Perry

Steam vents at Volcanoes National Park

LAS VEGAS _ After a delicious steak-and-wine dinner at Binion's steakhouse, our crew headed to the Excalibur to drop hammers and bluff all-in against bloggers.

I had been looking forward to the game, where I could play against players including metsfan, absinthe, biggestron, Shane, Veneno, JoeSpeaker, Zeem and many others. Hell, even David Williams' mom, Shirley Williams (who I had played with before in Vegas) was there.

But many obstacles stood in our way: the waiting list was pretty long, the floorman was treating everyone like shit, there was no guarantee I would get into one of the tables I wanted, and the Excal poker room has been moved to a more crowded and noisy area of the casino.

So we walked over to the MGM Grand. After chatting with glyphic for a minute, I got a seat in what looked like a loose, jovial 2/5 no limit game. Daniel sat at the table two seats to my left a few minutes later.

There was this one dude in the four seat wearing a Full Tilt jersey.

Helixx walked by our table and filled me in -- that was tiltboy Perry Friedman!

Despite the presence of a World Series of Poker bracelet winner, we were clearly at one of the best tables in the house. Most everyone was drinking, telling some hilarious dirty jokes and kidding with the flirty chick at the table. I asked this guy to my right, Carlos, who had won the Ken Shamrock UFC fight earlier in the day.

Carlos asked if I was a UFC fan, and I told him I watch it when I can.

"Do you like Matt Hughes?" he asked. "He'll be at this table in a few minutes. We reserved it for him."

Sweet!

I got up to tell Drew that Hughes was coming, and when I got back, Daniel had doubled his stack. He had gotten all-in preflop with Aces against AK. Hell of a start.

Meanwhile, the table was rocking. Perry and the gang were cracking the table up with double entendres aimed at the chicky, the drinks kept coming and the game stayed juicy.

From the hijack, Perry raised to $20, and it folded around to Daniel in the big blind. He tossed out a call. The flop brought 10-3-3. Daniel checked, Perry bet, Daniel raised to $100, and Perry pushed.

Daniel called, showing the Snowman Taterlegs (83s) to take down a big pot. Perry showed AT, and he couldn't believe he had been beaten by such a crappy hand. That's the power of SMTL.

Then Daniel ordered a beer. If he's drinking at the table, I know it's so on.

I didn't have to wait too long for my chance to join the "bust Perry Friedman club." I called a raise in a six-way pot with pocket Twos and hit a set on the Jack-high flop. Perry bet about $55. I asked how much it was to call.

"That $55, and the rest of my stack, because I'm pot committed," he said. He only had about $75 more in front of him.

I just called and got the desired result -- one of the remaining players behind me pushed in, Perry called, and I called. Perry had something like second pair with a couple of backdoor draws, and the other player showed JQs for top pair. The turn brought a Q, but my three of a kind held up to take down the big pot.

Fishies came and went, Perry rebought, and the table was still going strong when I left. Hughes didn't show up, but I had a blast at one of the most enjoyable tables I've played at in a long time.