Ten Days in the Desert, Day 6: Good Hand, White Boy
Cambodian Slick
sandwiched between three phillipino dudes. They were all pretty nice,
and every time I won a pot they would say "good hand, white boy."
One of them was from Austin, and had a University of Texas ring on.
That's my alma mater as well, and we started talking about the now
infamous Austin Poker Club. He was there the night it was shut down
by the five-o, and he was in the middle of a pot limit hand. Seems he
flopped a set of tens and got all the money in against a guy with the
nut flush draw. The turn was a blank, and the cops were all over the
place with guns drawn telling people to get their hands in the air
before the river was dealt. As they were cuffing the man with the
flush draw, he pleaded with the cop to turn over the top card on the
deck. No such luck. Not only are the chips impounded in plastic bags
at the precinct, but the huge pot is forever in dispute.
Early today I hung out in the Mirage spa trying to relax and not think
about all the disasters happening at work. It sucks, because by
trying not to think about work, I'm actually thinking about work, so
it's a catch-22.
Totally refreshed and relaxed and after a nice nap I am forced to put
in some time at the tables in the mirage because I lost my rate card
and have to make up my hours. I play a little 3-6 with josh and
wayne, and after losing sixty bucks when my two pair don't hold up to
a runner runner straight (josh says to me "you must have this game
confused with 4-8") I get up and decide to get comped at the pizza
place and leave my chips on the table racking up hours.
We decide to try our hand in the Mirage Tuesday no limit tournament.
The field is huge, about 7 tables. As I'm waiting for the tournament
to start, I sit 10-20 for maybe two rounds and make about 300 bucks.
I hit cards like nobody's business. I feel on a rush for the
tournament, and hurry to my chair for the beginning. First hand: 6-7
suited in middle position. I limp for the 15 and say "lets see how
loose this table is." Like three people call, plus the big blind.
Flop is 8 9 10 rainbow. I don't got the nuts, but you have to feel
good about your hand here. I go all in and get two callers. One has
J-9 and the other has a 10. The turn is a seven, and the river has me
pulling forty bucks out of my pocket for a rebuy. I eventually build
my stack back up, and close to the break I have about T1500 when I
find myself utg with jacks. I make it 90, triple the blinds. I get
two callers, one behind and one of the blinds. Flop is J 10 10.
Check Check Check. Turn is a club making a possible flush draw.
Check Check Check. River is an Ace. Check, all in, fold, call. As
the small blind turns over his hand and I see a 10, I smile. "I've
got you, sucka." Then I see the other ten, and even though it doesn't
immediately occur to me that he has the absolute stone cold nuts and
all I have is a measly full house, I definelty sense something is
wrong. Then as the dealer is pushing my stack over to the other guy,
even though he most certainly does not have a full house like me, and
as I hear all the moans and groans and exclamations from the rest of
the table, and as I feel myself standing up from the table to walk
away ("hey wait! You can still rebuy and add-on! Come back, where ya
goin?") I still don't realize that I lost the hand. Worst beat of the
trip. Maybe the worst beat I ever took. I should have asked the
dealer if there was a jackpot.
After that I rounded up josh, chonko, and rob to go downtown and throw
some $2 craps. We ask Wayne to drive us. I should stop here and
explain that we had rented a car, then cancelled it at Wayne's bequest
because he said he was driving to Vegas and would have use of his own
car all week. We complied despite the fact that only Wayne could
drive Wayne's car and only when Wayne wanted to go wherever it was
everyone was going. Which basically means that I have yet to see what
the inside of Wayne's new BMW looks like.
Wayne is sitting at the 3-6 table. I think he's in the same seat he's
been in since Sunday. In fact, I think he's wearing the same clothes.
The table has a robotic shuffler in it, where the dealer just drops
the deck in and takes out a freshly shuffled one. I remark at how
weird it is, and Wayne says "the robot is the nuts. I think you get
10-15% more hands in an hour." Josh says "wow, Wayne. At 3-6 that's
like an extra dollar, dollar fifty."
Of course Wayne isn't going to take us downtown to shoot craps. So we
take a cab, and stop off at the Horseshoe to see how the tournament is
shaping up.
There are now 141 players in at this point, and many top players are
gone. But there are quite a few hotshots that remain. Phil Hellmuth
sits proudly at the "TV table." Humberto Brenes, Johnny Chan, and Men
the Master all sit together at the most watched and the loudest and
funniest table in the room. Every once in a while there is a
commotion and you can look over and see Brenes dancing around the
table yelling something in Spanish or shouting for more Coronas. Phil
Ivey is still in, although doesn't have the dominating stack he once
had. Sitting to his right is our hometown hero Mike May, doing just
fine. Scotty Nguyen, Annie Duke, Chip Jett, there are plenty of heavy
hitters still in.
