Next stop, Vegas

I finally got to Vegas about 2.5 hours late, but things smoothed out from there. I met up with Monster and Jason at the appointed spot at the airport and we were on our way.

The first stop was to pick up Zaina. She is the ZTP poker babe. I found out that I’m supposed to shoot some pictures of her for the site this weekend though I have no idea when our where. I’m letting Monster handle the details.

After a short stop at Casa de Monster where we meet up with Chris, Matt, and Kelly (Jason’s Special K), we are off to Binion’s. It’s a little thing, but it was cool just riding around and seeing sides of Vegas that I’ve not seen before like the strip from a distance and a lot of the casinos that I’ve not been to.

In any case, we got to Binions and the fun starts almost immediately. First thing, Gus Hanson wanders past us on his way to do an interview for a new Fox poker series (Inside Poker if I remember correctly). Gus is great about posing for some pictures with the TZP gang. Next we see Chris Moneymaker playing in the $60 tournament. (What’s that all about?) Chris is a great guy. I watched him graciously pose for pictures, sign autographs, chat, and do whatever he could for the fans. I kinds of felt sorry for him until I remembered that this was his full time job – Be nice (marketable) and play poker.

Next up at the Fox chair was Mrs. K’s favorite (not), Mike the Mouth Matusow. I don’t think Mike ever stops. I’ve heard people I trust say that his abrasiveness is just a table persona, but I no longer believe that. He was brutally ragging on Gus and Chris the whole night. To be fair and balanced, he also was gracious with fan requests for pictures and autographs.

A lot of ZTP players had gathered in the Binion’s poker area by this time and Monster organized a nice $25 buy in tournament for everyone. As that was getting going (and often during the tournament) we HAD to drink something called a Scooby Snack. I have no idea what was in this thing, but it was green and tasted like fruit punch.

I had a pretty good tourney, though much too short. I got pretty cold cards through the first 3 levels and was starting to get short on chip. The blinds were 200/400 and I had 1800 left. I think it was the first hand at that level and I get AA. Bet 800 UTG and get put all in by one player (Chris). I insta-call. He turns over something like QJ. My aces hold up and I double up. Chris didn’t get hurt too badly as he still had more chips.

The very next hand I look down at AKo from the BB. Chris raises me 700 and I just call. I hate what this hand does to me so I’ve got an opportunity to see if I hit the flop before committing all of my chips. Well, I hit with a flop something like K83 rainbow. I check. Chris bets another 700 and I go over the top. I didn’t what to push him out as I needed to double again to get into contention. He calls and he flips over two tens. The turn is an Ace to give me two pair and I’ve got him again… until the river that is. Yep, he two outs me to catch a ten on the river and I’m done. That’s poker.

And that was Thursday. I finally made it to bed about 1:30 (that’s 4:30 according to my internal clock). But this is Vegas and I’ll just save my good sleep for next week. Tonight is the party for Doyle Brunson after more poker and other hijinx.