Spike, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your thread!

Hearing your story about the Judge Joe Brown episode got the wheels spinning and I decided to submit my own claim to them. Well I just got a call back from a producer and they seem to be interested in my story...
Do you have any advice or pointers that could possibly help or increase my chances of getting on the show? Is it better to exaggerate? Be emotional on the call or more animated?

Glad you liked the stories!

It's been about eight years since I did the show, but from what I remember: Don't lie or exaggerate, since if you're caught by JJB he'll eat you alive. If the producers want to fudge anything, maybe they'll discuss that with you backstage (our case was so over-the-top, we didn't need to go too crazy). Be animated, don't give one-word answers, and keep calm and even-keeled. They want good TV, but not Jerry Springer. Be able to fight for your cause and be able to explain things thoroughly without getting too emotional.

Dayum Spike. Great read. Don't sweat the beats. I quit the pokers for about a year after an excruciating streak of awful beats coupled with overall ****ty play by me (in retrospect, the crappy play was the lions share of the blame). Don't force it, but when it comes back to you, embrace it. You can tell by your writing that you really enjoy poker. Hope to see you at the tables someday. Peace.

Thanks! I was thinking about my game over the weekend and realized I have one massive leak that cost me in nearly every situation - I underplay monsters, and overplay weak/marginal hands post-flop. I could flop a set, try to be cute and check or bet a small amount, and let a draw get there. The next time I hit the tables, I'm going to mix things up a little bit and play straight and narrow to try to inflict maximum damage.

I realized that today is the ten year anniversary of when I got to Vegas. It also means that I've now spent a majority of my adult life in southern Nevada. It's a strange feeling. I'm not sure I can call myself a Bostonian anymore. But I've loved my time here. Even with all the **** you guys have read about (and probably some I've forgotten), this place is my home.

The wife and I were in Minnesota for Labor Day. Her grandmother is in a home up there (or a "retirement community" if you're Tony Soprano) and she's got some cousins around the Minneapolis/Edina area. It was my first time spending any real time in the midwest, so we did what any fat tourists would do - went to the state fair. I actually loved the fact that the website allowed you to filter food by "type". "On-a-stick" was not only a category, it was the biggest category.

Other than class, things have been quiet. I just figured I'd throw up something about it being my ten year anniversary. Also, the wife and I got personalized pillows...

She went with sweet:



I went with truthful:

Not as much in 10 years when the dreaded "shart" rears it's ugly head.

Has there ever been a post that gives more insight into someone's attitude?

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.

I know zero about the guy other that he is semi-famous. What's his general theme?

BTW I am 100% on winning sessions at Red Rock. 1 for 1. Willl probably retire undefeated.

His "general theme" is to wrap salads in prosciuttuo, put mac and cheese on hamburgers, and dress like he lives his life at a Jimmy Buffet concert. Feel free to extrapolate from there and you'll probably be pretty close

GF is also a big drinker, swills Jack Daniels like it's Kool-Aid

Late to the party.
Great stories. Subbing.
Played 1/1 PLO during the series, LINQ or nearby. Was not that great a game. I mean, it was loose passive, but not splashy/maniacal.

Grats on the cash session!


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love the stories, pix, etc. thanks!

Great thread, OP.

As someone who has had high times as well as many low points trying to make a life in Las Vegas, this was a very enjoyable read. If I could write half as good as you do I would start a similar thread. Thumbs up!

Write down a couple of stories you remember and see how they read out, you may have some great stuff and are just being hard on yourself. Also you can't become a better storyteller without telling stories

Guy Fieri is... well...



I had min-cashed a tournament or two at Red Rock before, but that was my first winning cash session. I may never go back after that session.

I'm the world's worst PLO player (I got some really, really bad advice when I was starting and never played enough to correct things)... but that 1/1 PLO game is just so tempting.

Thanks!

Thank you!

Like Natamus said, start writing. You may start to get ideas, things will flow. Write and re-write it a couple of times in Word. And once there's a version you like, post it. Also, assuming you're a Pats/Sox/Bruins fan, let me know if you want to go catch a game somewhere. Fellow M*******s have to stick together.

As for the rest of this thread, I had assumed things would die down once classes started. Especially with my poker life. I ended up dropping that super crazy-hard course and couldn't pick up another one in time. With my semester load drastically lighter, I ended up back at Red Rock for their Wednesday night tournament. It's a $70 entry with $15 bounties. There were less than 30 runners, and Joboo busted by the second level when he got it all in pre with QQ v JJ and the board ran out 3789T. I managed to hold my own without getting any bounties and hit the final table. Top 4 paid with $560 going to first. I figure if I can min-cash or bubble, I'd be happy. I'm the second shortest stack, and we all decide to stop the bounty part of the tournament and get our $15 back. I figure this is a great deal, but man was that short-sighted. I manage to get a bit of a stack going by shoving pre and stealing blinds and antes. I doubled a couple of times when I got it in against the chip leader with the worst hand and got lucky.

I actually had no hands of note up to that point. Once we're down to five-handed, we agree to pay a bubble. $40 off first, $30 off second and the next one out gets their money back. And that's when **** went crazy....



