"You'll Read About it on the Blog!"

As I mentioned in one of my last two posts (or possibly both of them), I’ve been to Vegas twice since mid-April.  I’ve never told my stories in chronological order, so let’s start with the reason I went back there a second time, just at the end of May.

My long time poker/blogging pal Lightning organized a Poker Blogger (and readers) Meet Up Game for May 30.  This was to celebrate the return of retired blogger Josie to Vegas.  It’s been 10 years since I first met Josie in person in Vegas. At her insistence, she has her own personal label on this blog, so you can find it on the right side of the page and find all the blog posts that reference her. I think the prime motivation for her timing of this particular visit was to see Koalapete from down under again, who I first met on the same trip that I met Josie and have seen in Vegas a few times since.  Josie was coming to Vegas with her long time pal Gary, aka The Crafty Southpaw (The link is to his seemingly defunct blog, even tho he hasn’t posted in over four years, but you see, Gary is not on Twitter)  My recollection is that when I burst upon the blogging scene, some 11 years ago, Gary was the first person to add my fledgling little blog to his blogroll, and I am forever grateful for that.

I wanted to see all those wonderful folks again, and I wanted to finally meet Gary, who always struck me as a great guy from his blog.  So I had no choice but to head up to Vegas just a few weeks after I’d returned from there.  Lightning, enterprising fellow that he is, did a blog post about the game and soon everyone wanted to attend! 

The location was the fairly new Sahara poker room, which I had never been in since the hotel underwent about 17 ownership and name changes.  It is a small room and is sadly short of players too much of the time, so I could never find a game there during my last trip.  Since it was quiet and the manager over there is a good guy, Lightning figured it would be a good place for a private game (or two), and he was right

I was surprised to see Mr. Ben, but then I shouldn’t have been. Ben lives in England, but despite that, of all the bloggers I’ve met in Vegas, I’ve probably run into him the most.  It’s like he’s always in Vegas when I go.  He is a good guy, and it is always a pleasure to toss cards with him. I don’t believe he made a special effort to show up in Vegas for the game, but like I said, he’s in Vegas a lot.

Josie greeted me with the traditional ass grab, or at least that’s what she tweeted.  In reality there was a big hug but no ass grab.  I don’t think anyone else hugged me, and I’m not complaining about that. 

By the time we started, there were enough for two tables, and I think a third table of mixed games broke out at one point.  We drew for seats, and at the “main table” I got seat 8, sitting between Ben in Seat 9 and Lightning in seat 7.  In seat 6 was Luke Johnston, not a blogger but a long time twitter pal to most of us, and a former dealer at both Sahara and the WSOP.  Blogger and twitterer Mr. Subliminal claimed seat 4.  He lives in Vegas and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him several times before.  Usually he is sitting next to me at the Wynn and after about an hour and a half he finally gets around to telling me who he is since I apparently suck at matching names and faces.  This time I recognized him!

Seat 5 was taken by Joseph W, aka Hockey_Poker who I only recently started following on Twitter but is a prolific poker player and, I guess, a hockey fan.  By strange coincidence, I met Joe for the first time earlier that same day.  You see Lightning, Koala and I had lunch at the Cafe at South Point, and afterward, I wanted to check out the tournament area they had for their summer series.  I was kibbitzing with one of the dealers there I know (it was Mike, ex of the MGM) and somehow, even though we had never met, Joe figured out I was Rob or perhaps I figured out that he was the hockey poker guy.  I have no idea who first realized who the other one was.  But I did recognize him when he showed up at the MUG game and took seat 5.

Gary, Koala and Josie took seats 1,2,3 respectively.

It was a really fun game, but we were surprisingly restrained, and not nearly loud enough to justify having the room to ourselves. But we were laughing all the way through.  A few of the Sahara dealers were having fun knowing it was a big group of friends and were making as many jokes as we were.  Sadly though, as much fun as we were having, I didn’t catch a lot of “blogging material” type comments and I didn’t catch a single “woman said.”  That’s probably because Josie was so far away from me it was pretty hard to hear most of what she was saying.   Same for Gary & Koala (tho I wasn’t expecting any “woman saids” from them).  And after a couple of hours Josie switched tables so she could play with the one and only Tony Bigcharles  (he needs no introduction) who responded to Josie’s many pleas on twitter that he come down from Reno to play in the game.  Another twitterer who needs no introduction, Alysia Chang was also at that table.  There may have been some other people at that table that I knew or should have known but I can’t recall.  Sorry.

