What A Week !

I'm back in Beantown from vacation and may I say...what an action-packed week it was !

Monday - Flew to Phoenix. Met my wife's grandfather, who is 83 and just bought himself a NEW Ford Mustang - sweet ride. Spent the night at Harrah's Ak-Chin casino in Maricopa, Arizona, played too many slots, and lost a minimal amount.

Tuesday - Played in a $60 buy-in tourney at 1pm (20+10 buy-in, $10 "dealer appreciation" add-on, $20 re-buy) with a field of 40 players and WON, taking home almost $600 for my efforts. It was a typical casino tourney with low blinds for the first few levels and then rapidily escalating blinds later on. I was pretty much card-dead for the first 4 levels and then turned into a card rack, catching huge hands and winning every race I was in. The key hand in the tourney was also about the only time I got my money in way behind - I went all-in with JcTc in early position with a very short stack, got called by a player with KhJs, the flop came ten-high with three hearts, and my opponent missed his 12 outs. After that it was pretty basic pre-flop all-in poker, and the last hand was the classic all-in showdown, with my QQ making a boat vs. his AK. Also played in a $70 tourney that night with about 30 players in it and busted out in the middle of the pack after being card-dead most of the night and losing most of my chips when I went all-in with AK and lost to AQ on a rivered Q.

Wednesday - Had brunch in the casino, lost a few bucks on slots, and went to the Crowne Plaza San Marcos in Chandler, AZ to check in for the conference my wife was attending. Enjoyed a free buffet at the event, and then went to the Fort McDowell Casino, where I played slots for a couple of hours and left up $20.

Thursday - Celebrated my birthday by going to the PGA's FBR Open at the TPC Scottsdale. Got a bonus birthday present as a guy standing outside the gate with a stack of tickets gave me one, so I got in for free. Spent a few hours there watching Vijay and Freddie, got an autograph from Billy Mayfair, and headed back to the hotel for another cocktail party, which was followed by dinner at a local restaurant.

Friday - Spent the afternoon at a local "1800's western town" attraction and then went to the conference banquet where my wife received an award (and got a standing ovation) for her contributions to the company during the year past. I even played a little poker, as they had a casino night for prizes after the banquet.

Saturday - Flew back from Phoenix, got home just before midnight, and listened to a voice-mail from my real estate broker saying that we had gotten an offer on our home, which had been on the market for almost a year and had seen little action.

Sunday - Played counter-offer ping-pong all afternoon until a deal was worked out, and watched the Sub-par Bowl until it was clear that the Colts had the game in hand.

Now that's a good way to spend a birthday week !