A funny thing happened at the poker table last night.  I was

playing over at the Red Rock casino where they happen to have a

really big bad beat jackpot (some casinos run a promotion that

if a player has a very, very strong hand beaten by a stronger hand,

like four-of-a-kind beaten by a straight flush, they pay everyone present

from the bad beat fund, which happened to be $167,540 yesterday).

Of that money, $45k goes to the losing hand, $35k goes to the winning

one and the rest gets split amongst everyone playing at the time.

Last time I was playing, a table hit the bad beat and we all got a $200

share of the bad beat fund.

Back to last night…I'm playing at a fairly average Texas Hold 'em table

and not getting too many good hands, until this one came up:  I had

a pair of 8's in my hand and I made a full house on the flop (community

cards) which was K-K-8.  I knew my hand was best, so I was surprised

when an old lady at the table raised me; she had been making a lot of

weird plays all night, so it didn't concern me since the only hands

that beat me were two kings or a king and an 8 which would have made

a larger full house and she didn't play preflop like she had the kings.

The next two community cards were a 6 and another 8.  I about wet

myself when the last 8 came off as it gave me four-of-a-kind, a nearly

unbeatable hand!  Unfortunately, by then, the old lady and I were

the only ones left in the hand, but we kept raising and reraising until

she ran out of chips – I think we each made about 8 bets.  I triumphantly

turned over my cards and proclaimed my four-of-a-kind.  Imagine my

surprise when she showed her pair of kings for a better four-of-a-kind!

At first, my heart sank deep into my chest when I realized I had lost the

hand.  Within seconds, however, the whole world started to fade away

as the realization that I'd just won $45,000 came to be. 

F-O-R-T-Y-F-I-V-E-T-H-O-U-S-A-N-D-D-O-L-L-A-R-S!  Holy Shit!

Even as I type this now, it doesn't seem like a reality.  Within that one

hand of poker, my immediate life had changed - I could put life on hold

for another year!

The rest of the night is a blur; the whole room was abuzz with activity

after it happened and everyone wanted to come over and hear the story

of the hand.   I vaguely remember being taken to a back room in the

casino to fill out tax forms and collect my check.  I'm shirking reality

again and I couldn't be happier!