The Vegas Chronicles- Story 1...

I mentioned I planned to get into a Texas Hold'em tournament-and I did! Most casinos out there have them with a format like this: $60 buys you $4000 chips. They raise the blinds every 20 minutes so most contests are over in 2-1/2hrs. There were 25 people in ours, couple of women, some older guys, some younger guys. Some drunk, some too sober. Anyway, we started with my buddy taking an early lead, only to get bounced on an "all in" by a person with a larger full house than his! My play started slow, waiting for playable cards. I won a decent pot with a good hand, then won a bigger one on a bluff against a bluff! My pair of deuces beat the other liars' king high! One by one, players were elliminated- mainly by a table bully with alot of chips, and his friend who was getting the best cards at the tables. But the bully started making costly mistakes, and his buddy had lost his lucky draws. I was winning money off both of them, until I looked at the stacks and realized I had the most chips! I looked at the board to see what the places would pay- and first was $716 ! Within 2 hrs I had entered my first poker tournament and won! I treated my friend and our wives to a lunch at a restaurant atop the Stratosphere, which ran about 150 bucks. My buddy thanked me-and I told him "You paid 60 bucks to get into the game, and won nothing. I think all you just did is pay for your own lunch!