Campfire Stories

Sweet day... Win at 1-2, High Stakes Risk, and All Night Mix Games

The poker goddess still lets me win! Yesterday was quite possibly the coolest non-Lara day I've had in a long time. I headed into the Bellagio sometime in the afternoon and put my name on the 30-60 hold'em, 40-80 mix, and 100-200 hold'em lists, still unsure of what game I was exactly going to be playing. I was feeling good and wanted to play in the 1-2 game, but my bankroll is to the place where a big hit could cripple me pretty good. I spent some time chatting with my friend Maria Ho and then wandered back into the main room where they were starting a fourth 100-200 game. I couldn't resist. I sat. We finally got the cards in the air and my first hand was in the small blind. Everybody folded and I looked down at the KJ. I raised and got called. The flop came J85. I bet, he called. Turn 7. I bet, he called. River J. I bet, he called. My hand is good. WOW! First hand, up $700, never down on the session! Shortly thereafter I moved seats. I picked up the KT in the cutoff six handed and open raised. I got three-bet by the button, I called. The flop came KQJ. Pretty good flop there! I checked, he bet, I was about to raise but the voice said, "Call." Ok. I called. The turn came 4. Nice. I was about to bet and the voice said "check." Ok. He bet, I was about to raise, but the voice said, "Just call." Ok. Weird. River 5. I was about to bet, once again the voice told me to do otherwise and I check-raised him. He thought forever and finally called. He was actually thinking about re-raising as he flashed the AT. Woo-hoo! After about half an hour I got moved to the next game, and it was terrible! I decided to book the win, just over $2100, and was on my way toward the Fontana Room to see what was going on.

I ran into Brandon Cantu on the way and he said, "Wanna go play putt-putt with us?" He barely broke stride and I made an about face heading towards the north valet. We hopped in the car with Zach and drove to the Circus Circus to meet a bunch of other people. The adventuredome was closed and we ended up in the Midway playing the fair games for money. It was awesome. From there the three of us went to Capo's for dinner, and then we went to Theo Tran's house after picking up Jeff Madsen. The game: High Stakes Risk (as in the board game). Long story short: Brandon Cantu wins. From there, Brandon, Jeff, and myself wanted to play some Chinese. We got a hold of Rick Fuller who also wanted to play and we all met at the Venetian to play $25/point Chinese. The game rapidly degenerated into a 25-50 mix, and then accelerated to a 50-100 game. I figure with a lineup of Bryan Devonshire, Brandon Cantu, Jeff Madsen, and Rick Fuller playing games like Badugi, 2-7 Triple Draw, 5 card high triple-draw, Stud Hi/Lo Regular, and Chinese Poker, there's no reason not to stay and play until 7:30am! Good lord. We played for almost eight hours straight. I ended up winning $1007.

Tonight was the first time that I had spent any time with Madsen ever. I must say that I am impressed. Kid's a hell of a cardplayer with some incredible instincts for the game. I am sure that his experience level is low due simply to his age - but his successes this summer were no fluke. I believe that he has an incredible future in front of him regardless of his pursuits.

Anyways, off to the Bellagio tonight. Who knows what'll happen!

Peace and good luck,

Devo

posted by Devo @ 10:22 PM |