6, 2015, Enjoy!
Some poker sessions are memorable for reasons other than the
results. The session I had yesterday at the Aria, in which I left up
exactly $1, will probably go down in my personal history as my all-time
favorite poker session.
I was at the Aria waiting for a 1/3 seat to open. I
didn’t have to wait too long (by Aria standards) and was finally called to a
table. There were two open seats and I took seat 4, directly across from
Mystery Man, or MM for short, in seat 1
The other open seat was seat 3, which was almost immediately
taken by an Asian gentleman. However, he came to the table holding a
stack of red chips that was clearly less than the $100 minimum buy-in for the
game. The dealer pointed this out to him, and he explained that he
had given bigger chips to the cashier to convert to smaller chips and his money
was on the way. Since no one had explained this to the dealer, the
dealer was about to call the floor, and would not deal the player a hand until
this was resolved.
At this point, MM asked the Asian man, “What do you need? $200?” And
he reached into his wallet and handed the guy two $100 bills. At
this point, I assumed the two knew each other. But as the
session wore on, and there was no conversation between the two of them, it
became obvious that MM no more knew the Asian gentleman than he knew me. He
handed a total stranger $200!
The gentleman used the hundreds to buy red chips and the game
went on. Much, much later, an Aria employee came by and gave the
Asian man a $1,000 chip. She told him that she couldn’t cash Baccarat
chips in the poker room, and that he’d have to go to the main casino cage to
cash it in. At this point, MM said, “I’ll buy that off of
you.” And he reached into his wallet again and handed the guy $800
(since he’d already given him $200) for the $1K chip. Now, at this
point, he was not risking any money, he had an Aria $1K chip for his $1,000
cash that he had given the Asian man. But he would now have to go
out of his way to go to the main cashier to get money for the chip he had just
purchased. What an incredibly nice man.
But I had already figured that out. He was quite
chatty and friendly with all the players. He often showed a card when he won a
pot with a bet that went uncalled, to prove he wasn’t bluffing. And almost
immediately after sitting down I realized that the attractive blonde woman in
seat 9 was MM’s wife. She was even more outgoing than her
husband. She had established a nice friendly relationship with the
British fellow sitting immediately to her right, and with the Canadian
gentleman sitting to my immediate left in seat 5. Mrs. MM kept
teasing the Brit because he liked to open pots for $8 every time. And
there was great fun between Mrs. MM and the Canadian over the Canadian’s
admitted preference for raising big whenever he was dealt 7-2, and winning
many, many pots with it. Because of the friendliness of MM and Mrs. MM, there
was an incredibly pleasant, enjoyable vibe at this table. It was a really fun
table.
MM and Mrs. MM had a nice banter going between them. When
MM handed the total stranger $200, Mrs. MM asked MM for some money and he
gently turned her down. She complained that he gives money to “him
and not me.” He replied, “Well he’s better looking than you.” Ahem. But
that bothered Mrs. MM not one bit.
But I did find it a bit unusual that two of them were extremely
interested in the starting line-ups of the Major League Baseball All-Star
teams, which were the process of being announced as we were playing. They
both had their faces buried in their cellphones trying to learn of the
line-ups. I mean, really, who cares all that much about all-star
games in any sport? As regular readers know, I don’t follow baseball
that closely any more, and my favorite sport is the NBA. But even I wouldn't go out of my way to find out who was selected to the NBA all-star
game. But to be fair, I will say this: of the four major US team sports,
the baseball all-star game is clearly the best, the most like a real
game. The others are all basically jokes. Still, really,
why would two people care? They must be really, really big baseball
fans! I did notice them express disappointment that no Dodgers made
the team. This didn’t seem unusual at all. It appeared
from the conversation that these two lived in Vegas, and you know, L.A. teams
are basically the home teams for Vegas residents. Vegas is a Lakers
town (not the Clippers) and a Dodgers town. If and when LA gets an
NFL team back, that team will be adopted by the Vegas locals, no doubt. So
they were Dodgers fans living in Vegas. Not unusual.
Every now and then, someone would come over to MM and say
hello. Sometimes it was a poker room staffer, sometimes it was a
player. Again, nothing unusual….that even happens to me at
MGM. Obviously this couple were regulars in the room and had been
away for a while.
