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A few years ago ESPN, as part of their WSOP coverage, had little features called "The Greatest Hand I Ever Played." Offhand, the only one I can remember was a great bluff that Gavin Griffin made on his way to a bracelet victory. They were nice little stories and they added clips of the hands to augment it. Overall a good little break from the action without having to go to commercial. Much better than the moronic "Nuts" pieces they do. Really, do I care if pros have leaks worse than the Titanic and bet $50,000 on three holes of golf or play Rock, Paper, Scissors to kill time?
The reason I bring this up is because I melted down in the bizarro counterpart to this feature, which I feel certain is The Worst Hand I Ever Played. I can see a producer figuring out exactly how they are going to document my facial tics after I have irreversibly blown the hand, how they are going to put my awful decisions into slow-motion to make them more dramatic, how they are going to throw some voice-over of a fake poker announcer (I wonder if bizarro Gabe Kaplan is available) to mock me and wonder aloud exactly what the hell I am doing. Maybe they'll throw some special effects in and riddle my hunched over, broken body with a slew of bullets to put me out of my misery before the hand even ends. Whatever my fate, I deserve the ridicule that comes with a play so stupid that I made it twice.
That's right. Twice. In the same hand. And it wasn't just some meaningless middle position hand in the 25/50 round, it was a hand that defined a whole night's worth of effort, that derailed any and everything that I had done until that point.
In other words, it was The Hand.
And I blew it.
Twice.
To get up to speed, read my previous post on how my tournament had gone. I'm now at the final table and we're seven-handed. Top five get paid, the good money is in the top three spots. I'm on a medium-ish stack, there are two stacks shorter, two really big stacks and three around the same as mine.
On The Worst Hand I Ever Played, I was in late position, fourth of seven to act preflop. The first two fold. The player to my right shoves for his last 4150 (I have a little more than 14k) and lo and behold, hallelujah, after suffering through scores of just brutal non-playable hands, I look down at J,J.
And here's where I short-circuited. Instead of taking the time (really it would have only taken seconds had I stopped to think) and assessing my options, I immediately just call. Not shove, just call.
Giant mistake #1, because the chip leader to my left and on the button, has now been priced in and his huge stack can afford the price without any worry. Not only that, but he could be, and probably is, playing any two cards here. Awesome.
Compounding my mistake, and proving to me that I'm a moron, the big blind decides that it is worth his while to get in and mix it up as well. So basically any flop can be dangerous to me, or so I think, conveniently forgetting that I have a PREMIUM HAND.
The horror, the horror.
The flop comes perfectly for me: 2,3,10 rainbow. The BB checks and...
I go all in and drag the pot!!!!
Um, no, wait. That's not what happened. Not at all. Because I, being an utter fool, check behind him and the button/big stack checks behind me.
The sheer stupidity of this play is mind-boggling. At this stage of the tournament, at this level of blinds (500/1000) I need this pot to have a chance to win. And they're offering it to me. They've forgiven my mistake of not isolating the all-in, they've added their own chips to the mix for me to take and I...FREAKING...CHECK.
Riddle me with those bullets right now.
Because a 4 came on the turn and the BB, not being an idiot like me, went all in. He had me covered and I folded, as did the button. He turns over A,5 for the wheel that he had drawn inside to because I had let him.
The all-in flipped over his losing A,Q and I just sat there, contemplating all the different ways that I could, and should, have won that pot. All the different ways that I had misplayed the hand. All the ways that I just wasted five hours getting to the position where I could have assured a cash, put myself in second in chips with six players left and all the ways that I am sometimes just plain dumb.
Needless to say, I bubbled out in sixth about 10 minutes later. No money for my effort, nothing but the hope, that small hope that I cling to, that it was behind me:
The Worst Hand I Ever Played.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Poker Interlude
So I've been waiting on Bill to get through his stories where they would finally mesh with my own and he's almost there, but until he reaches that point I don't want to provide any details to his hilarious recap by giving my perspective on the events in Vegas where our poker paths crossed.
So for now, I'll give you a recap of my most recent home tournament escapade, in which I made a play so horrendous, so absolutely mind-boggling idiotic, that if anyone had suggested that I give more money to the prize pool as some sort of penalty, even after I had busted, I would have nodded my head and paid it. Really, it's that bad. On a cringe-inducing scale, it falls probably somewhere between watching Jim Mora, Sr. give a press conference and seeing slow motion replays of Lawrence Taylor snapping Joe Theismann's leg over and over.