So….the poker.  The very first hand I was dealt pocket 6’s on the button.  Instead of facing a raise, a re-raise and a 4-bet, as you might expect from a game like this, it folded to me.  I have to raise there, right?  I made it only $8, but the blinds folded.  Can’t win them all if you don’t win the first, right?

Later, with King-Jack of spades I limped in and Ben, acting next, raised to $11.  It was four-way and the flop was Jack-high. I checked, Ben checked and the rest checked as well.  On a blank turn Josie bet $15 and I called, heads up.  There was no betting on a blank river and I claimed the pot, beating Josie’s pocket 8’s. 

I got pocket Aces and before it got to me, Joe made it $11. After a couple of folds, I made it $33.  Joe called, we were heads up. The flop was Ace-high but two spades.  I bet $35 and Joe called.  There was another spade on the turn and we both checked.  A Queen on the river put four to Broadway out there, in addition to the possible flush.  When Joe bet $45, I tanked for awhile, but the board was too scary to raise.  I just called.  Turned out that Joe had rivered a set of Queens. Set over set is always nice if you have the bigger set, but Joe didn’t have that set til the last card.

I limped with 9-7 clubs.  The flop had two clubs so I called Josie’s $15 bet.  Heads up, no more betting.  The final board had two jacks and a third club hit the river.  I didn’t bet it because my flush was low and the board was paired, but I won the pot.

I didn’t write down the details but I lost a pretty big pot when I rivered the bottom end of the straight with a Jack in my hand.  However Lightning had King-Jack and won with a bigger straight. I was kind of chasing the gut shot all the way through and just needed a King to get it.  Instead, an 8 gave me the bottom end, so I called off on the river only to see Lightning’s bigger straight.

As I noted, Josie moved to the other table and was replaced by a fellow named Gabriel.  I’m not sure if or how I know him, but he was apparently part of our group and was a good guy.  Anyway, he opened this hand to $10, and before it got to me, Luke called the $10.  And I looked down at the dreaded Pocket Kings!  Well, now, what do I do here?  I believe Gabriel had a lot of chips and I was thinking, “here goes my stack.”  Nevertheless, I did indeed three-bet.  Not sure why I bet a little bigger than I ordinarily would have, but I made it $50.

Everyone folded and of course, I mean of course, I had to show the Kings. I figured almost everyone there knew of my perpetual problems with that hand.  So I showed my hand and everyone reacted.  At least a few people, including Gary I specifically recall, shouted “Dreaded” or “the dreaded hand” or “Dreaded pocket Kings.”  I have to admit, it warmed my heart a little!

Luke had left and been replaced by someone not of our group.  And this new player was acting like he really didn’t know what he was doing, like he had never played poker before.  I had pocket Queens and this newbie had opened to $6 in front of me.  Lightning called.  I was thinking about raising but I got caught up in thinking this newbie was so quirky and so unpredictable I should play it safe and just call.  The flop was K-Q-X.  The newbie checked, Lightning bet $8.  I made it $25.  The newbie folded and Lightning tanked. He talked about trying to get a read on me.  Finally, reluctantly, he folded.  I told him, “You can read about what I had on my blog post!”  I didn’t show.  But I believe I texted him what I had just to be a nice guy.  I think he folded a King with a weak kicker.

I had pocket 9’s in the big blind and Gary opened to $12, a few others were in the hand.  My 9’s were an overpair.  I really don’t remember the betting action but on the river, with the 9’s still an overpair, Ben took a stab at it with a $25 bet and I called.  He said, “Well you won, I have nothing.”

Now, my good buddy Don had arrived and took over Joe’s spot in the center of the table.  He opened the pot for I don’t know how much and I called with Ace-10 of hearts.  I didn’t accurately record the betting action, but there was an Ace on the flop and I called Don’s c-bet.  Another Ace on the turn. I think I called but I may have bet, can’t recall.  I do recall the river, it was a 10. Yahtzee!  Kaola was in the hand too and he led out for $25.  Don tanked a long, long time..I had the nuts so it was just a matter of how much I was gonna raise if he did call (if he had raised, I would have shoved).  But eventually he folded.  So I put out $75 and now it was Kaola’s turn in the tank.  He thought a long, long time, talking through the hand.  I suspect if he didn’t know me, a call would have been easier.  But eventually he folded.  I shouted over to him, “You’ll read about it in the blog!”  However, after we were done playing I did tell him I had the boat.  He told me had pocket Queens.

