Gettin' Lucky In Hendertucky!

How lucky can one guy be? I kissed her and she kissed me...

I have to admit, the past 18 hours or so have been pretty good to me. Let's see... How did it start?

Oh yeah. I was kickin' around the house, hanging pictures on the wall, cleaning the kitchen, stuff like that, when my phone started ringing. A couple of my gals desired my company last night, so we made plans to meet up in the poker room a couple hours later. I finished off a few of my projects, took a shower, made myself pretty, and rolled down to the casino around 8:30 or so.

The poker room was pretty damn busy--that Bad Beat jackpot is down to four-of-a-kind Fours getting beat, so that creates a lot of action. Even though my gal Sheena was already in a game, I couldn't get a seat at her table. I had to wait for them to start a new game. About a half hour later, the waiting list had grown large enough to open up another table, so I finally got a seat. It wasn't the best table in the world--lots of tight players just sitting there grinding away, slow playing, hoping that they wouldn't have to actually spend any money while they waited for the Bad Beat to hit.

So I asked for a table change, and was able to move to a better game. Also, I was able to sit next to one of my other gals, Laura, who's a cocktail waitress down at the double Circus. We had lots of fun, but I just couldn't get a hand to stand up. Once my initial hundred-dollar buy in was ground down to about forty bucks, I bought another twenty, just in case I caught a big hand. Still, nothing held up for me--either that, or I'd just completely whiff on the flop. While sitting there, at least I was having a good time. My gal Hailey showed up a little while later and got a seat at my table, too, so even though I wasn't catching *any* cards, I was having a great time laughing it up with a few of my favorite gals.

Since we couldn't win any hands, we decided to order some free grub for dinner--I'd had a plate of leftover spaghetti earlier that morning, but almost twelve hours had passed by then. So we called up room service and had them deliver a chicken quesadilla and dozen hot wings. That created the domino effect once it was delivered, because the food smelled so good that everyone else at the table suddenly had the munchies. For awhile there, our game was more of a dinner table than a poker table.

Even though I was stuck somewhere north of fifty bucks for most of the evening, eventually I caught a couple of Aces in the pocket. It was a Kill Pot at the time, so I made it nine bucks to go. I got six callers!

Shiat.

I *knew* there was no way I was gonna survive that onslaught, but I bet out anyways, thinking I might chase some people off. If not, I might as well go down in flames. I thought I was in trouble when the flop came out all raggedy and I still got raised, thinking somebody had trips. I was short-stacked anyways, so I went ahead and got all my chips in the pot.

Miraculously, even after all the betting and raising going on with four players at the showdown, my Aces held up, and I raked a HUGE pot, taking me from the felt to just above even for the night! Gotta love that!

A few hands later, my gal Sheena and I got involved in a pot--I had Ace-Nine, and the flop came out Nine-Four-Nine. She bet, I raised, she re-raised, I called. Turn was a rag, I bet, she raised all-in, I called. The river brought the case Nine, giving me four of a kind, but she had pocket Fours, having my ass beat with a full-boat right up until I caught the miracle case Nine on the river.

Even though I knocked her out, there were no hard feelings--she still gave me a goodnight kiss before heading home. That brought a laugh when one of the other guys at the table spoke up and said Damn Mikey, how the hell did you pull that off? Not only do you knock out the cutest gal in the room with an awful suckout, but then she kisses you afterwards??? You've got some lucky mojo going tonight, my friend!

Heh. Maybe I did. But I'll take it!

As the night wore on, players started dropping off. I wanted to go home, knowing that I had to work at 11:00 am this morning. But I just couldn't get over the break-even hump. Not only that, I was getting pretty damn bored--there was one guy at the table who was exasperatingly slow--every time it was his turn, he didn't know how much to bet, he took forever to make up his mind, he was just a pain in the ass. Even the dealer was getting pissed off at him. Not only that, he was one of these moronic twenty-somethings that never shuts up about every hand, and he wasn't coordinated enough to talk and play at the same time, so it was truly a grind. Luckily, I had my iPod and just tuned him out and ignored him, even though he tried to engage me in conversation a few times.

It got so bad that I could see the dealer getting visibly frustrated, and all of the other players started grumbling under their breath. So one time while we were enduring the human rain delay, I finally spoke up and said Dude--just ONE time, could you please be ready to act when it's your turn? Just once???

I didn't hear his reply--I put my earphones back in and turned up my music, staring straight through him nonresponsively as he started talking in my direction.

