white noise

Last Thursday in Vegas I entered the evening Texas Hold ’em tournament at the MGM Grand casino. The MGM is kind of unique in how they feature a nice poker room and their sports book prominently near their entrance, whereas most casinos tuck them toward a back corner. In the poker room they run hold ’em tournaments most days in addition to the on-going cash tables. The night I played there were about 45 players in the tournament. A buy-in of $80 got you 3000 in tourney chips. They run their tourneys pretty aggressively, the blinds doubling every 20 minutes, and after 80 minutes, an ante is added for all players which also doubles every 20 minutes. They force the action pretty strong and I was a little worried how my usual tight play would hold out. By 80 minutes in, after our first break, the blinds had reached 400/800 and I was barely hanging in with 1200. I had been in a few hands and had to get out of a few I knew I was behind in. Luckily my next hand was a good one, a nut flush, and my all-in took down a good pot.

Not a hand or two after, all the players redrew for seats at two final tables. Within 20 minutes, the blinds were up to 800/1600 and I was short stacked again with 900 in chips. I don’t call the blind of the next hand and the dealer leans over, sees I’m down to less than the blinds and asks “what are you waiting for”. I tell him “better cards”. The next hand I get dealt a big slick (A-K) and go all-in (which after the ante of 200 is only 700 – less than the SMALL blind). There are plenty of callers, and even though I only get a portion of the pot, it floats me way back up.

A few hands later and we redraw for seats as we are down to the final table. A couple more players fall out. A little later, the blinds are up to 1500/3000 and I make another desperate all-in push, pull in the pot, and come back from the brink AGAIN. As we get down to four players we know we’ve all made it to the money. With blinds now at 3000/6000 (not to mention an ante of 500) I have only a couple hands worth of chips left once again. I go all-in with pocket sevens and the chip leader calls me with pocket 8’s. With no help for either of us on the board, I finish in 4th and make $288 (10% of the pot). It’s a shame I couldn’t outlast one more player or I would have had double the payout, but I counted myself lucky to make it as far as I did. That was my first casino tourney and even though it was a small one it was awesome to finish 4th out of 45 and make some dough.

I’ve been a Kevin Smith fan since Clerks. Not to a religious degree or anything, there are still movies of his I haven’t seen, but I have been reading his blog for a couple years and following his discussion boards for almost as long, and listening to his podcasts with Scott Mosier since they started about a year ago. As I have followed each of these I have been so impressed with not just his knack for turning a phrase or spinning a tale, but his honesty and raw candor. I can understand if his flicks aren’t someone’s preference, but flat out undeniable is that’s he’s good people.

Well, to get on with it, Kevin quite enjoys playing poker and he regularly holds a friendly little game, usually at his comic store in Red Bank, New Jersey (Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash). The best part is that the game is open to pretty much anyone and limited in numbers – the Stash can only hold three tables, and barely. I’ve been hearing about these games since last Fall, but until now the timing never was right. Cue a free Saturday in July following my birthday and this time I was in luck. D and I decided to make a fun weekend for us both out of it. We’d get a room in NYC, and she’d shop in the city while I went to the game in Jersey.

D and I started the trek about 6:00 after work on Friday. By around 2 or 3 in the morning we were most of the way through Pennsylvania and exhausted. We crashed in the ‘tek at a rest stop for a few hours and hit the road again around 7. We made it to NYC before noon, got through the Lincoln tunnel without incident (very creepy if you’ve read The Stand), found ridiculously priced parking, and were checked into the New Yorker by noon. We walked around a while, grabbed a good lunch, and stopped in the Manolo Blahnik store (a very nondescript store from the outside with pairs of shoes running over $1k inside). After I ushered D outta there it was about time for me to head back to Jersey.

I had no problem with directions and got to Red Bank about an hour before the game. I spent some time checking out the Stash (they have some sweet merch and props) and bought a set of Hold’em McNeal poker cards as a fitting souvie. Then I walked over to the bar across the street to meet up some of the other players already waiting and grab a drink.

We walked back to the store about 6, milled around a bit, Kevin showed up a few minutes later and we began setting up the tables and chairs. So it was three tables (with custom Chasing Amy inspired felts, by the way), 10 seats each, and it was tight – barely enough room to walk by the tables. Kevin and a couple guys took several minutes getting chip stacks ready (all custom chips, by the way) while his assistant got the game software going on his laptop. Kevin did a role call of sorts where he gave each player a name badge and our seat location while we bought in. The buy-in by the way was not ridiculous – just a little more than a neighborhood game I play in. Kevin’s very cool about not throwing his movie money around.

I didn’t end up at Kevin’s table for the tournament – a mixed blessing because I know he has some skill. I was at the center of the side of my table and informed that all the dealing would be alternating between me and the guy across from me, rather than passing it around to harder to reach players. More effort than I bargained for, but no problem, it was cool running the cards for one of Kevin’s tables – even after I was knocked out. Speaking of which happened about an hour and a half in. By 8:00 my pocket rockets got taken down by a pocket pair of 7’s that turned into a set on a lucky flop. I wasn’t the first knocked out, but I was the first at our table. I felt in better company when Kevin was the 6th person knocked out just a little after me.

By about 8:30 there were enough of us out to start a cash game at Kevin’s table while the rest of the tournament continued (and continue it did until around 1am). I grabbed a seat one away from the boss man, and bought in again. I played there for the next seven hours. They had some modest munchies to keep us going. Soda, beer, several pizzas, cookies, etc. There were a good mix of players at the cash game; a few newbies like myself and some regulars who were unexpectedly knocked out of the tournament early. A couple of the guys were locals and long time friends of Kevin. They talked about so-and-so from high school and what they’re up to lately, and stories dating back to when Kevin worked at Quik Stop (long before the world saw it in Clerks). There were stories about Affleck and Jason Lee. Talk about sci-fi/action movies coming out next summer. And some long, spirited discussions about music, especially old school rap. Much of the talk (like debating the impact of Run DMC versus the Beastie Boys) could have easily fit into any Smith film.

By about 3:30 my stacks had dwindled, along with my alertness, and I knew I needed to head back to midtown to get some sleep before the long drive back. I chatted with Kevin for few before taking off, he signed my Joker, and I headed out. By noon, D and I were checked out of the hotel and enjoying a final slice of NY pizza and hitting the road. All together it was about 1500 miles and several expensive tanks of gas, but I’m already looking forward to the next time I can get out there.

Played some poker over the weekend.

In New Jersey.

With Kevin Smith.

So far, year 37 is pretty damn remarkable!