I'll get to that shortly. First, the setup: Same structure as usual, two rebuys available, 30 minute levels, 1500 in starting chips. 41 people turned out, a great showing for a home tourney and the prize pool promised to be juicy. Unfortunately, as I sat down, I noticed a slew of the game's regulars and strongest players also grabbing seats at my table. No big deal, I decided. I had promised myself I would be aggressive with my stack and I was at first, right out of the gate firing at flops with nothing when I missed and 3 betting pots where I had raised preflop. I built a stack and then watched it drain away as those same plays fell perfectly into the hands of players who, you know, actually had made hands. So shorty I ran for a good long while as just absolute dreck found its way into my hands. I mean, not even a whiff of cards that I could push my stack in and hope to double with (with the rebuys, my short stack was almost assuredly getting called down when it got in.) Still, I knew that I had to get it in and quickly. No point in hanging around with few chips when shoving can, at the very least, double my stack through a rebuy.
And that is exactly what happened. No, this is not the horrendous play. Not yet. Patience. It's awful, I promise. No, this was one of those "I see a face card, I'm all in regardless of my other card" hands. One of those hands so forgettable and ordinary that, well, I've forgotten what it was. Either way, I can confirm that I did not win and I joined the chorus of those pitching in money for a rebuy. My table had dispatched a player and unluckily for us, drew another player I recognized as a tough regular. The table tightened up and my cards seemed intent on proving that it is not true that a player cannot have a deuce in his hand every hand for nine consecutive hands. I wish I were kidding. With a slew of players still going, my chances of cashing looked bleak unless I could catch some breaks or power my way through the Nordic conditions at my seat.
Luckily, a little of both happened. My table lost another player and fortunately for me, broke just into 100/200 blinds. At this point I was still on my exact rebuy of 1500 one way or another (I believe I got a walk through on my BB post-rebuy.) Anyway I move to another table, now down to 3, and am moved into, what else, the 200 big blind. And what else is new, I look down at 2...10. Munson. I mean, Brunson. Miracuolously, three limpers come in and I check. The flop throws a Jack high rag board that also includes a 2, pairing me. I remind myself that I am now ahead of any A,x hand that just missed the flop and with only 1300 behind and 900 in the pot already, I decide to fire. I push it all in and two hands fly into the muck, followed by a big stack ever so slowly, one by one, counting out the chips to make 1300 and moving them in.
"I've got a deuce" I say, and flip my cards, "And I'm ahead?" as the villain turns over a Q,6 offsuit that has missed everything. Huh? My previous tablemates from the brutal first table eyeball one another as the turn and river brick out and I more than double up. So this is how the play is going to be over at our new table is the common thought flashing across their eyes. After the solid, tight play previously, for me at least, it is welcome. As is the A,K I look down at on my very next hand when I raise a limped pot up and then am subsequently re-raised to 1800 by an all-in shove. I call and this new villain tables a 10,10 that holds and I'm back down again. No fear, however, as I immediately hit a flop as I play my rush and drag another pot. Unfortunately for me though, is that after only about 6 hands at this table I'm carded out to switch again. Two smart, solid players are now on my left but at the other end of the table are a couple of bigger stacks that have apparently called everything and drawn out. And as often happens with those players, eventually the cards don't fall their way and they don't adjust their play and boom, boom, boom, in only a few hands, they're out and an opportunistic, patient player is stacking their chips. I was not that lucky player on this night though, as my big hand of Q,Q raised up a raiser who then buckles under my pressure. A little later, with blinds moving up, I make a semi-bluff when my AcJc flops two clubs and I get my chips in first against the player to my left. Luckily, he is one of the players at the table who can realize hand ranges and potential crippling calls and analyze if there is a better spot to get his money in. Even though he has me on something that he suspects is worse than his hand (he is claiming 2nd pair, 8s) he eventually mucks it. A little rabbit hunting is somewhat ugly for me as it turns out I would have made my flush on the river and felted him.
