For Thanksgiving, the Girlfriend (GF) and I drove from Milwaukee to GALENA, ILLINOIS for a little weekend of sightseeing and POKER, the poker being across the river in DUBUQUE, IOWA at the DIAMOND JO riverboat. We leave Friday morning, but I should start this by saying that I am a graduate of Texas A&M University. The Big Game with Texas University, A&M's arch-rival is today. This is one of the biggest sports rivaliries in history, being up there with Packers-Bears, Browns-Steelers, Democracy-Communism. It just doesn't get any bigger than this.

Every year the Aggies build a huge bonfire, two stories tall, made of thousands of trees, and it's torched before The Big Game, an almost century-old tradition representing A&M's burning desire to beat U.T.

As most of you have seen in the news, the bonfire structure collapsed about a week previous while it was being constructed, killing 12 students and injuring 27 others, some critically. This is on top of 5 members of A&M's skydiving club being killed in a plane crash and 6 students losing their lives and more injured when another student fell asleep at the wheel, plowing into their group.

The Big Game therefore has tremondous significance for the students, but let's face it; the Aggies stink at football this year. The Longhorns are a powerhouse and nationally ranked. If I were in Vegas, my money wouldn't be on the Aggies. We search the radio for a station as we drive through the Wisconsin countryside and find one carrying the game, but the signal is too weak so we turn it off. We stop for lunch in MUNROE, WI, turn the radio on again, manage to hear something to the effect that it was halftime and the Aggies were losing 16-6. No surprise there, and we leave the radio turned off.

We get into Galena a little after noon, and we check into the PALACE MOTEL. All I can say about the Palace is it's a dump. The cost difference between first class and no class is many times the difference of going on a trip or staying home, so that's why we pick the Palace. To be fair, they are in the process of tearing down the buildings and replacing them with updated models.

First stop: The shopping mall in DUBUQUE. Hey, the Woman is with me and she doesn't play poker. ;-) It's the Holidays and the madness has begun, but we're in no hurry like everyone around us. Everyone is on a Mission, and we're thankful to not be a part of the frenzy. But GF likes to shop, especially when it's new territory. I give her a long leash and she's happy.

Finally, GF decides she's "done" the mall and it's time for me to play some poker! The poker room at the Diamond Jo has 6 poker tables, but I've never seen more than 4 tables going. When we arrive they have two tables going; 1-4 stud and 5-10 Texas Hold Em. It's only a short wait and I get a seat at the Hold Em table. It was a good, relaxing session. Just about every hand held up; I did get pocket aces cracked, but it wasn't too costly. The table was weak-passive, not too tough, and I cash out with a $109 profit after 1.5 hours.

They're going to have a No Limit Texas Hold Em tournament in a while and I take the GF over to the buffet for dinner so that I could relax and be ready for the tournament. The buffet is pretty good compared to the other riverboats in the region, but it's not hard to find better food elsewhere.

The Tournament

I win the blinds on the first hand, but then I pretty much bleed after that. I'm able to take some small pots, but I'm not getting any cards. Some people bust out and rebuy. What this does is give people nice, big stacks, and the bustouts buy in again and they get another T1000, giving them a bigger stack than mine. Having logged many hours of no limit play on the internet, I know it's just a matter of time before I get some cards.

And they come. I'm the BB and look down to see pocket Jacks. Someone in early position raises all-in, another player raises all-in. I don't have enough chips to re-raise so I just call. The flop gives me another Jack, but the re-raiser show QTs and rivers a straight. I'm busted! QTs? Gimme a %#$@!~& break! This is a game of big cards, not big draws! *ARGH*

I had been contemplating that if I busted would it be wise to re-buy? Another T1000 would still leave me with a small stack and the blinds weren't exactly going to do me any good. But losing with trip J's to a draw was enough to set me afire so I put another $25 on the table and continued on. There's going to be close to $800 in the prize pool and it's split 70-30 between the top two finishers. Helluva payday.

I do OK for a while, but we lost a few players now and the blinds come around quick. I'm down to $600 in chips with blinds being $100 and $200. I feel up to the challenge.

I'm the SB with KTs, and everyone folds to me. I go all in, the BB folds. Next hand I get Q9s, I go all in, and I take the blinds. That's $500 in chips in two hands so I've bought myself some time. All you need in a tourney is time, time to get the cards that will get you to the end. I hold on and gain a few more chips.

And there's my cards. I'm the button with AA. Pocket Aces! One person calls, and a second. I go all in, wanting to get everyone out. Three opponents means too much of a chance that someone will hit. Big blind folds, next person folds, last person calls. I'm going to collect close to $3000 in chips on this hand and be right in the thick of things!