Then I heard someone expressed surprise that they were there,
saying they didn’t expect to see them until the All-Star break. MM
said he would be back then but they had some things to do now (or something)
and thus were here now as well. I think I heard something similar to
this two times. The first time it went right passed me. But
the second time…
Hmm…All-Star game. Ok, they were big baseball fans, but
returning to the Aria (or to Vegas) based on the All-star game break? Wait,
what? Suddenly I started putting two and two together. I
gave MM a good, hard look. I listened to his voice and began to
think it sounded familiar. I stared at him a bit more. And
you know what, MM noticed me staring at him. And my brain suddenly
recalled that if MM was who I was beginning to think he was, I had heard that
he was a poker player, played poker all over Vegas, that I’d heard from players
who had played with him, and I even recalled hearing that Aria was one of the
rooms he most frequented.
And being the excellent poker player that he is, I’m sure that
Orel Hershiser knew by the look on my face the exact moment I realized I had
been playing poker with one of the greatest baseball players of his
generation. Seriously, I saw in his face that he saw the lightbulb
go on over my head, the exact moment it did. Of course, he’s
probably used to it.
Internally, I was shouting, “I’m playing poker with Orel
Hershiser! Holy cow!” Fortunately, I didn’t say that
aloud. He knew I had figured it out, I could tell, and what I did
say was, “I’m sorry. I just recognized you. It’s an honor
to meet you.”
He was gracious and modest. He just said thanks and
smiled. I’m sure no one else at the table, other than perhaps some
of the dealers, had recognized him at that point. But then, the
table had an international flair, as I pointed out. In addition to
the Brit and the Canadian, seat 2 was occupied by a gentleman with a European
accent. Not sure if the Asian gentleman next to me was from the US
or actual somewhere in Asia. It was up to me, the American, to
recognize Mr. Hershiser.
And I was
the right age too. Back in 1988, when he virtually owned baseball, I
was paying a lot more attention to baseball than I am currently. I
watched that World Series, every minute of it, where Orel dominated after
dominating all season long and having that 59-inning scoreless streak. And
of course, that was the World Series that featured Kurt Gibson’s iconic
home-run in game 1.
I was like a little kid, so excited to be playing with a
legend. It was hard to concentrate on poker after that. And
I was just marveling at what a nice guy he was. No airs about him at
all. Just one of the guys at the 1/3 game at Aria.
Suddenly, I heard his wife start explaining to the Brit who her
husband was. And I looked at Orel and said, “Sorry, I guess I outed
you.” He shrugged and said no problem. “Usually she’s the
one who tells everyone and brags on me.” And so I heard his wife
tell the Brit, “And he used to work for ESPN (she had probably already
mentioned that he’s currently on the Dodgers’ broadcast team)….and oh, he did
play before that…” and she mimicked throwing a baseball.
With that, I couldn’t control myself. Loudly so that
everyone at the table could hear, I said, “Used to play?….he was once the best
damn pitcher in baseball!” Orel seemed embarrassed, and again very
modest, denying that was the case.
After a hand when he and Mrs. H were heads up against each other
(and btw, they did not soft play each other), he told this story about their
wedding. When the minister asked, the question, “Do you take this
woman to be your lawfully wedded wife (etc)…..” He answered, “All-in.” When
Mrs. H was asked the same question, she answered, “Call.” Then the
next day, they were playing poker together, and in a hand, he said, “all-in”
and she said, “Call.” And then Orel said, “And it’s been like that
ever since.”
One time, the three of us were the only players to see a
flop. It was Orel, Mrs. H, and me. And as the dealer was
about to deal the flop, I think I muttered something about being outnumbered
and Orel said to me, “Let’s team up on her.” Wow.
Don’t have time or space for much poker, but I do need to talk
about one hand. The lead up to it is that soon after I learned who I was
playing with, I called a raise from Mrs. H and caught a bit of the flop, and a
weak draw. So I called her flop bet, which was rather large. I
missed my draw and she shoved the turn. She had over $200 (a bit
less than me at the time I think) and I had to let it go.
