Monte Carlo Monday

On Monday I visited the poker room at the Monte Carlo, one of the nicest rooms on the Strip. It's done in tones of brown and beige, with comfortable chairs and nice tables that seat 9 players. Some poker tables seat 10, which is a little too crowded for my taste.

Anyway, I waited about 20 minutes, killing time on a 100-play 1-cent poker machine that my friend Terry and I played last year (cashed out 12 cents up), until they got a $1-2 no limit game going with 6 players. Soon the table filled up. I was lucky enough to win a couple of small pots early, getting up about $50 after 15 minutes. It was a portent of things to come.

This turned out to be one of the best (luckiest) poker runs I have ever had. Over the next four hours, I had A-K six times, K-K twice, Q-Q once and several other pairs. After about 90 minutes, I was up about $325 when the BIG hand of the day developed.

I was dealt Q-J of hearts and called the $2 blind. There were 6 of us who saw the flop of A-K-10 of mixed suits. I had flopped an A-10 straight, called Broadway!! The first player, a 60-ish local wearing an Orleans jacket and a Mandalay Bay ball cap, bet $25, causing four others to fold around to me. I called his $25, thinking that a raise might scare him away. The turn card was a 7 and the first guy bet $50. Again I called. The river was a 4.

There were no flush possibilities and I knew I had the highest straight, so it was just a matter of trying to get the most cash out of my opponent. He aggressively shoved out $100 and I (fake) thought about it, all the while giggling inside. I hemmed and hawed and raised him to $200. He didn't have the other $100, but went all in for about $70. I showed the straight and he flung his pocket 10s into the middle of the table.

He had flopped a set and was behind from the start!!

He didn't rebuy and stormed away muttering.

That hand put me up about $650 and I was rolling. The whole table was very reluctant to get into big hands with me. I lost a few small hands, then cashed out at 3 p.m. with a profit of $625 - my best poker day of the trip and one of the best in the past two years.

Before heading home I had a slice of pizza and a drink at Sbarro's in the MC food court. I called Helen to share the good news. Leaving the Strip was tedious. Rain and heavy traffic slowed my trip home and along the way I stopped at the Middle Eastern Market for fresh pita bread, hummus, tabouli and lebne. It's one of Helen's favorite dinners and one we have at least once a week.

The evening was relaxing, just watching TV and catching up on emails. Today I have a couple of errands to take care of - a trip to the dreaded LV post office to mail shoes to Katie and gassing/washing the car. Probably play somewhere today too as our LV adventure continues...