After this, I mostly play position as my little run of good and decent cards ends and I go back to picking up zilch. I make big raises to steal blinds a couple rounds in a row and maintain my stack, which is on the low/middle end. Not in dire straits by any means yet but when blinds move, pots build fast and fold equity lowers almost exponentially. The other remaining table sees more action as our host is absolutely marauding through his tablemates, busting players and then following that by bullying the shorthanded table. Finally, he felts another and we're down to the final table.
I draw the worst seat, to the host's right, inches from his mammoth chip stack. As far as what I need to do, I know it: I need to double up quickly or my stack is ending up ten inches to the left. However, the one thing I do like about this position is that it will be easier, if I pay close attention, to try and get a quick read on the big stack's starting hands if he lets anything slip. More than any other player, when cards were dealt, if he moved for his, I was watching covertly. If he didn't, I was trying to gauge his reaction to others' raises. Sometimes big stacks don't want to get involved with certain other players, and as the host, he knew everyone at this table better than the rest. Little things I was trying to pick up.
Two smaller stacks busted almost immediately, bringing us to 8. Fortunately for me though, one of them was not Mr. Q,6 offsuit. Because after biding my time through a round of blinds and folding under combined pressure and poor hands, I look down at K,2 in the BB and again it's an unopened pot. A king flops for me and I make the "No mistake, I've got a K, you should fold now" all in move. Once again, chip...chip...chip...push it in call, this time with...Q,J off?? Which has again missed like a Chris Dudley free throw??? I'll take it, and when the turn brings another king and clinches it for me, I do.
Now I'm back in good shape. And after I flop a Q a couple hands later and take the rest of Mr. Q,6's chips, thus becoming the final table's Mr. Fortunate timing, I am up over 14,000 in chips at the 500/1000 stage of the table and we are now down to 7. Top five are cashing and the top 3 spots are a tidy little profit. The table is moving, some good play with chips getting out there. The two smart, solid players who had been on my left at the 2nd to last table are now both to my right. The big stack is to my left, with a small/medium stack, 2nd biggest stack and another small/medium stacks to his left rounding it out.
Which brings us to The Worst Hand I've Ever Played.
Don't worry, I didn't forget. That, my friends, would be impossible.
To Be Continued...
So for now, I'll give you a recap of my most recent home tournament escapade, in which I made a play so horrendous, so absolutely mind-boggling idiotic, that if anyone had suggested that I give more money to the prize pool as some sort of penalty, even after I had busted, I would have nodded my head and paid it. Really, it's that bad. On a cringe-inducing scale, it falls probably somewhere between watching Jim Mora, Sr. give a press conference and seeing slow motion replays of Lawrence Taylor snapping Joe Theismann's leg over and over.
I'll get to that shortly. First, the setup: Same structure as usual, two rebuys available, 30 minute levels, 1500 in starting chips. 41 people turned out, a great showing for a home tourney and the prize pool promised to be juicy. Unfortunately, as I sat down, I noticed a slew of the game's regulars and strongest players also grabbing seats at my table. No big deal, I decided. I had promised myself I would be aggressive with my stack and I was at first, right out of the gate firing at flops with nothing when I missed and 3 betting pots where I had raised preflop. I built a stack and then watched it drain away as those same plays fell perfectly into the hands of players who, you know, actually had made hands. So shorty I ran for a good long while as just absolute dreck found its way into my hands. I mean, not even a whiff of cards that I could push my stack in and hope to double with (with the rebuys, my short stack was almost assuredly getting called down when it got in.) Still, I knew that I had to get it in and quickly. No point in hanging around with few chips when shoving can, at the very least, double my stack through a rebuy.
And that is exactly what happened. No, this is not the horrendous play. Not yet. Patience. It's awful, I promise. No, this was one of those "I see a face card, I'm all in regardless of my other card" hands. One of those hands so forgettable and ordinary that, well, I've forgotten what it was. Either way, I can confirm that I did not win and I joined the chorus of those pitching in money for a rebuy. My table had dispatched a player and unluckily for us, drew another player I recognized as a tough regular. The table tightened up and my cards seemed intent on proving that it is not true that a player cannot have a deuce in his hand every hand for nine consecutive hands. I wish I were kidding. With a slew of players still going, my chances of cashing looked bleak unless I could catch some breaks or power my way through the Nordic conditions at my seat.
