Bases Bay & CCPL Circuit Event #2

The Thanksgiving weekend provided me with the chance to play live poker not just once, but twice as a friend of mine, Bass, had his annual Blackjack & Poker tournaments, and then on the following evening I was hosting the second Cream City Poker League circuit event at my place. Bass likes to refer to his "casino" as the Bases Bay Casino. I have yet to come up with a name of my "casino/poker room", so if anyone has suggestions please leave it in your comments...and yes, I'm serious.


I haven't played live poker in over a month. With the way my work schedule has had me shuffling I just haven't had time or the opportunity, so I was really looking forward to some action. Bass had his blackjack tournament first, and of the 30+ players I took 9th. Unfortunately, Bass was paying 8 players in the blackjack tournament...Doh! We ended up having about 40 players for the Texas Hold 'em portion of the evening. The tournament started at 8:30pm. I did very well early in the tournament, catching some big hands and getting paid for them, too. I made the final table, and I was probably 3rd in chips when we started the final table. I didn't get very many hands at the final table, though. I had enough chips and got just enough hands to keep me floating until we got to 4-handed play, and then I started to get short stacked. I managed to pick up a couple of pots, and eventually I was able to get heads up with Tim. Tim had a fantastic run at the final table, and even though we played 4-handed for what seemed like an hour, Tim propmptly knocked out Tesch (4th), Adam (3rd), and myself (2nd) all in about 10 minutes. The tournament wrapped up around 2:40am, so it was very long tournament, but it was a good time. Tim's final hand (A6) of two pair, Aces and Sixes, beat my hand, pocket Fives, in a classic race situation. Nice job, Tim!


The following evening I was participating in the second event of the Cream City Poker League (CCPL). I missed the first event while I was in London, so I was itching to play. I was almost too eager as I found myself down 750 chips out of the 2000 chips with which we started when I got a little over involved with 4th pair on a board of 5-6-8-3-K. Oops! I was able to double up a little later though when I the following hand played out between myself and Anne:


Me: 2-2 Anne: A-7 blinds 25/50 (3rd level) Me: approx 1450 chips Anne: approx 1600


I limped with my 2s, Anne limped along with me, and the blinds both called. The flop was: 7d-6c-2c, giving me the bottom set. The blinds checked, and so did I. Anne bet 150, the blinds folded, and I decided to call. Even though there was a potential flush draw out there, I don't always mind giving a card when I've got a set since there are so many outs to a full house or better, too. Well, the turn was almost a perfect card for me: 7c! This gave me the full house (2-2-2-7-7), and if Anne was playing the flush draw she just hit it on the turn. I checked again, and Anne bet 250. I would only have about 1000 left if I just called, so I decided to move all in for the remainder of my stack. Anne called with her trip 7s-Ace kicker, and I was fortunate to dodge any Aces, Sixes, or the remaining Seven to win the hand.


Play would continue through the evening. I wasn't doing a good job of keeping track of hands like I normally do since I was doing shots of cold Southern Comfort more often than needed when Adam decided that I should be doing them every time I voluntarily played a hand. We were all having a good time. I do remember the Pizza Delivery phone call prank that we played on Jim, the father of one of the players at the game. That was awesome! Very well done! I also remember seeing quad Kings during play (sorry, Igs) that was pretty impressive. Eventually, play got down to heads up play between myself and Ken. Ken got pocket Jacks when I got pocket 6s to double him up once, and then right after that I got pocket 6s again when Ken got Ace-King, and he hit the necessary card to eliminate me in second place...again! Two second place finishes in two days isn't bad.


There was one hand I did want to go over that I thought was kind of interesting. It took place between Jeff and one of the newcomers to the CCPL, Melissa. It was interesting in the way it played out and I had the opportunity to talk with Jeff about it during a break.


