Winner

For the second time in my last three sessions at Hollywood Park I looked around the table and could only spot two players that I thought knew what they were doing. This is a good feeling.

So I did my best to be patient and watch everyone trade huge pots and build their stacks up. Then an old guy that I recognized as basically a chip donator showed up and I felt like I had to get involved.

I picked up my boy Freddy's favorite hand in middle position: T8 suited. I bump the bet to $15 from middle position just to build a pot. Four callers. The flop comes 7-9-J, rainbow. Solid. Two checks to me, I toss out another $15 to see what's going on with the other players. One fold, button raises to $45, other two players fold. Turn is a deuce and I check to the button, who bets like $65. I raise him to about $125 and he calls. The river is an Ace and I bet $100. He thinks long and hard and folds. I know that ace killed my action. Dude probably had like KJ or QJ. I'm becoming a fan of T8.

For about an hour I'm on the table in the first seat of the roller coaster. Up to $500, then back down to like $150, then doubling with fours against AK when a guy bluffed to the river, then I moved in on the river for my last $61 and he thought for an hour then called with the AK high. Dude went to SC too so I felt bad but he tried to get in too many pots with me so I got tired of it. Obviously if he hits the river I'm toast but so is the life.

Then the man aka Ricky the dealer shows up, deals me pocket aces twice and I get a lot of action on both hands. The first one someone else raised to $20 and I was the only caller in the small blind so I called him. He bets the flop, I call. He bets the turn, I raise, he folds. Then another one a guy went all-in, got a caller and I re-raised with AA. The caller called and I put him in on the turn with a board of J-8-8-5, river 8.

Anyways these cards obviously can run good and bad. Five weeks ago I was sulking about not being able to win a session and it's important for me to keep that in mind.

I went out with some friends on Saturday night to a club called Opera (TJ is hopefully providing a write-up in the "On The Rocks" section), got faded and blew a lot of money. I definitely need to stay away from that. That drank. After a certain point in the night, my recollection is real foggy about the whole night. I'd say after about 2 a.m. Not to mention I made a cameo on TMZ that some friends brought to my attention and I had no memory of the fight I was watching that they filmed.