Luckily, a little of both happened. My table lost another player and fortunately for me, broke just into 100/200 blinds. At this point I was still on my exact rebuy of 1500 one way or another (I believe I got a walk through on my BB post-rebuy.) Anyway I move to another table, now down to 3, and am moved into, what else, the 200 big blind. And what else is new, I look down at 2...10. Munson. I mean, Brunson. Miracuolously, three limpers come in and I check. The flop throws a Jack high rag board that also includes a 2, pairing me. I remind myself that I am now ahead of any A,x hand that just missed the flop and with only 1300 behind and 900 in the pot already, I decide to fire. I push it all in and two hands fly into the muck, followed by a big stack ever so slowly, one by one, counting out the chips to make 1300 and moving them in.
"I've got a deuce" I say, and flip my cards, "And I'm ahead?" as the villain turns over a Q,6 offsuit that has missed everything. Huh? My previous tablemates from the brutal first table eyeball one another as the turn and river brick out and I more than double up. So this is how the play is going to be over at our new table is the common thought flashing across their eyes. After the solid, tight play previously, for me at least, it is welcome. As is the A,K I look down at on my very next hand when I raise a limped pot up and then am subsequently re-raised to 1800 by an all-in shove. I call and this new villain tables a 10,10 that holds and I'm back down again. No fear, however, as I immediately hit a flop as I play my rush and drag another pot. Unfortunately for me though, is that after only about 6 hands at this table I'm carded out to switch again. Two smart, solid players are now on my left but at the other end of the table are a couple of bigger stacks that have apparently called everything and drawn out. And as often happens with those players, eventually the cards don't fall their way and they don't adjust their play and boom, boom, boom, in only a few hands, they're out and an opportunistic, patient player is stacking their chips. I was not that lucky player on this night though, as my big hand of Q,Q raised up a raiser who then buckles under my pressure. A little later, with blinds moving up, I make a semi-bluff when my AcJc flops two clubs and I get my chips in first against the player to my left. Luckily, he is one of the players at the table who can realize hand ranges and potential crippling calls and analyze if there is a better spot to get his money in. Even though he has me on something that he suspects is worse than his hand (he is claiming 2nd pair, 8s) he eventually mucks it. A little rabbit hunting is somewhat ugly for me as it turns out I would have made my flush on the river and felted him.
After this, I mostly play position as my little run of good and decent cards ends and I go back to picking up zilch. I make big raises to steal blinds a couple rounds in a row and maintain my stack, which is on the low/middle end. Not in dire straits by any means yet but when blinds move, pots build fast and fold equity lowers almost exponentially. The other remaining table sees more action as our host is absolutely marauding through his tablemates, busting players and then following that by bullying the shorthanded table. Finally, he felts another and we're down to the final table.
I draw the worst seat, to the host's right, inches from his mammoth chip stack. As far as what I need to do, I know it: I need to double up quickly or my stack is ending up ten inches to the left. However, the one thing I do like about this position is that it will be easier, if I pay close attention, to try and get a quick read on the big stack's starting hands if he lets anything slip. More than any other player, when cards were dealt, if he moved for his, I was watching covertly. If he didn't, I was trying to gauge his reaction to others' raises. Sometimes big stacks don't want to get involved with certain other players, and as the host, he knew everyone at this table better than the rest. Little things I was trying to pick up.
Two smaller stacks busted almost immediately, bringing us to 8. Fortunately for me though, one of them was not Mr. Q,6 offsuit. Because after biding my time through a round of blinds and folding under combined pressure and poor hands, I look down at K,2 in the BB and again it's an unopened pot. A king flops for me and I make the "No mistake, I've got a K, you should fold now" all in move. Once again, chip...chip...chip...push it in call, this time with...Q,J off?? Which has again missed like a Chris Dudley free throw??? I'll take it, and when the turn brings another king and clinches it for me, I do.
Now I'm back in good shape. And after I flop a Q a couple hands later and take the rest of Mr. Q,6's chips, thus becoming the final table's Mr. Fortunate timing, I am up over 14,000 in chips at the 500/1000 stage of the table and we are now down to 7. Top five are cashing and the top 3 spots are a tidy little profit. The table is moving, some good play with chips getting out there. The two smart, solid players who had been on my left at the 2nd to last table are now both to my right. The big stack is to my left, with a small/medium stack, 2nd biggest stack and another small/medium stacks to his left rounding it out.
