My sixth EMBARGO. “You’re going down, buddy.”
To mix things up, let me first list my meals during the trip…
Thu. Dinner: McDouble with no pickles (Diane or John) Ha!
Fri. Bfast: Frosted Strawberry Pop Tarts.
Fri. Lunch: Cheese Pizza in the poker room.
Fri. Dinner: Cheese Pizza in the poker room.
Sat. Bfast: Frosted Strawberry Pop Tarts.
Sat. Lunch: Cheese Pizza in the poker room.
Sat. Dinner: Cheese Pizza in the poker room.
Sun. Bfast: Frosted Strawberry Pop Tarts.
Sun. Lunch: Binion’s Cheeseburger and 1/4 of Club Sandwich.
Also had some Doritos for late night snacks.
Okay, back to our normal chronological format…
Thursday, February 9th
Sandi and Kris drop me off at SJC in the rain. TSA Pre! Hell yeah!
No drink service on the flight down?
Run into Oliver at baggage claim.
He’s renting a car and can give me a ride. Cool.
Baggage for my flight is delayed 30 minutes. Not cool.
I give Oliver a used Hello Kitty watch that I bought at the
flea market for $1. I put a battery in. It works. He is pleased.
He drops me off at the Stratosphere Hotel. It’s the one with the tower.
50 people in the line to check-in. They have like seven people working,
so the line only takes 15 minutes or so. Toss my bags in the room.
Room is okay. Some outlets are upside down. Bothers a person like me.
The bathtub has armrests. What a concept!
Head to McDonald’s and then to the poker room.
Get there just as Bozo rakes in a massive pot in the 3-6 games.
Board was about Q-Q-2-2-A. Lawful and Arthur had QJ. Bozo had AA.
There was an aces-cracked promo so he had to stay in.
David Lawful went broke? I’ve never seen that before.
Friday, February 10th
Go downstairs planning to go to Walgreens for supplies.
See Goldie in the Player’s Club line. We chat a bit.
Apparently he was in line for ~20 minutes. I think seven minutes for moi.
Walk to Walgreens. Pass about 15 derelicts on the street.
Buy Pop Tarts, Doritos and Root Beer. Oh, and a $2 LV calendar.
Get in a ring game. We are playing Murder.
Someone says it is like Omaha.
Pickels says “It’s so far from Omaha, it’s not even in Nebraska.”
Time for the World Chowaha Championship.
Of course I am THE reigning World Champion.
Each player gets two cards and must play two from the hand and
three cards from the boards. Boards?
3 flops, 2 turns, one river. Final boards look like this:
F1 F1 F1
T1
F2 F2 F2 R
T2
F3 F3 F3
Turn 1 can be used with the top or middle flop.
Turn 2 can be used with the bottom or middle flop.
River can be used with any flop.
You just don’t understand, do you?
Around the table:
Ben, Nutt, Gerdog, Patrick, Me, Lynsy, Russ and Bremer.
Lynsy says to me: “You’re going down, buddy.” LOL.
Do a moose signal with Ron Nutt.
Mark the deal figures out that my last name is pronounced “Que-Bee.”
I have friends of 20, 30 and 40 years that still say “Koo-Bee.”
Tip Mark $1.
Russ: “I’m an accountant so I don’t have a soul.”
I do well at the first table. Moved to a new table.
Deitch, Doug, Pickels, Oliver, Me, Diana, Lawful, Jesse, Foldem.
Random comment dept. “ADB stand for Old Drunken Bastards.”
Somewhere around here, a bunch of free cheese pizzas are brought in
for everyone in the poker room. And it’s really good!
I do well at this table too.
Final Table
Oliver, Pickels, Jesse, Adam (the new one), Lawful, Me, Patrick, Bremer, Bruce I. and Kenny.
I learn that Rich Bremer is our newest ADB. Rich, Kenny and I chop up the $70 of ADB last-longer money. I get the extra $10 after they bust.
I pull off one bluff against Diana. She says “If I fold, will you show?”
I say sure and show my unimproved 33. She folded 2 pair.
Don’t say whoa in a mud hole.
We get down to 7 players. Tournament only pays 5.
