I think it's the "Black Stallion". It could just as easily be the "Cheese Factory" or the "Hamburger Room". I have no part in these silly nicknames and so I never remember them. Nonetheless, I finished up pretty huge last night.
Plus, at some point below, I'll get to the bottom of this little gem from the comments to my "Hooker" post, "you've been tagged."
Lately, the Thursday game's been my favorite. My work schedule is Saturday to Wednesday, so Thursday is the best part of the weekend. Plus, I usually win there, which is nice.
The room has 3 tables, but I've only played on 2. The main game is in what would have been the living room if this was a real, functioning, house. A plasma TV hangs from one wall. There's a piano in the hallway.
I called Blood to get him to reserve a seat for me in that room but he and Mark we late. I got the last seat at an incredible game.
1s: Dudley Overalls (who just won the jackpot there a week ago, Later, Buddha)
2s: Tighty McTightbox (I called ONE preflop raise from him all night)
3s: G-Rob (I love this guy)
4s: Tilty McDrunkerson (Later replaced by Drunky McMoredrukerson)
5s: Solid aggressive guy
6s: Steve Shortbuy (bought in for $40... 15 times)
7s: Dave Drawsky (will call any bet anywhere with a draw. Later MarkySals)
8s: Loose guy (Later different loose guy)
9s: Unabomber wannabe (Later Father Christmas)
10s: Unhappy Pappy (Later Unabomber Wannabe)
Got it?
Good.
This is important because, for most of the night, this is the single best table of all time.
I bought in for $300 at first. I lost it in an orbit. Most of it with Jh9h. I was on the button and called a raise to $15. The flop is J, 10, 3 with 1 heart and it's checked to me. Because there are 3 of us to the flop, I bet $40. Only the preflop raiser in EP calls. The turn is a 9 and I'm sure I'm good.
EP checks and I bet $75. He pushes for another $30. I call. He has the nuts.
Nuts indeed.
So, after tilting off the rest of THAT buyin, I rebought for $500. I'm not a big chronological order kinda guy (EAT THAT SLOW MARCH TO DEATH HANDS OF TIME) so here are some of the biggest hands... such as....
Father Christmas sits down and everyone says "Oh boy look out this GUY IS CRAZY!"
He's determined to prove them right. He's been playing O8 at the mysterious 3rd table and brought about $600 over with him. I start in immediately.
"You know, people say you're nuts."
"I am," he says, "I'll play for this whole stack."
"Well, a real man makes it $75 blind. Especially from the 9 seat. But you're not crazy. You're weak. Go on, make it $75."
Father Christmas tosses 3 green chips, $75, into the pot.
I slowly look down and find a King, and hey what's that, another King. I raise.
$375 to go.
Now two short stacks in EP decide THEY want to play too. And Father Christmas? He just calls.
The flop is 7,7,5 rainbow. I have visions of this guy holding 73o, but when he checks... I push.
He calls, and tables KJo.
I won.
Lord I love poker sometimes.
Buddha made a really good fold a few hands earlier. He'd taken the 1 seat after I stacked Dudley Overalls. I straddled and caught AKh. After bumping it to $25 only Dudley called. The flop is K, J, 2 and Dudley went all in with J7. He lost.
So, on Buddha's first hand there are 2 limpers to me, and I make it $20 with JJ. The BB calls and so does Buddha in the 1 seat. The flop is A,J,9 with 2 hearts. BB makes it $25 and Buddha calls. I hate those draws and raise another $50. BB calls.
Buddha folds what he later claims is J9. If that's the case, he made a very good fold.
The turn is a King and that's one of the kooky gutty draws that's been killing me lately. BB checks and I bet $125. He calls.
I push in the dark (he only has $25 left). The river? Q of hearts.
Fuck.
He calls and shows A9. Yeesh.
I'd built that $500 into $2255. I decided to call it a night.
SO ABOUT THIS "TAGGING" BUSINESS
The most popular "bitch" in G-Vegas has one of these silly blog question things a-going and I'm game for it I suppose.
7 THINGS YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME (AND FOR GOOD REASON)
1. The one thing I can't drink is Scotch. In high school my best friend Jay moved to Chicago after his Junior year. When he graduated I flew up there with our friend Beth Ann and we hit the town. Chicago didn't bother to ask for ID so I remember drinking "Old Styles" in some crappy blues bar all night. Then, when we got back, the only thing in the house was his stepdad's Scotch. To this day, if someone 10 feet away is drinking the stuff, the smell will make my stomach turn. Bad times. Bad Times.
2. Once, a moose shit on my head. I actually told this as a bedtime story to my older daughter the other day. I didn't use the word shit. But I was camping alone in Montana and heard some rustling late at night. When I flipped on the flashlight a startled moose ran past. Only the next morning did I discover just how scared that moose was.
3. I once flew to Amsterdam for a week after seeing an ad in "High Times." My college buddies and my then-future wife drove straight to the travel agent and booked round trip flights. We arrived a few weeks later with a few hundred bucks a piece and no plans at all. Ask me to show you pictures sometime. That was back in my very long ponytail days.
4. I got into TV by taking 3 newspaper stories in Chattanooga and faking coverage of them with a wedding photographer and a former TV news director. When I got my first reporting job I'd never been inside a TV station. I'm still not entirely qualified for my job. Luckily, my boss couldn't care less about qualifications. It's a necktie thing.
5. I don't use pot odds much. I do use implied odds, but I rarely do any math when I'm playing poker. I'm not what you'd call... um... good at poker. You already knew this one but I'm struggling to think of 7 things.
6. I've crashed 5 different cars. A VW Jetta, Toyota Camry, Corolla and Tercel, and a car I borrowed from this girl during an ice storm in college. The Jetta wasn't my fault, we got rear-ended on a highway on ramp. The guy didn't have insurance. The Tercel wasn't my fault. A guy from Louisiana ran a red light and hit me in Lexington. The Girl-in-college's car wasn't my fault either, this Chinese national had stalled out in the middle of the road, blocking all the lanes, and I crushed his car. He then fled back to China without paying. The girl never talked to me again. The Corolla and the Camry were all my fault. I actually crashed the Corolla twice.
7. I've had knee surgery 3 times. Twice during high school, one on each knee, and then again a few years ago. After the first my dad asked the doctor, "Will he be able to play basketball after this?" The doctor said yes. "Good," said my smartass dad, "He could never play before."
NOW I'LL TAG A FEW MORE:
George W. Bush
Chuck Norris
Pacman Jones
Have a nice day.