Which brings us to The Worst Hand I've Ever Played.
Don't worry, I didn't forget. That, my friends, would be impossible.
To Be Continued...
Monday, August 11, 2008
Caesar's Tournament #1
Continued from last post.
So while waiting for everyone to arrive in Vegas I bought into one of Caesar's daily $65 +5 tournaments and was put into the 4 seat. Right off the table appeared tight and I won a couple of multi-way pots when the flop bricked out and I was the only one to lead out into it. I did, however, spew some of those chips back over the next few hands, as I kept being aggressive with rags but when those same players came back over the top I knew I had to clear way.
About twenty minutes into the first level was one of two hands that I want to recap in a little more detail. I squeezed out 9s,10s in late position and called the raise to my immediate right. Another guy called from the 1 seat and we went in 3 handed. Flop brings 3,10,10 and visions of chips flying my way fill my head. 1 seat checks, 3 seat puts out a pot sized bet, I call and the 1 seat folds. Turn bricks and 3 seat puts out a bigger bet. I stare down the board, hoping he'll guess I'm chasing an ace, maybe put me on big slick. Finally, I can my bad acting and announce a raise and am called instantly. Could he have hit with a pair of 3s? No way, he wouldn't have led into a 3 way pot with them. River brings another brick and he weakly leads out for something like 300 into a pot of 3000. I jam and he folds his A,A face up and I rake it in.
Cracking the painkillers has left me the table chip leader and I try to take advantage by getting involved in a lot of pots, hoping the tight play will continue and I'll be able to apply some pressure with my stack. Unfortunately, I give a bunch back as I get caught raising my A,x when I flop an ace, only to see a raise and a re-raise behind me and fold thinking I'm outkicked at best or have run into two pair or a set, only to see the showdown and see that I would have been good. This sticks with me a bit as my biggest criticism of myself as a player is that I give my opponents too much credit sometimes for being on bigger hands. I dig back in and only a couple hands later, during 50/100, with two limpers already in the pot, I find A,A in middle position. I raise to 350 and get four callers, not my ideal scenario with the painkillers. Flop comes Q, 7, 4 rainbow. Check, check and my friend from the 3 seat leads out. He's on the shortstack now, with not much left behind. The pot is around 2000 or so and my stack is not much more than that. I jam it in. The 5 seat to my left insta-calls. Checkers both fold and the 3 seat shoves his small stack in as well. He flips over 4,4 for a set of 4s. To my left the 5 seat flips over Q,Q for a set of Qs. I'm down to one of the remaining aces to stay alive, as the 5 seat has me barely covered. Neither comes and I'm bounced. Not my best moment and I'm left thinking about aces being cracked and how I could have forgotten how often it happens. The lesson, as always, is that some nights the painkillers make the pain even worse.
Next up: Wild Bill's poker bender and another Caesar's tournament.
So while waiting for everyone to arrive in Vegas I bought into one of Caesar's daily $65 +5 tournaments and was put into the 4 seat. Right off the table appeared tight and I won a couple of multi-way pots when the flop bricked out and I was the only one to lead out into it. I did, however, spew some of those chips back over the next few hands, as I kept being aggressive with rags but when those same players came back over the top I knew I had to clear way.
About twenty minutes into the first level was one of two hands that I want to recap in a little more detail. I squeezed out 9s,10s in late position and called the raise to my immediate right. Another guy called from the 1 seat and we went in 3 handed. Flop brings 3,10,10 and visions of chips flying my way fill my head. 1 seat checks, 3 seat puts out a pot sized bet, I call and the 1 seat folds. Turn bricks and 3 seat puts out a bigger bet. I stare down the board, hoping he'll guess I'm chasing an ace, maybe put me on big slick. Finally, I can my bad acting and announce a raise and am called instantly. Could he have hit with a pair of 3s? No way, he wouldn't have led into a 3 way pot with them. River brings another brick and he weakly leads out for something like 300 into a pot of 3000. I jam and he folds his A,A face up and I rake it in.
