Quads and Cold Decks Part 3

Shelly and I were finally "storming the castle" after getting sidetracked by hunger and hockey. I was seated at a new 2/4 table with a bunch of cowboys and a couple of locals when I looked down to see K 2 off. Normally I would only play this if it were soooted (yeah, right) but I was in the small blind and this was a passive table. Most of the table limped ahead of me and I decided to limp right along with them. The big blind checked and we awaited the flop.

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It was Saturday, the day of the big WPBT event, and Shelly and I were ready for some poker. We had a reasonable amount of sleep, ate pastries for breakfast, and hit the conference room with time to spare. Bill and the IP did an excellent job on the room and I was impressed with how organized everything seemed. After a while the speakers started their thing and I searched the room for a spot where I could actually hear them. I had absolutely no luck and finally gave up. (This had nothing to do with the socializing in the background. That was expected and I can block that stuff out. I think the sound system just sucked.)

As we waited for the speakers to finish up my angry twin was carrying on about no one calling her to tell her that Phil Gordon was in the MGM poker room the previous evening. For the record (in case no one read the last installment) NO ONE TOLD ME EITHER!!!

Finally it was time to start the tournament and we drew our table assignments. My table (#6):

Seat 1: Mrs. HDouble (later Mr. Subliminal)
Seat 2: Mrs. HHead
Seat 3: Me
Seat 4: -EV
Seat 5: Guy who reminded me of "Jesus" whose blog I forget
Seat 6: Falstaff in his kilt
Seat 7: Drizz
Seat 8: Big Mike (later some guy named Steve)
Seat 9: Gracie
Seat 10: Franklin

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Seven of us waited to see the flop. When it came down I saw that I have paired my 2. Oh boy, low pair, guess I'll be folding this hand now. But something amazing happened (not really, this table sucked), everyone checked around. Free card for everyone!

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The WPBT Winter Classic was underway and I couldn't get a hand to save my life. I did get pocket Kings a couple of times buy only managed to take the blinds as everyone gave my pre-flop raise some respect. I think I also saw a flop and took down a small pot when my pair of 5's hit a set on the flop. Other than that, I didn't play a whole lot. At the first break I was up a little but not enough to keep me afloat much longer. I needed cards.

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The dealer flipped up the turn card and it was another 2. I had a hand, thanks for the free card. Someone ahead of me bet and when the action got to me, I raised. Everyone else got out of the way and we waited for the river.

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Break number one was over and the cards didn't get any better. I had a Queen with every possible kicker below an 8 on almost every hand. They weren't even soooted at any point that I can recall. Then it happened, the hand that would put me on tilt, make me cry like a little girl, and put me in a generally bad mood for the remainder of the tournament.

I didn't have a lot of chips left and I was in the need of a hand I could push with. I hadn't seen an Ace for about an hour and was really needing one. That's when the dealer dealt one, only he dealt it face up! What the fuck? I finally get a decent card and the fucking dealer, who was too busy chatting away to pay attention, deals it face up. He immediately grabbed the card, showed it to the table and gave me another. My Ace got replaced with a 4 and it didn't go well with the 10 I already had. I would have pushed and I would have won the hand had the dealer not screwed up. Instead I had to fold. To say I was upset would be an understatement.

To make things worse, I could tell I was getting upset over it and that made me more upset. Luckily it was almost time for the second break and I raced out of the room and headed to the Ladies room. I couldn't stop the tears and that made me feel worse. I was rescued by Gracie and Maudie who listened to me rant and helped me to calm down. Gracie bought me a drink and I headed back to the table wishing with every fiber of my being that the dealer would get hit with a bad case of food poisoning. I can only hope he caught the Avian Flu from patient zero.

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We waited for what seemed like an eternity for the dealer to flip up the river card. When he finally did, I saw the case 2 staring back at me. My opponent bet and I raised. He looked at me and I stared at the board. He thought for a minute before folding and I flipped up my quads. The table erupted, well not really, but I can pretend, and I got ready for my first ever wheel spin.

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The first hand after the break I actually had decent cards and I was going to push but Mrs. Head pushed first and I decided to fold. Bad play on my part as I would have won that hand but my head wasn't in the game at that point and I just didn't care.

