Poker has been a roller coaster ride over the past few days. On Sunday, I played at Caesars Palace and did really well, winning $402 in about two hours. I was making hand after hand and the chips just kept piling up. I was seated between a loudmouth Australian from Perth and a woman from Chicago. She was quiet and friendly, but the Aussie was a pain. His only redeeming quality was his ability to call every bet I made. I took several pots from him.
To celebrate, I stopped by the Ghiradelli chocolate store and bought a bag of 80 little squares that Helen and I enjoy. They've raised the price from $27 to $30, but it's still a treat when enjoy when poker is going our way.
But things changed and the poker gods frowned on me on both Monday and Tuesday. I played both days at Ballys. While on Sunday I got plenty of good starting cards, it was just the opposite on Monday. In two hours of play, I never had more than two pair- no trips, no straights, no flushes and certainly no full houses. It was pretty impressive that I ended up losing only $30 or so.
On Tuesday I was back at Ballys, hoping to change my poker fortunes. But all I did was drop another $100 over four hours. I had several good hands, but they didn't hold up. My pocket AA lost to a straight, and twice my KK lost. On one of those hands I was up against a player who had only $40 left and went all in. I called and we showed our hands. He had Q-J against my K-K and I was feeling pretty good until the flop came J-J-4. As if that wasn't bad enough, the turns was another J! It was that kind of day.
Tuesday was a bit of reunion as I played against an old nemesis, Leo. He's an irascible regular at Ballys and is usually grumpy, even demeaning, when you take his chips. We didn't clash yesterday, but he had a great story to share. Last weekend he played in a Senior Event of the World Series of Poker. It was a $250 buy-in and darned if he didn't win the tourney which had more than 200 entries. He won $13,000 and a ring. He admitted being very nervous when it got to the final four players. His winning hand of A-9 beat out A-J when a 9 hit the flop and the other guy never improved his hand.
Leo never says hello to me, even when I nod in his direction. I wasn't sure if he remembered me or not, but learned differently when I saw him nod toward me and tell another player,"That guys been beating me for the last two years."
Walking from the poker room to the parking deck, I stopped by a blackjack table and squeezed out an $80 win in about 20 minutes. So for the day I only dropped $20.
Sometimes when the poker gods are not in your corner, the bj deities have your back, I guess. And so our adventure continues...
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