Date: 9 Jan 1998
From: Jim Geary
Newsgroups: rec.gambling.poker
Subject: Honeymoon TR
On 12/27, I got married. Honeymoon was up in the air for a while as there was a big tournament at the Fort in Phoenix on 1/3. (RGP archivists will note that Bahamas got nixed last summer after inquiries to the state of poker there.) Serendipitously, ASU and Iowa (her home state) make it to the Sun Bowl and we're off on an I-10 poker roadtrip honeymoon:
1) Skipped Gila as I already play there a lot.
2) Stopped at Casino of the Sun in Tucson first. Last I heard, they had a good pot-limit game there, but this was not the case. Apparently it moved to the other local casino. The highest game was 3-6 so we jaked.
3) Next stop, Desert Diamond Casino near Tucson airport. This place was very hopping. They had some kind of tournament just about to start, so anarchy was in the air. After about 15 minutes, I got into the 10-20 Kill game, which at the time was the biggest game in the room. I knew some of the players from when I used to live in Tucson eight years ago, and some others have made it up to Phoenix for tournaments, so it didn't take long to be one with the game. Loose game, kept getting drawn out, but it didn't take long to hit the long run -- bet-bottom-pair-for-value kind of game. They said if I waited til the tournament started busting people out, we could get a 20-40 Kill and/or Pot Limit. Sounded great, but the tournament was currently at a 5-10 limit and everybody had like 10,000 in chips or something. It was getting late and we still had 300 miles to El Paso.
4) Make it to El Paso around midnight and crash. Go to the Sun Bowl next morning. I love this operation; first time since highschool that I didn't have to pay for parking at a football game. We sat in a neutral section she wearing her hawkeye sweater, I wearing a gold ASU sweater. We had a sign that said, "Just Married, Our First Fight," and got hoots and cheers from everyone on the west side of the stadium. Nice game. ASU +5, ha, who made that line?
Our second fight was whether or not I was going to drop her off at the hotel after the game before going straight to Eagle Pass. She won when I compared the -EV of the time lost versus the decreased hourly due to sponsal disharmony.
I was excited about playing at EP after a visitor from ElPaso
came to Gila and raved about the action in the 15-30. I get
there, and slide into the last open seat. Game is good, but
I can't win anything, being welcomed to the game with the
all you can eat bad beat special. Shrug, chips! I finally
win a pot, and as I'm scooping and stacking I count 5 one-dollar
chips. Pleasantly surprised, but not sure if it was an error,
I ask, "This is a rake game right, not time?" Three players
chime in, "oh, it's rake. $4 rake + $1 for the jackpot."
D'oh. Finally win a pot, and all I feel is a sharp pain in the
rectum. Well, I'm ready to bolt on principle, but these animals
still have about $700 of my money. As I win it back slowly, I
keep a side count to figure how much I need to steal from the cage
on my way out. I tell the players that in a lot of places,
the higher players have some influence in how much they pay to play
poker. The response was that they were looking for any excuse
to put slot machines in the card room, so que sera. Then
someone mentions blackjack, and I thought "here's my chance to
get back some money from the house." The parameters: 8-decks,
25% penetration, limit on betting spread, AND YOU MUST PAY
FIFTY CENTS "COMMISSION" EVERY HAND FOR THE RIGHT TO PLAY.
I pass.
By 7:00 I was within $100 of my buyins, and getting worried about missing dinner. Recommendation for anyone who makes it to El Paso: skip the casino, but make sure you stop at Cattleman's Ranch, east of town off I-10 and exit 49. My father-in-law told me about it on our wedding night (not mine and his, mine and his daughter). I don't eat much red meat, but I made an exception for the honeymoon, and had a wonderful 2-lb steak dinner. Next morning, headed straight back to AZ leaving Spanking Rock behind.
Spend a day relaxing with new wife in new house, and it's off to the Fort for the $100,000 KOTH finals. (Where I get busted by presto, but that's another story....
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