Eventually a good chunk of us got up to move on.  I had played 4-½ hours. My longest poker session by far since the 2020 lockdown.  There was a lot of nice conversation after we were done playing too.  I did get to chat with both Alysia and Tony who were at the other table the whole time (or maybe they were at the mixed game that sprung up, I know Alysia was).  Alysia and I compared our results for the night, she won a buck or two, I recovered from down over $100 to book like a $7 loss.  Tony was really interested in learning about the re-opened and re-located poker room in Ventura.  I answered all his questions, and I must admit I have been remiss in not discussing the new room here on the blog. I hope to rectify that soon.  I have no idea why Tony is so interested in the Ventura poker room though.  It’s not like it is practical for him to play there.  Now that it is right on the beach I’m sure there is no lodging anywhere near there that he could afford.  I’m not sure there is lodging near there that that Elon Musk could afford.

The goodbyes were turning out to be long, most of us were through playing, and when I left I thought everyone would soon join me in departing but that was not the case.  I got texts from both Lightning and Don that I missed a big time brouhaha.  It was at the other table, not the one Lightning, Don and I were playing at.  Don was still playing and Lightning was just chitchatting.  But apparently a drunk guy gave another player a “beer shower” (and got beer all over the table) and then took a swing at the same guy, but the guy successfully ducked the punch.  He fled, but I think I heard that security caught up with him, and the victim was hanging around because he wanted to press charges.  I hope that in Lightning’s version of this night, which I’m sure is coming soon, will give more details on this epic skirmish.

It was really great meeting old friends, making new ones, and just bullshitting and playing poker with a great bunch of folks.

I saw we do it again, soon, what do you say?

Very funny dealer (Tom, maybe?), Gary, Kaolapete, Josie, Mr. Subliminal

Joe (Hockey_Poker), Luke, Josie, Lightning, Mr. Ben, yours truly.

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Nailing the Josie at The Bike

Two Saturdays ago, I finally got to play some poker again, first time since I returned from Vegas in the middle of September.  And, ironically, because I started working for AVP (see here) almost immediately after getting to Vegas, I really played less poker during that visit than I had since I started playing poker around 7 years ago.  Seven years?  Gee, has it been that long?  You’d think I’d be better at it by now.  Since I got back to L.A., I’ve been working hard at my new duties.  Which consists of talking a lot about poker, but not playing it.  So it was good to finally get out and play that little game I’d been talking about so much the past six weeks.

Now as it happens, I just got back to Vegas a couple of days ago and am staying until 11/2.  This is mostly a work oriented trip, but if you're in Vegas and want to get together for some poker or whatever, drop me an email or a tweet (both addresses available to your right) and we'll see if we can arrange something.

But since I was still in L.A. those two Saturdays ago, getting my poker itched scrachted meant a drive down to The Bike, in majestic Bell Gardens, CA.  I got there at lunch time with a big appetite (not a tough achievement for me), knowing that by playing in the $2/$3 game I described here and here (which they call $100-$300 for the min/max buy-ins), I’d be entitled to eat anything I wanted for free.  Such a deal.

When I got there however, I briefly considered in playing in Deepstack tournament they were running as part of a special poker series they had.  It was a $10K guarantee, $340 buy-in, 2 day event, with 40 minute blinds and starting stacks of $30K.  It was tempting.  But the realization that I’d have to come back the next day if I did well—and I’d be there way into the late evening or early morning one or both days—gave me pause.  I wanted to play some poker, but I didn’t really want to play that much poker.  I hadn’t heard about the tournament until I showed up that day and thus was really prepared to be there for that long (potentially), and I knew I had things to do the next day, if I was so fortunate as to earn a day two.  So I went ahead with my original plan—hit that 2/3 game I’d played twice before.

As luck would have it, even tho my name was third on the list, a bunch of folks showed up almost immediately thereafter and they started a new game within minutes of my arrival.  This was good not so much because I was desperate to get started playing poker, but because I was starving.  And I needed to be in a game so I could order my free meal.

This proved to be a major distraction for the first couple of hours of the session.  Ordinarily, the table side service is pretty good, but not this time.  I think I heard them say they were understaffed.  I believe the turnout for the tournament I mentioned was a lot bigger than they expected; they made the guarantee with ease.  During the session, you could see the line of people registering all through the place.  It was a big turnout.

It took me a long time to get someone’s attention to see a menu; a very long time for someone to come back to take my order; and an astonishingly long time for the food to finally arrive (and without the diet Pepsi I had ordered).  The whole process, including eating, took about 2 hours.  I only mention it because I know how much such minute detail, making my posts even longer, is appreciated by my readers.  No, seriously, I mention it because it affected my play, and is therefore actually relevant.

