What a wonderful Sunday it is! It's still a little cool outside (mid 60's), but it's sunny and beautiful here. Of course, I'm still in bed, having not made it home until around six o'clock this morning. But the weather window next to my bed is open, and I can kinda sorta see/experience the nice day that's waiting just outside my room.
Last night was another great one. Well, sorta great. Just as I was finishing up that last epic post, my phone rang. It was my sister Cyndi, calling from the party in Tennessee--the entire family was there, except for me, so they passed the phone around for about a half an hour and I talked to everyone. On the good news front, Tim proposed last night, so Cyndi will be getting married again! I guess I'll make it to that party, now that I've got a little lead-time to prepare for it. But congrats to them!
After the phone call, I got dressed and then I went down to the poker room around 8 pm. But there was a long waiting list, but not quite long enough to start a new game, so I took off and got some dinner (Just a basket of popcorn shrimp with some spicy Thai peanut sauce). When I got back, I got into an 'unbeatable' game, so I asked for a table change to the game with all the tourists.
I finally got over there, and played for about an hour and a half, and was up about $75 when the floorman told me that he'd need me to work if a game didn't break. The room was still going strong, but I was at such a fun table that I didn't want to work! But I had a shirt in my truck, so I colored up and helped out. When I was cashing out, the floorman said But at least now you'll be making *guaranteed* money, like he was doing me a favor for taking me out of the game.
I gave the cashier a look that said Is he serious? and the cashier laughed and said to the floorman, I think he was already making guaranteed money! We got a chuckle, but as I was walking out to my truck to fetch my shirt, I realized that my outlook has changed--I now treat that night game as guaranteed income. I totally *knew* I'd clean up that game, there was no doubt in my mind, and I didn't really want to get up and go to work. How odd is that? Two months ago, I'd kill for a Saturday night shift, but at that moment, I knew with 100% certainty that I'd make more money playing. Quite a shift in perception.
Anyhow, I came changed, punched the clock, and sat back down to deal at another table, but that game only lasted about twenty minutes. As I was closing down the table, I looked around to see if they still needed me. The cashier asked if I wanted to get back onto the waiting list to get the game I had been playing in (that table was full again), and of course I said yes! But I was still working and just about to push into that game to deal.
The floorman wanted me to stay around (he was still nervous that he'd be short of dealers later), but then he realized that he was good for the next two hours and that I really didn't want to work that night, so they let me clock back out after just a half hour. Yep, I dealt for basically twenty minutes, made $15 in tips, and then got back into my street clothes.
While I was waiting, I got an interesting sales pitch. Remember how I mentioned my buddy who turned a $40 buy-in into $1500 the other night? Well, he's a semi-pro player... Actually, that's all he does is play cards, so I guess you could say he's technically a pro--he doesn't have a job. Anyhow, I know that he makes his living playing poker, and we've known each other for awhile. So he asked me if I wanted to join him and another guy on a 'team'--they lost their third person and needed a replacement.
Here's what they do--They had been playing in middle-limit Sit-n-Go's down in the tourist rooms on the Strip. All three of them would buy into the same ten-seat tournament, cut it up, and then chop the money three ways. It's not exactly collusion, but it's more like the 'regulars game' in Rounders where the Atlantic City tourists just had no shot. Last year, during the Series, I played in a couple of those, and did quite well on my own, so I *know* that if I had two buddies in there, it would not-quite guaranteed money, but close enough. Besides, I know for a fact that my game has improved about a thousand percent since last summer, so I may give it a shot during the World Series, just because there is so much dead money in town.
Anyhow, that was the pitch, and it sounds like a pretty good deal, so I may join them.
Eventually, I got back into the game, and it was just as fun and profitable as it had been earlier, and there were a lot of laughs and silliness going on. Even if I were losing, I wouldn't have wanted to leave the table--we had the perfect mix of fun personalities going, and it was one of those poker games that you wish would go all night.
Sitting on my right was a little cutie visiting from Tuscon, and she'd never played before, so between hands, I was giving her hints and tips. She was just kinda of floating along, but losing a bit, so I gave her twenty bucks to remain in the game. A little while later, she raked a huge pot and got a lot less nervous. After that, I think I created a monster--she said she's coming back again tonight. Anyhow, she eventually cashed out with a profit and gave me my twenty bucks back, and sometime around 3:30 or so, my buddy Joey said those magical words:
Hey man, you hungry?
That's code for 'Lets color up and go over to Sierra Gold.'
So we called it a night and then headed over to the pub. I think I ended my night up $95 from the game, and a few more bucks in tips, but then I gave a twenty to the triple-play machine while waiting for my baked mozzarella.
Our post-game meal was great, as usual, and one of the other dealers joined us a few minutes later. I was much too tired to hang out all morning, so I basically rolled out as soon as I finished up my panini.
I puttered around for a bit here at the house, and talked to Mamasan early this morning--they were getting ready to go out to breakfast back there, but I got the whole rundown on the weekend's antics. It would've been much better to have been there participating, but I had a pretty good weekend here, too.
Eventually, I went to sleep, but I wanted to get up and watch the Nascar race a few hours later. You see, my buddy James has carved himself out quite a profitable niche betting on the Sprint Cup races, and he's been making a small fortune beating the handicappers in the sports book with his driver-vs-driver picks. He studies the sport just as much as the old men in the race book do with the horses, and he's been *killing* it almost every week.
Since I've been running hot at the poker tables, I gave him $40 the other day and told him to get me in on whatever he bets for today's race down in Texas. I got a text message this morning, telling me that we had a 'three team parlay'--with Jimmie Johnson over Kyle Busch, Dale Jr over Kevin Harvick, and Tony Stewart over Kurt Busch.
If any of you watched the race, you'll see that we won it. About two minutes after the race concluded, he sent me another text that said I have $240 for you!
Oh hell yeah--that makes the weekend even sweeter. I asked him how much he made, since I knew he'd bet heavier, and he told me that he won $1100. Nice!
So that's how my day has gone so far, and now I'm just gonna relax for awhile--I've got a couple of shifts ahead of me, so I'm gonna lay low for a couple of days.
Mikey
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