Jeff: KK Melissa: JJ blinds 10/15 (1st level) Jeff: approx 2000 chips Melissa: about same


These are two very big hands for seven-handed play. We started the tournament with 7 players at our table and that hadn't change here yet. Jeff raised preflop, and if I remember correctly, Melissa just called. The flop hit the board 9-x-y (I remember it was 9-high). Jeff bet, and Melissa called. The turn was either a 7 or 8. Jeff bet again, and Melissa called. The river put a T (10) out there, and now Jeff checked. Melissa bet, but her bet was only 150. With all the action up to this point the pot was about 700 or 800 chips. Jeff called, and showed his pair of Kings to Melissa's pair of Jacks. I commented at the time that the river check was interesting by Jeff. After discussing it with Jeff and thinking about it some more, I guess it wasn't the river check that was interesting as much as it was that the pot didn't get a lot larger earlier than it did. Had it been me with a 9-high flop, I probably would have done some more raising with the Jacks at the flop, which I think would have led to both players getting it all in on the flop or turn. However, once the whole board was put out, I guess the thing to keep in mind (and Jeff mentioned this, too) is that he only had a pair of Kings. The board did have at least one potential straight, and depending on what you put your opponent on for a hand, if they were playing connectors and had hit the flop, there was a decent chance that two pair could have been in play there, too. By checking you give yourself the opportunity to throw it away if the river bet is too much, but you can still call if your opponent value bets the river like what ended up happening. The other thing to keep in mind was that this was the first level of the tournament, and with the blinds as small as they are in relation to the starting stacks you've got room to maneuver and it's not necessary to get over involved in a pot where the whole board is showing if you only have a pair. One pair with the whole board showing isn't exactly a monster hand. Preflop, obviously it's a lot different, but that wasn't the case here. Anyway, I thought the hand was interesting and thought it merited some discussion here.

Bath and Trowbridge

After having difficulty getting to Stonehenge in daylight hours I realized that I would have very little time to get to anywhere during daylight hours. I was here for work, and was usually finishing up somewhere between 4 and 5 o'clock PM. The people I was working with (Tony, Andy, Pete, and Vicki) all recommended that I should go to Bath and so that is exactly what I did the first evening. What a town! Fortunately they have the really neat buildings very well lit. The whole city has some very interesting architecture. There is the Royal Crescent and the Circus. When viewed from overhead they form the shape of a question mark. The Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths are a classic example of buildings having stood the test of time. The only thing I didn't like was that I was seeing all of this at dark!! I made sure to stop at a couple of pubs, including the "Saracen's Head" and the "Rat and Parrot".



On Wednesday, Tony and Andy took me to a local pub during lunch called the Royal Oak. I sampled another bitter and was encouraged to try one of the local ciders. The two have a very sharp contrast in taste!! I actually enjoyed the cider very much, it just wasn't exactly what my taste buds were ready for after having sampled a bitter. Good stuff, though. That evening, I returned to Bath, and being a little more familiar with the city's layout I did a significant amount of walking around. I went down the steps near the Pulteney Bridge and took a walk along the River Anon. I was able to visit a couple more pubs, stopping in at "Grapes" and the "Pig and Fiddle". The signs that are hanging outside the shops and pubs are pretty cool.

For lunch on Thursday Tony and Andy took me to another local establishment called "The Kicking Donkey". I had some fish and chips there along with some more bitters. I just can't get enough of that stuff! There are numerous Indian restaurants all over the UK, and that evening, a colleague of Tony and Andy's was taking a large group out to eat to one such restaurant in Trowbridge called "Tale of Spice". It was a group of about 10 of us. The food, drink, and conversation were all fantastic. I got to meet some other people (who could forget the Welsh, Paul?). There were definitely some characters there. I was "the American" for the evening. We stopped at a local Trowbridge pub called the Courthouse and took in some football (not American, mind you) while sampling some of the local bitters and ales. All in all it was a very good evening. Thanks again to Tony and Andy for asking and to Colin for picking up the tab!



Friday I wrapped things up with my group a little early and I had wanted to make an attempt to see Wells Cathedral, so I drove to Wells. Along the way to Wells I could see in the distance Glastonbury Tor, and the remains of St. Michael's church at the summit of the hill silhouetted against the setting sun. It was a really neat visual of which I wish I could have snapped a picture. I made it to Wells and found the cathedral and grounds. After walking around a little and snapping some pictures I headed in to Bath for the evening again. I managed to check off the last thing I had on my list of things to do while I was in Bath, too, which was to see the new James Bond movie "Quantum of Solace". Awesome movie!! It doesn't get released until November 14th in the U.S., and being a big Bond fan I wanted to see it while in the U.K. I had already made the determination that I would return to Bath Saturday morning before heading home so that I could see some of Bath during daylight hours. That morning I also was able to purchase a ticket to see the Roman Baths. I didn't have a lot of time to spend in Bath though, so I made quick work of the Roman Baths and then began the drive back to Heathrow. No incidents with the vehicle, and I got to Heathrow in plenty of time to catch a bite to eat before the 8+ hour flight back to Chicago. The flight home went well, and overall it was a good trip. I could have done without the car incident from last Saturday, but it was still a good trip.

