I spent three weekends in Vegas in June and wanted to spend a fourth, but I figured that might push my wife to call a divorce lawyer. She was cool with me having a serious poker bender since I was out of playing for the last two Junes due to my cancer. 2 years ago, I thought I was done for, being down to 115 pounds and not being able to get out of bed or off the couch. I have little doubt that there weren’t 5 people happier to be in Vegas playing poker than I was, after all I have been through. And I am especially enjoying Vegas again because after 4 months of tough physical therapy I am able to walk on my prosthetic leg. Even though I wound up in the red, I had a great time playing and can’t wait for a similar bender next year.

May 31-June 3 – Started right off playing the AVP WSOP satellites at the Mirage I put together to give an AVP’er a chance to play while 9 others had a share. Paul (Local Dude) won the first satellite and represented us well as the Millionaire Maker, lasting until level 8 of that bloodbath. Although he did not cash, as far as I was concerned, the minute he sat down and took a hand the purpose of the satellites was fulfilled. I won the second satellite and after looking at the WSOP schedule 9 ways until Sunday, I used the money for the $1,500 stud 8, even though I was playing that anyway. (more on that later). The next day, I finished 19 out of 112 at the Golden Nugget Stud 8/Omaha 8, playing for nearly 13 hours. Sadly, I did not cash, as top 13 were paid. On Sunday, I had dinner with Glenn (missingflops) and his wife, played the $55 tourney at Treasure Island because I could not get into the mixed game, and came in 4th out of 27 for a small cash. I finally got into the mixed game at around 11:00, and was fortunate to play with Chuck (twriter) and get dealt to by Kristi (Alaska Gal). Played until; 2, caught my flight at 6:20 a.m., back at my desk in Albuquerque by 9:00 a.m.

June 13-16 – Trip was to play the Golden Nugget 8-game mix and the Golden Nugget Badugi, Baduecey, BadAcey tournament. I could not get anything going in the mixed game, and busted after 4 ½ hours. As for the “Triple B,” the turnout was 36 people, 6 tables of 6 each. I enjoyed the heck out of that tourney even though I finished 20th. I hope Golden Nugget runs it again next year. I tried to play the 6 p.m. WSOP Deepstack that Friday night, but it was cancelled. For some reason, I decided to play the 7 p.m. at The Orleans, which had 257 runners. I finished about 125th, when my A-K suited in the small blind got thrashed by A-A. In between, thoroughly enjoyed playing 4-8 mix, 8-16 mix, and 4-8 HORSE at the Venetian for lots of hours. I flew home Sunday morning first thing because it was Father’s Day, and I would never be away from my 3 baby girls on Father’s Day. Highlight of the weekend was while waiting for a seat in Venetian mixed game, I played 1-2 PLO and won a nice pot and on the very next deal, flopped quads and got “potted” twice after the river by an ace-high flush. I was certainly grateful that it took the guy that long to realize his ace-high flush was no good on a paired board.

June 20-24 – I arrived Thursday night (after a 3-hour delay on a plane full of young, hot women headed to EDC) and saw on Bravo that the Rio had 10-20 stud 8 going, so I headed straight over. While waiting, I saw Alan (Clem2754) and had a great chat with him, and then I saw Las Vegas Michael, who I also think is a great guy like Clem. I finally got a seat and did great, winning a $400 pot on quad 3’s against a full house. 3 of the 4 3’s were hidden as I started with pocket 3’s and a 4, hit the 3rd 3 on 4th street, filled up on 6th, and hit my quads on 7th. Guy was shocked when I announced I had quads, as I would have been were I in his shoes. Played until game broke up about $600, and then found myself at a soft 1-3NL table and played that until 4:30 a.m., up another $700.

I slept in on Friday because I was playing in the $1,500 WSOP Stud 8 starting at 5:00 p.m. Two-time stud bracelet winner Mel Judah was at my table, along with a guy whose name I did not know but knew of him. It was a tough draw, but I had a nice run early. Starting chips were 4500, and I was up to 7900 when the hand that defined the rest of my weekend happened. In a hand when levels were 300-600, on 5th street, I hit a straight flush to the king against someone who made an ace-high flush on 5th. We got into a raising fest to start and on 4th street, and then on 5th we got it all-in. I had him covered by a bit. He was shocked when I announced that I had a straight flush. However, he went runner-runner low to split the pot. He admitted after the hand that he thought that he had me with a better flush and that getting a low never crossed his mind. Prior to that hand, I would have told you that I could not imagine any scenario where getting a king-high straight flush would make me feel like crap. Now I know of one. (The other potential scenario, losing to a royal flush, would in many cases make me happy because of a bad beat jackpot). It was all downhill after that, as I saw enough bricks to build a new casino. There were 284 left out of 558 when I busted.

It only got worse from there. I then lost more money than I want to recount here at cash games at the Rio, the Venetian, the Mirage, and even the 3/6 mixed game at Treasure Island. If someone had a draw, they hit it, and I missed every time I had 15 outs twice. It was that kind of weekend. (Another bad beat I took was that on Sunday afternoon I went to see Man of Steel because there is in IMAX in Albuquerque. That was so awful I walked out of the theater on mega-tilt). Even though I took a bath at the TI mixed game, I had a blast playing it until about 1:00 a.m., and then I made my 6:20 a.m. flight with room to spare.

Reflecting on the month now, the losses I took were less than what my recent 10-day family vacation to San Antonio and South Padre Island cost. I had a great time, played with great people from all over the world, and was generally happy the entire time. Two years ago I was asked if I wanted a priest before my lung surgery. Throughout June, I played a ton of poker and just lived life. I took that for granted before. I don’t now. One thing, of all things, that will stick with me. I sat down next to a guy from New Zealand at the 1-2 PLO game at the Venetian. He went on to tell me how much he loved the “right turn on red” in America and wished that New Zealand had the “left turn on red.” That guy went on for 5 minutes about the topic, we chatted about a whole bunch of other differences between the Kiwis and us. That type of interaction is what I love most about June poker in Vegas.