A couple of hands later I looked down to find Ace 6 and decided those were as good as any. Steve pushed as well and the action came down to Drizz. He took his time thinking as Steve had more chips than I did and it wasn't an easy decision. Finally though Drizz called. I was up against Steve's 5 2 (I think) and Drizz's AQ. Crap, I needed a 6. Most of the table was calling for it, and I thank you all for the support, but it wasn't to be and Drizz knocked us both out of the tournament. It was time to hit the bar.

Try as I might, I couldn't get drunk. I had at least 5 drinks and barely felt a buzz. They weren't weak drinks either so I don't know what was going on. I hung out and cheered on Gracie, who went on to take 2nd place. It was fun to watch and I congratulate everyone who made it to the final table. It was a tough field and you all played great.

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I got up and headed for the wheel. The TV table was right next to it and as I spun I could hear them all shouting out their colors. Honestly it was a bit surreal and I don't remember what color the wheel finally landed on. All I know is that I won $40 and it was the second time I had hit quads this trip. No way it would happen again....right?

Quads and Cold Decks Part 2

It was late Friday night and I was in the MGM poker room once again. I must have been getting tired because I started to hallucinate. I mean, it had to be a hallucination because if Phil Gordon had been in the poker room at least one of the dozen or so bloggers present would have come over to my table to tell me he was there.....Right?

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So, after getting quads on Thursday night, I proceeded to give my winnings back plus drop about half of my buy-in. I just couldn't connect with the board at all. It didn't help that I held on to my Aces even though I knew I was beat. I gave back a lot on that hand alone. When someone finally told me everyone was heading over to Excalibur, I was definitely ready for a change of scenery.

At this point my twin had made it to Vegas and we decided to eat with a couple of other bloggers before hitting the Excalibur poker tables. We got through the meal and hit the tables. I don't remember much of the play but I did leave up about $30 so it must have been a good table.

I finally got too tired to remember the color of my cards so I decided it was time to go. I headed back to the IP with a group that included Maudie and Gracie and hit the pillow at about 4am.

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I got up from my table to talk to Shelly, surely if Phil Gordon had just walked by, she would have seen it. She informed me that she had not seen the man I was asking about and we came to the conclusion that I must have seen his doppleganger. Besides, if Phil Gordon were in the poker room, someone would have told me.....Right?

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After a fitful night, or should I say morning, of sleep I got up to take a shower. I then wandered downstairs for a pastry at the cafe. I ran into Iggy who was just wandering in from the Excalibur. After a brief conversation that he later didn't remember, I went to get my food.

Soon I met up with Maudie, Gracie and Pablo for breakfast and then we hit the IP poker room for a bit before heading off to do "the gay thing". Here's one piece of advice, if you want to win at poker, don't sit down at a table with Pablo. He cracked my AK straight and my Aces within minutes of sitting down.

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I went back to my table to ask Ohio Mike if he had seen Phil Gordon in the poker room. Forget that his back was turned toward the area where my hallucination had walked, he could have seen something. Mike said no and I finally admitted that I was hallucination because if Phil had been in the poker room someone would have told me....Right?

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Finally it was time to do the "gay thing" and a bunch of us hopped on the monorail and hit the Las Vegas Hilton. Now, I've done the Klingon Experience before but I had yet to fight with the Borg so I was looking forward to that and we had tons of fun. The actors were great and came up with some great improve to deal with our uncontrollable laughter during the more "serious" moments of the experience.

When it was finally over we decided to meet up with everyone at the MGM for some food and mixed games. I decided to pass on the HORSE game as I actually wanted to make some money in Vegas. I ended up sitting at a 2/4 limit table where I was joined by Ohio Mike and some fun to talk to strangers. We were definitely having all the fun down at our end of the table. There was a Scottish guy who was raking in the chips. I couldn't decide if he was good or just damned lucky but he was fun to play with.

At some point Wil arrived and April dragged me over to meet him. He must have brought me some luck because, on the very next hand, I raked in a nice pot when my Aces held up. The deck went cold after that (a common theme for the weekend) and I was getting frustrated when a guy who looked just like Phil Gordon walked by. See, it had to be a hallucination because if Phil had really been there, someone......oh fuck it......Phil was there, dozens of you knew, and not one of you came over to my table to tell me. As my twin said in her write-up "You all suck!" ;) At least I left for the night up $9.

Coming up.....the tourny, more quads, change in plans, and my new rule.

