Decent Concert and Poker Trip Report

Trying to get out of my real job early on Friday (3PM quitin time) and at 2 the boss says we have to go to "Disney Training". This is where they take employees opinions and try to improve the dealership, based on our ideas. This is really just an opportunity for our service and parts guy to vent and hear themselves talk. Salespeople know that the less you say in these meetings the faster you can go back to making money or go home.

So we listen to 2 clowns talk about how the time clock is too old and the bathrooms
need paint for an hour. They don't wanna go back to their sad existence behind the parts or service counter, IMO. This is FUN! We can complain and hope we are heard!

When the leader of the meeting says "okay, our hour is up, does anyone have anything else?" You can see the wheels turning on these 2 jokers faces. "Why yes, we need to knock out a wall to make more room in the service area and the mechanics need to stay away from our counter"

Uh,hello......loser. Yes you. There are no mechanics in this meeting,how bout you tell them the next time you see them so I can take Raisin to the Counting Crows, Goo Goo Dolls Concert tonight?

I get outa the Subaru Dealership about 3:30 and its time to pick up the warden and start the shitty drive in traffic to Auburn (White River Ampitheater). I pick her up and as usual she will drive so I can take a nappy.The warden is lookin good tonight with a recent $100 trip to the barber and a little summer sun on her.

90 min. later we are at the travelodge to check in before heading to the concert. It’s a dump but for $75 I wasnt expectin the Bellagio. Another hour to get to the concert (about 10 miles) and I realize I won't be making this drive again. The traffic sucks, and this is a bad area to put a huge concert venue.

This is our first trip to White River and its a very nice venue. Well organized and good parking. I'm not going back again but i'm just sayin.....

My favorite band 10 years ago is the headliner (Crows). They have not put out an album I would buy since "Recovering the Satellites" but its a good reason to get outa the house and I have not seen the GOO live before.

We get seated, about 100 yds from the stage and I see 2 cute yung grrrrrs holding a sign up that says "We Love GOO", sum serious fans of the opening act, The GOO GOO Dolls. Front man and lead vocals Johnny Rzeznick has great stage presence and a strong voice. The set bogs down everytime he letsbassist and co-founder Robbie sing, however. Robbie is one of the most annoying rockers of all time, IMO. He swings his hair around (even on slow songs) and kicks his feet like he has to go to da baffroom. His voice is weak especially when he has to sing next to Rzeznick.

Overall a good performance (75 min.) and we each swill 2 beers ($26) while waiting for The Crows to set up. This is my third time catchin a Crows concert and they just have not improved. No new strong songs and they seem to ramble too long, drawing out a 4 min. tune to 6 minutes. Adam Duritz (songwriter, lead vocals) has gotten stale and seems to get more enjoyment out of announcing all his "causes". Save the wolfs, save the battered women, get out and vote (goes way overboard here) and 2 other causes I missed. How bout you spend sum time writing some good material and let the drummer save the world, grrrfriend. I paid $50 a ticket to hear about how you wanna save wolves in Seattle? Pass. This is my last Crows event. GOO outplayed them even with the most annoying bassist in the world. My honey bunny was lots of fun and I really enjoyed her company and pretty mug.

Okay, enough on that. Its 11pm and we head out, missing the one encore (I asked a buddy that went). The Muck Casino is 10 min away, lets play some Poker.

We both started at 4/8 w/kill and within 20 minutes I realize we have about 6 unskilled bettin machines, 2 good players and yer host, Sharkee. Raisin is at another table. The pots are huge (several over $200 and lots of kills) and I’m thinking I might not be able to leave here for a day or 3. Then something unexpected happens. I win 3 hands in 3½ hours. I got cold decked for the whole session and watched horrible players stack chip after chip. One guy re-bought 4 times ($100 each) in 1 hour and continued to play every hand horribly, til broke.

First half hour. I get 99 in mid position, kill is on, Call, Call, Call, I raise to $16, one other caller (BB) and of course the rest call. About $95 in pot and floppage comes 5 7 9 rainbow. Check, check, check, I bet and BB raises to $16, I call, and the rest fold. Turn is a blank and I bet, BB raises to $32 and I start to worry about 6 8 for the flopped str8. Pots huge and I’m not folding to this loose table with top set, pair the Muthaf*#@*in board. Riv blank, I check he bets I call. He flips over 6 8o. nh. This was the first of several $200 pots that I either got riv beat on or cold decked by the perfect flop (for the bad guy).

I’m happy with how I played all night and was really happy with this lil dandy. I got JJ and its another kill, 8/16. Capped preflop by 4 players, pot is about $130 and we see a flop of 6 8 6 rainbow. First guy bets and we all call. I’m worried about an overpair but knowing this table no one has a six cause no one is missing any bets here. Turn is a 2 and I like it. 3 checks to me and I bet $16, I feel like I’m ahead now and I get a fold and 2 calls. I put the 1 caller on AK (he sees all 7cards when pot is big) and the other guy is so bad I figure him for 55 or maybe 8 rag. If either had an overpair they would be firin hardcore. Pots about $220 now and I’m thinking no A or K. BOOM KING. Check, now callin station bets and I know I’m beat. I got odds to call big time but lay it down after a short time. The guy I put on AK earlier calls and shows A7o! Worst player ever took it down with KQo. He says, “I came to gamble!!” And stacks $250 chips. This is just a small sample of the fun I had for this short session. But really, 1 big pot and I’m right back in it.

I was patient, didn’t chase, stayed aggressive and the deck screwed me. It happens.

It was painful at the time but now its kinda funny how bad these guys were. I dropped $310 in the 3.5 hrs and Raisin was so tired I took her back to the Motel. We crashed at about 4am. I really hate leaving all that easy money on the table but it’s not fair to leave my wifey at the slots when she can’t keep her eyes open. I’ll be back there soon.

Next time I’ll plan on a 15 hour session and have some fun.

We get up at about 11am and get a Starbucks then head for our Tacoma Attorney for some Shark bidness. Fun lunch with great new attorney (Dan) and its back to the dealership (on my day off!) in Seattle to deliver a Subaru to a client in Bellevue. Had an excellent dinner at Red Lobster (thx for gift card GAR and Fred) then got home about 8PM. Long day and about a $500 lighter bankroll (raisin got pounded as well).

Cheers, Shark