Well, it's no use going on with dramtic prose to describe a good old fashioned bad beat. My fanny gets a good paddling with a true-blue, knuckle-headed clueless play and I'm out of the tourney. I've been given a lot of bad beats on the internet and have given them, so I know how it goes. But when I saw what that guy played and the absolute clueless luck that this person was going on with those two cards, I was just sick.

My stomache literally hurt. It felt like someone thrust a bayonet into me. GF and I were going to leave after the tournament, but I walk out onto the deck of the boat, just the two of us there, in the cold and the dark, me trying to shake it off. If there was a sleeping dog there I would have kicked it. To be beaten the way I was beaten...

Saturday

Ulysses S. Grant used to live here, and we take a tour through his home. 90% of the furnishings were items that the Grants used during their period here. Very interesting to see.

Next stop was BLUFF STREET in Dubuque. This is a lot like Galena where you have 150 year old homes converted into unique shops and eateries. Lunch is eaten at PIPPEN'S, and the food here, while simple, is simply the BEST homemade stuff you'll ever shove past your teeth. Eat here and you'll fire your Grandma. I'm not kidding. You can't go to Dubuque and not eat lunch at Pippen's.

Then it's back to the Diamond Jo to do battle.

There's 3 tables going, two 1-4 stud and one Hold Em. Later in the evening they'll add another 1-4 stud and a 1-4 stud hi/lo. Five tables! Not bad for the Diamond Jo.

The session this time wasn't quite so passive. There were a couple of maniacs, raising almost every hand, and what made it even harder is they were good at reading their opponents. The cards they played may not have been that good, but sometimes big balls counts more than big cards, and they were successful at running over everyone. It helps too when they get good cards. The one had AA 3 times and it held up every time.

Then there were the clueless players. They'd go to the river with second pair and catch. I had another absolutely clueless bad beat and I let it get to me. I tilted and dumped some chips because of it. I had AA cracked. I had a lot of good hands cracked, that is, when I did get cards. At one point I was down over $200 dollars.

I'm still a beginning/recreational player when it comes to poker, but I am getting better. A group like this would have torn me to shreds a year ago but I hang in there and take advantage of their mistakes. After 5.5 hours of play it's getting short handed, another maniac has arrived, and I realize he's pissing me off and I'm tired. I know I can beat him with the crap he's pulling, but I'm mentally whipped so it's best to call it a day. Besides, while I'm going book an $89 loss, I'm still up $20 for the weekend, not counting the tournament.

I learned some hard lessons about myself and playing against above-average opponents. I'm angry at myself for the mistakes I made, I'm angry at the cards, I'm angry at the stupid people who think luck translates into skill, but I've been through this before. Yes, I'm still a novice in many ways, but I'm growing up, poker-wise.

The people themselves were all right; it was kind of fun the way the table talk and banter carried on, so I enjoyed that. GF would sit and read a book by the ATM when she was tired of playing slots and she would tell me about the people who kept hitting it for more money, more money, more money. Very few people can say they left with $20 more than they started with. GF, while she likes to play slots, is getting smarter about it. She's out about $15 for the weekend so she had fun and didn't get hurt. Overall, my play is improving and my stats and log are the proof of that. But, this was a tough session, and it hurt to have been outplayed and outlucked.

Sunday

When we checked into our room at the PALACE MOTEL, we turned on the TV and caught the tail end of The Big Game. There was less than 5 minutes to go and the Aggies were beating the Lonhorns, 20-16! The Longhorns weren't ready to quit, but the Aggies held on and won the game! They actually won!

This was a home game for the Aggies and the cameras showed the emotion of everyone. E-mail contacts informed me of a special half-time ceromony for all the students killed this year so I knew people were pretty well worked up down there. There is no way I can describe how this football game was so meaningful. Football itself is not an important thing, but it is something that can be insiring. A group of people come together and call themselves a team, a family, and they work, sweat, and strive to be the best they can be, elements that inspire us all in making our lives meaningful.

People and players were crying over a football game that means nothing, but the game was a symbol for all the sweat, work, and pain that everyone in the Texas A&M family has shared this past year. A football game that symbolized life and all the things we can be thankful for in life, yet, 23 students are dead. Another 30 or so are hurting, some, their bodies so broken and smashed they will never heal.

As we enter the Holiday Season and carry on with the traditions of the usual madness, don't lose sight of what it's all about. Family. Friends. Having pocket Aces cracked is nothing compared to the bad beats that life can deal to you. If you have little ones, tuck them in just a little bit harder tonight.

Happy Holidays and all the Best to Your Families

...Kevin in Milwaukee... (aka Tooner)

Published with the permission of the author.
Reproduction without the author's permission prohibited.