One of the biggest perks to not being owned by a publication/editor, is being able to write freely and on any topic (the beauty of the blog blooms even bigger) without someone cutting your words or telling you that you are off topic. Of course the biggest perk of all is knowing that people read you. That’s why we do it…right? Add that some of us do it in a drunken stupor or as therapy and that pretty much sums it up – for me anyway. Another giant perk is that people that read you go out of their way to meet you. That’s where this is going…to all of those people that have made it a point to come in to Bellagio and seek me out, shake my hand, ask for an autograph, have their picture taken with me, and share a glimpse of each other’s lives for a short window in time, and I usually force them to give me a hug before they leave my presence – because I love them for making the effort to be here.
Some of those people:
Last week I received an email from Jeff Hood, University of Arkansas, Sam M. Walton School of Business, he and his wife Sarah were coming in to town and would love to meet me. We exchanged a few emails and phone numbers and sure enough, they came in on Wednesday night, just as I was getting ready to plant my tush in a $4-8H game. We had a few minutes to sit and chat. Marie was already in a game and I badgered her into coming over and taking pictures of us.
Marie has a thing with electronic gadgets, she hates them. I keep telling her it’s so easy…’push the button’. The first few shots she took – my fault entirely – the flash didn’t go off. I took the camera, looked at it, set the flash to on, and took her picture. I know she won’t like this one but she never likes any of them. I like it! I love her!
This is one of me and ‘da hoods’. Just kidding, they are both sincerely warm, genuine, and an extremely great looking couple. They promised to ‘hunt’ (yes, those were Jeff’s words) me down, the next time they came to Vegas. And I promised that if/when I make the road trips that my heart is longing to make, I will trek thru their region and visit them. I told them they had toshare a meal when I made it…they enthusiastically complied. Here they are:
My seat had opened in a game, Sarah and Jeff were leaving for Mystere at Treasure Island, and we said our goodbyes. Great meeting both of you! And yes, that ugly of all uglies was in the room…remember the one I said I would point out to you? I ran right into him shortly after you left. From the beauty to the beast. *scream*
I got into a game and Marie and I both were on the transfer list to move to each other’s game. A seat opened next to her and I packed up and shipped my chips over to her table. Marie and I were the only locals. I had dealt to/played card with the 4s a few times but she wasn’t local. The 5 and 7s were both male, young, European and carrying on conversations in another language until the 4s complained to the dealer. The 5s had a chunk of chips in front of him and racked up shortly after that. The 7s was on a hell bent mission to go broke, raising with ATC.
After a few orbits of the table, I picked up A-Q off, and raised the 7s’s BB. Several callers between me and the 3s – he raised. It went to $12 before the flop with six players (I think, possibly 7). The flop brought three diamonds, K-J-little, the 7s bet, I called (Queen D in my hand), call, call, and the 3s raised. The 7s raised, we all called, the 3s raised, all the raises were in. The turn was a blank, the 7s bet, I called. I think we lost all the hitchhikers at this point, the 3s raised, the 7s ended up going all-in, and we had a side pot of around $8 – but who can remember all this crap. The river brought a diamond, I checked, the 3s checked, and the 7s turned over two small diamonds. The 3s held K-K, and I won all pots with the Queen of diamonds. Good for me…damnit!
The 7s left us, the game got much quieter. People left, a few came in, the 8s opened and the 3s moved in to it. The game was so quiet that we had plenty of time to talk. He asked about the room, the high limit games, the action, the town and game play, etc. He also asked who Bobby’s Room was named after and I told him. He said he thought it was Bobby Baldwin but wasn’t sure. I told him that Bobby used to be president of Bellagio but was now moving over to manage Project City Center.
That started another thread, “What is it? A casino?”
I pulled out one of my cards and told him to visit my blog and check out the Project City Center category, pictures there from the beginning of ground breaking. He went into a huge, genuinely nice for me, surprised rant, “OMG! That’s you?”
That was just the beginning. We chatted off and on over the next hour. Why the hell I didn’t take his picture is beyond me. He figures to be here for a bit (from Canada) so I believe I will have another opportunity. Nice to meet you too, Darryl!
The game had lost its luster for me. I’d played about three and a half hours, managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, and my little coach, out on the blacktop in the desert, was calling me. G’nite Marie. G’nite Darryl. G’nite Vegas.