Quote:
Originally Posted by jcorb
when you are almost 60, spare underwear in your daypack is common.
I feel like that's solid advice for anyone.
I know this thread was supposed to die, but I actually found a bit of time to play some cards last night so I wanted to pop in with a small-ish update from this weekend.
Friday night, I had tickets to see a couple of bands at the Brooklyn Bowl down in the Linq Promenade. I was meeting the wife there, but arrived well before she did so I had some time to spare. I swung by the old Linq poker room and shed a single tear like Iron Eyes Cody. I really do miss that 1/1 game. The 1/1 PLO game that had moved to Harrah's is now on the board at the Flamingo poker room, but I haven't been checking in enough to see if it fires. Anyone else know? I'm not sure.
In a previous post, I had referred to Guy Fieri as Las Vegas' second biggest mistake. But when you're at the Linq and it's dinner time, why not try the Guy Fieri restaurant, right? Right? .... guys? The wife and I just wanted to experience what a disaster it was going to be. I only took pictures of the food, but please trust me when I say that this place is everything you'd expect from a Fieri establishment, for better or worse. The menus were written as if the "G" key was broken, as in "Kickin'!" and "Screamin'!" and other adjectives used to describe our glorious leader's dates. The hostesses and waitresses were in short short short tight tight tight denim skirts/dresses. The decor was actually tamer than anticipated, but we were also sitting outside in that little courtyard between the Linq and Harrah's. Maybe the inside was worse. My wife got some crazy**** salad with prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella:
I got a burger with mac n cheese and bacon:
... and it was so ****ing good I wanted to cry. I don't even know what exactly made them so good, but both of us devoured these with the wrath of a thousand starving fatsos. This isn't the cheapest place on the strip ($48 for just my burger, her salad, tax and tip - we both did waters and no app. or dessert), but I might have to try another one of this guy's restaurants soon.
We made our way over to the Brooklyn Bowl for the show. I forgot how vastly different the crowd is at 18+ shows vs. all ages vs. 21+. You wouldn't think it would make that much of a difference, but it really does. Back in my previous life, I always tried to avoid playing age-restricted shows since it felt elitist. Plus I wanted that younger element to bring the energy and life when the crowd wasn't a sellout and had the potential of being dead. That attitude changed drastically when I realized that young people are super annoying and I AM elitist. I guess that comes with growing up. As for this show, I had a goddamn blast:
The Brooklyn Bowl is probably the best venue in town right now (as it should be, being so new). The hassle of getting to the House of Blues kinda sucks, plus the floor configuration is weird. The Double Down Saloon is the type of place where I feel most at home, but it's so cliquish and ****ty sometimes. Brooklyn Bowl is run well, has a good floor setup, doesn't feel like you're in some cavernous arena, but still has a great energy and sound system.
Saturday, I spent about nine hours doing homework, and I still didn't finish. This was one assignment for one class, and I literally had one answer that was "I have no idea what the hell any of this means". I realized today that I'm going to drop the class (that scary math one that I never should have taken in the first ****ing place). Live and learn, I guess.
Saturday night, I went up to Red Rock. I had no intention of playing poker. I was only going to sign up for the free football contest they run every year, and maybe sit in on some Pai Gow. I've never had a winning cash game session at Red Rock (though the sample size is really small) so poker wasn't even a consideration. I really just wanted to get out of the house. I enter the contest, check my comps, and wander around a bit. I decide to check the room to see if my wife's former co-worker is playing. I played with him at the Wynn when I went to visit my wife in Macau. He was recently fired so I thought he might be trying a new career at poker. I didn't see him but the floorman asked if I wanted to get in a game. I asked what the wait time was for 1/2 and he said I could grab a seat. Eh, what the hell. I won't have much more time this semester so I may as well take advantage of it. I check my wallet. I have $180 in twenties plus another $20 in small bills. I usually don't do the small bill buy-in of shame, but meh. Who cares? I was up and down a little bit at first. Lost a good chunk when I had AQhh, flop came two hearts, and I caught a Q on the river, only to lose to a flopped set. Managed to get a little back, and then... well...