You see, while I was trying to get the food servers’ attention, I was totally inattentive to the poker.  Also, I was waiting so long I had to get someone else’s attention to get a drink.  Then when the food finally arrived, I was distracted by eating.  It’s a full meal, not just some kind of snack that you can easily consume while playing.  I am definitely a distracted poker player while eating.  What this means is that while trying to get someone’s attention, I’m not studying the players as much as I should.  When I fold my hand, instead of watching the action, I’m looking around the room to find a server to call over.  Also, while eating, I’m gonna fold marginal hands I might sometimes play, and really only play premium hands.

I suppose that’s a good argument for going to the Bike on a full stomach, but I just can’t resist the free meal.  And one of the incentives for stepping out on this day was, after weeks of being cooped up eating a very boring rotation of my regular meals, I wanted something a little bit different; I wanted a restaurant meal.

Anyway, by the time I was fully satiated, and no longer worried about food, most of the folks at the table were completely different than the ones who had started there (a lot of the original group was just killing time waiting for a different game).  So I didn’t really miss much in terms of learning the table.

One thing of note, of the first three hands I was dealt on this day, the first and third were both pocket 8’s.  Very strange.  I called a raise with them the first time and missed.  The second time, the raise was too big and I folded.

By the time I was fully concentrating on the poker, I was down about $75, give or take.  I’d won a few small pots and lost a few small pots, or a few small bets I should say.  I wasn’t getting really good cards, and I was easily tossing in the bad ones.  However, unlike the other games at this level I’ve played at the Bike, this game was—for pretty much the entire time I was there—rather calm.  It was the least wild game I’ve played at the Bike since I started playing NL there.  Most of the preflop raises were reasonable, there weren’t a lot of shoves or huge overbets on the flop or the later streets.  Yet, there was still enough action to make some money when you hit a good hand.

In hindsight, I think I probably missed a good opportunity during the time I was worried about the food.  When the game is wild and full of aggressive types, I can usually do well by just playing my normal very tight game and wait for a hand and get paid off.  But I know that when the game is tight, you should play more aggressively, and I should have tried that.  It doesn’t come naturally to me, but I am learning a little how to do this and this would have been a good opportunity to learn more—and possibly get some money in the process.

But distracted, I didn’t really try this, and then after I was ready to give the game my undivided attention, I spent a few orbits really watching and studying the players so I could figure out how best to play which players.  There were a few real good players at the table, a couple of really tight ones (one was tighter than me, if you can believe it), and some really mediocre ones.  But I really didn’t think anyone who was there for any length of time was a truly bad player.  The few times when I was in position to try to play a little bit out of my comfort zone came when someone who I had to respect had raised, and I didn’t think challenging them would be prudent.

The guy to my immediate left was one of the tough players.  He was an older gentleman, but it was clear he was really good player.  He started straddling my big blind with annoying regularity.  He also like to talk to the other player when he was heads up; something that is apparently allowed at The Bike, although this is now usually prohibited in Vegas.  But he was always making positional raises—and even telling us in advance, when it was a multi-limped in pot and he was on the button or one of the blinds, that he was gonna raise if he had an Ace in his hand—and I knew I couldn’t be afraid to call one of them if I had something. 

Then there was the young or middle-aged (couldn’t tell which) Asian fellow two to my right.  He raised a lot preflop, but not usually a very big raise.  He even said, he raised small (usually $12) because he wanted action.  Again, I knew, I couldn’t be afraid to call his raises.

Most of the other players I felt I could outplay if push came to shove (so-to-speak).

After another hour of watching and studying and still waiting for the right opportunity, I was dealt pocket 3’s in early position.  I limped in (I can’t remember, but I may have had to call a straddle).  There were a lot of limpers.  The flop was Jack/10/3, very nice.  It was rainbow, so my only concern was the straight draw.  I thought about a check raise, but didn’t have to.  The big blind bet first, he put out $25.  So I counted out $75 and bet that.  Folded back to the big blind, who shoved.  He had just moved over from another table and didn’t have that much more than my $75.  I didn’t have a read on him but it was an easy call.

When I called, he said, “Oh, you already have a set?”  I sure did.  He had flopped two pair and got no help the rest of the way.  He took off and I now had more money than I bought in for—but not by much.

Oddly enough, on the very next hand, I was again dealt pocket three’s.  What are the odds of hitting a set of three’s back-to-back?  I don’t know, but I didn’t get there.  I was able to limp in and saw a flop that missed me.  Too much to ask for, I know.

