Some days everything goes exactly as planned... other days nothing goes as planned. The original plan for Saturday was to go hiking in Red Rock Canyon, eat lunch at the South Coast buffet, go to the All American Reining Classic horse show at the equestrian center, and then play some poker.

Well.. my hiking partner's boyfriend had a family emergency (his grandfather died), she lost her wallet and all her ID's and money at the bar (what was really funny is this has happened to her before!), and I was so tired I didn't want to get out of bed Saturday morning.

Then when I got to the South Coast the horse show was running behind because the power was out there, and the buffet was closed (apparently they can't cook on generator power). So I was starving, and the concession stand only had candy bars. The horse show was amazing, I got to watch an 11 year old ride a horse better than anyone I have ever seen... it was amazing watching her gallop and stop on a dime. So graceful... I took some pictures I will post later.

After the horse show and while waiting for the buffet to open I played a little blackjack. It was great because it was a quiet day at the casino so I got to go heads up with the dealer. Even out of a shoe it was very profitable cashing out up 225. I am constantly amazed at how badly people play blackjack... wow. Staying on 14 against a 10, just silly stuff. I had to keep changing tables when the idiots sat down.

One really funny (well not really but it was laugh or cry) scenario... I get dealt 11 against a 5, double down and hit 21. The dealer draws 5 cards to 21 so we push. The NEXT hand I get AA and split hitting a 10 on both. Dealer draws 4 cards to 21. EEK! Twice I got 77 and split and got another 7. Too bad I wasn't play 777 bonus!

After an hour of that and the buffet nowhere close to opening, I went and had a salad at the Rio before playing some poker. The players here are HORRID and I do mean HORRID. 7-8 to the flop almost every hand, passive as can be. You almost never seen raises even with top 2 pair,etc. If I could ever catch cards here I would retire.

A few interesting hands from Saturday... I get Pocket K's and it is raised immediately to my right, so I 3 bet it and the flop comes Q high. He raises into me and I raise it, a few callers and he 3 bets.. Now I put him on Pocket Q's with the 3 bet with a chance of AQ. Turn comes and it is a beautiful K, giving me the current nuts. It is raised into me again, I raise back and he 3 bets. I cap and we have one caller along for the ride. The river is a 2nd Queen... now I put him on QQ and now he just hit Quads. He bets into me again and now I am sure I am beat and just call. The guy who has been coming along for the ride RAISES. Holy crap, he has a Q! So now if that guy has a Q, and there are 2 on the board... then THIS guy can't have pocket Q's and I am holding the best hand. It is 3 bets back to me and I make it 4, he caps and everyone calls. K's full of Q's takes the whole thing for a HUGE 230 dollar pot, and 3 Q's and 7's full of Q's don't get a thing.

The NEXT hand I get pocket 8's and the flop is K/10/7 with 3 clubs. It is 2 bets to me and I happily fold. Now it turns out that on guy flopped a flush, and 3 others flopped sets with Pocket K's, 10's, and 7's! Talk about an action flop! The turn was another 7!!! Giving one guy quads, and the other 2 full houses. The guy with the flush was to my left and folded with a sign knowing he was beat when it was capped on the turn. River was a blank and the pot was "only" 280 because they ran out of money on the river with 2 of the 3 remaining players all-in. That was just plain out craziness!

I only managed to win 5 hands in 3 hours... but AA, KK, and QQ all won nice big pots and KK lost one. I also won one with AQ and one with 4/5 from the button. I would have been up a LOT more if I was playing smarter... but instead I cashed out up 154 and not a bad day being up 379 for the day. For some reason I keep trying to make things happen and against 7 and 8 callers you need premium hands or premium flops. I did manage to flop 2 pair and lose to runner runner flush, and and several top pairs to 2 pair.