Our lease mandates that we use a specific company to handle pool cleaning and maintenance. The company just changed last month, and I've been none too impressed. So imagine my surprise on Friday when I came home to the filter spewing water like crazy:



It was throwing water like crazy for about two hours before I got anyone to respond to me. It was an easy fix, but I was kinda shocked to say the least.

I hit the Bellagio Saturday night for some cards. I was there nearly six hours, my longest cash session in a very long time. The night was up and down but never with massive swings. I bought in for $200. Never got above $250, never below $90. The guy on my right was getting so angry with the game I'm honestly surprised he stuck around as long as he did. I saw three times where he flopped a set and lost. He claims it happened five times, and I believe it based on how he was acting.

He left, and a German guy took his place. He just moved in to the complex that houses 2+2's favorite vlogger, TheTrooper. Troop's name never actually came up and we didn't talk about 2+2 or anything, I just thought it was funny.

I was going to leave when three drunks from DA CLUBBB sat down and started spewing money. But I only ever got one hand against them where I semi-bluffed until one of them folded the river instead of paying me off as he was racking up. That's when I should have left, but I decided to stick around for one more hand.

A younger woman sat at our table after her game broke. I had no information on her whatsoever. One limper to me on the btn and I see AK off. I raise to $12. She calls from the SB, limper folds. Flop comes K83ddx. I have the Ad. She checks, I bet $20. She calls. Turn is the Jd. She checks, I bet $25, she calls. River is the As. She checks, I bet $50. She tanks, and tanks, and tanks. And finally calls with 54dd for the turned baby flush. Sigh.

On Sunday, my Patriots are playing but the game isn't being broadcast locally without the DirecTV package or some kind of stream. I just bought a MainBrain box for my office, but I kinda like going out now that I've got a Patriots bar.




The breakfast food is awful, by the way. Lunch/dinner items are significantly better but I wish we had never moved from the unofficial Patriots bar - Aces and Ales on Tenaya and Cheyenne.

I'll try to be better about taking pics during poker and around town. I had stopped since I thought I was letting this thread go. But now that I've got a bit of time I'll try to keep up (albeit with less frequency than before).

Congrats on the win Spike! For those that didn't understand the earlier puzzle, let me help:

Fellow M*s*h*l*s

this is one of the few threads worth reading, good job Spike!

The Sox are looking very good night now. I will definitely be out at the bars watching the postseason. Will PM you.

Spike I try to forget that you're a Pats fan, it gets in the way of your awesomeness.

As a Buffalo fan it's hard to like a Pats fan but I'll give you a pass as your a native of the area and not some bandwagon fan.

As least I can look forward to the Bills beating the Pats this Sunday at Gillette. I mean it can happen, Ryan out smarting Belichick at home with a long rest, why not.


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lol at rex outsmarting anyone but rob.

I don't think he can even outsmart his brother. If he could he would found a way to not give him a job.

That being said Rex did beat Bill with the Jets in the playoffs before so it can happen.


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Excellent !!

Also, I have said this so many times before, Guy Fieri's restaurant in Vegas gets so much hate on this board. I really have no idea why, for gourmet "unhealthy pub food" it is literally some of the best I have ever had.

The chicken wings there are UNREAL, the bugers are wicked good, the Vegas fries ? Place is amazing ...great desserts too, very American

It honestly wouldn't surprise me if the Bills pull this one off. Both Jimmy and Brissett are coming off injuries and no one will know their full extent (thanks to Belichick keeping things under wraps). Maybe they're healthy, maybe not. Plus the Bills are coming off an impressive win over a good Cardinals team, and the players know that if they fail, Rexy is out of a job.

Also, Rex pretending to be a reporter and asking Edelman if he was going to play QB this week was hilarious.

He's got a handful of places around town. I may have to try one of his other ones. But I think the next celebrity chef place we'll hit will be Gordon Ramsey's Steak at the Paris. I've always wanted to try a good beef Wellington, and my wife loves sticky toffee pudding (giggity). I'm hoping it lives up to the hype.

I've got a couple of minor little things to report but I'm going to save it for a big update this weekend. In the meantime, I did want to get some feedback on a hand from the TI tournament the other day.

Starting stack is 15k. I'm sitting on about 19k in the BB with blinds at 200-400, no antes. UTG +1 raises to 1200 (3x raises were standard for the table). The BTN is an off-the-clock dealer who raises to 2400. I look down at QQ. Before I can act, UTG +1 flat calls the 2400. So I feel like he wants to see a flop and probably isn't folding. If I pop it all in and I'm get the two callers, I feel like I'm getting a good price. Plus, I've played this thing enough times to know someone is going to get stubborn with a hand like AT or 22 just to try and triple up or rebuy before the first break.

I shove.
UTG +1 folds (**** you, buddy).
BTN calls and rolls over KK.

Am I right for shoving there, or am I better off flat-calling and seeing a flop? I feel like I played it right but I don't know what the actual "proper" play is. I knew UTG +1 was kind of a tight player but the BTN was loose as **** and could have had anything.

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