Quads and Cold Decks Part 1

I had only been at the table for a few orbits when I looked down to see pocket queens. The table was all men of varying ages and skill. One older gentleman reminded me of Doyle Brunson as he was sitting in one of those motorized chairs that Doyle often uses to get around. I was pretty sure "Doyle" was a local as many of the dealers seemed to know him, but he had also just rebought and seemed a little loose with his starting hands. His chips became my target for this hand.

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I had arrived in Vegas around noon that day and immediately called Joanne as she was going to pick me up at the airport. I got Bill's (Mr. Joanne) voicemail. I still had to pick up my suitcase so I wasn't worried. A few minutes later, with suitcase in hand, I dialed again. Same result, voicemail. I think I called at least one more time before I received a call back. Joanne had just gone to bed but was getting up and going to be at the airport within 20 minutes. She arrived, we hugged, I met Bill, and, just like that, I had met my first blogger, at least for this trip.

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When the betting came around to me, I immediately raised. If I could get one person to fold their crap pre-flop, I was going to do it but this was limit and another $2 wasn't going to accomplish much. Six or seven saw the flop and when I realized I had hit my set, I was very happy. None of the other cards worried me and, when it was my turn to act, I raised again.

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Once we got to the hotel, I went to check in. Unfortunately I was too early and they didn't have a room ready. I ran into Gracie and surprised her with my knowledge of her identity then made arrangements to leave my suitcase in Joanne's room. It was then decided that I would meet up with Maudie in the IP poker room and, once Joanne had a shower, we would all head for the champagne brunch.

As I walked into the poker room, I immediately spotted Maudie and some other bloggers whose names now escape me. I sat down next to Maudie and we chatted a bit. I also spoke with Gracie some more and chatted with some of the others at the table. Before too long it was time for me to go back down to the front desk to get my room key. They still didn't have my room ready but I glanced to my right and realized that Al and Eva were checking in. I could tell by the look on Al's face that something was wrong so I decided to postpone saying hi until he had some SoCo in him. I did, however, return to the poker room and announce his arrival to the other bloggers.

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I think between the bet and my raise we might have gotten two people out of the pot. "Doyle" was not one of them and I hoped he had a piece of that flop. The turn brought an undercard and the betting came around to me. I raised and we were down to 3 people, including "Doyle".

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We (me, Joanne, Bill, and Maudie) finally got to the champagne brunch and discovered they were in the process of switching to dinner. Since it was only a 20 minute wait we decided to stay and chat until we could get our food. We had just filled our plates when Eva and Lewey walked in and joined us. This was the beginning of the two fisted drinking portion of our dinner as Joanne and Eva tried to make the IP regret having free champagne, on tap, with the buffet.

We eventually ended up in the Al and Eva suite with a couple bottles of champagne and a water bottle filled with SoCo which had been graciously provided by Joanne and Bill. I think we may have set a new speed record for emptying those bottles as quickly as we did. It was at this point that I met John (aka Falstaff) and few others whose names, again, escape me. Once the booze started to get low it was decided to head out to the MGM for some poker and I headed toward my room to drop off my stuff. There was a slight room mix-up and I was a bit delayed at getting back to the suite. Luckily everyone waited for me and we headed to the monorail that would take us to the MGM where I would hit quads for the first time this trip.

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To say that I was shocked to see the case queen on the river would be an understatement. I had just hit quads and I had to figure out how to get more money out of them. It was checked to me and I bet. The other guy folded but "Doyle" raised. He had hit something big and didn't believe I had the quads, at least not until I re-raised. He thought for a minute but decided to call. I think he knew he was beat but he had enough in the pot already to make calling the only choice. I flipped up my quads and the table seemed shocked. Yes, the girl can actually play poker, who would have thunk? "Doyle" flipped up his full house and mumbled "nice hand". I raked in the pot.

Coming up......Excalibur, doing the "gay thing", meeting Wil, my "hallucination", the tourny, more quads, change in plans, and my new rule.

I'm Back!

I survived Vegas! I was supposed to be back last night but came back this morning instead after about an hour of sleep. To say that I am exhausted would be an understatement. Yeah, the trip was great! I'll be back with a full report, once I catch up on my sleep.

Until then.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

I Go Vegas Now!

Well, actually in a few hours but the vacation officially starts now!!!

Trip reports start Monday or Tuesday.

Until then.....try not to miss me too much!