I played two key hands that made me well during my run of EO/Play last week. It’s the scenario where I’m bored out my head looking at the same cards, repeating nightmare patterns, hour after hour and patiently pitching them in to the dealer instead of ripping them into shreds and throwing them into the air, towards the camera bubbles on the ceiling. The action was great in both games – separate days, one play was on Wednesday, the other on Thursday. Marie was in on both nights and sat next to me but I was there long after she’d picked up and headed for home. And since I managed to ‘clock out’, I was doing ‘fine with wine’. I like to drink when I play because it’s the only way I can stand to look at those bad cards hour after hour. Amen!
On Wednesday, I almost got myself into trouble with the 9s. Diamond was dealing the game and his eyebrows even shot up at the retort I got from the 9. The 9s had sold chips earlier and had a $100 bill that was laying loose under his arm…even when he left the table for a break which he did numerous times. I finally reached over and pulled the bill into his stack, grabbed a stack of his chips and said, “Put some chips on your bill…”
He snapped at me, telling me to keep my hands off of his money. Well…ok! I apologized and told him it wouldn’t happen again. Later on we began to visit. He found out I worked at Bellagio. Life was better. His name is Todd. We managed to part on good terms.
That little exchange was the only excitement going on in my dead zone. I didn’t play a hand for hours. A couple of seats opened and new players moved in. One of them took the 2s and I’ve dealt to him and played with him before but not for a long time. I raised pre-flop with J-J, he raised on the Button, and we ended up with a few callers. The Flop brought 10-5-4. Everyone checked to me, so did I. The Button checked too. The Turn paired the board with a 5. Check, check, I bet, the Button raised, everyone folded to me. I called. The River brought a Jack. Yippeee! I bet, the Button raised, I raised, the Button raised, I raised, the Button called and showed 10-10. He picked up the remainder of his chips and stormed off.
I was well, winner after that hand. Everyone at the table told me how lucky I was to catch the Jack. I replied, “He was pretty lucky to catch the 10.”
They still commented on how lucky I was. I agreed. I was damn lucky that the best hand stood up. I hit the door on the next round of the table…feeling really lucky to have shared all that table time and made money.
The second hand happened on Thursday night. I didn’t even have to clock in – hello $4-8H. I was in the 2s, situated between David (he remembers me from the Mirage but I do not remember him although he looks familiar) and Trish. Trish’s husband was playing NLH. The game was really active and a lot of fun…stuck…stuck…stuck. I raised with A-Q of Clubs, max raises went in pre-flop with five-way action. The 4s was the one that raised me every time I raised. He won the pot with J-7 of Spades. A few minutes later I raised with A-K of Spades…same scenario…same guy won the pot with J-5 of Hearts. The game was damn fast, lots of chips moving…all of them moving away from me. OK. I can deal with it, “COCKTAILS!”
We were right next to Bobby’s Room but my back was to it. The first member of The Corporation to come in, that I saw, was Jennifer Harman. She was continually on her cell and walking back and forth from the entrance to the poker room, to the area in front of Bobby’s Room. I headed towards the office and she had stopped, still talking on her cell, staring at nothing, and I watched a young guy stop almost directly in front of her (about two feet separating them) with a look that read ‘OMG! It’s Jennifer Harman’. He simply stood there, staring at her, and she spaced him, and continued talking, and then walked off. It’s strange how people can separate themselves from everything going on around them. It was as if the poker room was completely empty from her POV.
I returned to my seat and game. By 6:45, Bobby’s Room held Jennifer, Johnny Chan, Phil Ivey, Chip Reese, David Grey, Eli Elezra, and Minh Ly. They were all seated around Table 1 but there was no game. The table was filled with racks of ‘society’ chips. Two security guards loitered in the room also. Ted Forrest showed close to 7 p.m. They were there to chop the proceeds of Phil’s win from Andy. No one seemed jubilant or happy. I didn’t stare at them or even try to get a better glimpse of what was going on but people in the main room sure did. At times the people stood gawking through the windows in groups of four and five.
David Levi was in the room, seated at Table 10. Tex Barch and Abe Mosseri stepped in briefly and then departed. By 7:45, the last of the group was filing out of the main room. Lots of newbies and regular players in the main room got a glimpse of the world’s highest limit players, in the same place, at the same time.
While all of that was going on, my game was still a jamming little hopper. Marie arrived. We managed to sit together out of the kindness of Dave, he moved over for us. I ordered wine. I was back in the dead zone of cards. Pick up big hands, get stuck, sit and wait…or rather sit and drink and wait and drink and sit and drink, or something like that. Marie finally gathered up her chips and went home. Dave left to find food with friends. Trish left with her husband. The whole complexion of the game I was in changed…but they were still jamming.
My normal buy-in is $200 for this limit. I was down to $102, tired of looking at cards, and ready for the fresh night air. I picked up A-J and raised. Several people called the raise, including the 9s, an Asian that was in the game about an hour by now. The Flop was K-10-9. The 9s bet, I called, everyone else folded. A beautiful little Queen popped off on the Turn. The 9s bet, I raised, and he called. The River was a Blank. The 9s bet, I raised, he raised, I raised, he raised – never one to holler whoa in a horse race, I raised until I was all-in, he was right there with me. He turned over Q-J. I stacked the pot and looked at a few more hands until my blind hit…out the door. Woops! I drew out again…I was damn lucky that Queen came on the Turn. Don’t I know it! Sometimes the best hand holds up…er…ah…draws out!
Aside from poker, I love this beauty – provided by Hubble – The Orion Nebula.