With the blinds at 2000-4000, I fold UTG and have only 5000 left.
I will certainly be all-in in the big blind on the next hand.
Lawful makes a big straight to bust two players!
I’m in the money!
I win my BB hand, but then Oliver takes Jesse and me out with his 65
beating Jesse’s AJ and my A2.
David Lawful goes on to win the tournament and becomes the new world
champion.
Courchevel Tournament. Yeah, that’s the spelling.
Pot-Limit 5-card Omaha, but we get to see one flop card pre-flop.
We have two rebuy lammers. Six-handed.
I know you don’t understand any of this. Sorry.
Table:
Bozo, Maurer, Gillian, Me, Gerdog, Bree.
Win a big hand with a set of 6s vs. Mike.
Curling is on TV. Someone suggests leaf blowers. I improve the idea saying they should be used by the other team for defense.
I do great at this first table.
New Table:
Me, Bruce, Jeanne, Jesse, Spencer and Dan.
Jesse and Spencer are new, younger guys.
Dan notes that he has stuff in his fridge that is older than Jesse.
Dan orders us Fireball shots. Wow!
QQxxx vs. KKxxx for Jesse “The Penguin” Capps.
Isn’t “Capps” a great name for a poker player?
I flop a straight and river a flush to bust him.
Dan has 88, makes 8888 and the pot is 8800. I like stuff like that.
From here, it all goes to hell.
Flop is T-T-T. Everyone checks to me. I have a tight reputation,
so I can probably steal this pot. I bet. Jeanne calls.
If I didn’t have a r-r straight-flush draw, I would have mucked my
hand right there. People at the craps table know Jeanne has the 4th 10.
99xxx. The window card is a 9. Spencer raises, Dan re-raises.
Being a moron, I decide to slowplay. I just call. Spencer calls.
Flop is 9-J-K. Jam it up with Spencer who of course has QT
and it holds. I should have crippled or busted Dan on this hand.
Flop is 5-A-A. Dan checks to me. I can blow him out of this pot.
I bet like 10500. Dan check-raises to 11000. I have a straight draw
so I toss in the extra 500 even though I could be dead. Dan has A5.
I’m drawing dead.
Now the dealer tells me I owe 2000 more. WTF?
I think I would have folded for 2500. Perhaps I just didn’t hear
things correctly.
Lawful takes me out with his set of queens. Dan goes on to win the thing.
Doritos. Sleep.
Saturday, February 11th
No-Limit hold’em tournament.
Spouse comment dept. “He finally got hearing aids, but he doesn’t like them because now he hears everything I say.”
Table:
Ryan, Pickels, Deitch, Derek, Russ, Nancy, Me and SciFi.
Nancy mentions that Sarah Palin didn’t want to be ambassador to Canada because she didn’t want to move to Europe! Ha!
Interesting hand…
SciFi limps in and calls a raise from Derek.
Flop T-T-X. SciFi checks and calls. I have him on ATs or JTs.
Turn J. Check, check.
River 4. SciFi bets big. Derek raises big. That’s JJ kids.
SciFi goes all-in. That’s JT kids.
They turn up JT and JJ just as I suspected. “I knew it!”
Deitch wins a hand with 77 and says “7 and 7 is 14 or what QB has
in his glass.”
Many of us are ordering drinks with cherries. Waitress forgets my cherries.
but she comes back minutes later with a glass holding about eight cherries!
Lynsy comes up with the idea to have Gambomouse be armed with the
little swords holding the cherries. Works perfectly! JZK beware.
Nolan joins the table and copies my 7&7 order.
I later lose $55 to Nolan on a basketball bet.
New table:
Adam, Bremer, Me, Katie, Patrick, Deitch, Derek, Jim and Swag.
Get all-in with Adam. He has JJ, I have AQ.
Flop J-T-X. Looks good for Adam.
Turn K. I make a straight. Looks bad for Adam.
River X. I bust Adam. Sorry!
My AK busts Jeff Deitch and his KQ.
Rich Bremer is doing a year-long drinking challenge.
Drinks starting with different letters every two weeks.
26 letters, 52 weeks. We agree this can’t be a coincidence.
