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The quasi Rounder

The trouble with having a postponed playoff basketball game is finding a substitute activity that is similarly intense and fun. I have come so accustomed to playing basketball on the weekends that on the rare occasion that it is canceled, it makes me feel lost in a way. I'd missed the previous weeks games too due to a severely sprained ankle so i had spent the entire week leading up to the playoff weekend resting and mentally preparing for the first round of playoffs. So for me, the news was especially discouraging, although i probably needed the extra day of rest (had two games scheduled for Sunday...). But since i was so amped to play ball I couldn't convince myself to just stay home. It just seemed kind of boring sitting around all day watching the tube when i was suppose to be playing ball...

There was the 12:55 pm Giants vs Dodgers game at the AT&T park but that wasn't enough to keep me home (on HD even). I did want to catch the Game so i had to come up with some kind of a way to escape the mundane afternoon at home while doing something somewhat intense, relatively speaking. The Giants embarrassed the Dodgers with a series sweep the last time they were in town so i was hoping the Dodgers would return the favor in San Francisco over the weekend (and they did)... If you haven't figured it out yet, that means an afternoon playing cards at the Bicycle Casino amidst their multitude of TV's lol. That's what happens when basketball is canceled hehe... After a quick lunch at home, i donned my Authentic Dodger Jersey (complete with the blue forearm-length undershirt just like Derek Lowe's, the games starting pitcher...) and off i went, full of hopes...

Upon arrival at the Casino parking lot, another car was just pulling in as well, right across from me. What emerged from that car was this tall drink of water with a face to die for. She was absolutely gorgeous! She had on no makeup, she was tall, slender, great shoulders (I am a shoulder kind of guy. Boobs are great but i like shoulders...), and had really long legs for days... She was dressed kind of nondescript too, just perfect ya know lol! Well at least in physical attributes. She basically Epiphanized my kind of a girl (Again, at least in the physical-attribute sense)... Anyway, the heat and humidity was almost unbearable (especially with my big Jersey) so i hurried along, she seemed to share the discomfort and hurried along herself. Inside the Casino on the other hand is a different story. The patrons know the temps always tend to dip down to uncomfortable frigid levels, so often you'll see people somewhat bundled up...

Once inside, i dashed over to the front desk to grab a CardPlayer magazine and a quick smoke. It's kind of a tradition you might say. I read about Phil Hellmuths record breaking 11th career WSOP bracelet as i patiently waited to be seated. Just a couple of minutes into the article though, they called my name. They guy on the podium sent me over to table # 49 on seat # 8, where, wouldn't you know it the tall drink of water herself was seated-- on my right. I sat without saying hello (perhaps i wasn't in the mood for talking... or maybe i was intimidated, not sure lol), plunked my money down on the table and proceeded to read about Hellmuths amazing feat. Oh, she looked even hotter closeup by the way (freckles and all...). She didn't say much in the first few hands but after she got involved in a few pots, she couldn't help herself. She just kept trying to analyze and scrutinize every hand she was involved in and what she might have done differently etc... While this is okay to do in maybe bigger and more exciting pots, it tends to be tiresome when done excessively. Quite honestly it became kind of a nuisance after a while. Even when i was in a middle of a hand she would ramble on about stuff... But what was i to do? She was hot! lol. And when she wasn't involved in a hand she talked a lot about her personal life. In a very short period of time, i learned about her profession, her schedule, where she lives, her favorite tv show (and no it aint celebrity poker) her divorced parents, an upcoming vacation, and the lovely story about her ex-boyfriend and their shared love of the game of Poker. It really started to feel like i wasn't playing Poker at all. It was more like a bad date all of a sudden...

Fortunately for me, the player at seat # 3 busted out and was replaced by a guy who would turn out to be my saving grace. Although he was across the way from me and the freckly girl, he made an immediate impact on the game with prodigious raises. And when someone dared called his crazy pre-flop raises, he would move ALL IN on the flop as if to dare back (damn that $40 game). It was nuts but it worked like a charm and he was able quintuple his original buyin in a mere 20 minutes (no joke!). His antics seemed to steer the tall girls attention away from me too, little by little. I tell ya, never had i been so happy to get a really hot chick out of my skin haha. Not that her and i had anything going or anything, we didn't. It just seemed like the timing was so perfect ya know. I got to play poker next to a hot chick and it potentially could have been a lot of fun ya know. Unfortunately she turned out to be an annoying chatter box and i just couldn't take it anymore... Thankfully the crazy guy drove her so nuts and apprehensive that she hardly played a hand anymore. Eventually she claimed it was no longer fun with the crazy guy around and asked the Floor Man for a table change LOL. Lovely!

In my eyes, her departure (about an hour into the session) marked the actual beginning of this cash game session which would last a remarkable 10 1/2 hours. Because if you are anything like the many regular cash-game players, reconnaissance is much a part of the game as, say, raising pre-flop with Pocket Aces. It is absolutely imperative. With the tall girl next to me i couldn't do any kind of reconnaissance because she was constantly yapping in my ear about stuff i didn't necessarily care about.

Unfortunately though, i spent a good portion of the lengthy session trying to win back my losses. I was $200 in the hole on the $40 game which i abandoned after a while for the $80 game, wherein i was another $160 invested. I was not having a good day, to say the least. I figured if i was going to win my money back i'd better play a bigger game, otherwise i might have to be there a little while longer than i would want to. Certainly i was thinking about the old saying about the best way to double one's money; fold it in half and put it back in your pocket. But i said the hell with it, i'm going for broke! (or at least another buyin...). I initially had no luck when i changed tables so once a player busted out and left, i changed seats and so did three other players on my table. It was kind of funny actually...

Changing tables and seats was the best thing that could have happened to me because after doing so, my luck turned. I did not get it all of it back unfortunately but i was glad i stayed another couple of hours and was able to recover most ($41 shy...). Overall, it wasn't a good day but at least it wasn't a disastrous one. I could have gone home when i was down $360 and called it a day, but i didn't. Besides, i had nothing else better to do...

Posted by: Marc Gabay
Monday, July 16, 2007