Gambling Thrills

Well, our first day in Vegas was fantastic.  We arrived Wednesday night around 2:00AM Vegas time after spending a wonderful 5 hour layover in Dallas.

We got up Thursday around 10:00am.  We headed down to the buffet at the Rio for some breakfast.  We got there right before 11:00am, so they had breakfast still and at 11:00 they put out the lunch items.  We got the best of both worlds.

After breakfast we cruised around the Rio to check it out.  We went upstairs to check-out the WSOP.  Not much was happening.  There were some satellites running, but that is all.  I did see Mike “The Mad Genius” at the cashier.  I also saw Mike Sexton walk right past me.  I turned to my boyfriend, Jay, and said “hey, that was Mike Sexton.” I should have gotten a picture with him, but missed the opportunity.

Then we cruised around the WSOP store.  Saw some great t-shirts and hoodies.  Going to grab something before we leave, but not sure what.

We played a few slots here and there, but did not do any major gambling.

We had reservation for Emerils Delmonico Steakhouse for 5:00pm.  What an incredible dinner!!!  My parents and sister were so kind and got me a gift certificate for any of the Emerils placed and he has three out here in Vegas.  We decided on the steakhouse which was a great choice!  The steak was melt in your mouth good.  We started with a wonderful salmon & tuna tartar.  That was fantastic!  We have some delicious wine too.  Overall it was fantastic.

After dinner we walked off the 20 lbs we gained at dinner by walking the strip.  We stopped at the Bellagio for the water fountain show outside.  It was brief but great.  We walked all the way down to MGM and New York, New York before heading back.  We made stops at several casinos on the strip.  I stocked up on some playing cards for my next home poker tournament.

No poker yesterday, but it was a great day none the less.

Today we are going to play a poker tournament or cash games.  Then we are off to meet some friends from HoldemPokerChat and SuitedPockets forums.  Should be great fun.

Check out my Facebook page for some great pictures of Vegas - Day One on Facebook

Saturday I hosted a small NLH tournament at my house.  The buy-in was $25.  We ended up having 24 players out of the 27 that initially signed up.  It was a nice little prize pool.  I paid top 4.

I personally didn’t do squat in the tournament. :)  I got crippled early in the tournament when some moron called my 4X  bb raise.  I had KK and he had Q5!  I guess because it was sooooooted.  He ended up hitting trip queens on the turn.  He hit his face card on the flop, so of course he called my pot bet.  I was so pissed, but kept cool because I was hosting and wanted to keep it friendly.  I muttered a few words, but ends up he was hard of hearing so never heard any of my sly comments.

After the tournament about 8 of us did a mini tournament for $10 a person.  I ended up winning that one for $40.  Then did an Omaha cash game.  Bought in for $60 and cashed in for $84.  So for the entire night, I ended up making $29.  I guess it is betting than loosing your pants.

It was a fun time and everyone seemed to really enjoy it.  I will definitely do it again soon.

Reefers Sommer Callis Medical Relief Fund Game

Sommer Skye, the daughter of DrCheckRaise , is a 21 year old young lady full of energy with a beautiful spirit, who had been living on her own for only a short time. Late one night, she was returning a video to the video store for a friend and was involved in a head on collison just a few miles from her home.

She had 11 hours of soft tissue surgery on her face on the night of the accident, and there will be additional surgeries in the years to come. Her family is so thankful that she was fortunate enough to survive that evening and prays that this will not break her beautiful spirit.

The auto and medical insurance will not come close to covering what lies ahead. Please consider helping this young lady not to lose hope so early in life.

Sommer Callis Medical Relief Fund

A medical relief fund has been set up to aid Sommer’s long and expensive recovery. Donations can be made via the following link to her Medical Relief Fund Site:

The Sky Has No Limit | Sommer Callis Medical Relief Fund

Every dollar counts! Please spread the word via forums, Facebook, Myspaces…
EVERYWHERE you can.

ReeferPoker has stepped up with a charity event taking place on saturday June 6th at 3pm est.

$10 +$6 tournament. $1 of the $6 is the fee. $5 goes to Sommer Callis Medical Relief Fund with Reefer Poker matching it.

Title - Sommer Callis Medical Relief Fund
Description - $5 of $6 fee goes to Sommer Callis Medical Relief fund with Reefer Poker matching it.
Date - Saturday June 6th
Time - 3:00pm est 14:00 ReeferTime
Type - NL Holdem Turbo
Buy-in - $10+.$6($5 of $6 fee goes to Sommer Callis Medical Relief fund with Reefer Poker matching it.)

Even if you can not participate in this online game, please consider visiting their site and making a donation!

God Bless Sommer, get better soon!

♣ ♥ ♦

Apparently never…..because we still continue to play.

How many times have you sat at a poker table online and continuously saw bad play being rewarded?  Or gotten so mad you practically went on tilt just because you had seen enough?

Both of these scenario’s go on time after time, but yet I still continue to play online.  Often times I would tell myself I was done with online poker once and for all.  But there I am the next day playing online again.  So why is it?

Because we love the thrill.  We love the challenge of beating the system once and for all.  Plus it means playing the game we love because we cannot get out and play live every day or even every week.  So we put up with it.

Also, as hard as it is to believe, those suck outs and bad plays do not get rewarded as often as it may seem.  As a player you probably only pay attention to the hand you are in.  How often to you pay attention to ALL hands that are going on at the tables?  Not very often if you are a multi-tasker like so many online players, including myself.

My suggestion is to try this…register for one tournament and play it out, without getting in on another one.  Watch every hand played.  Keep record of the suckouts vs. legitimate hands.  Watch that bad player and keep record how many times his bad calls actually pay off.  As hard as it may be to believe, they are not paid off more than the legitimate/favored hand.  I swear!  Why would I lie?

I know it is hard to believe, because I was once one of those people.  Hell, I’m still one that gets pissed when I get sucked out on or the random generator screws up.  I still call someone a donkey when they call my preflop raise with a 92 off.  Believe it or not, it is those players that will pay you off in the long run.

Think about this…

You want donkey’s at your table!!  They are going to build your stack.  Sure, occasionally they are going to get lucky and get rewarded for bad play, but I promise you that luck will only hold up for so long.  You are more likely to be paid off by that donkey than another solid player.  Would you rather go face to face with a donkey holding 92 off against your KK or against a solid player holding AA against that KK?  I’ll go for the donkey all the way.

Next time your are online playing try to think about these things.  It may just open your eyes and allow you to play an even stronger meaner game.

Good luck out there!!