I received an invitation to Robert Turner’s Roast at the Normandie a couple of weeks ago and decided it would be fun to take a road trip. I invited Tina and we jumped into her Jag on Friday morning around 10:30 and headed for LA. On route we passed Kathy Leibert on the 15 driving rather slow so Tina called her and asked why she was driving so slow, she responded, “I have the kitties with me and they are on the dashboard.” As you can imagine we got a big laugh out of that.
We arrived at the Embassy Suites around 3:00 p.m., checked in and headed for the bar for happy hour. After tossing back a few cold ones, (Diet Coke for me, Miller Lite for Tina), we headed back to the room to get dressed.
The event was scheduled to begin at 6:30 and if you are at all familiar with LA you know getting anywhere fast during rush hour is almost impossible. We decided to give ourselves plenty of time and left at 5:00 p.m. and avoided the freeway altogether, we arrived at 6:00 p.m. with time to spare.
As it turned out it was the smart thing to do because it wasn’t long before the place was packed and seating was limited. Myself, Tina and Kathy joined Linda Johnson’s Mom and several other ladies at Linda’s table. After eveyone had been through the buffet line and was seatd the roast began.
Mike Sexton was the Master of Ceremonies and did a great job introducing the roasters and roasting them when they were done. There were several roasters, with Jan and Linda topping the charts with some really funny lines. When the event ended the three of us headed for valet, where we realized how smart Kathy was, she parked her own car, we on the other hand chose valet. There was only ONE valet guy and after waiting for almost 15 minutes or so I said, “Let’s just give him $5 and go get the car ourselves.” We did just that and so did most of the people in line, boy did he clean up at $5 a pop just to hand you your keys.
Tina had never been to the Hustler and since it was just a few blocks down the road we took off in that direction. We both signed up for the $1-$2 no-limit game. I was the first one seated and it wasn’t long before Tina got a seat. My game was rather loose with one gentleman raising almost every pot or moving all-in and then rebuying. Sorry to say, he eventually went broke and left the game. I won a couple of small pots and was holding my own when a player in early position raised the pot to $20, the player to his left called and I looked down to find pocket 3’s. I thought about it for a second or two and decided they both probably had big cards I’d take a chance on my babies, so I called. BINGO, I was right, the flop came 3-5-8. Player 1 checked and player 2 bet $20, I moved all-in for about $110, player one folded but to my dismay player 2 couldn’t get his money in fast enough. You guessed it, Set-Over-Set! He flopped a set of fives and I was drawing dead to a three, it didn’t happen so I wished every one good luck and left the table. I figured it wasn’t my night. I walked around for a while then decided I would take another shot since Tina wasn’t ready to leave. They sent me to Tina’s table. Tina was doing quite well and I bought in for $100 and watched the play for a couple of rounds to scope out my opponents.
After sitting patiently for a couple of rounds I picked up pocket Queens and raised the pot to $10 and got one caller. The flop came two little spades with a beautifull Queen. BINGO, I hit my set and now I’m thinking, “I’m going to get even from that beat I took earlier.” He checked, I bet out $20 and to my surprise he called. The turn card was another spade and he checked so I bet $30 and he did just what I was hoping he wouldn’t do, he moved all-in. Now I’m pot committed, I’m pretty sure he has the flush but, there is another queen out there, and if the board pairs I’m a lock to win the hand, so I push the rest of my chips to the center and make the call. Again, you guessed it, he had the flush. The river wasn’t a queen and it didn’t pair the board so once again I lose after flopping a set. The sick part was he had 6-3 of spades, LOL.
Tina wasn’t quite ready to leave so I bought in for another $100. We played for about another hour or so and we were both getting tired so we decided to call it a night. I cashed out $75 taking my lost to $225 for the night and Tina booked a $86 win.
We left the next morning and headed back to Vegas. We did make one stop at the outlet mall in Barstow to do a little shopping. I bought three new shirts and told Tina, “What the hell it’s just one hand of poker for me lately.”
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it, but the trip wasn’t a waste, I do have three new Polo shirts.
