Friday and Saturday - A Push

Didn't mean to fall behind in the blogging, but I need to catch up Friday and Saturday in this one entry.

Friday saw me park at Bally's then head to Planet Hollywood for some poker. I arrived around 11 a.m. and got seated at a shiny new $1-2 no limit game that was just opening. Things did not go well. I got very few good starting hands and when I did, they seemed to fall short on the turn or river. My best hand, a flush, got beaten by a higher flush. My pair of Qs got edged on the river by an Ace. Things like that. But that's poker. Anyway, I left down $140 for the day.

For those watching our diet, dinner was a Middle Eastern feast with hummus, fresh pita bread, kalamati olives, tabouli and lebne. Dessert was a fist full of Ghiradelli chocolate squares - Man, those babies are addictive!

Niece Katie called last night and it was great to catch up with her. She'll be coming out here on Feb. 18 for an open end visit. Can't wait to show her the sites.

This morning I had to stop by Wal-Mart to pick up a few items and Helen's prescription, before going down to the Monte Carlo poker room. I parked at the MC and walked to Planet Hollywood to cash a hoops ticket. The walk was made MUCH longer by the construction of City Center along the west side of the Strip. They have the sidewalk blocked, so what used to be a straight walk down the Strip is now a meandering hike up steps, across walkways, and back down steps - all outside the City Center. Man what a hassle!!!

After cashing the ticket, I returned to the MC and got a seat at a $1-2 no limit game. It was up and down from the get go. Aggressive play with only average cards enabled me to get up $60-70 early, but then a L-O-O-O-N-G dry spell saw my pile melt back to about even.

Things looked better when I glanced at my hand and found A-A looking back at me. I bet $15 and got one caller. The flop was 3-9-J of mixed suits and I tossed out $25. The guy called. The turn was a Q and I bet another $25, hoping he had something like K-Q. Anyway, he went all in for $25. He showed his Q-Q, giving him a set and my only hope was to snag one of the two remaining Aces. No luck...

I had told Helen I would be home about 5, but when the time to leave came I was down about $60, so I called and pushed back my departure by an hour. I was hoping I could hit a hand or two to at least get back to even. My plan worked perfectly when I looked down and again saw A-A looking back at me.

This time, I was REALLY aggressive. I was in late position and an early raiser bet $15 and got four callers. I had about $75 left and went ALL IN. Two guys called, one had K-K and the other had 10-10. My Aces held up and the pot was over $200. When the dust settled, I had posted a hard-earned profit of $142 - two dollars more than I had lost on Friday, LOL!

I called Helen and we decided to celebrate with a take-out dinner of sandwiches from Jason's Deli, a national chain with a store only a mile or so from our apartment. I went for the "New York Yankees" pastrami on rye, while Helen opted for the "California Club." Both are hefty sandwiches in true deli tradition.

Now we're just relaxing after dinner with a little TV, but tomorrow our adventure continues.
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