Luckily, I got a hand a few minutes later and snapped him off. I had some kind of raggedly and low suited cards--I think it might've been the 7-3 of hearts. It was his big blind, so I raised it, just to irritate him. I think there were a couple of callers, and he re-raised. Of course I called, like a donkey, but I was ready to go by then--it was late, I was just about even, and I'd had just about enough of him.

But the flop came out King-Six-Deuce, all hearts, giving me the flush. He bet out, I raised, everyone else dropped out. He re-raised and I called, hoping that I didn't just donkey off a bunch of chips to a bigger flush. The turn was a rag, but he checked. By the look on his face, I didn't really fear a check-raise, so I bet. He snap called. The river was another rag, and he checked again. At that point, I knew my flush was good. I bet, and he *almost* folded a couple of times, but then at the last minute decided to raise. I knew beyond a doubt that I was good, so I raised him. He sat there thinking about it for what seemed like forever, and finally called.

I turned over the Flush, and it took him a second, but he showed King-Six of diamonds, having flopped two-pair. Sorry, chump.

I saw a bunch of grins on the faces of the rest of the players, because that beatdown left him extremely short-stacked--he had one more hand in him at the most. On the other hand, I took enough of his money that I was actually up $80 for the night, so I immediately racked up and said goodnight. I wasn't gonna give the guy one chance to win his money back.

Heh. That last hand felt really good. In the poker world, there aren't many things more enjoyable than beating the snot out of the most annoying person at the table.

I came home, exhausted, and collapsed into bed, setting my alarm for 9:30 in the morning.

Damn I hate working day shift.

Funny thing was, I woke up about a half hour before the alarm went off. So I made a pot of coffee, and kicked off my day with some English muffins and websurfing.

When I got to work at 11:00, it was another one of those overcrowded mornings--there was one game going, five names on the waiting list, but six dealers altogether. The floorman had to send somebody home. I immediately volunteered because 1) I was still kinda tired and dayshift is a grind, and 2) I knew that if I didn't work in the morning, there was a chance I could get called in later tonight and make some real money--that Bad Beat is gonna bring in the crowds.

So I didn't even clock in--I took off the work shirt, but sat down at the second table and bought a rack of chips. I figured, well, since I'm here, I might as well play a little bit, just in case...

The morning game is quite a bit tighter than the night games are, but you gotta be careful on how loose you can play. Besides, there was one 'loose cannon' in the game already--raising with any face card when he was in late position.

It was an enjoyable game though--I had a lot of fun dealing to a bunch of the old guys I hardly ever see anymore, and even though it's kinda tight, it's still a nice social way to spend a few hours. And then, Deja Vu struck.

There it was, another kill pot, and I had the button. I looked down to see pocket Aces. There were a bunch of limpers, and of course I raised it to $9 to go. I got six callers, again.

Shiat.

Before the flop came out, I announced, Well, I know I'm beat--I can't hold off six of ya! But everyone checked to me, and I bet $6. That eliminated half the field, and I thought my chances started to improve. The turn and river were all rags, and even though I bet another $24 into the pot, I got a couple of callers to go with me. I showed the Aces, and they both mucked their hands, so I dragged another nice pot, amazed that Aces held up both times against so many callers. I don't know if that was luck, or it was just the law of averages evening out against all those times I've been cracked, but I'll certainly take it! Talk about a huge sigh of relief when that hand was over...

A few hands later, I dragged another monster pot when I held the stone-cold nuts of a full-house and a guy re-raised me on the river. I loved that. He had three nines with an Ace kicker, but I had nine-five suited from the blinds and flopped three nines (as did he), but then I made my boat on the turn. I let him build the pot for me, but there were no straights or flushes out there, so he had to figure his top set was good, so I loved loved loved the lucky turn card and his re-raise on the river.

Once I got my chips all stacked up, I saw that I was up $120 for the session--and I'd only been there for two hours. Sure beats the hell out of working. Had I stayed, I would've gotten sent home by 3:00 anyways, so luckily I made more money by *not* working. I tipped the dealer five bucks, and the same to the floorman, took my winnings, and headed for the door.

I stopped at Target on the way home, looking for kitchen gadgets or a decent five-shelf bookcase, but finding nothing I needed but a box of Brita water filters, I got out of there for less than twenty bucks.

My plan this afternoon is to chill out for awhile, get some rest, and wait for the phone to ring. I'm *sure* my gal Sheena will call--she does every day. And I'll go and meet her for an evening of poker and buffoonery. But I'll wear a pair of Dockers and nice shirt this time, and I won't be drinking, either. And I've got a spare work shirt in my truck. I got a feeling that it's gonna be busy tonight, and if I can pick up another late swing shift, I'll definitely take it.

Mikey