Cracking the painkillers has left me the table chip leader and I try to take advantage by getting involved in a lot of pots, hoping the tight play will continue and I'll be able to apply some pressure with my stack. Unfortunately, I give a bunch back as I get caught raising my A,x when I flop an ace, only to see a raise and a re-raise behind me and fold thinking I'm outkicked at best or have run into two pair or a set, only to see the showdown and see that I would have been good. This sticks with me a bit as my biggest criticism of myself as a player is that I give my opponents too much credit sometimes for being on bigger hands. I dig back in and only a couple hands later, during 50/100, with two limpers already in the pot, I find A,A in middle position. I raise to 350 and get four callers, not my ideal scenario with the painkillers. Flop comes Q, 7, 4 rainbow. Check, check and my friend from the 3 seat leads out. He's on the shortstack now, with not much left behind. The pot is around 2000 or so and my stack is not much more than that. I jam it in. The 5 seat to my left insta-calls. Checkers both fold and the 3 seat shoves his small stack in as well. He flips over 4,4 for a set of 4s. To my left the 5 seat flips over Q,Q for a set of Qs. I'm down to one of the remaining aces to stay alive, as the 5 seat has me barely covered. Neither comes and I'm bounced. Not my best moment and I'm left thinking about aces being cracked and how I could have forgotten how often it happens. The lesson, as always, is that some nights the painkillers make the pain even worse.
Next up: Wild Bill's poker bender and another Caesar's tournament.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Ah, Vegas
I have been on the go for a few weeks in a row, and have some catching up to do. It started with a long weekend way up in northern Vermont, about 5 miles from the Canadian border. We rent what Vermonters call a "camp" what everyone else would call a lake house in the woods. It hit the spot and 3 days of fishing, grilling and swimming provided a great reprieve from mid-July weather back home.
The following week, I put in three long days at work and on the third, headed to the airport for a trip to Vegas for Wild Bill's bachelor party. Flight cancellations and delays were brutal but somehow I managed to get DJ and I on a later flight and arrive in Vegas a cool 8 hours past our scheduled arrival time. So instead of settling in with a fun Wednesday night of action at the tables, we checked in at 4:30 in the morning. Nice. Thanks, airline industry. Every time I think it has hit its lowest, I'm proven wrong.
The one consolation of the lost time was the fact that Caesar's had given away our room, even though they had been informed by phone hours earlier that we would be checking in late because of the flight delay. Why is it a consolation? Because they bumped us up from our standard room to a "Petite Suite" which was bigger, had a sweet flat screen TV (who watches TV in Vegas? More on that later…) and two bathrooms which connected through a double-headed shower. One of the bathrooms had a jacuzzi tub and a bidet and overall I felt like somehow fate had at least made an attempt to balance out the poor luck with which the trip had begun.
Anyway, local Vegas buddy Big E provided airport transportation for us and we in turn bought him entry to the Caesars buffet at 7 am sharp. I was impressed with the buffet, Caesars has it located right next to their pools with both indoor and outdoor seating. And while no one was yet at the pool at 7 am we still snagged a window seat and chowed down. After breakfast, we took a walk through Caesars to get a feel for it and DJ sat down at a video poker machine, won a few dollars and proceeded to act as if it were still Wednesday night at 9 pm rather than Thursday at 8:30 am by ordering a double whiskey coke no ice straight off. Only in Vegas.
We checked out the Caesars craps tables and since $25 tables right off weren't really appealing to us, we hit up the Flamingo, which was dead so we sauntered next door to the place formerly known as the Barbary Coast and now known as Bill's. Coincidence? We thought we would find out. We settled in at a craps table and hovered around even, drinking multiple whiskey cokes and dropping maybe $75 each before DJ got a hot run going. Over on the table next to us, they were holding a daily "How to play craps" informational session and when it broke DJ was in the midst of firing us back up, having hit a few points and smothering the 6 and 8, which we were playing as well. Well, of course as soon as the yokels got done with their craps lessons, they decided to head over and play some. Not only does one dude squeeze into a non-space right next to the shooter (DJ) making him uncomfortable, he immediately asks if the table is hot. DJ and I exchange glances, followed by the inevitable 7-out seconds later. Well, it was a hot table buddy, thanks for the moosh.
