HERE’S A QUESTION:
EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY:
AN UNCONVENTIONAL CONVENTION:
Today, here’s an intersection of three different writing series I’ve been doing here on Facebook. Hopefully, you’ll join in and make the discussion even more interesting.
QUESTION: WHAT’S YOU FAVORITE CASINO/GAMBLING MEMORY?
Simple question for many of my friends, who have spent lots of time in casinos and gambling, right?
This “favorite memory” shouldn’t be tied to your biggest win. It can be. But if your happiness is derived purely from money, or a gambling win, then I think you’re missing the point.
I’ve had lots of casino and gambling encounters both as a player and as someone who worked inside casinos for many years. However, my favorite memory of all is as follows:
My Favorite Casino/Gambling Memory:
Playing for 72 hours straight inside Binion’s Horseshoe Poker Room in the summer of 2000 stands out for many reasons. I missed not just *one* but *two* nights of sleep. Why would I do such a thing? Easy answer: Because the Omaha High $4-8 game with a half-kill was just too great to leave….consistently loaded with players on tilt who made the game play much bigger than it was….great conversations….arguments….laughter….fights….getting propositioned….scarfing down 4 brisket on rye sandwiches from the nearby deli (they were delicious!)….busting that mean prick Sam Angel (the notorious Las Vegas pawnbroker) who threatened to kill me….drinking St. Pauli Girl Darks non-stop…..racking up $2,600 all in dirty white $1 chips from a giant obnoxious pyramid…..and THEN promptly at 11 am on the third day on no sleep entering the BARGE Main Event tournament with 200 entries which for me lasted for another 9 grueling hours and coming in 12th….and then playing another 8 hours until about 3 am in cash games with chairs laid out so I could lay down and close my eyes between hands. It was truly the Wild West, back then. That three-day poker binge and horror of degeneracy pushed me to my physical and emotional limit, and I later had to be woken up in the shower mumbling incoherently out of some Twilight Zone episode, but it was worth very second of the pain. Easily, the funnest three days of my life that I certainly wouldn’t be able to do ever again. A Poker Woodstock.
Now, it’s your turn. THIS SHOULD BE FUN.
This photo was taken during that 2000 BARGE tournament. Another reason it’s a favorite memory is that Marieta (sitting behind and looking at my hole cards on each hand) played the entire tournament with me. So, sharing the experience with her made it exceptionally memorable. That’s also the infamous tournament when Marieta — after watching me bluff of half my stack on two bad moves as we got close to the prize money — yelled at me during a break in the action, “stop bluffing-don’t fuck with Patti (Beadles)!”
True story.
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