A bit later I looked down at two lovely ladies.  While thinking about what to raise to (I was in middle position), the aforementioned Asian fellow made it $12.  Hmmm…what to do?  There are times there—most of them, frankly—where I just call.  To be honest, I don’t 3-bet a lot.  And against a lot of the players at this table, I wouldn’t have 3-bet there.  But against this particular player, I knew I was ahead of most of his raising range.  He raised with pretty much any Ace, or any pocket pair.  Of course, there was a time when he just smooth called a preflop raise and flopped a set of Aces (beating the original raiser’s pocket Queens).  Hey, whenever I try that stunt, it blows up in my face.

So the guy between us folded, I put out $30.   It folded back to the Asian fellow who thought about it a bit, then said, “The tightest player at the table……….I fold.”  Actually, as I mentioned, I think there was at least one player tighter than me, but I knew I wanted to try to use my reputation to my advantage somewhere down the road if I could.  He showed an Ace and asked if I had Kings.  I just laughed as I took in the small pot (there was some limper money too).

Not long after that came the hand of the day.  In early position, I was dealt the Josie, aka, Jack/Ten.  We all know this is Josie’s favorite hand.  And I always play the favorite hand of any of my fellow bloggers.

OK, that’s not true.  I don’t do that.  Sometimes I do though.  In fact, earlier, while I was eating, the good player to my left had won a hand playing the Grump, yes, the mighty deuce-four.  He turned two pair.  I was eating at the time so I don’t know what he had to call with his weak pair on the flop, but I did almost ask him if he knew he had played the Grump!

And the truth is, if I had gotten that Jack/10 (it was offsuit) earlier, when I was eating, or trying to flag down a server, I would have mucked it, especially in early position.  But now, as I was fully engaged, and frankly, getting near the end of my session, I was ready to roll the dice a little.

Again, I think I called a straddle with it.  Four or five of us saw a flop, which was Queen/9/rag, two diamonds.  So I flopped an open-ender but had to worry about the flush.  After the guy to my right checked, I checked, and rather cautious player put out a bet of $25.  He had about $150 behind him—I had him covered.  So I likely wouldn’t have called except the guy to my right called first.  Hmm……he had about as much as the other guy did behind him.  Now it seemed like I might be getting decent odds.  I checked my cards….the Jack was a diamond.  So I even had a shot at runner-runner straight flush.  Or a Jack high flush (which would not likely be any good, of course).  Despite the fact that one of my outs could actually hurt me, I decided to roll the dice again and call.

The turn was a blank, and it was again checked to the guy who bet the flop.  This time he put out $50.  Again, the other guy called.  Of course, I had to consider that at least one of these guys, probably the guy to my right, had the same hand as me, and if I hit my hand I’d have to chop it.  But still, it just seemed like decent odds for the position I was in.

The river was the King of clubs, the sweetest looking King of clubs I’d ever seen.  I made my straight and didn’t have to worry about a flush.  In other words, I only had the absolute nuts.  First guy checked, so it was on me.  What to do?

I could check there and go for the check-raise.  But the guy who had been betting only had about $100 left and would likely shove if he bet at all.  A check raise wouldn’t do much good—unless it would get the guy to my right to call.  But with the straight out there, I had to assume he’d only call one or both of us if he had the same hand as me.  So not betting would accomplish nothing.  My only chance to extract more money on this hand was to bet.

I put out $100.  Turns out the better only had $95 and thus called, putting him all in.  The other guy folded.  No Jack/10 for him.

The good player to my left, who was long out of my hand, said, as I was about to expose my hand, “He’s got the nuts.  He’s got Jack/10.  He doesn’t even have to show it, I know what he has.”  The other guy didn’t show, I don’t know what he had.  Two pair or a set, I guess.  But I believe he was a friend or at least an acquaintance of the good player to my left.  So I don’t think the good player was being rude—just helpful—by telling the guy I had beat that he hadn’t bet enough, that’s why I was allowed to stay in to wait for my straight to come.  The guy reluctantly agreed as he left the table.  I pointed out that because of the guy to my right calling his flop and turn bets, I was getting decent odds to make my straight.

Oh, and the Asian guy who said I was the tightest player at the table said he was surprised “that’s all” I had.  He expected Jack/10 of diamonds for the combo draw.

I wasn’t trying to criticize the guy to my right, but he said, “Yeah, and I shouldn’t have called.”  He didn’t say what he had.