On to Trowbridge!

I had a long drive from London to Trowbridge to meet with my customers on Monday. Because of the hotel's location on the far east end of London I had to drive pretty much entirely across London, and on Monday morning it was real busy. Once I was outside of London the drive was pretty easy, and I was definitely getting more comfortable driving on the left side of the road with the driver's seat on the right side of the car.

I got things set up at my customer, Virgin Media, and afterwards I checked in at the hotel I was staying at, the Old Manor Hotel. The Old Manor Hotel is a Bed and Breakfast that also has packages that serve dinner, too. It's a very old converted farmhouse. It was originally built about 500 years ago, and was altered extensively around 1700. It's really neat. There are multiple buildings that have all the rooms, and it has a nice restaurant and small bar with a parlour/waiting room in the main building.



I thought I still had about an hour of light left so I thought I would try to get to Stonehenge and see it since it was only about 40 minutes away. The overcast sky, and the fact that there was less light left in the day than I thought meant that when I drove near to Stonehenge I could only see the large stones as dark silhouettes from the road. I was wiped from all the driving so I went back to the hotel for a late dinner that evening. I was looking forward to getting in to the town of Bath over the next couple of days.

A Sun-day in London

After what had happened Friday night and all day Saturday I woke up Sunday morning expecting it to be pouring buckets outside and unable to really enjoy walking around London. I was pleasantly surprised to find it sunny outside. After grabbing an early bite to eat I made my way towards the river and towards Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. Since I was on the far east side of London my plan of seeing the city pretty much involved starting at Tower Bridge on the east side and making my way towards Harrod's on the west end of London.



After getting some nice pictures of Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, and some other nearby buildings (see above), my next stop was St. Paul's Cathedral. On the way I stopped by the Monument that commemorates the Great Fire of 1666. Normally, you can go to the top, and I had done that the last time I was in London, but it was being refurbished and was closed to visitors. I went through Paternoster Square, and the cathedral is just outside that square. With it being Sunday, the cathedral was closed to tours, but you could walk in the back of the cathedral and look around if you weren't disturbing the worship services. Unfortunately, they don't want you taking pictures inside the cathedral, so my only pictures are of the outside and surrounding area.



Next, it was off to Trafalgar Square. I hadn't been to the National Gallery before, so I thought I would visit there and take in some of the paintings they have there. The Gallery is separated by time periods, and it was very interesting to see how artists in general changed the overall appearance of people in their paintings as it got nearer to our time. Some of the artwork dated back to the 1200's, and let me tell you, when artists painted people back then people ended up looking creepy. Anyway, lots of good stuff there, but once again, you cannot take pictures inside the Gallery.



After taking in the Gallery, I headed towards Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. I was able to get some nice pictures there. From there I headed towards Harrod's and the Hard Rock Cafe. I've been to the Hard Rock in London before, but it's the original, so I had to go back. After eating there, I made one more trip over to King's Cross Train Station to get a picture of "Platform 9 3/4". If you've seen the Harry Potter movies then you'll know that's the platform that the students use to board the Hogwarts Express. I thought my niece would appreciate seeing that pic. Finally, I headed back towards Piccadilly Circus and then back to the hotel. I was pretty satisfied with all I got done today, especially since I lost a day because of the car incident on Saturday. I did walk near the Thames to get a nice evening picture of Tower Bridge, too. Then it was time to get some rest for the 2 1/2 hour drive to Trowbridge Monday morning.

A Tale of Two Days (in London)

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. OK, it wasn't either of those, but it certainly wasn't fun. I had a work trip planned that was taking me to the United Kingdom, and I was leaving on Halloween. The flight from O'Hare airport to London Heathrow was just over 7 1/2 hours long. That flight was actually the best part of the two days. I landed, picked up my luggage, and started to make my way to the hotel that was supposed to be connected to the airport. I managed to discover that it was located near a different terminal so I headed to the train and took that towards Terminal 4. As I was getting off the train someone knocked my laptop bag off of my suitcase, and as I made an effort to save it from hitting the ground something happened to two of the wheels on the suitcase that basically made the suitcase un-wheelable. So now I had to carry/drag this bag to the hotel. The hotel, where it is connected to Terminal 4, really isn't all that close. They have a long walkway that connects the two together. Anyway, eventually I was able to get to the hotel, check in, and get up to my room.