Kind of like the sun being 93,000,000 miles away and the speed
of light being 186,000 miles per second.
New table:
Kenny, Lori, Me, Katie, Patrick, Gerdog, Derek, Jim and Jeanne.
Kenny puts in a standard raise of about 6K. I find AK in the BB
and shove for about 31K. Kenny starts to think. That means I’m
probably way ahead. He calls with A9o. Cool!
Flop 9-9-X. Are you kidding me? I’m busted.
Kenny takes my chips to 3rd place. Patrick wins the NL.
I get into a ring game.
Peter kisses Gambomouse.
Patti pays off our election bet. With two $50 bills!
Everyone knows these are bad luck. Sure enough I drop about $60
from that point on. Patti is thrilled when I tell her this later.
I have a note that says “TT Teddy.” No idea.
Oh!! Stephen “TT” M. introduces a new game called Super Teddy Ball.
It is Super Stud (players get 4 down cards and discard 2), but then
the twist is that if a player gets a 9 up, he can choose to trade
it for any other up card on that street. Quite sick.
HALT tournament. Hold’em, omahA High, Lowball and Triple draw 2-7.
Oh, this is a “win the button” tournament. Each time you win a hand,
you get the Dealer button. Good game for aggressive players.
Table:
Me, Connie, Deitch, Jim, Nolan H. and Kenny.
In 2-7, I 3-bet Nolan on the river. He looks at his hand and
says “You have 76432.” as he calls. I have 76432. Nolan had 765xx.
Joe (the dealer) to Connie. “Ma’am, please take you cock off the table.”
Connie asks: “Are you afraid of my big cock?”
Much laughter.
Somewhere in here I get confused about the game and throw away good cards in lowball. Connie is my witness. I start with A982Q and throw away the Q, 9 and A! Draw three. Kenny checks. I bet. Thinking we have two more draws. He folds! I somehow win the hand by accident.
At least two times I get confused during triple draw.
I turn over a made 76 after being called after the first draw by Jim.
I turn over my hand after the first draw again later.
Very embarrassing. Having 2-7 right after A-5 was very confusing.
Patrick even said he thought we were still on A-5 on one of the hands.
Again, maybe my poor hearing is to blame here.
AK97 in Omaha and bust Deitch on an A-7-X-Y-Z board.
Bust Jim in lowball with a 98 vs. his 10.
Bust Kenny with an 87 when his 7653 draw pairs.
I get my bust-out gift back from Kenny from the NL tournament. Ha!
New table: Me, Dan, Patrick, Jesse, Hee, Eileen.
Random comment dept. “Scottro gazpacho.”
Bust Nolan Hee in lowball with an 86.
Final Table: Oliver, Lawful (does he just get a free pass to final table?)
Eileen, Bob O., Jesse, Patrick and Me.
Okay, this totes sucks. Jesse is a very aggressive player, so he’s
going to win a lot of hands and I will be the big blind more than normal.
Side note: Patrick, Jesse and David Lawful are all very nice guys,
but could someone please bust them out of the tournaments once in
a while?
I win a pot. There’s some funny comment about the worst player winning the pot.
Oliver gets knocked out.
6 players left. Tournament pays 5. Often in these spots, we create
a save by taking $20 off of each payout to create a 6th place prize.
It’s no deal. Curses.
Jesse is winning pots. I’m getting the BB a lot. Not good.
I beat Jesse with a 98 vs. his 10 in 2-7. Hooray!
But he goes back on a tear. Raises my 2000 BB.
BB is going up to 3000 on the next hand.
If I fold my 2000 BB, I will have the 3000 BB on the next hand
and will pretty much be all-in. It’s triple draw, so I might as well
defend now. I make a 98 which is pretty good. Jesse makes an 87
and I’m out. I give Jesse the same bustout gift from Kenny, shake his hand.
Walk about 15 feet away to collect myself.
I just stand there, head down for about 5 minutes.
How am I going to tell Sandi I missed the money by one spot?
Sidebar: Fellow ADBs, I got no last-longer money in the HALT tourney.
I’m sure Kenny was in. 90% sure Rich was in. Dan? Anyone else?
