Look Ma! I'm a redhead

Tuesday, February 28th

My Cousin Nikki lives in Southern Mississippi just north of New Orleans and my Cousin Stacy is there for Mardi Gras. I told them I would come down there for Fat Tuesday and visit for awhile. I had no idea what I was in store for... Nikki was a wonderful hostess and other than a lack of hot water I could not have asked for a better place to stay. I didn't get there until almost 10 PM Monday night and since we were leaving at 8 AM for Mardi Gras (apparently traffic is a bit of an issue on Fat Tuesday) we went straight to bed. First thing we do is hit up a few of Nikki's friends Scott, Emily and Jesse. I was completely new to Mardi Gras and had to have a lot of it explained to me, apparently there are various groups in New Orleans called Krewes who put on all the various parades throughout the Mardi Gras weeks. We had gotten invited to the "Tuck House" which is the Mother Ship of the Krewe of Tucks and is the home of Chris Beary and his lovely wife. Now the Tucks are a group founded by 2 college kids in a bar, so you can imagine what they do on a regular basis. Drinking, partying, and having a good time... and these were THE nicest people I ever met. They didn't know me from Adam and they welcomed all of us into their house with open arms. Not to mention they were amazing hosts! Half a block from the parade route (The parade lasted from 8 AM to 5 PM for 5 different parades back to back), catered breakfast and lunch, open bar, beautiful home. Just the absolute most Tuck-tastic party ever!

Now the parade route is a very interesting array of characters. You have your high society classic Mardi Gras people. Fancy outfits, elaborate masks, just amazing. Then you have your college kids living in tents on the parade route with couches, grills, coolers, and secret beer sales to cover their costs. Then you have the kids, which is really what the parades are all about. The kids sit up on ladders specially fitted with seats on the top. The parents stand behind them on the ladders taking pictures. It is really very cool watching the kids catch beads and plush toys, etc. Each parade is done by a different Krewe or organization and have different beads and cups they throw out, so if you want to "get it all" you have to do some trading (as different parades go different routes).

After the parades and partying was done my Cousin Stacy and I headed over to Harrahs where I hit up the 3/6 game there. The jackpot at Harrahs is up to 59K and the bad beat requirements is Aces full of 10's or better beaten. Which is the EASIEST one I have ever seen. Unfortunately the game was full of local rocks soft-playing each other, and every fish who sat down got eaten immediately and sent packing. I won 2 hands early and was up $40 and should have noticed the quality of the table and the players and left. But I was only there for 2 hours and I wanted to play (Mental note... forcing yourself to play in a poor state of mind or poor environment because you "only" have X time is a recipe for disaster). I proceeded to lose the entire buy-in and rebuy for another 100 and drop it as well. Flush over flush, top 2 vs rivered flush, boat over boat, etc. I have to share probably the worst played boat I have ever seen...

I have 3/5 off in the BB and the flop is 3/8/K rainbow. checked around, and turn is an 8. I figure the K would have bet, the 8 would let me know he had it, so I lead out with the 3. A few callers, a few folders and the river is a 3. No raises so I know noone has an 8, and now the naked K doesn't matter. So I lead again and 2 callers. The button shows the 8 for the better full house. With 8's full of 3's and the rake capped, the only things he loses to are Pocket 3's, Pocket K's and K8. I think I would have had to bet at SOME point in that hand.. especially facing the whole table after I raised in the BB and he was the button. Thank goodness he didn't as I probably would have gone to 4 bets with him not believing he had the 8.

As I am about to leave down to my last few dollars and refusing to rebuy I witness the most obvious softplay ever. I know I have HEARD of this, but never seen it. The flop is 3 hearts and early position bets out, folded to button who calls. She looks up and says "Just me and you Mike?" and flips over her hand. He does the same and they check it down. Now the dealer obviously understood this because he flipped the next 2 cards without even asking them for a bet, and pushed the pot to the winner. WTF! Talk about making a player feel unwelcome.... Softplay if you want, but dear god don't make it THAT obvious!

Finish with Harrahs around 8 PM and head to the restroom before we go. I take a look in the mirror and realize my head has changed colors. Apparently I should have gotten a hat, because my normal bald head is now RED! and I mean GLOWING red, like neon.... Oh dear, suddenly I am a redhead and will be in a lot of pain very soon, but not now as it is time for Bourbon Street! Yeah baby.

I expected Bourbon Street to be crowded but OH MY GOD! I had never seen anything like this. The street is about 5 blocks long filled with Bars, Strip Clubs and Lingerie shops and in no specific order. The people were packed nose to tail as solid a sea of people as I have ever seen. You went at the same speed as everyone else or you were trampled. I stoped for a beer, a slice of pizza and got run over by a drunk trying to get to the bathroom to puke.... Oh baby my Mardi Gras was looking good. As I am walking along with the crowd suddenly the whole sea of people just stop in place. I look up to the balconies (which apparently you have to PAY to get on) and see two topless women making out. NOONE moved from that spot until they stopped.. It was hilarious! So now my Mardi Gras was complete, I had beads, trash, awesome parties, beer on bourbon street and now I feel like I did all I could at Mardi Gras. I can return to my regular life and feel fulfilled. As I turn around to leave we see 2 girls walk by with shirts so tight I could see every wrinkle and nipple, and the shirts were really cool looking with bright mardi gras colours on the front. As I looked closer I realized that it was not a "Tight Shirt" it was NO SHIRT! The ladies had actually PAINTED their breasts and were walking through the crowd like that! I was so enthralled I lost my cousin in the crowd and didn't even get a picture! WTF! Come back Come Back! DOH!

Back out to Canal Street to find a cab back to my car (which I eventually found out was a LONG LONG way away). At this point I need to learn NOT to ask for things, because God things he is funny sometimes. I said "Crap, I forgot to take a picture of the painted breasts. I hope I see that again." Unfortunately for me... I did, and that image will haunt me forever. I turned the corners into Harrahs to find a cab and almost get run over by a large woman with breasts down to her knees... and they were PAINTED. Oh my, I think I actually injured something in that moment. I may never recover from that...

A 30 minute cab ride back to the car, which I was really scared I would never find again... and we were golden back to Nikki's and crashed out in 30 secs after we got there. Back to Tunica on Wednesday morning.