Jam Packed Weekend!

Wow! I can’t remember the last time I had a weekend with so many activities packed in. Here is what it looked like:

Friday after work, Chris and I went and played in a World Series of Poker Circuit event at Caeser’s Palace. The event we were to play in is a daily event held each nite at 7:00 PM. We had initially planned to play in the same event on Sunday because it was Chris’ birthday. That was to be my gift to her. But, since it didn’t start until 7:00 PM, common sense said that since we both get up early on Monday, a late tourney on Sunday may not be wise. So, we opted for Friday’s event instead. For a recap of how I did in the event, check out PokerStories.info.

Saturday we got up fairly early and Chris and I both got massages. Since Chris graduated from the massage school, her massages are free. And, when she graduated, she received a stack of gift certificates good for free massages. I use those. So, mine too was free. Sweet!

We then went out to lunch at Road Runners Saloon to celebrate Chris’ birthday with her mom, brother & sister-in-law. After a big lunch, we headed home and took a nice long nap. We got up in time to get dressed and head on over to the Silverton Casino to see Twisted Sister in concert. Paxton had discovered Twisted Sister a few months back. I’m certain it had to do with one of their songs showing up in a video game he was playing. But, he had downloaded some of their videos and we had also bought him a greatest hits CD which he liked a lot. So, when we found out they were coming to town, we surprised him with tickets for the 3 of us to go. He was stoked. The show was great. Dee and the boys sounded great. The photo above was taken during the last song of the night. To see a bunch of photos, click here. If you ever go to see a show at Silverton that is going to be at the Pavillion, be sure to wear a bathing suit. You can watch the show from in the pool that is no more than 15 feet from the front of the stage. Makes for a nice “Slosh Pit”. har har har.

The concert let out pretty early. So, after getting home and dropping off Paxton, we, of course, went out to play poker at Sahara in the 11:00 PM tourney. I ended up going out in 18th spot after making a bad play. 8 away from the money. Damn. We got home at about 3:00 AM and after a LONG day, finally got some sleep.

We got up on Sunday morning and I asked Chris if she wanted to go back to Sahara to play the 11:00 AM tourney. Reluctantly, she agreed. Man, I’m so glad she decided to go. After being short stacked for most of the way, I ended up making it to the final table. Since only 69 players started the event, they were only going to pay out 7 spots. We all agreed to chop $90 off first and second spots in order to pay spot 10, 9 & 8 $60 each. At least they would get their buy-in back. It sucks to make it to the final table and still not get any cash… I played fairly tight at the final table and watched as spots 10 through 8 got busted out. At that time, I announced to the table that I was not going to accept any deal to chop the pot. Even if that meant they all come gunning for me, I wasn’t chopping. It took a little while to do, but before too terribly long, we were down to the final 4. I had doubled up a time or two so I was sitting pretty well in chips. Player 4 got taken out and it was down to the final 3 of us. All of us were fairly evenly stacked. I was the shortest stack and this was the first time somebody had mentioned a deal. I declined the deal and we played on. I picked up pocket 5s in the Big Blind and the small blind raised me. I went ahead and moved all-in. He called and showed Q-8. He didn’t get any help and I doubled up and took a nice sized chip lead. He still had about 25K chips left. A few hands later, he moved all-in and I called with K/J. He turned over J/8 and he did not hit his 8. We were then heads up. At the time we started heads up, I had a sizeable chip lead. I had approx 200K in chips to my opponents 40K. Funny thing though. In No Limit hold ‘em, that can change in a few short hands. And it did. He battled back and I doubled him up… Then, the final hand came up. I was the Big Blind. With the blinds 5K and 10K, a lot of chips move around pretty quick. He raised to 40K and I pushed all-in with A-3. He called in an instant which scared the crap out of me. He turned over K/J. All I needed to do was NOT get unlucky here. The flop was all blanks. The turn was an Ace. He was drawing dead. When the chips were counted down, I had him covered by 4K chips. I won the tourney and it felt sooooo good! This was my first ever first place finish in a casino tourney. I’ve chopped the final 4,5 or 6 places a few times before, but this was my first actual solo first place finish. I can’t wait to do it again!

With all that, you’d think that would bring us to the end of the weekend… But you would be wrong. We took Chris out for a birthday dinner. We went to a place called The Melting Pot. It’s a fondue restaurant over on Eastern. Holy cow! That place was excellent. You start off with a cheese fondue with bread, veggies and apples for dipping. Then, a salad (they have some great salads & dressings!!). Then, they bring you out your main course. You cook your main course yourself in the center of the table. After the meal, you absolutely MUST have dessert. We had a smores fondue. Milk Chocolate, graham cracker crumbs and marshmellows heated in the pot. Then, a plate of strawberries, mashmellows, bannanas, cheese cake and brownies for dipping. We all left feeling quite full! Two quick things you will want to know before heading there for dinner… Don’t go if you are in a hurry. Dinner took a little over 2 hours. Second, the place is not cheap. They add an 18% gratuity on any party of 5 or more. And, our meal worked out to be a little more than $45 per person. I was not expecting that at all.

So there ya have it. A great weekend has come to an end. I’m going to need to go to work in the morning so I can rest up.