So we left the tables up a few dollars and headed back to Caesars, planning on getting out to the pool. Of course, it's July, it's the desert and it's 1 pm, so of course it is 112 degrees outside. Undaunted, we poured buckets of sunscreen on (I don't tan, I crisp. Anything less than spf 30 and I sport a full on lobster red after 5 minutes) and snagged two seats by one of the pools. As we settle in, about 15 feet away half a dozen gorgeous Italian women pose for a friend's photo. I track down some water and a couple Coronas. Poolside in Vegas. Sun. Women. Beer. Nice.
An hour later we head back up to the room. We had escaped the midday heat by hanging out in the water but after a while it became a little too much and we needed a little air conditioning. Back in the room we checked on the arrival of BH, due in a couple hours. In the meantime, I thought it would be a perfect time to check out the poker room. As it turns out, a 3 pm tournament was beginning in 15 minutes. $65+5, 50 person max, 30 minute levels, 2000 in starting chips. Seats still available.
I bought in.
Next installment: The Painkillers run amok.
The following week, I put in three long days at work and on the third, headed to the airport for a trip to Vegas for Wild Bill's bachelor party. Flight cancellations and delays were brutal but somehow I managed to get DJ and I on a later flight and arrive in Vegas a cool 8 hours past our scheduled arrival time. So instead of settling in with a fun Wednesday night of action at the tables, we checked in at 4:30 in the morning. Nice. Thanks, airline industry. Every time I think it has hit its lowest, I'm proven wrong.
The one consolation of the lost time was the fact that Caesar's had given away our room, even though they had been informed by phone hours earlier that we would be checking in late because of the flight delay. Why is it a consolation? Because they bumped us up from our standard room to a "Petite Suite" which was bigger, had a sweet flat screen TV (who watches TV in Vegas? More on that later…) and two bathrooms which connected through a double-headed shower. One of the bathrooms had a jacuzzi tub and a bidet and overall I felt like somehow fate had at least made an attempt to balance out the poor luck with which the trip had begun.
Anyway, local Vegas buddy Big E provided airport transportation for us and we in turn bought him entry to the Caesars buffet at 7 am sharp. I was impressed with the buffet, Caesars has it located right next to their pools with both indoor and outdoor seating. And while no one was yet at the pool at 7 am we still snagged a window seat and chowed down. After breakfast, we took a walk through Caesars to get a feel for it and DJ sat down at a video poker machine, won a few dollars and proceeded to act as if it were still Wednesday night at 9 pm rather than Thursday at 8:30 am by ordering a double whiskey coke no ice straight off. Only in Vegas.
We checked out the Caesars craps tables and since $25 tables right off weren't really appealing to us, we hit up the Flamingo, which was dead so we sauntered next door to the place formerly known as the Barbary Coast and now known as Bill's. Coincidence? We thought we would find out. We settled in at a craps table and hovered around even, drinking multiple whiskey cokes and dropping maybe $75 each before DJ got a hot run going. Over on the table next to us, they were holding a daily "How to play craps" informational session and when it broke DJ was in the midst of firing us back up, having hit a few points and smothering the 6 and 8, which we were playing as well. Well, of course as soon as the yokels got done with their craps lessons, they decided to head over and play some. Not only does one dude squeeze into a non-space right next to the shooter (DJ) making him uncomfortable, he immediately asks if the table is hot. DJ and I exchange glances, followed by the inevitable 7-out seconds later. Well, it was a hot table buddy, thanks for the moosh.
So we left the tables up a few dollars and headed back to Caesars, planning on getting out to the pool. Of course, it's July, it's the desert and it's 1 pm, so of course it is 112 degrees outside. Undaunted, we poured buckets of sunscreen on (I don't tan, I crisp. Anything less than spf 30 and I sport a full on lobster red after 5 minutes) and snagged two seats by one of the pools. As we settle in, about 15 feet away half a dozen gorgeous Italian women pose for a friend's photo. I track down some water and a couple Coronas. Poolside in Vegas. Sun. Women. Beer. Nice.
An hour later we head back up to the room. We had escaped the midday heat by hanging out in the water but after a while it became a little too much and we needed a little air conditioning. Back in the room we checked on the arrival of BH, due in a couple hours. In the meantime, I thought it would be a perfect time to check out the poker room. As it turns out, a 3 pm tournament was beginning in 15 minutes. $65+5, 50 person max, 30 minute levels, 2000 in starting chips. Seats still available.
I bought in.
Next installment: The Painkillers run amok.
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