Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[animalpoker]

ul would have been fun to have both made final table but I wasn't much better busting in 17th.   Hopefully c u in the 3k 2moz if I'm up for it (decide in morning)

[slowmo]

Good luck tomorrow mate. Wear your lucky underwear , take your time, dwell a little and give everything 5 seconds more thought . Maybe less caffeine might help , who knows .

[tikay]

Absolute rubbish squeezage and I've not even gone to bed yet, let alone got up and made myself a coffee.

Tomorrow is a brand new day.

I'm fascinated to hear about your penalty for insubordination, and even more fascinated to hear about what I can only assume was your night in the drunk tank at LVPD headquarters. Jeeves' next bulletin will no doubt be a stormer.

It was weird, Ralph, it came out of nothing. I've never had a penalty in the UK, or not that I can recall, but I've had 5 or 6 in the USA.

We had a Dealer who had no idea how PLO8 worked, & got really confused every time when she had to split pots.

We also had a Table Policeman, who was putting everyone right as to what they could or could not do. Right mean little man, nasty piece of work. He was not bothering me as such, but he was a bit of a wet blanket on an otherwise happy table. And he was giving the Dealer endless grief. Oddly, he was dressed head to foot in "SUPERMAN" gear - hat, T-Shirt, the whole works. He even had a SUPERMAN rucksack.

So, a pot goes off that did not involve he or I, in fact it was heads up.

Eventually, after bets & calls all the way, it's cards on their backs, & both players table their hands.

One guy is playing the High, & wins it. Other guy is on the Low, but he paired all three low cards. So he has 3 pair (not enough for the High) & no low.

The chips were all nicely stacked in 2 separate stacks - ideal for a chopped pot.

Dealer then scoops them into one pile, & goes to push them to the High man, who had scooped.

Low man now says "no, I have the low, it's a chop".

The dealer then starts separating the chips again, into two pots.

High Man says "no, I've scooped". Dealer scoops the chips into one pile again.

Low man says "no, I have the low".

She goes to split the pot again.

Everyone can see the score. Cards are tabled, both hands. Low man has no low. Everyone is looking at each other, "wtf?" sorta thing.

I guess I was first to pipe up. Not aggressively, not in an angry manner - just matter of fact "Sir, you don't have a Low". 

At which SUPERMAN suddenly shouts "FLOOR!"

Floor toodles across, & SUPERMAN tells him "that bloke" (pointing at me) has been commenting upon the hands during play. We have had no previous, none at all, it came out of nowhere.

Floor say to me "Sir, you must not comment on hands during play, if you do, you'll get a one orbit penalty, for now, you are on a warning".

Now, I walk a mile in tight boots to avoid aggro, & repeatedly turn the other cheek when folks stick their elbow in my ribs. Having the last word causes so much needless argument, we see it all the time here. Ignore it, let them have the last word.   

But I could not help myself here. The Floor seemed a decent guy, & he never shouted at me, but he'd got the wrong end of the stick.

Before I could say "the hand was NOT in play, the cards had been tabled, & the Dealer had got confused", SUPERMAN now says "why only a warning, he should get a penalty?"

Now I am, I admit, a tad cross. 

So I say to the Floor as above, & emphasise the hand had concluded, it was not "in play". It was AFTER the hand.

SUPERMAN now pipes up again "yes it was, you need to keep quiet, it was nothing to do with you".

At this point, I confess, I may have uttered a profanity which included "effing SUPERMAN"

I tried to catch the words as they left my mouth, bit it was too late.

"Enough, ONE ORBIT PENALTY for arguing with me, you must leave the table, da de da" says Floor.

"Why", I reasonably ask with, perhaps, more than a little vigour.

"For arguing, & if you argue further, it'll be a 3 orbit penalty".

Fair enough. I decide to say no more, & go outside for 5 minutes.

[tikay]

5 minutes later, I return, two hands early, so I stand & wait, a few paces away. SUPERMAN tells the Dealer "he can't stand there, he's on penalty".

Jeez. I say nothing.

Eventually, I sit down, & I'm dealt in. Nothing was said. I'm sandwiched between two pals, we hook up every year, they both give me a knowing look, rolling their eyes. 

SUPERMAN raises it up. I have A-2 -x-x with nut Diamonds. I'm thinking about raising (I'm in position), but I'm fearful of him thinking I'm being arsey, so I just call.

It comes 4-7-8, two Diamonds. It's the perfect flop, or almost, & the chips fly in. It's a great freeroll spot, exactly what we look for in this game.

I fail to improve, SUPERMAN has a better high, & also has A-2.

He then instructs the Dealer how to chop the pot so he gets three quarters. I was so tempted to say "no talking during the hand", but I just decided enough was enough, & it made no sense. Meanwhile, I'd been quartered for my full stack.

Marv.

SUPERMAN indeed.

[tikay]

Good luck tomorrow mate. Wear your lucky underwear , take your time, dwell a little and give everything 5 seconds more thought . Maybe less caffeine might help , who knows .

Thanks Simon.

For the record, I don't wear underwear in Vegas.

[tikay]

ul would have been fun to have both made final table but I wasn't much better busting in 17th.   Hopefully c u in the 3k 2moz if I'm up for it (decide in morning)

Yikes, I was sure you would Final. UL bud.

Hope you feel better tomorrow, you did look a bit ropey today.

[tikay]

Good luck today , keep the good form going.

Thanks David.

Am going to swerve today, it was always likely to be today OR tomorrow, & tomorrow kinda works better.

Explanation on way shortly.

Cliffs - am off the back of, maybe, the most wonderful 4 days I can remember in many a year, if not ever, so today is rest up day. I'll try & do some Updates from Events 1 & 2 for my intrepid stakers first.

