Pigskin and Poker

Sunday was a busy day in Las Vegas as more than 30,000 runners took part in the LV Marathon up and down the Strip. It's a huge fun race and its importance can be measured by the fact that they close traffic on the Strip between 6 a.m. and roughly noon.

Among the runners were a number of Elvises and brides and grooms. About 60 of the runners stopped between the two and three mile mark to take part in a Marathon Wedding ceremony that was set up at the Venetian. Many of the runner-brides were wearing veils as they entered the marathon of matrimony. Then they ran on...

Since the Strip was blocked off, I made a run back to Wal-Mart where Helen had a few items that she wanted. Since I couldn't easily get to the Strip for the 10a.m football games, I headed to the Suncoast to get down a bet or two. Also heard from my friend Terry who had me make an 8-team parlay bet for him that would have paid more than $3000 if it hit. It didn't.

I played a 6-team moneyline parlay that lost when the Raiders stunned SD. But I did have a winner with a Packers-Niners over 41 bet. So I actually made $25 in fb betting. While at the Suncoast, I also played a little blackjack, winning $35.

But I was looking for poker action, so I headed to Ballys, arriving shortly after noon. Early on I won a couple of pots in the 1-2 no limit game and was looking forward to another winning session. But things changed quickly and my good cards started getting beaten by slightly better hands. Having 2nd best hands is a sure recipe for losing in poker.

One of my worst hands came when I got dealt K-K with the button. With 7 other players already in the pot, I raised it $20, hoping to knock out most of the limpers and protect my Kings against an Ace on the flop. My plan worked and I got only two callers. The flop came 10-3-4. I bet $30 hoping to take the pot down right there. To my surprise, one guy went All-In for about $170.

Here's where I made a mistake. I thought he might have A-10 or A-2. So I called, shoving in my last $80 or so. He showed 3-4 for two pair. I needed a third king or the board to pair the 10, but no help on the turn or river. That ended my session - lost my $100 buy in.

So for the day gambling, I lost $40 and was kicking myself for making the bad play. But you can't dwell on that. Today is another day.

On the way home, I stopped by Capriotti's sandwich shop for a couple of 12-inch sub sandwiches. A Cole Turkey (turkey, cole slaw and cheese) for Helen and a Caprastrami (pastrami, slaw and cheese) for me. We each ate half and will finish those tasty beauties up today.

Helen kept busy skyping with Anna, doing some laundry and straigtening up the apartment. Niece Katie called last night and it was great to hear from her. She's finishing up classes at NMC this week with finals coming next week. Helen and I watched "David Copperfield" (The Dickens story, not the magician) on PBS last night, then fell asleep.

Today I was going to take Helen to the Bellagio to check out the Conservatory's Christmas display, but she's planning a mega-phone call with her friend Gail today so the B will have to wait til tomorrow. We've been here almost a week and Helen hasn't been to the Strip yet, so we gotta get her down there soon. I'll probably be back at the poker table today where, I'm sure, the adventure will continue...