Once I arrived in my room I discovered that I didn't have any mobile phone service. To be real honest I wasn't too worried about this except for the fact that I had to contact the customer (ironically, a mobile phone provider) on Monday via phone, and I also had a 2 1/2 hour drive to Trowbridge where who knows what could happen. I called my cell phone service provider to see if they could help and of course they couldn't. Oh well, time to pick up a mobile "pay-as-you-go" phone for the week. Not a problem. I wish that had been the end of the issues, since it really wasn't too bad so far. Not great, but not absoultely horrible, either.

The next morning I went to pick up my car at the car rental. Lucky for me, they still had an automatic available. Most vehicles in the UK are manual transmission, and with the steering wheel on the right, I don't think I would've gotten comfortable trying to shift with my left hand. Unfortunately for me, Heathrow is west of London, and my hotel was on the far east side of London near Tower Bridge so I had to drive across all of London to get there. The driving was going OK, even though it felt awkward to be on the left side of the road. The real problem I was having driving in London was all the scooters and motorcycles weaving in and out of traffic. It was this that caused my next dilemma. As I was making a right turn near Piccadilly Circus, a scooter was weaving between me and another vehicle in the lane next to me when he suddenly cut over in front of me. I thought I was going to hit him so I swerved to my left, striking the curb hard and bursting the front left tire. Because I was on one of the busier streets in London, I turned as soon as I could and just parked where I could find a spot for the vehicle.

This vehicle didn't come with a spare, it only came with a repair kit, which wasn't going to fix the blown sidewall I had (see picture). Without a working cell phone I was going to be forced to leave the car and find a way to get assistance. I used one of the phone booths (Thank goodness for those old red booths!!) and was able to get a hold of the rental agency's road assistance personnel, who said they'd send somebody out and that they'd be there within the hour. I waited at the nearest intersection per their instructions, and once I saw their vehicle I flagged him down and pointed out where my vehicle was parked. As I approached the vehicle I found another person staring at it. I didn't recognize the person at first, but it turns out it was a police officer that was writing out a ticket for my vehicle! Are you kidding me!?! I tried to convince the officer about my issue, but he informed me there was nothing he could do because the ticket was "written" out in his hand-held computer thing already. Awesome!!

...and now the piano falls out of the sky and lands on me...



Just kidding, but you can probably see how I felt. Just one thing after another. The road assistance gentleman tells me he can't do anything about the tire and will need to call for a tow, and because Budget's only rental facilities near London are at Heathrow and Gatwick airports, the vehicle will need to be towed back to the rental agency, which is completely the wrong direction for me. The tow eventually shows up about 3 hours later, and after the 1 hour tow ride back to Heathrow and filling out new paperwork for a new vehicle, I was able to do the drive all over again, now only it's dark and raining out, too!

...and now I get in accident number two, right?

Nope, no incidents on the second drive through London, but it was pretty much a wasted day for me. Instead of getting out in London for all day Saturday I didn't even get checked in until almost 8pm. My body was still getting adjusted to the 5-hour time difference, too. I took a short walk near Tower Bridge, found a nice pub nearby the hotel, sat down for some bitters and some fish & chips, and just called it a night. Not a fun day, but I planned to be well rested for spending all of Sunday out and about in London!

It's all OK now, the trip got better on Sunday, and I've still got the week in Trowbridge and Bath to go. More pictures to come...

D.C. and New York City in September

During these crazy economic times I got the opportunity to go to two of the busier spots in the country as far as the topic of economics is concerned: Washington, D.C. and New York City. I was working in the Federal Reserve Building in Washington, D.C., and while I was working in New York I was working just a block away from the New York Stock Exchange in the Financial District. Very interesting!!

This is the third time I've gotten to D.C. in the past 1+ years, so I knew where to head to see some of the stuff I had missed the first time around. Unfortunately, there is still a lot more I wish I could see. Before I left for D.C. I was able to get online and get a reservation ticket to go to the top of the Washington Monument. It's a neat view from up there, and I've posted some pics here showing some of what you can see from the top of the monument.



On the way down the elevator inside the monument, you get to see some pretty neat rock carvings donated by each state as part of the monument. Some are very impressive!

