lightning36 and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

 After a day like yesterday, I want to move to Australia. Actually, my brother, thundering36, who has been mentioned in this blog in the past, lives there. Maybe I should join him and/or poker buddy @Koalapete?

Yesterday actually started fine. Our dogs got up a tad early and I got up to feed them. Since I was up, I decided to fix breakfast for myself and my wife. Always good for some husband points. Then I got dressed and took the dogs for a walk. Everything was fine until I tripped in the same area I had tripped a few weeks ago. Some of the road had degraded and there is an area of loose gravel. Just dumb that I did it again. As I went sprawling face first, I broke my fall with my right hand, again turning some of the heel into a mixture of rock, skin and blood. My right knee also was scraped and bloody, and unfortunately, the bag of dog poop that I was carrying hit the road and split open, getting on my hands and a leash. Wonderful.

After having my wife patch me up (she did get breakfast made by me, of course!), I solidified plans to meet up with another former central Illinois resident and former poker blogger, @Z0oo0ks (Sheila) , at the poker room at Lone Butte in Chandler, AZ. The Butte was having an excellent promo day  with plenty of high hand action and cashola to mystery seats. First, however, I had two tasks: 1) Fill up my car with gas; and 2) Pick up a glass bowl my wife had made in a glass blowing class. I used an app to pick out two places to go for gas and decided on the non-Costco option, which would be quicker. I would just need to go a little bit out of my way. A decent trade off, I thought. I got to the gas station and found out the gas was actually more expensive than I thought. With my grocery store discount, however, the price was still pretty good. After filling up, I checked Google Maps to see the route I would take to pick up the bowl. There was a note saying the route would be the fastest due to construction traffic. I looked at the time: 41 minutes? I then saw the problem: the southbound interstate was closed for construction! I would need to weave around several other streets to catch the interstate several miles away. Sheila got to Lone Butte before me and got our names on the $1/2 NL list -- with about 50 people ahead of us.

After picking up the bowl, I got to Lone Butte, prepared for a long wait. Sheila, meanwhile, got seated in a $2/3 game. Some free pizza was provided, which helped with the wait. After about 1 1/2 hours, I was seated. The real fun was about to begin.

Hand #1: The first hand I played was with J-10. One player raised to $8 and I and another player called. The flop was J high with two hearts. The initial raiser bet $20 and I called. The turn was what looked to be an innocent 8. It turns out the the initial raiser had pocket 8s. He checked the turn and I checked back. He then raised to $40 on the river and I called, thinking that I likely was going to win the hand. I was surprised to see that he caught his card on the turn.

Hand #2: I was dealt 9-9 and raised to $8. One player raised to $16 and I called. The flop was all low cards. I was guessing that I was ahead. I bet and the villain called. The turn was an Ace. I checked and he checked back. The river was inconsequential. I checked and he checked back -- with K-K.

Hand #3: I had pocket 9s again. A player to my left raised and I called. The flop was 8 high. Things looked good. The player raised and I called. The turn was a brick. He checked and I raised. He called. The river was a brick. He checked and I checked back, thinking that I was going to win the pot. Unfortunately, he flopped a set of 8s. More money down the tubes.

Hand #4: I was dealt pocket 8s. The flop was all hearts. Two of us in the hand. I checked and villain checked back. The turn was an 8. I bet and the villain called. The river didn't change the board texture. I checked, he bet and I called. He turned over the the nut flush.

Hand #5: I raised to $12 with Q-Q and got two callers. The flop was rag-5-5. I thought I was in good shape and raised. The villain called. The flop was a rag. Villain checked, I bet and he called. The river was a rag. He checked and I decided to just check back, expecting to win the hand. He said "quads" and turned over 5-5. Actually, I think he saw how I was getting screwed again and took it a bit easy on me. I was getting pretty close to just calling it an afternoon.

Hand #6: I was dealt pocket Aces and raised to $12. The same player who won Hand #4 raised to $30. I jammed all in (about $120) and the villain called. He had me covered. My Aces held and I doubled up. Finally!

Hand #7: I was dealt Q-Q. A player in early position bet $8 and I raised to $25. The flop had two clubs and was 8 high. She checked and I bet $50. She shoved all in and I called. She had 7c8c and was on a flush draw. The turn was an 8! I had $100 left and just said "I can't take this whupping anymore." I cashed out and saw Sheila on my way out. All these hands happened in a period of about 90 minutes. It was seriously time to get out of that place.

I soothed my injured soul with some great BBQ before heading home. Fortunately, nothing else happened the rest of the day. Hadn't I had enough? But, as  Scarlett O'Hara said, "Tomorrow is another day."

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed reading of my suffering so that it was not all for naught! If not, I might really consider moving to Australia. 😄

Special thanks to author Judith Viorst.