This was a really nice pot, and suddenly I had almost $600 in front of me.  By the time I’d stacked up my winnings and counted it, the blinds had passed me.  I was happy with my late run.  It was getting late, I wasn’t there to play all day and night, and If I left a little shy of a double up, I could live with that.  I decided to play my blinds, then play one more orbit until the big bland came to me, and then call it a day.  For this orbit, I would play ultra-tight, even for me.  Didn’t want to risk too much at this point. I suppose the right thing to do if I have that attitude is just get up even before the blinds come to me, but I can’t resist seeing a few more “free” hands.

The orbit was uneventful.  I kept getting crap, easy folds.  Finally when I was under the gun, I mucked some crap and got up to get a couple of racks to carry my chips.  Now, what had happened was the Asian guy had been away from the table for awhile, so he missed his big blind on that last hand.  But as I was racking up my chips, he returned, and announced he would “buy the button.”  In other words, I could play one more hand for free.  So the dealer dealt me in as I was almost done racking my chips.  I knew—I just knew—this was going to be a hand I was tempted to play.  I really didn’t want to look.  I wanted to just fold without looking.

You see, I remember a story my pal Lightning had told me—and blogged about, here—when he last visited Vegas.  He waited for that one last free hand—and lost all or most of his stack.  It happened to him a couple of times, in fact.  And I sure as hell didn’t want that to happen to me.  But again, I had this overwhelming feeling I’d actually get a hand this time.  Knowing me, it’d be pocket Kings and I’d lose my whole stack to some donkey who would hit runner-runner flush.

But dammit, I looked.  It wasn’t Kings, or even Aces.  But it was a very playable hand.  It was Ace/Jack of spades.  Yeah, soooooted.  I thought for a second, and came thisclose, I mean, really, truly thisclose to mucking it and getting the hell out of there.  But….I couldn’t do it.  I had to play it.  If it hadn’t been suited, that’s an easy fold, especially in early position and with me anxious to book a nice profitable session.  But I couldn’t resist the damned suitedness of it.  Besides, the Bike has a bad beat jackpot, and me hitting my first royal flush ever right then could have been an terrific pay day.

I limped.  Under different circumstances, I’d raise there to thin the field.  But I wanted to see if I could get away with a limp.  Only risk three bucks out of my profits.  No one raised; in fact, only three of us saw a flop—which had two spades on a non-paired board.  The Asian guy who bought the button checked.  I checked too, as did the last guy.  A free card.  Nice.

Now ordinarily, I would probably have bet the flush draw there and possibly would have taken it down there.  But I didn’t I just didn’t want to risk anything at that moment.  I also thought the Asian guy might check raise me there and put me in a quandary.  So I was glad to see the free card.

Which was a very beautiful spade, giving me the nut flush, and the absolute nuts at that moment, pending the river.  As I was wondering how much to bet, the Asian guy kind of surprised me by betting out, $25.  Do I raise there?  Now I am no longer interested in playing it safe, I want more money.  I figured based on the action so far, no one would likely call me if I raised, so I smooth called.  All I had to worry about was a paired board.  The third guy folded, as I figured he would.

The river was a blank, and the Asian checked.  I wondered how much he would call.  Having earlier said I was the tightest player at the table, I figured he knew I had the nuts.  I didn’t figure he’d call a huge bet.  I frankly thought he’d be unlikely to call any bet.  But if I made it small enough, he might just give me a few more chips.

I put out $40.  I was still surprised that he called.  Maybe I bet too little?  He said he had two pair, would he have called $100?  $75?  Hmm….I think I maybe put a little too much credence in his saying I was the tightest player at the table.  Since I was leaving I actually told him I was surprised he called.  He thought I might have top pair with an Ace kicker.  Oh well.

But I guess because I had already kind of mentally checked out of the game, I had forgotten that he commented on the Jack/10 hand earlier and thought I called light.  Maybe now he wasn’t thinking I was such a tight player after all.  Or, maybe he was thinking I was a bad player who just got lucky?

Anyway, I was now past double-up territory.  I ended up with  a $370 profit. 

Even more, if you count the free lunch I had to wait so long for. 

Despite the early aggravation, not a bad day at all.

WHORE!!!!!!!

Whore!!!!

Yes, that's what she is.

The woman right here:

Yes.  Josie, aka Very Josie, aka WHORE!.

Josie the ass-grabber.  Josie the tit-flasher.  Josie the free rider.

That Josie.

Tonight she seduced me into play in something called "The Dank" on PokerStars.  An online poker tournament with only play money.  No actual money was used in playing, it was for fun and bragging rights.

