Last night I made a bargain with one of my friends. If he would pick me up and drive me to Wal-Mart to return my broken toy helicopter then I would stop by Green Valley Ranch to play a little poker. I’ve been procrastinating about the toy return to Wal-Mart for weeks, so this seemed like a fair deal.

When we got to Green Valley Ranch (“GVR”) we walked in and put our names down on a short list for $4/8 limit. There were two tables going and only three names ahead of us, so we decided to duck into the Irish pub at GVR for a quick Blackthorn cider (even though I personally prefer Strongbow cider).

One cool thing about the Green Valley Ranch poker room is that when you check in the list manager will give you a pager that will buzz when your seat is open (sort of like a pager at a restaurant). I know other Las Vegas poker rooms, such as the MGM poker room, have experimented with this, but GVR appears to have the poker paging system down.

As I’m nearing the end of my first glass of Blackthorn cider our pager buzzes. There is one seat open at each $4/8 table, so we begin the night by taking seats at separate tables.

The poker room list manager really impressed me because as I was getting comfortable in my seat I casually asked if there were any copies of CardPlayer Magazine lying around (I couldn’t find one in the designated magazine racks).

The list manager asked me to wait one moment while she ransacked the entire manager’s desk. She eventually found not only a CardPlayer, but also a Poker Player Newspaper. I thought that was pretty cool of her, and slipped her a blue.

As for the poker game, it was $4/8 limit hold’em with a half kill. This is probably my favorite game in Vegas. The half-kill can really make things fun. Unfortunately I got down early when my top two pair got river’d by a straight, and my pocket queens ran into pocket aces.

Within an hour I was down about $100.

Fortunately, my luck turned on this hand…

I spied pocket 10s in early position and raised it up. Got about four callers. Flop comes 10,2,6 with two clubs. Nice! I just flopped the NUTS! But, two clubs on the board doesn’t make me happy (although I am holding 10c, which helps a tiny bit).

Not wanting to get sucked out on, I bet. MP raises. Evidently he didn’t want to get sucked out on either. Two callers. Uh oh. One of them is surely on a flush draw. I re-raise. MP player pops it again. The other players fold. Now I’m just heads up with the original raiser. Time to make him pay.

I re-reaise, and he re-raises, and this continues until we’ve each put about $40 into the pot on just the flop (at $4 per bet). Finally he surrenders and just calls.

Turn is an 8c. At this point I didn’t put him on a draw. I bet. He raises. I re-raise. He calls. I’m feel’n good.

River is Jc. Uh-oh. Four clubs! If this sucker is holding a bigger club I am going to be so irritated. I bet. He calls.

Any guesses as to what he was holding?

If you guessed pocket deuces for a flopped set of ducks then pat yourself on the back.

That was a nice pot. I’m now up about $20.

On two other occasions I flopped the nuts during this session, and my big hands held up each time. In fact, on one of these hands I flopped top set against middle set. Of course, my opponent didn’t turn into a maniac the second time, but he did pay me off nicely.

After about three hours I was up around $225. Not bad at a $4/8 table. I donked off $75 during my last hour by playing (and raising) nearly every hand, and by 11PM it was time to call it a night. I cashed out +$149.

I had a nice experience at the Green Valley Ranch poker room. The dealers were fast and friendly. The list management was excellent. Cocktails were fast (even though they don’t serve Red Bull, which sucks). And I even won a couple bucks. I might have to drop by there again soon and give it all back.