Venetian - What a luckbox!

I didn't expect to have the opportunity to play poker on this trip, but I was able to sneak in a short session at the Venetian right before the Blue Man Group show.

When I first sat down, I kinda freaked out when I saw people playing with $5 chips, instead of $1 chips that I'm used to. I even asked out loud "Uhm, this is the $1/2 table right?" I'm sure I scored for tourist fish girl points there, haha. Then I realized something else out of whack. Why is everyone's stack so short? Then, ohhh, I get it. Their chips are sitting on top of Benjamins. I've never played a game where cash money was on the table.

After a few orbits, I settle in and feel less nervous. I'm dealt AJs and I call a raise from the button. BB, a crazy aggro skinny asian dude with a ball cap, comes along. He's been raising and showing down awful hands. Everyone wanted to get a piece of him. Easy money.

Flop comes all clubs. Checked to me. I look down at my cards cuz I remember them being black and lo, behold I'm holding the nut flush. I freak out for half a second and check. BB raises substantially, MP shoves all in. What can a girl do? I'm all in as well.

"Who has the nut flush?" was asked. I remember that specifically.

BB shows a straight draw.

MP shows KQ clubs.

I flip over the winner. WOOHOO!

MP congratulates me. He seems like a nice guy. Probably a young father in town for the construction expo. The dealer does some magic with the split pot madness (I was the shortest, but still nearly a full $200 stack) and then I scoop it all in. The whole table is sad that BB gets up and leaves.

A few orbits later, I catch KJs. A guy in MP raises and I call. He's been raising preflop quite often since the table is a bit tight so I feel like his holding could be in a wide range. Definitely a player who is looser and more aggressive than the rest of the table trying to take control. He's short also, about half a stack.

The board comes all broadway AKJ giving me two pair. He checks and I bet into him hoping to get a shove out of his aggressive style. He indeed shoves all in and I think momentarily and call. The turn and river are blanks. He flips over a missed gutshot, 9T. He stands up and calls it a day.

The older gentleman across the way says to me "You keep drivin' them off! That's the second one today!"

Time ticks by slowly after that. Thankfully one of the guys that sits down has a watch that I keep checking from across the table discreetly so that I don't miss the show. All in all, a quick and profitable trip!