A Kick to the Groin - AC Trip Report Pt 2
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
I woke up the next morning with a spring in my step. Wifey Kim and I were officially up about $150. I had gotten to bed at 2am, but at 7am, I couldn't help but wake up. The dreams were many that night, and the anticipation for more degeneracy was foremost in my mind. Wifey Kim, however, was still in sleep mode. I forced myself to put my head back down, but what little sleep I had was interrupted.
When we first arrived at the casino a half day before, Roose and I discussed gambling strategy as we made our way to the check-in desk. "We are not playing in the morning, no matter what," Roose insisted. He was right, too. We never win in the morning. But I wasn't going to allow myself to be boxed it by superstition (ignore the fact that I wore my lucky Superman shirt to the poker room the night before). "Okay. But I'm not making any promises."
This conversation flashed into my head at 9am when my cell phone beeped. A voice message from Roose read: "U Up? Lets Play Poker." Um...um...okay. I called him back to tell him I could play in a few. Wifey Kim was finally stirring and I was figuring out timing issues. Fortunately, unlike Roose and I, wifey Kim insisted on showering and doing her hair. I took the advantage and headed down with Roose.
We were placed on different tables, but I couldn't complain. My table was short-handed and the players looked weak. On my left was an old fogie and a foreign greasy player. On my right was a nerdy looking chick and a young upstart. There may've been more but they came and went. This was the core. A 4-handed game. I thought this would be key to my success. I likee the short handed.
Unfortunately, it didn't likee me back. The greasy foreigner and I played a bunch of pots together. I checked in the SB with 34o, and he checked in the BB. The flop was 256. Check-check. 3 check-check. T. Bet-fold. No action.
A little while later, I held 26o in the SB against the greasy foreigner. The flop was 346. Check-check. Turn was a blank. Check-check. River was a 5. I bet 10. He re-raised to 20. I called. He had the 7 for the better straight.
Now, somewhere in there, I had this disaster of a hand. I was on the button with 88. The young upstart was in the BB. His fat, hairy buddy was sitting next to him and attempting to be funny and vulgar. He was definitely vulgar, but funny... Anyway, the upstart raises from 2 to 15. I call with 88. If he had checked, I would've raised. I was planning to do so. But here I was facing a bet. Mind you that this was actually before the two hands I mentioned already. The table was still somewhat new to me. I saw the upstart betting fairly aggressively, but I didn't have more than that and his attitude (and goofy friend) as a read.
With just upstart and I in the hand, the flop came off K73, with two spades. Upstart bet $45. Now, this was an overbet. Easily the biggest bet I saw all morning. I was watching him, and I felt, from his attitude and his big bet, that he was trying to steal the pot after he missed the flop. I couldn't help but put him on AQ or TT. TT had me beat, so I had something in mind. "I'm all-in." There must've been $120 more in front of me. "I call." He flipped over AA. And that was how I lost my initial $200 buy-in.
Skip ahead an hour and I am back to $100 (my re-buy after the $200 loss). Most of my work from the previous night was down the drain. Up $72, I had to justify the loss to my dad and wife by saying that I was playing with profits. I sincerely believe that with enough time I would've won it all back. I had grinded back some of the money, but right before walking away, I was brought back down to my $100 and decided that enough was enough.
Roose, Allison, wifey Kim and I headed over to the Fantasea Buffet. The food was adequate. Like most buffet meals, I ate until I was satisfied. I then got a second and third plate. When we left, I was ready to pull into a food-induced coma. However, Clam Dave and Andrea had joined the group.
Clam Andrea hadn't been to AC before and had never been to the Boardwalk. Harrah's was off of the Boardwalk, so we hopped in our cars and headed out. First, we made a stop at Borgata. I foolishly lead the caravan into the employee parking lot, and we were walking out when an employee was kind enough to point out the errs of our ways. After moving the cars (thus saving us from a ridiculous walk), we hit the casino and pulled a walkthrough. Wifey Kim dabbled at Roulette, the only affordable game in the place. It was packed, as usual. Roose was impressed by the size of the poker room, but not the wait times. We gathered up the group and headed out.
At the Boardwalk, we started at the Showboat because of the free parking for card members. We played a variety of table games, with wifey Kim losing at Roulette, and me losing at 3- card poker. We moved onto Trump Taj, next door, because the weather was horrible outside. God bless interior corridors between casinos.
Wifey Kim and I were already hungry, so we went with Allison and Roose to the Stage Deli for some grilled cheeses, the official gambling meal of High On Poker. While we were waiting, I introduced Roose and the girls to prop bets, bets based on propositions. I proposed that Roose's chopped liver sandwich would be placed on the table before my grilled cheese. The bet was on, and I won, putting my prop bets at 1-0. We then guessed the bill size, and I won again, with a mere 1$ difference. 2-0.
After the meal, we all felt like it was time to head back to Harrah's. When we arrived, Roose had spoken to Robbie Hole. Hole was on the annual trip last year, but had not returned because his girlfriend, Joyful, was a gentile. However, Joy had to work on Monday, so he arranged to drive down on Saturday night.
When Rob arrived, we were at the Fantasea Buffet again, this time having dinner with the whole familys (Roose and High). Wifey Kim and I weren't particularly hungry, but we ate nonetheless. Before this, we had been farting around the casino, playing craps, roulette and even slot machines. Specifically, we were like flies to a bug zapper whenever we saw Wheel of Fortune. According to my father (who passed this news along last night), it is the tightest of the slots. But damn is it fun spinning that wheel. I walked passed Pai Gow a couple of times and watched a few hands, but I couldn't get the balls to actually play. Besides, no one else wanted to play anyway.
With Rob around, the urge for poker hit a new peak. But wifey Kim and Allison were not poker players. Instead, the 5 of us went to Roose's room for some wine. It was relaxing, but Allison was dozing off and Roose was itching to play. He and Hole headed out, and wifey Kim and I went to play more slots and table games.
I'd eventually go upstairs with Kim, down $355 for the trip. It was about 10:30pm when she began dozing off. She gave me my cue. You can head down now. Have fun. I took the opportunity and off I went.
What happened? That's for another time. BUT I can promise you this. I did not leave the trip down $355! Stay tuned.
AND if you haven't done it yet, do it now! Sign up for the Donkeys Always Draw Invitational Tournament hosted by yours truly, on Wednesday at 9pm. And for the record, I get nothing out of this at all besides a chance to play with some readers/bloggers/friends. Check out the link for details on bounties, buy-in and start time.
posted by Jordan @ 8:56 AM,
4 Comments:
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At 10:04 AM,
said...
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Enjoyed the post. Looking forward to #3.
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At 10:37 AM,
said...
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Okay, now you're killing me. Where is part III?
G -
At 10:43 AM,
said...
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Remember this is a Jewish holiday....You don't get part III till tomorrow...Or something like that!
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At 10:56 AM,
said...
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Nice one Kip...LOL.
Yeah, J, hurry up wit dat shit...
