As my most recent stint in Las Vegas was coming to an end, I ordered a handful of Texas State shirts so that I could represent my alma mater when I was at the poker tables. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you: On this day (August 11th) "a couple of years" ago, I graduated from college. This is a photo of me during my college days, and one at my graduation...
I wonder why this is the story I chose to share with you today.... : ) Anyway, this story occurred during the wee hours of Sunday morning, in-between visiting my friends at the sportsbook, and attending the birthday party at Sunset Park (both topics that were covered in yesterday's blog post). My friend Geoff (who for working two full-time jobs during the World Series) was a great friend in helping me get around the desert during my visit, and we got the chance to hang out quite a bit, considering his work schedule. I arrived at the Rio after midnight on this Sunday morning, my first visit to the World Series of Poker during this trip. I wanted to check the scene out while things were more quiet, hoping to catch my friend during his lunch break. I also knew other people who were working the series, and I thought I might run into some of them. In addition to the well-publicized bracelet events that many of you are surely familiar with, there are also round-the-clock cash games and "daily tournaments" during the series, so there's never really a complete shutdown of action while the WSOP is running. As luck would have it, Geoff was going to forego his full lunch break and seek an EO (early out) since things weren't hectic at the Rio on this particular night. He told me that he would give me a ride back to the Strip if this happened, so I was watching some poker near his work area when this occurred.......
I was on the rail (there was literally a small wall in this case) of a high limit PLO (Pot Limit Omaha) cash game, wearing one of my Texas State t-shirts. There were MANY black ($100) and green ($25) chips on the table. FYI, these are much higher stakes than any games that I play in. The player who was the most talkative was really giving a hard time to the player that I was standing right behind on the rail. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail, other than to say that the words "sister" and "whore" were used in the same sentence, when referencing the player's family. Now the guy that I was behind was REALLY calm and collected, at one point replying, "Hey, she's got to live her own life..." After a while, the guy who was doing all of the chirping suddenly exclaims, "HEY, TEXAS STATE!" I instantly responded, because..., DUH, we know he's talking to me. Then the guy goes on, AGAIN targeting the player sitting in front of me: "Hey, did you know that he was cut from the gymnastics team at Texas State in 2003?" The table starts laughing, and the player in front of me replies, "You know, that's the funniest thing you've said all day..." And then every few hands, the chatty player resumed his conversation with me. "Where is Tecas State?" I told him, "It's between San Antonio and Austin, a half-hour between each, in San Marcos." After a few more Texas State and San Marcos-related questions, he asks if I play poker. I respond that I do, but for MUCH smaller stakes. Then he asks if I'm up for the trip, and I respond, "Yup, a little." I even used a hand-gesture to explain this, like the team needs an inch for a first down.... "How much?" I finally tell him that I'm up just over 100 bucks. THEN he reaches down, grabs a black chip from his stack, and TOSSES IT ACROSS THE TABLE towards me! He must have been throwing into the air-conditioning, as the chip falls short, hitting the other side of the short wall, before falling to the floor. I was that close to 100 dollars. But wait. A player on my side of the table picked up the chip, and handed it to me. Then the player who tossed the chip, knowing that it had hit the wall, asked where it was (I believe he had gotten into a hand). I showed him that I was holding the chip, and at that moment, one of the floor people came over, to take the chip from me. Seeing this, the player said, "NO, NO, let him keep it." The floor walked away, and I kind of sheepishly shrugged, like, "Are you sure?" I guess since I had been watching the game for about half an hour, he thought that I was down on my luck. I actually enjoy watching people play poker, whether I have money or not, which I did in this case. I watched the game for a few more minutes, and then Geoff finished his shift and motioned for me that it was time to go. And that's how I left the Rio a hundred dollars richer....
That's all for tonight, but I'll have another installment for you soon. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
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