Vegas Love / David vs. Goliath / Phil Gordon

VEGAS LOVE

Hey all,

Long time no speak (since my bad beat rant of November)... I'm fresh off a really really fun trip to Vegas with my west coast homeboys (Shawn, Dustin, Yu, Jake, and Bobby Bell)... It was my first time in Sin City... We had a BLAST... Good times and I plan on more and more Vegas trips.

I know I said I was going to lay down the poker (I'm still taking a break for the most part to reflect, do music, and more studying).. but I just couldn't go to Vegas and not hit the tables... I played at two places.. The Mirage (I love it!) and The Wynn (Wynn = lose)... Without too many specifics.. I had a great poker trip and my roulette system made me $72 dollars until the "system" bit me for a $90 loss on Sunday morning...

DAVID VS. GOLIATH

I COULDN'T end my trip on a sour note with the roulette loss... So I walked over to The Mirage in the cold and watched the 1-2 NL table for like 30 minutes before I got to sit down... Playing really solid poker... But the ultimate apex of the morning is the hand where I took down the table's "best player" / shark for a $460+ pot... I put him all-in after he tried to punk me with a $100 re-raise of my $40 bet on the river... I was holding the top pair (an ace that came on the flop) w/ a solid kicker (a jack of hearts)... I knew something was fishy because I was first in position for each round of betting and I checked the turn (it was some rag that came) and he and the 3rd guy checked around... As for the flop... I led out with a $15 bet and him and the other guy just simply called... So when he tried to smash me on the river... I knew I had him beat... He had bullied me away from a hand that I would've won earlier (ironically the 3rd guy in the current hand I'm talking about had him beat with king high in the earlier hand - I was holding pocket 8s and would've won)... So after his $100 reraise, I pushed all-in.. I had enough... I had him covered and he called... For a minute after he called.. I thought that I was toast and he had trips or something... But now that I've thought about it a bit... He probably had an ace with a lower kicker... So I turn over my AJ and he mucks his hand and gives me a nod... The table goes NUTS... I heard several times from the older gents, "Kid, it don't get much better than this.. take your money and walk away" ... Well, I had to get back to the hotel room to see Dustin and the boys off and check out the room... I kinda wanted to stay and try to make some more cheese.. But.. oh well... I think that was a great way to end my trip... I tipped the dealer (Raymond) $18 dollars and bounced... Sure it was a lot of money for a tip... but 'hey' that's the largest cash game pot that I've ever won and the dealer deservered it for sure.

PHIL GORDON

Just when I thought it couldn't get better... I just met Phil Gordon here at Reagan Airport... We had the same flight from ATL to D.C. ... Dude is 6'9"!... A really nice guy too... I didn't ask him for a poker tip or anything dumb like that... I simply told him that I really respect him and good luck on the tables... He nicely smiled and shook my hand and that was that... Pretty cool... I'm confident that I will be running into him again sometime in the future...

What a weekend... But I'm still done with poker :)

ETC.

With my wife's godfather totally randomly asking me to teach him how to play poker and with me totally randomly running into and meeting Phil Gordon today... It's making me think about things... Are they signs?... I don't know... Or maybe I do know.

Peace all,
Craft