While in D.C., one of the people I was working with was kind enough to give me a tour of the Federal Reserve Building. I was fortunate enough to get in to the Board of Governors room just after they had completed a meeting and got to sit in the chair at the head of the table there. In New York, I mentioned already that I was working very near to the New York Stock Exchange. I was about 2 blocks south of the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway where Trinity Church is located. I was even able to spend some time to go to Liberty Island and Ellis Island to see the Statue of Liberty and the building that was used for immigrants arriving in New York. The statue was neat to see, and I was able to spend some time on Ellis Island trying to track down my great-grandfather, who came to the U.S. in the early 1900's through Ellis Island.



I had a great time in both cities. It was fun getting around on foot and using the subway systems that both cities have. You get to experience so much more of the cities that way. I'm looking forward to going back again!

Vegas with the Squirrel (and Vegas Jimmy), Pt. 3

With the Squirrel at her conference I thought it would be a good time for me to try and make back some of what I lost yesterday. With my bankroll somewhat diminished I thought the smart play would be to go over to the MGM and play on the $1/$2 No Limit tables there, and so I did. That decision worked out great for me, as I managed to win about $275 while playing on the tables there. Not bad for a $100 buy in! There was one hand that stuck out for me. I was dealt pocket Aces (AA) when I happened to be in first position. I decided to limp for the $2, hoping that someone would raise and then I would reraise when it got back to me. The table had been fairly active so I felt that this would be effective. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong! One by one, every player at the table just called the $2 and no one raised! We now had 9 players getting to see the flop. Against a single opponent, pocket Aces are about an 80-87% favorite to win. Against two opponents, Aces drop to about 70-75%. Against three opponents, it goes down to about 60%, and with four opponents it is less than 50%. So here I am, holding Aces, and I'm not even the favorite to win against the whole table, and I'm out of position after the flop hits, too! Awesome! (note the sarcasm).

So to the flop we go. I've already made the decision that I'm not going to go broke with Aces here since I decided to play coy before the flop and got caught by my own cleverness, but maybe the flop will help. Well, the flop comes: 6-6-4. The blinds check, in staying conservative here I check, and everyone else checks. This actually gets a small chuckle from the table when the last player checks. The turn is a 7. Once again everyone checks until we get to the end, where one player decides to bet $15, slightly less than the pot. The action folds to me, and since it wasn't too much I decide to stay conservative and just call. Everyone else folds. The river puts a Jack out there, so now the board reads: 6-6-4-7-J. I check, being content to show this down cheaply. My opponent decides that a $45 bet is warranted. Well, it's still not that much considering the way things have gone for this hand, so I decide to make the "crying call". As soon as I do, my opponent mucked his cards! He was on a stone cold bluff! I never even had to show my Aces to win! I was happy to take down the pot, but a lesson was reinforced here...Don't limp with Aces! If you do, be prepared to throw 'em away. Now I didn't throw them away, but the pot was kept small enough to stay in the hand. Had he thrown out $75, $100, or more, I think I may have been forced to accept my preflop mistake and fold. Oh, well. I got lucky that time. It sort of makes up for a little of what happened at the Wynn, or at least that's what I was telling myself.

After wrapping that session up I met with the Squirrel back at the Excalibur. We both wanted to play a poker tournament, and I had found some tournaments with decent structures that I thought we should consider. One of those was at the Hard Rock Casino. They were opening a new poker room, correction, a poker "lounge", and we decided to cab it over there to check things out. All I can say about it is "Wow! Gotta like that eye candy!" It turns out the room hadn't "officially" opened yet, and they only had one cash game going. The tournament was only expected to have a handful of entrants so the Squirrel and I opted for a different tournament. We decided to head downtown to Binion's, where I thought I remembered that they had a nightly tournament with a good structure. The Squirrel hadn't seen the Fremont Street Experience either so this would give us something to do while we waited for the tourney to start.

Well, we checked out Fremont Street, grabbed a bite to eat at Binion's diner, and when we got back to the poker room we found that there were only 10 entrants for the tournament! The tourney would still take entrants through the first three levels, but that wasn't the turnout we were expecting. We started as two tables of five, and luckily we weren't at the same table to start. That would have sucked. Levels were half an hour each, we started with 6000 chips, and blinds started at 25/50, so there was plenty of time to be patient. One more player did sign up during the second level, and with one player's elimination we all got to go to the final table! Woo hoo! Ok, I'm sort of kidding, of course we made the final table.