Then, Heaven forbid, I took hundreds of photos on Tuesday, Thursday & Friday, & I'm going to post a few. Other folks holiday snaps are about as interesting as Stars Hand Histories, or bad beat stories, I know that, but they mean the world to me, so you'll just have to look away.

I'll play @ Golden Nugget tomorrow ($240 PLO8 I think), then Tuesday will be the last day of my non-poker "holiday", & I'll start the poker schedule proper on Wednesday.  

What camera do you have these days tikay?

Since I've been away from Blonde for so long the last time you mentioned cameras I'm sure you were thinking of getting a DSLR but I always found a good Compact Super Zoom does everything I need.

Look forward to seeing some photos from you.  I'd definitely prefer to see holiday photos over hand-histories.

Well my photos do have a certain unique style.

I'm currently using a little Kodak PixPro. I had a similar thing previously, & it was fine, but it just sort of seized up, it would not open or anything, so that went in the bin, with all the others. I did toy with the idea of a DSLR, & Anna Fowler offered me some useful advice, but it'd be wasted on me.

Fair to say, there are some things we have to accept we can never do well. In my case, photography, hitting a golf ball cleanly, drawing a picture, are all things I just have to accept I'll never master, no matter what equipment I use. Fortunately, I make up for it with fashion sense, charisma, & generally speaking, the ladies find me hard to resist when I turn on the charm offensive.

When I retire, I'm determined to master a few of my failures - photography, especially wildlife, (I took some amazing photos of dolphins on Thursday) fishing, & golf.  

I know some one who could help with that

Hope you are having a great time and run well.

Thanks Dave, but I doubt even you could help me hit a golf ball cleanly, or even hit it at all.

My hand-eye co-ordination was always bad, & now my eyes are not so good, just to compound it. I swing a bit like Jim Furyk, but I don't hit it much like him.

Am having a grand time, ta, though got a bit of a (non-poker) curly lip today.

I bet I could, I wouldn't be much of a teacher if I couldn't 

I'm up for the challenge, we can arrange times dates when you get back, FOC of course.

Glad to see you have made day 2 now go and ship it

Thanks Dave. I'm not sure you could, but I hear you.

I'd love to be able to play golf again, but I already have time pressures in life. Don't tempt me, I adored playing golf.

If work ends anytime soon, you have a deal.

Fishing, golf, canoodling, what a life that would be.

[tikay]

Holiday snap time. I have hundreds, & I know how boring other folks holiday snaps are, but that's too bad, so look away now.

I'll try & do a day or two at a time.

The whole trip was based around this holiday, been looking forward to it for exactly a year, & it happened.

My young lady flew in on Sunday 1st, & stayed for 10 days. We had the time of our lives, best holiday ever.

So, I picked her up from McCarron at midday, & we went for a swim as soon as we got to the hotel. I'm not big into swimming, but it was a 3 line whip really. I like to do things which please her, & she likes us to swim, so we did. In fact we swum 4 or 5 times during the 10 days, including once in the Pacific Ocean, which was a sort of secret dream we had.

In the evening, in an exact repeat of last year, we dined at Otto's, in Venetian.

I had spag bol, Gill had some veggie rubbish.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Monday, we had a 6am brekkie at Hash A Go Go, in The Rio.

I don't ever eat breakfast, EXCEPT when on holiday, or staying in hotels, but we both enjoy eating out, so the schedule included brekkie daily.

Look at the size of this meal - the sausages & eggs are normal size, which gives you an idea how big that pancake thing was. Ridiculous. Don't forget the plate of potatoes, & toast, too.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

After brekkie, we drove up to Lake Mead, & Hoover Dam. It was 121f on the approach road to Lake Mead. That's warm.

There is a little Marina at Lake Mead, & it's rammed with fish. Not sure I approve of fish or animals which are sort of tourist trained, but it was quite a sight.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

There were ducks & birds, too. We went in the little shop & asked if they had anything we could feed them with, they sold me.....popcorn.

Look at that Mallard eyeing up the popcorn.

 

[tikay]

Next up, Hoover Dam.

Click to see full-size image.

Hoover Dam actually spans 2 time Zones - Nevada Time, & Arizona Time.

[tikay]

Since I was last there, in 2005 I think, they have completed the magnificent but clumsily named Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.

It may not look special, but constructing that thing in the local rock & terrain must have been a nightmare.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_O'Callaghan%E2%80%93Pat_Tillman_Memorial_Bridge

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

The major fascination for me, though, was the profusion of inclined electricity towers.

Try as I might, I've been racking my brains to understand why they are inclined - I can't grasp it at all. The cables you see are not support cables, they are power cables.

Anyone know?

Have to say, I thought they were jolly exciting to see, like an 8th miracle of the world. I don't believe we have any inclined electricity pylons in Europe.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

[Ricardov83]

The major fascination for me, though, was the profusion of inclined electricity towers.

Try as I might, I've been racking my brains to understand why they are inclined - I can't grasp it at all. The cables you see are not support cables, they are power cables.

Anyone know?

Have to say, I thought they were jolly exciting to see, like an 8th miracle of the world. I don't believe we have any inclined electricity pylons in Europe.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

It looks as though they are set into the side of a valley/ravine.  Perhaps they are at an angle so as not to be visible on the skyline?  It's a pretty clever way of hiding them, if so.

[MANTIS01]

Wiiiiii I knew it was foul language.

But wtf Mr Mean..."I'm thinking about raising, but I'm fearful of him thinking I'm being arsey, so just call". Mr Mean would raise, shoot him a stare like he hasn't had a latte all day and whisper "I'm gonna fuck you like Lois Lane".

With re-buy we are now 1/1/0 so let's smash it up today.