Twenty seven people entered, a lot of familiar blogging names.  At my table, for instance, there was LIghtning, DuggleBogey, Stump, Poker Grump, Grange and of course, freakin' of course, Josie.  The Whore, Josie.  That's a lot of bloggers at one table, to be sure.  I hope I didn't forget anyone, if so, I apologize.  I didn't have a lot of time to take notes, you see.

Josie was seated immediately to my left.  Yeah, she had position on me.  After tonight, I've been thinking of a few new positions for her.

Second hand of the tournament--yes the second hand.  I am dealt--wait for it--the dreaded pocket Kings.  Yes, the dreaded pocket kings!!!!!  My own personal jinx hand.  My personal hand from hell.

It was already raised by the time it got to me in the cut-off seat so I three bet.  Josie on the button smooth called.  Interesting.  One other caller.

The flop was 10 high, as I recall.  No need to be shy now, I made a big bet.  Josie was supposed to fold, but instead she freaking raised me.  I had to go all in to call, but I was sure the Kings were good.  WTF could she have?  Having played with before, I knew she was a very aggressive player.  She was probably overplaying top pair.  I've seen her do it before (see here).  No way she had pocket Aces.  No chance in hell.  Absolutely no way.  She would have raised me preflop if she had Aces.  Guaranteed.  She would have shoved there and then and I would have had to have called.  Nope, there's no freakin' way she had pocket Aces there.

Seeing no Ace on the flop, I was confident I had her right where I wanted her.  I went all in.  The computer showed her hand.  

She had freaking Ace Ace.  The biatch!  The whore!  The mother of all luckboxes!!!!!!

Of course, anyone else in that situation would have hit their two outer and gotten a King on the turn or the river for the win.  Not me.  Not with my luck with freakin' pocket Kings.  No way, Jose. I mean no way, Josie.

Two hands into the tournament, I was gone, with my all time jinx hand.  Ugh.  At least I had the distinction of being the very first person out.  That's worth...well nothing, really.  Except extreme embarrassment.  Except for the fact that everyone knows it was just dumb luck on Josie's part.  Skill played no part of this hand, Miss Josie.

There was a chat session on Yahoo with a bunch of Josie's playmates that I joined soon after the debacle.  Most of the players from our table were there.  I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing DuggleBogey bust out Miss Josie and take the chips she had stolen from me.  (Edited to add:  Josie has advised me that she didn't bust out to Duggle, but to someone with the handle of XKM.  My apologies to all.)

One person I never met before (I don't think) goes by the handle "Fullhouse538."  He says he reads and enjoys my blog, so he must be a person of exceptional intelligence and taste.  Claims to have figured out where "BSC" is.  Says he lives in Josie's part of the country but hasn't met her yet.  Of course, I suggested when he does, he has to make she shows him her ta-ta's.

Josie tried to make it up to me by saying she was "virtually" grabbing my ass.  I asked if she was also going to be "virtually" showing me her tits too.

Later, she fondly remembered how nice my ass was!  I believe I could sense some heavy breathing coming from her computer.

Grump of course wanted to know why I just don't insta-fold pocket Kings as soon as I get them, and accused me of being a slow learner.  Later he asked VJ if VJ stood for "vayjayjay."  When I said I would ask Prudence about that, VJ called her my "fake GF"!

Prudence is neither fake nor my GF.   I told Josie she is as real as her breasts.  But Josie apparently doesn't think men and woman can be platonic friends.  I guess that's why she grabbed my ass as soon as she possibly could.

Anyway, I just found out that by some miracle, Lightning won the tournament.  Will wonders never cease? (You can see him brag about his win here).

Anyway folks, that's what happened to me tonite.  Please be sure to read the post below this one, as it's only been up a few hours.  I don't normally post twice a day but I had to talk about Josie the Luckbox as fast as I possible could.

Good night!

Driving Miss Josie

In keeping with the chauffeur theme (not just my previous post, but also this one and this one), this entry will discuss the Monday last month that I took Josie and Lightning downtown to play some poker with Tony and Koala.

I had sent a tweet out or two earlier in the day to try to see what Josie and Lightning were up to, knowing that Josie was catching a red-eye back home that evening.  Also knowing that Josie had only one goal left to make her Vegas trip a successful one—earn her own label on this very blog.  But my tweets were ignored for a few hours, until, just as I was about to find a poker room to spend time in, I received a tweet from Lightning that the two of them were headed to the Golden Nugget downtown to play with Tony and Koala. Please note, the tweet from him came after Josie and Lightning had lunch. Without me. Just sayin’.