Heldar comes over once I come out of my trance.
We have a nice talk.
Kris, the waitress comes by. I order a Coke with cherries and water.
She immediately hands me a Coke with cherries and a water.
Talk about good service!!
I watch the end as Jesse wins it. Being a good sport, I even take
pictures for him with his phone.
Talk with Patti and Peter.
I tell Patti about Sandi’s trouble with her finger.
Patti asks: “This finger?” as she flips me off.
I say: “Yes, this finger.” As I flip her off right back.
Peter tells me about hiding $50 bills in his wallet. He finds
$150 in various slots. Pretty funny.
I’m too furmished to play poker. I’m thinking about calling it a night.
Katie and Rich Bremer want to go to happy hour in the tower.
Half-priced drinks starting at 1:00 a.m. Count me in.
Doug and David Lawful tag along too.
Funny scene at the metal detector as Rich puts Vernon in a basket.
I toss Gambo in there too.
The five of us go up to the 107 Sky Lounge.
Thumping music. 360 degree view of Las Vegas.
Katie and Rich order the drinks for us.
First one is a Banzai in the Sky. Really good.
Dan, Kenny, Un, Jesse and Bozo show up. It’s pretty dark.
At first, I think Bozo is one of Jesse’s 20-something pals.
The next drink is a Commander Palace Martini. I mis-hear it
as a Commander Phallus Martini. Katie and Rich laugh at that.
Rich’s mascot Vernon the Donkey, Jesse’s mascot the Penguin
and Gambomouse have a meeting around a candle on a little table.
Things got a little wild between Gambo and Vernon, but I want to
keep this report clean.
I get a good buzz for the first time all trip.
People want to eat, so we head back to the casino level.
I’m dead tired, so I bail on food. I think Doug was the only person
who noticed when I waved goodnight.
Doritos. Sleep.
Sunday, February 12th
I pack up and Uber to the Four Queens. Bellman won’t check my bags! WTF?
Have better luck at the D.
Cash in Sandi’s winning NL and WS bets on the Cubs.
Check out the new poker area at Binion’s. It’s at the end of
the BJ pit near the sportsbook. 4 tables. Talk to Jerry.
He says they can put in 10 tables if need be.
With the other 10 where we play CHORSE, I think they could handle BARGE.
Walk by the bar. There’s Rochelle. She gives me a hug and asks if I want a 7&7. Rochelle is the stone-cold nuts.
Call up Rich Strauss who I have seen for all of about 40 seconds during this trip. He agrees to come over to watch me eat.
Rich orders the club sandwich for me.
Waiter asks what bread type. Rich: “Ken, what would you recommend?”
Me: “Wheat.”
Waiter asks if he wants potato salad or something else.
Rich: “Ken, you’re the expert, what do you say?”
Me: “You have to get the potato salad. It’s the best.”
We talk about the Giants and other important stuff as I have a cheeseburger and 1/4 of a club sandwich.
Sandi sent me to Vegas with a special container specifically for Binion’s potato salad.
I treat. This is hilarious as the only thing Rich had was water.
I wander around Fremont Street a bit.
Call for an Uber. Dodge Charger!! Cool.
Without asking, I get in the front seat. The guy is like 22.
He’s fine with it. We have a nice chat as he drops be at the airport.
Flight home is fine. Get a rum and Coke with a drink coupon
that Oliver gave me. I even get to watch the first 40 minutes
of the Grammys on the free TV service.
Get to baggage claim. My bag is out in one or two minutes.
Kris and Taylor the Dog pick me up.
Thanks to The Stratosphere Poker Room for hosting EMBARGO.
Everybody was nice and the free pizza made the event.
Thanks to Connie and Mike for hosting the Sunday party.
Sorry we couldn’t make it.
Thanks for the hugs from Claudia, Nancy, Eileen, Connie, Lynsy, Adam,
Debbie, Shari and Rochelle. Also got a kiss on the cheek.
No, I won’t tell who that was. No, it wasn’t Adam. NTTAWWT.
Thanks to the organizers for another great rec.gambling event.
Still waiting on the steak knives.