M2d
03-10-2003, 03:55 PM
On Sunday, I found myself at the Oakland airport getting ready to board a plane bound for Orange County. work sent me down to vanilla land for a week of fun fun life safety code seminars put on by the NFPA.
When I landed, I realized that the car I reserved was useless for me, since, having just had a birthday, my license was expired. The california DMV, in its infinate wisdom, has installed a mail in renewal system, but has not yet implemented a means by which people can actually receive their updated cards in time. I have nothing to do, but call my friend who lives down there and see what he's up to.
My friend mentiones that his other friend plays at Hawaiian Gardens, which is a mere half hour away from Irvine, and he volunteers his driving services. Away we go, and I, shortly, find myself in a good, but not great, sunday evening 15 hold-em game.
About an hour later, I start to get hungry, so I flag down a waiter and order. When the food comes, I find out that it's free!!! everything on the menu is free for 15-30 games and above. Cool.
The game I was in was nothing special. Where were the rocking and rolling LA games that I'd heard about? A big plus, though, was the game selection (compared with the bay area). Instead of the two options for mid limit games that they have at the Oaks (take it or leave it), they had two 15's, a 20, a 30, and a 15 stud. talking to some other players, they told me that sunday nights were slow, and that it would pick up later in the week. I guess I have to return,then. They also told me that the other LA clubs were much bigger, and that they had many more games. Looking around at the 70 table room (almost all of which were filled), I had a hard time believing that, but I did anyway.
Monday after class was scheduled for the DMV, the rental car agency and Radio Shack (I forgot my phone charger at home). Temp licence in hand, the rental went smoothly, and I settled into a nice, relaxing, non gambling (unless you count what I did with my CV system) dinner of a fatburger w/bacon and cheese and chili fries. brings back memories of college.
Tuesday night, I begged off a dinner with some other friends, and headed back up the 405 to Hawaiian gardens. I really wanted to try some of the other clubs, but my schedule didn't allow for much poker time, and I went to the closest one.
I was immediately put into a 20-40 game, and my education on poker, LA style commenced. Here was the game that I'd heard about for years. My inital buy in was vapor after a half hour. five hours into the game, I looked down and realized i was in for four racks, and stuck about 17 stacks. still, I had a smile on my face. The game was still rockin, I was playing well (I think), live players were lined up to join the game when the other live ones quit, and I realized that I only had to make a few hands to be healthy again.
After eight hours, I looked down and realized that i had made my biggest swing yet. from 17 hundred down three hours before, I was now 6 hundred up and it was time to roll out. No more details available, since I was pretty groggy eyed. It's amazing how sharp I felt at the end of the session, but how beat I was as soon as I picked up.
Wednesday night, I battled through dinner with some friends, after having struggled though eight hours of seminar that day.
Thursday, I checked my complimentry issue of USA today and discovered that all of the must see tv shows that evening were reruns that I had already viewed. That settled, I hopped in the car after class and made my way up the 405 for another tangle with the locals.
The 20 game was full, but the 15 had openings. I bought in for a rack, but made another rack purchase after losing a hand and seeing how nuts this game was. I figured I'd eventually get it on the table anyway, so why not save time?
again, the session was a blur, but I plugged pretty steadily, and found myself up a rack after four hours. Not wanting to sleep through my last day of seminar, i cashed out at ten and concluded the poker portion of the trip.
final thoughts about hawaiian gardens.
The food is free and good. In my three sessions I had two steaks and rack of lamb. I also had dessert. Each dish was great and the price was even better.
The locals are pretty crazy. some of the bay area games I've been in have been nuts, but they're tame compared to the weekday night games I experienced.
The local female players are much more aesthetically pleasing than in the bay area. but they aren't "babes"
Sorry for the lack of details. forty hours of memorizing fire code (door ways in new healthcare facilities must be 44" or greater...) has a way of wiping your memory of anything else clear.
When I landed, I realized that the car I reserved was useless for me, since, having just had a birthday, my license was expired. The california DMV, in its infinate wisdom, has installed a mail in renewal system, but has not yet implemented a means by which people can actually receive their updated cards in time. I have nothing to do, but call my friend who lives down there and see what he's up to.
My friend mentiones that his other friend plays at Hawaiian Gardens, which is a mere half hour away from Irvine, and he volunteers his driving services. Away we go, and I, shortly, find myself in a good, but not great, sunday evening 15 hold-em game.
About an hour later, I start to get hungry, so I flag down a waiter and order. When the food comes, I find out that it's free!!! everything on the menu is free for 15-30 games and above. Cool.
The game I was in was nothing special. Where were the rocking and rolling LA games that I'd heard about? A big plus, though, was the game selection (compared with the bay area). Instead of the two options for mid limit games that they have at the Oaks (take it or leave it), they had two 15's, a 20, a 30, and a 15 stud. talking to some other players, they told me that sunday nights were slow, and that it would pick up later in the week. I guess I have to return,then. They also told me that the other LA clubs were much bigger, and that they had many more games. Looking around at the 70 table room (almost all of which were filled), I had a hard time believing that, but I did anyway.
Monday after class was scheduled for the DMV, the rental car agency and Radio Shack (I forgot my phone charger at home). Temp licence in hand, the rental went smoothly, and I settled into a nice, relaxing, non gambling (unless you count what I did with my CV system) dinner of a fatburger w/bacon and cheese and chili fries. brings back memories of college.
Tuesday night, I begged off a dinner with some other friends, and headed back up the 405 to Hawaiian gardens. I really wanted to try some of the other clubs, but my schedule didn't allow for much poker time, and I went to the closest one.
I was immediately put into a 20-40 game, and my education on poker, LA style commenced. Here was the game that I'd heard about for years. My inital buy in was vapor after a half hour. five hours into the game, I looked down and realized i was in for four racks, and stuck about 17 stacks. still, I had a smile on my face. The game was still rockin, I was playing well (I think), live players were lined up to join the game when the other live ones quit, and I realized that I only had to make a few hands to be healthy again.
After eight hours, I looked down and realized that i had made my biggest swing yet. from 17 hundred down three hours before, I was now 6 hundred up and it was time to roll out. No more details available, since I was pretty groggy eyed. It's amazing how sharp I felt at the end of the session, but how beat I was as soon as I picked up.
Wednesday night, I battled through dinner with some friends, after having struggled though eight hours of seminar that day.
Thursday, I checked my complimentry issue of USA today and discovered that all of the must see tv shows that evening were reruns that I had already viewed. That settled, I hopped in the car after class and made my way up the 405 for another tangle with the locals.
The 20 game was full, but the 15 had openings. I bought in for a rack, but made another rack purchase after losing a hand and seeing how nuts this game was. I figured I'd eventually get it on the table anyway, so why not save time?
again, the session was a blur, but I plugged pretty steadily, and found myself up a rack after four hours. Not wanting to sleep through my last day of seminar, i cashed out at ten and concluded the poker portion of the trip.
final thoughts about hawaiian gardens.
The food is free and good. In my three sessions I had two steaks and rack of lamb. I also had dessert. Each dish was great and the price was even better.
The locals are pretty crazy. some of the bay area games I've been in have been nuts, but they're tame compared to the weekday night games I experienced.
The local female players are much more aesthetically pleasing than in the bay area. but they aren't "babes"
Sorry for the lack of details. forty hours of memorizing fire code (door ways in new healthcare facilities must be 44" or greater...) has a way of wiping your memory of anything else clear.