There were two people giving away money like it was going out of style. One was an angry drunk who just kept punting stacks and losing flips. The other was an old man who just had no concept of bet sizing or when to slow down. And both of them bought in multiple times. The old man was on my immediate left, drunk was on his left.
I'm UTG with 88 and limp, knowing the drunk is going to raise. The old man makes it $15, and the drunk shoves for like $115. It folds to me and I shove over the top for protection, and the old man open-folds KTo. The board bricks out J-high, and my opponent shows absolute air. I take the pot, and I'm happy.
The old man raised the next hand from UTG to $15. It folds to a new player who just sat down who calls. An Asian guy goes all in for like $40. Old man goes all in over the top for about $120. New guy calls. Board runs out something like A25T6. Asian shows a set of deuces and wins the main pot. For the side pot, the new guy shows KQ for air. The old man lifts his cards and I see T8. He clearly has the winner of a really nice side pot... and he mucks.
The old man gets up to go to the ATM, and the dealer says he does that allllllllllllllllllllll the time, either at 1/2 or 2/5. He misreads hands, puts in money when he shouldn't, etc. Great for the game, so let's keep him around.
The old man buys back in and plays his first hand from UTG on my BB. He makes it $25 to go. It folds to the Asian on my right who calls. I see AJhh and call. Flop comes Q83hhx. Asian checks, I check, old man bets $70. Asian folds, and I think this guy probably has nothing, and I've got him covered so if I'm wrong I'm still in the game, **** it... all in. Old guy tanks for like 5 minutes and finally folds.
A solid player in seat 1 says "No offense, but I really wanted him to stack you right there. I think you can understand." I said I completely understand and would have 100% felt the same way if it had been him against the old man, not me. Sure enough, the very next hand, seat 1 gets it all in against the old man, and the old man hits a straight. We both had a good laugh about that one.
It's late and I'm tired. I'm up like $200 at this point and I think about calling it a night. "Eh, one more orbit", I tell myself. I need to stop listening to myself. I'm a terrible influence on me.
I'm UTG and see AQcc and make it $10. Angry drunk calls, solid player in seat 1 calls, both blinds call. Okay. Flop comes J98ccx. Iiiiiiiiiinteresting. It checks to me and I check because I'm terrible at poker. Angry drunk makes it $20. Seat 1 makes it $50. It folds to me. I honestly don't know what to do here. I've got about $350ish right now, and have both the drunk and seat 1 covered by about $100. Do I want to shove now? Do I raise? ****, I'm tired and kind of confused, so I call (which is probably the worst option since it basically shouts that I'm currently weak but not going anywhere).
Angry drunk starts ranting at seat 1. "You raised me? YOU raised me? You raised ME?! Fine, I'm all in! How you like that?" Seat 1 goes into the tank and starts muttering to himself. Drunk continues "Just fold, you ain't got a Jack, I know you don't. I'm way ahead here." Seat 1 says "This decision has absolutely nothing to do with you." I don't know what to make of it all, but I've got my mind made up that I'm never folding, regardless of what the action is. After what feels like an eternity, seat 1 calls and I insta-call. Seat 1 moans and says "Which one of you has the QT for the straight?" Neither me or the drunk answer. Turn is the Kc giving me the nut flush (and the royal re-draw). Drunk slams down KJo and says "I win!" Seat 1 says "You're behind". I flip my hand and say "You're both behind". Turn is a brick. Seat 1 shows 88 for flopped bottom set. I asked if he was seriously considering folding that on the flop and he said he was. The drunk's speech sounded more like a level and he didn't want to fall into the trap of running into a straight. Wow.
There may have been other hands, but I was honestly so tired I forget everything else. I cashed out +$700, my best-ever cash session for one night.