John Hanley has gone out, and is on the rail telling whoever will
listen his "bad beat" story. Seems he opened a pot with a 3-6, and
got one caller. The flop was a beautiful 4 5 7, and in his words,
"boom-shak-a-la-ka", the money went to the middle. His opponent,
however, answered his call with the 6-8, and is holding the stone cold
absolutes. Someone on the rail says to John, "Yeah, everyone would
agree you have to get broke there. But why were you playing 3-6 to
begin with?" John replied "I thought I had the best hand. I put him
on 6-deuce." Good answer.
I watched old Oklahoma Johnny Hale, who had been near asleep the whole
night, bust out a guy with 7-2 offsuit. As he pushed his chips in the
middle, he says "I hope you call me." The guy did call him, with Ace
high, and Johnny paired on the flop and sent him packing. That woke
the old man up, and he stood up and started talking to everyone on the
rail that would listen about what he had just done. He even asked a
camera man to make sure to get it all on camera. Somebody on the rail
says "if you can bust em out with 7-2 offsuit, you are the best in the
world." Maybe. Or maybe you're just trying to get home in time to
catch Matlock.
I see greatbrit in the tournament room and he asks me "were you
playing in this?" I say no, and ask him "were you?" He says "No, of
course not, I suck." I like him.
Downstairs the list for the pot limit is ridiculously long so I play
10-20 and win about 350 in less than two hours, then pick up and leave
because the smoke is getting to me. It hits me on the way home that I
haven't had a losing session yet. And if it wasn't for these goddamn
tournaments, I'd be even bigger winners right now. Its going to be
hard to master this tournament stuff. I reckon I need a lot more
practice to get it right. If I'm learning anything this week about
playing poker at all, its that I don't really know how. And also that
I love playing it.
Tomorrow is a big day. Peter hits the ground, and we have our
ceremonial yearly steak dinner at the Circus Circus steakhouse,
followed by the third annual Upper West Side World Series of Poker.
I'm prepared to take home the bracelet this year. I really think that
all my tournament experience all week has me in good form for this one
table fish fest. The bragging rights here are pretty substantial. I
need to win, I've already let my mouth right so many checks that my
ass may not be able to cash.
Tomorrow is also a big day in the WSOP because they will play down to
I think three tables and people say it could go well into the early
morning hours, they are so determined to get this thing over with on
Friday.
I'm determined to do the same. As much as I love Vegas and love being
here, it's like anything else that's really bad for you: good in
small doses.
Until tomorrow,
j.canz
Much thanks for the updates...............
_________________________________________________________________
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Marcstar
these reports.
_________________________________________________________________
Spicoli
"Cambodian Slick" <sp...@ureach.com> wrote in message
news:72056a57.03052...@posting.google.com...
> Began the "day" late last night playing 15-30 at the bellagio
> sandwiched between three phillipino dudes. They were all pretty nice,
> and every time I won a pot they would say "good hand, white boy."
> http://www.geocities.com/nycspies/poker.html
In the picture, which white boy are you, Dave? I swear I recognize the guy
on the left from Austin. Ever play chess in the Union?
Aloha!
Spicoli
Cambodian Slick
yes that guy on the left is none other than josh small, chess player
and poker maestro. he was a frequent chess player in the union in
austin. myself, im on the right with the texas shirt. and although
four of us went to UT Austin, three of us are from arkansas, and five
of us all live in NYC, hence the UPPER WEST SIDE WSOP (which is going
on right now, we are on break, and im in second place and outchipped
2-1).
wish me luck, more later....
dave
Phat Mack
sp...@ureach.com (Cambodian Slick) wrote:
> One of them was from Austin, and had a University of Texas ring on.
> That's my alma mater as well, and we started talking about the now
> infamous Austin Poker Club. He was there the night it was shut down
> by the five-o, and he was in the middle of a pot limit hand. Seems he
> flopped a set of tens and got all the money in against a guy with the
> nut flush draw. The turn was a blank, and the cops were all over the
> place with guns drawn telling people to get their hands in the air
> before the river was dealt. As they were cuffing the man with the
> flush draw, he pleaded with the cop to turn over the top card on the
> deck. No such luck. Not only are the chips impounded in plastic bags
> at the precinct, but the huge pot is forever in dispute.
Good story, but no. They didn't handcuff any players. They eventually
turned over the cards once they calmed down and had hold 'em explained
to them. They declined to push the pot to the winner, however. Tell John
we missed him that night.
Peter Lizak
win that UWSWSOP!!!
> dave
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter Lizak
pli...@math.uwaterloo.ca
Scientific Computing Lab, University of Waterloo
Cambodian Slick
i think the story was much better the way it was told to me.
sometimes its ok to bend the truth if it makes for a more interesting
anectdote, dont you think?