A second tweet said, “Come join us.  Others welcome too.”  I tweeted back, “Ok, Guess I’ll head over there.”  A few minutes later, another tweet from Lightning, “Can you pick us up?”

My tweet back said, “Sure, Tony, where?”  Lightning later called this response on my part “the tweet of the year.”

I was headed for Bally’s, where I assumed they were, but it turns out they had decided to eat at the fancy, schmanzy, and pricey, Aria buffet and were there instead.  Fortunately, I remembered the back way to the back valet area of the Aria where they said they’d be (a happy coincidence). It’s actually a very circuitous, tricky route to get there from the west side of Tropicana, which is where I was. I bet a lot of locals can’t do it. But I remembered how to do it.  So I found them and I took the two of them downtown.

We got to the Nugget and found Tony and Koala at the same game.  There were two seats open so of course, as the hired help, I was excluded from the cool table and sent to some table in the back of the room.  But as it happened, a third spot opened up at the adults table and I was allowed to join them.  But Koala made me (and Lightning) promise that we would not infringe on the special dinner Tony had arranged with Josie later that evening.

Of course once again, I was seated on the opposite side of the table from Josie.  I was next to Lightning and Koala, which was fine, except neither of them had been asking for the chance to get their own label on my blog.  If Josie was going to be outrageous enough to earn such a distinction (which, as I said, was her #1 goal for this trip, even above winning at poker), I’d have to sit close enough to her to hear her be outrageous.  And possibly play footsie with.

After awhile, I was able to get a seat change so I could sit directly on her right, which was far from ideal.  Josie raises every hand, generally speaking.  I would much prefer to be on her left.  But hey, I wanted to be fair to her and give her the best possible chance to earn that label.  See what a nice guy I am?  I risked losing money just to give her a fair shot at her prized goal.

As I took the seat next to her, I made a comment about doing so even though I was giving her “position” on me.  She nodded and so I said, “And by the way, what is your favorite position?” This was a hanging curve for her to earn that label, but she fouled it off.  All she said was, “Oh, there’s so many…..”

But soon after that, someone at the table (it might have been Lightning, or it might have been a perfect stranger) said that, in a poker context, he was trying to show a little “discipline.”

Josie said, “Oh, you like discipline, huh?”  It was more the way she said that made it so, um, suggestive.  I wish I could duplicate that here.  But the way she said it was highly provocative, I assure you.

Soon thereafter Josie and the guy next to the dealer were discussing “favorite” hands.  I believe Josie was admitting that her favorite hand was Jack/10.  The other guy said he had a favorite hand too.  Before he said what it was, Josie said, “I bet I know what your favorite hand is.  The right one.”  Again, it wasn’t so much what she said but the way she said it. And after saying that to the guy (who she didn’t know from Adam until they started playing together an hour earlier), she turned to me and said, “Write that down.  That will get me a label.”

I didn’t want her to stop trying, but  I knew I already had enough to give her that coveted label on my blog—even tho we never got around to playing footsie.  Well, it was those comments plus the fact that two nights earlier, she had both grabbed my ass and exposed pretty much her entire chest for me at the Mirage.  Actually, I think that may have had more to do with it than the comments at the Nugget, as interesting as those were.

I enjoyed playing with the gang, but I’m not really a big fan of the Golden Nugget poker room.  For one thing—and perhaps the main thing—they have the dreaded button straddle there. But at least in their iteration of it, action starts UTG, not on the small blind, so it’s not quite as much of a crime against humanity as the way they do it at Bally’s.

I was pretty card dead, and knowing that Josie would raise me if I ever limped into a pot, I tightened up more than usual.  But I did have one nice hand.  Since Josie said on her blog that I never played a hand there, this may have happened when Josie and Tony were away for their double-secret, private dinner.  But I had the dreaded pocket kings, and got it all in on a low flop.  The guy who paid me off had pocket queens.  Honestly, I almost fainted when the Kings held up.  I won over $100 just on that one hand.

Josie played only a few hands after returning with Tony from dinner, prefering to get felt up by Rocky Balboa instead. And yes I mean felt up this time, not felted. She soon left for the airport, after giving me a goodbye hug.  I believe her other chauffer, Poker Grump, took her there. Then Lightning, who was under the weather, asked if I was heading back to the Strip, and asked if I could drop him off.  I was hoping he and I could play some more poker that evening somewhere on the strip, but he was ailing too much and just wanted to rest.  So dropped him off and headed to BSC for a rather uneventful poker session. A quiet ending to a fun day.