Earlier in the session, before learning that MM was Orel
Hershiser, I had raised with Ace-King and Orel was one of the callers. I
made my c-bet on the flop and only Orel called. I checked behind him
when the turn missed me as well. Orel led out on the river and I had
to fold, holding Ace-high. He showed one card, a Jack, which
represented top pair. That similar scenario had played out several
times against other players, where I had c-bet the flop and then let it go.
So then, much later, when I knew Orel was Orel, and after I’d
lost those chips to Mrs. H as I described above, I made it $18 with Ace-King.
Orel called and a third player called (it might have been Mrs. H, and this
might have been the hand where he suggested we team up on her). The
flop was very low. It checked to me and I bet $40. The
other player folded and Orel called. Another low card on the turn,
and again Orel checked to me. Hmm……usually I check here, because the
players I face aren’t good enough to recall the other times I’ve checked in
that situation, and they’ll call with almost anything.
But it occurred to me that Orel was a really good poker player
(I had figured that out long before I figured out who he was) and might
remember that I didn’t double-barrel as a rule—unless I had a hand. In
other words, he was good enough to bluff. But then, I also realized
that Orel was playing well below his normal game, limits wise. He
had me covered, and what was my stack to him? Nothing really. Could
I really bluff a guy who is used to playing 2/5, 5/10 or even higher for only
$100? Maybe not. And I remembered that he had thought
nothing of lending a total stranger $200 earlier.
But I decided to give it a try. He wasn’t playing
crazy, like money meant nothing to him. He was a natural born
competitor, playing to win. I mean that’s what I assumed. The
money might not mean much to him but I assumed that when he played poker, like
when he played baseball, he was going for the “W”, not the money.
With great confidence, I took my only $100 stack left and stuck
it in front of me.
He thought and also talked. “Oh, you’ve got it this
time? You didn’t bet the turn before….you must have it. Well,
the only hand I can beat is Ace-King, Ace-Queen…..” It still seemed
to me that he was leaning to calling. Note, that $100 was more than I had left,
so I was pot committed, which may have made an impression on him as well. Finally
he said “OK” and folded his hand face up. Pocket 10’s! BTW,
Mrs. H gave him a bit of hard time for that fold.
Phew. I had just bluffed Orel Hershiser. The
poker player—the really good poker player—not the baseball player.
Orel and his wife had been discussing taking a dinner break, and
were debating leaving their chips and holding their spots or picking up and
getting back in a new game when they returned (risky, because the place was
getting busier by the minute). They said they’d need less than an
hour for dinner but you know, he could have gone up to the podium, where I’m
sure they all know him, and asked them to hold the seat a little longer if
necessary, and I’d be shocked if they wouldn’t accommodate him. But
that wasn’t his style.
Furthermore, he said to Mrs. H. “The two of us leaving the table
for an hour, leaving the game short….that’s not right. That’s not
fair to the other players. We’ll put our names on the list as we
cash out.” See, I told you he was a super nice guy…..very
considerate.
When he stood up to go get a rack for his chips, he stuck his
hand out to me to shake. Yeah, he wanted to shake my hand! I said it
was great meeting and playing with him. I told him what a great guy
he was.
Then I remembered my friend LuvMalts. One of my dearest friends,
she and her husband Woody were the folks who convinced me to start the
blog. I had texted her when I realized it was Orel because she is a
huge, huge baseball fan, and also a huge, huge Dodgers fan. I bet
she remembers every pitch of that 1988 World Series. She was as
excited as I was (and incredibly jealous) and had suggested I get an
autograph. I’m not really an autograph collector but I suddenly
realized she would be thrilled with an autograph from such a Dodger great.
As he racked up his chips, I went over to him and said, “Do you
do autographs?” He said, “Yes, sure, whatever you need.” I took
out my trusty notepad (didn’t have anything else handy) and had him sign a note
for LM. He even asked me three times for the correct spelling of her
name. And when he gave me back the pad, he shook my hand again.
OK, so I felt I owed him this much. I whispered to
him, “On that hand, when you folded the 10’s, I did have Ace-King.” He
laughed. “You did? Well, good.”
Orel is a competitor and if I ever do have the pleasure of
playing him again, I’ll have to tread very, very carefully.
But what a great time I had playing poker with Orel Hershiser
and his wonderful wife.