Because of the structure and the small number of players we had plenty of time to chat with everyone at the table, and when we combined at the table I drew the seat to the Squirrel's immediate left. Often times when talking to her I would call her by her nickname, "the Squirrel", and before long the entire table was calling her the Squirrel. The Squirrel also has a heavy weight to protect her cards, and, of course, it's a little squirrel. She likes pointing the squirrel at her opponents and the table was getting a kick out of the use of the squirrel. So much so, that one of her opponents, who the Squirrel eventually eliminated, gave the marker the name "Vegas Jimmy". The Squirrel was doing a good job of amassing chips, too, having doubled through someone with AK when the board hit her for two pair, and also when getting someone to get it all in with her when she had pocket Aces. For a brief period of time I think that the Squirrel and I were the two chip leaders. Because of the small number of players only the top three places were getting paid. When we were down to five players I was the chip leader, and had a comfortable lead over everyone else at the table. When we hit the break a couple of us started discussing possible "chop" options. We had been playing for over 4 hours at this point, and we were thinking that we felt it would be good if everyone came away with something. We decided to put to a vote the following: Taking $100 off of the 1st place money and paying 4th and 5th $50 each. The entry to the tournament was $125, so although it would be a loss, everyone would still get something. The table agreed, and play proceeded.

I was fortunate enough to find myself in first position, Under the Gun, with pocket Queens (QQ). I raised, and the player behind me immediately went all in for his remaining chips. Everyone else folded back to me, and I called and tabled my Queens. He turned over Ace-King, also known as Big Slick, and off to the races we were! The flop produced a King, and I was down to two outs to knock this player out of the tournament. I didn't get there on the turn or the river, and I suddenly found myself in 4th place in chips out of the five of us. Since 4th and 5th were paying the same thing it didn't matter to me what spot I ended up in if that was to be my fate, so I knew that aggressive play was the way to play. About a dozen hands later, everyone folded to me in the small blind (SB), and I looked down to find pocket 6s. I moved in, and the big blind (BB) woke up with Big Slick...again!! He called, and I was off to the races one more time with this guy. This time the river was the King, and I was now eliminated from the tournament. Now it was time to be a cheerleader/observer from the rail. The Squirrel was still alive.

The position I had on the rail was allowing me to observe the player who knocked me out and the hands he was playing/folding. He was an older gentleman, and he was playing very tight, folding his blinds to almost every raise. The other three players hadn't really picked up on that yet, and I was hoping that the Squirrel would as I knew she was going to need some chips soon. Eventually, the short stack and the player that was 2nd in chips at the time got it all in, and I got the opportunity to tell the Squirrel that I thought she should be stealing more. I wasn't going to tell her what the older gentleman was folding, but I was hoping that she would be able to chip up a little bit. They were now down to three players, and each of their games had to be opened up a little bit more.

It was only a short time later when Dave, the player on the Squirrel's right, raised from the button the minimum amount. From the rail I had guessed this was a steal, since it appeared that Dave had also picked up on the fact that the older guy was folding everything. The Squirrel was next to act in the small blind and she just called. She was also the short stack in chips. I didn't know what she had yet, but I probably would have pushed all in..."if it's good enough to call, it's good enough to raise". If it wasn't that good, then folding was the play. It didn't matter, as the older guy moved all in after the Squirrel's call. I knew that had to be a huge hand. In that spot facing a raise and a call in front of me, and as tight as he was playing I was expecting him to turn over AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK, or AQ. Dave immediately folded, sort of confirming that I thought he was stealing, and now the Squirrel had a decision to make for all her chips. She eventually called and tabled: AJ. The older guy turned over JJ, which is almost as bad as it could get there since that left the Squirrel with only the 3 Aces to catch or to make a straight or flush. None of that hit the board, and the Squirrel and Vegas Jimmy were out in 3rd. The only thing I would have done differently was probably shoving preflop after Dave's raise, and I'm sure the old guy calls anyway and the result would have been the same. She did get $220 for her efforts. I was happy for her considering the lost wallet and cards thing had happened I did want something to go well for her after that.

Not too much to tell after that. We played some craps at Binion's, and the next morning The Squirrel (and Vegas Jimmy) headed off to the airport early because of the lack of ID. I had another brief session at the Wynn because I needed to hit the Hooter's casino to get my stamp for a contest that Hooter's is running this year, and I headed home that afternoon. It was a very entertaining trip.