-
A Not So Ho-Ho-Hum Holiday Game
Along with my family’s tradition of spending Christmas in Wisconsin comes the annual pot-limit Hold ’em game that my friends set up for my return each year, at my buddy Jon Green’s house. The game wasn’t a pushover, what with players like Wayne Tyler, Mark Kroon (the famous “PokerHo” on UltimateBet.com), Paul Clements, Larry “Concrete” Beilfus, Tim Belstner, Gary Ebert, Denny Ruef, and a few others at the table.
The year before, I managed to lose a record-setting $12,000 in the traditional game. So after last year’s performance, poker players from all over the state of Wisconsin were trying to get a seat at that table.
With the blinds at $5-$5, and the buy-in and re-buys set at $500, the game didn’t figure to be big enough for me to win back that $12,000. Two factors, though, made sure that it was. First, half of the time someone had the $10 “live blind” on. (A $10 “live blind” means that player A, to the left of the big blind, voluntarily adds an additional blind of $10, so that there were, in effect, three blinds instead of two, making it $10 to call, and then player A had the chance to raise it up as well.)
-
‘Coach’ and the Poker Cheerleaders
While at the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City recently, my opponent moved all-in for $5,500 on a board of K-Q-8-2-2. I had Q-Q, and $40,000 in chips in front of me, which made for an easy call — but still, I looked into my opponents menacing clear blue eyes and asked, “Bluffing, Coach?” Now “Coach” peered down at his hole cards, exposing them to the four beautiful cheerleaders in full uniform standing behind him.
Suddenly, the cheerleaders stepped into formation, and began the following cheer, “Pocket kings, pocket kings, go kings!” On cue, I looked toward the dealer, and said, “I fold,” while throwing my queens face up on the table. Then I quickly turned back to the cheerleaders and said, “Thanks, ladies.”
“Coach,” NFL Legend Mike Ditka, then said — perfectly on cue, and dripping with anger — “Don’t you girls have a game to go to?” I laughed as I watched Ditka fold his pocket kings face up on the table. “That’s a wrap, put it in the can,” said the director. Ditka, Ron “Jaws” Jaworski, a bunch of AFL (Arena Football League) mascots, and I, all relaxed and waited for the crew to set-up the second commercial shoot.
™
