Tanned and Flushed (Vegas Trip Report Pt 6)
Friday, May 25, 2007
Having gone to sleep after 4am, I woke up at 9:30am on Saturday, intent on spending some time outside. The temperatures in Vegas were around 95 daily, and I'm a gambling fiend, so I decided that the smartest strategy was to soak up the rays before it was too hot and the crew wanted to get their gamble on. I sent a quick text message around, but most people were still snoring.
The weather was beautiful outside. I found a lone beach chair and settled in with Wizard magazine, a monthly mag about comic books. God damn, I'm a geek, but one of the joys of being married is that I don't have to impress any of the bikini-clad chicks walking by. In fact, I'm better off not impressing them, so I read my dorky magazine and glanced up every 10 minutes or so, when the five hot chicks in front of me stood up to enter/exit the pool or adjust their bathing suits. For my money, I'd rather see those broads than the desperate strippers from the night before. But who am I kidding. These chicks were probably just strippers on their morning off.
After 45 minutes, Justin texted me. He was at the pool all day on Friday and was going to join me for the Saturday morning session. By then, I was already pretty hot, and I could feel the sun biting through my suntan lotion. 15 minutes later, I got a text from Roose about breakfast in the cafe. I did my best to protect a seat for Justin, but ultimately had to give up, in favor of sustenance. I met Roose, the two Holes, and eventually college friends Big Rob and Johnny for grub. The food did its job, and we left the room to play more table games. When I was done cashing my tickets from the night before, I decided to put some more money on sports. I went with Mets to win and the Under 9.5.
When I got to the Pai Gow table, Roose and Robbie Hole were at a full table. I decided to go play some poker. I returned to the Excal poker room. What the fuck was I thinking!?
I played for probably 45 minutes and lost $300 in all of two hands, back to back.
In the first hand, I was dealt KQh in the BB. By the time it got around to me, a player had raised from the $3 blind to $10 total and had four callers. I called as well. The flop was Q44, with two diamonds. I was fairly confident that I was ahead with top pair, second kicker. I suppose AQ was a possibility, but the 4s didn't concern me. I bet out $20 and was called by a youn Asian player on my immediate right. The turn was an offsuit 6. I bet out $40 and he called. The river was a King of Diamonds, completing the flush draw. Here, I decided to keep the pressure on, and bet $80. The way I saw it, if I check, I'm screwed. He has to bet out, and then am I going to fold? No. So I might as well bet out. I'm not sure if I bet too high, though, because he pushes all-in for $35 more and I just have to call. He shows the flush with two random uncoordinated hearts. I took solace in the fact that he was a drawing donkey, and when he apologized, I told him calmly that its cool, and rebought another $100. I tried to keep myself calm.
On the next hand, I was dealt AQo in the SB. This time, htere were a bunch of limpers, so I raised from $3 to $18, hoping to thin the herd, especially since I was out of position. I got two callers. One said that I was raising on tilt. "True enough, but I have to raise on tilt with these cards!" I tried to joke and laugh about the situation. I think I make the same play on tilt or not here, so I had to at least appear like I was calm and collected. Looking back, I'm still not sure if I was. The flop was Queen-high, with two hearts. I bet out $45, a decent size compared with the pot. I got one caller. The turn was a heart. I think I bet and he pushed. I just couldn't believe that he had the flush. I called. He showed 68h, for a real donkey flush. I stood up and walked away. I told the table, "Good luck. Sometimes its just not your day." The Asian kid to my left apologized to me again. "No problem."
I met up with Roose and Robbie Hole at Pai Gow and sat in for a bit, losing another $50. I won it back at craps. I don't remember what we did next. We started to make our way over to watch the Preakness at the sports book. I through some bets in with Randy Hole, but none of our bets came in. It was a small investment and worth the excitement of having 100 people simultaneously go from quiet to yelling numbres at random. "Go 6! Go 6!"
After, I felt more composed and decided to head over to the MGM to cash my winning Mets ticket from the day before. Roose gave me his ticket and I was glad to rage solo. The crew saw how shocked I was after my $300 poker loss, and I could use some time away. After losses like that, I tend to go catatonic. My face loses all emotion and I wander like a bewildered zombie. The horse races and watching the Mets win (but hitting the Over, for $8 in profits between the two bets) helped soothe me and I was ready to get back to business.
Earlier that day, I had called Heather from the pool. I explained how busy we were and she understood, so my afternoon was fairly free. Our plan to play another tournament was thwarted, but I still had more poker left in me. Now the only question is whether MGM would continue that disastrous trend started in the Excal poker room, or whether I could rekindle that magic that won me $341 at the MGM with ease.
Until next time, make mine poker!
posted by Jordan @ 11:20 AM,
1 Comments:
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At 4:02 PM,
SirFWALGMan said...
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Ya losing never feels good.. tough day.
