Subbing for Saif
It's almost 6:00 pm on a Tuesday. Normally I would be getting ready for Accounting but we don't have class tonight because of fall break. I had thought about going to the gym to workout last week, but decided against it this morning because the Tuesday fitness class is usually always full. I usually don't enjoy working out when it's elbow to elbow, so I was left with no plans.
I sat in front of the computer and pondered my options. I could stay home and work on my take home exam for Accounting which I have been procrastinating on since the first day I got it. Or I could just nap. Lord knows I need to catch up on some sleep. Or I could play poker. There's Heroes or Side Pockets. Actually, there's a plethora of other options according to the Wichita Poker Review website but those are the two places that I am familiar with and I'm not really one to try the unfamiliar when I am by myself.
Poker sounded good. I settled on Side Pockets and because I'm contemplating on boycotting APL for a while. The reason for the boycott? I mourning the loss of Brian Day, my all-time favorite APL dude. He is no longer with the organization. I'm not quite sure what is doing now, but I hope he knows that he is missed. At least, Brian and I miss him dearly.
I sent a text message to Dill to find out if he wants to go to Side Pockets for poker. No sooner than I had sent it, my phone starts ringing. It's Dill. We exchange greetings and then he goes, "You gotta bail me out."
"You're in jail?!"
He started laughing. He then explained that he needed someone to sub for Saif on their poker league. Naturally he tries to butter me up.
He tells me how they are in first place and they want to keep their lead because there is only one more week left after tonight. He goes, "I'd much rather have you play because I know you can play. When you use one of their alternates you never know what you're going to get."
I didn't need much convincing, though. I was just glad I had something to do.
The catch? I had to be at Sharky's by 6:30 pm. I hurriedly got off the phone because it's was like two minutes until 6:00 pm and I was almost a half an hour away from the joint. That, and I needed to change. I wasn't going to go play poker in the dress I had worn to work that day.
I ran to the bedroom to change clothes. Just my luck, my zipper gets stuck. Don't you hate that? When you are in a hurry, something inveitably goes wrong. I struggled with it for a while (cussing and griping and wishing Brian were home to help me undress) until I finally got my dress unzipped. I just put on the same short denim skirt that I wore to Neighbors on Saturday. I had no time to pick something else to wear. The skirt was right there next to the bed. I just needed to grab it, wear it and go.
By five after I was out of the house and on my way. I sped like a bullet train which is amazing because I don't ever speed (ask Brian; I'm the safest driver in the world). I arrived at Sharky's with ten minutes to spare. When I got there I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I called Dill and he instructed me to find the table labeled "But It Was Suited," their team name. I found the other members of the team there and got assigned to table ten.
All the other teams were short one or two people also (they didn't have the foresight Dill had to call in their own substitute; that or maybe they didn't really care anymore because they had no hope of winning) so they ended up disbanding table ten and I ended up sitting at the same table as Dill. This didn't make him happy. Each team member was supposed to be assigned to a different table. The goal was to try to win at your table and earn points: two points for taking out the bounty (there is one designated at each table), one point for third place, two points for second and three for first. The first place finishers get to play against each other at the final table where they have an opportunity to earn even more points. The points are tallied at the end of the evening and added to the total points for each team. The team with the most points at the end of the league period (next Tuesday is their last day) wins $3000.
I wasn't too happy about having to sit at the same table as Dill either. I actually drove all the way from the East side, where I live, to the West side, where Sharky's is located, to supposedly fill in for their missing team member, Saif, so that they have their ten people but since the other teams were short one or two members anyway, they didn't really need me to fill in. I felt totally worthless... But whatever. I was there. Might as well play and have a good time. At least I didn't feel any pressure to do well because there were two of us on the same team at our table.
I decided to order food and just hang out, hang in there for as long as I can and enjoy the game. Although, when Dill's stack began to dwindle I had to start playing more seriously. I had a job to do. My job is to earn points for the team. By the time I finished eating and started playing seriously we were down to about five people. I think I did a pretty good job of hanging in there considering that it was slow going at first. I was short stacked from the get go because I had flopped top pair and ran into pocket aces. That was within the first few hands. I had no idea what I was up against because there were no aces on the board until the river. That hurt. But I play a pretty tight game so I hung on to the rest of my chips until there were only two of us left. It helped that I got some good cards and won a few hands too. The pots I'd won were pretty small compared to others that were won at our table, but enough to keep me going after a horrible start.
Incidentally, the player who I went up against on that momentous hand was the one who eventually won our table. I placed second and earned two points for our team. I think Dill had high hopes for me because I was the last person in our team still playing but I knew there was no way that I could win. The dude had systematically knocked out the last few people at our table, thus further contributing to his chip stack. Dill tried to encourage me by saying that he's won from the same position I was at (a severe underdog in terms of chips). He even said that the guy only had a three-to-one chip stack against me. He really had like four or five times the chips I had, but that was Dill trying to be optimistic.
In the end his chip stack prevailed. The guy earned three points for taking first and an additional two points for taking out the bounty earlier in the game. I don't think his team was anywhere close to Dill's team in the rankings, though. Dill said they had 19 more points than the second place team. I don't know what rank his team is, but they weren't in second place so I don't think the five points are going to harm Dill's team any. I think Dill's team will hold their first place rank and win the $3000 that they've been working for all these weeks.
Dill said that Saif won't be back by next Tuesday and asked if I could sub again but I had to decline. I would have Accounting then and I can't miss school. Not for poker, anyway. Dill said he has school next Tuesday also, but he has decided to miss because he has his eye on the prize. Talk about dedication.
Overall, I had a fun time. My total expenditures for the evening were less than $20, $10 of it went toward my food bill ($6.99 for the club and I gave the rest to the server because she was nice) and then $5 to the dealer. I had tipped him when we first started playing (in hopes that it would change my luck and I'd start getting better cards) and then I gave another $3 to counteract another player's mojo. I'm not sure how much he tipped the dealer but after he did I tipped the dealer right behind him and joked that was to counteract whatever luck he hoped to have by tipping. I think it worked because he got knocked out soon after. I hope he is not mad at me for trying some poker voodoo. You gotta do what you gotta do to win, you know?
I was tempted to drink but I was driving. That, and I was on a tight budget. We are going out to lunch on Friday to celebrate Rush's belated birthday and I needed to save some money for that.
I'm really glad that I didn't drink, though. I got so lost going home. Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration. I found my way eventually. It's challenging to find your way in the dark when you are practically blind like I am. Specially since I'm not used to driving by myself. Brian is usually the one who drives so I never have any idea where I am when I'm on my own. It's hard enough in the daylight. You all should've seen me tonight. It's embarrassing. I really should wear my glasses when I drive.
Anyway, I'm too tired to work on my Accounting take home exam. Brian will be home soon and I think I will just chill with him and watch TV for the rest of the evening until it's time for bed. So much for school work. =P
posted by Ching at 5:49 AM
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