Boy Named Bobby In Tahoe

November 30th, 2007 at 11:42pm B Jon Traylor 199

Sure, it was my idea, as it usually always is. It turned out very well, incredibly well, actually. I couldn't have asked for more. I had this incredible lake to my right, and a serious vertical ski slope a hundred yards in front of me as I soaked in the hot tub on our third floor balcony. This was about as close to Heaven on earth as i could summise.

First of all, my first name is indeed Bobby. The girls always loved that name. My mother, as screwed up as she is, is probably the only person who ever actually called me Bobby. Personally, I hated that name. I thought it too feminine, too gayish, too, ... well not worthy of a guy as comfortable on a horse as I was running over defensive backs. Yet, as I come to grips with turning 40 next month, I am also coming to grips with much more. Honestly? I like the name Bobby. Kind of sexy isn't it? Hah.

So back to Tahoe.....

Its those guys I grew up with, that helped me find a part of me three months ago. We were the best of friends in that West Texas town. We played football together, showered together, won state championships in baseball and one act plays together, acted together, ran the drag on main street together, got greasy together, worked cattle together, partied together, okay.... I'll stop.

But we never played poker. At least I seriously can't recall having ever played poker with those guys. Yet, at the El Dorado in Reno in late August, they all got to see a side of me I'm sure they never saw before. They actually made me nervous late that night. We had quite the crowd at our table. I finally had the guts to go all in.

I called ahead and reserved my spot at a table in the poker room at the El Dorado. Actually, I had to take a cab that Sunday evening from whatever titty bar we were at. I was the only one from our group that didn't get a lap dance. My mind was focused on playing poker, not on fantasizing about something I wanted but couldn't have. Why pay for something you can't have, right?

Bobby never paid for sex, ever.

I shared the taxi with a cute stripper woman. Her story is a separate story, but worthy. I walked in, told them who I was, and got way-layed with some serious vip treatment. My spot at the hundred dollar buy-in table wasn't quite ready, so I played the dollar slots right outside the poker room. I perhaps made a hundred bucks before I heard that beautiful sound.... "Bobby Jon Traylor, your seat at table 8 is ready."

When I walked in, laid down my hundred dollar bill, got my chips, etc..,... this sweet little brunette with tits begging to be let out of their polyester satinish bousteire thing, grabbed my hand and my ass and led me to my table.It

It was a big table. There were 12 of us. I was nervous. I usually played black jack, counted the cards from my ninth seat at the table, made some money, then hit the roulette tables and gambled on pure luck. This time I took the plunge, I was serious about playing my favorite game... no limit Texas Hold'em Poker.

I'm almost 40, and I seriously don't think i have any enemies in life. Well, I did take 600 bucks from that guy in Basalt a few months ago. I don't carry a gun, but have numerous guns in my safe. He seriously made me wish I was packing some heat. Its all cool. I difused the situation. But I'll never play poker with that asshole again. I'm a nice guy, but honestly, that guy scared me, and I don't want him to know what I could have done to him in a matter of seconds.

I took my hundred dollars in chips, said hello to everyone at the table, then lost my ass. I had two pair, with kings high. He had two pair, with aces high. My introduction at the table was short lived. He was a defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals, and he was a very nice guy, a guy I later put all in and eliminated from the table.

So I lost the first hundred bucks. No biggie. I mean come on.... I came here with three grand to play with. So, I bought back in with another hundred. Now, things got interesting. Bobby played poker, and he played it well. That second hundred dollar bill started to pay dividends.

I played for about 5 hours. My second hundred bucks turned into 2 thousand dollars. From the original 12, we had three players left at our table. Its now four a.m. in the morning. We have quite the crowd at our table. My Texas buds are all watching. The brunette is getting paid to stand in my hip pocket and ensure that I keep betting, keep playing. She was certainly a cutie.

He put me all in. That was crazy. I had a boat. I had three kings over two tens. I knew the only thing that could beat me was aces. I looked at his chip stack, and he seriously had at least 4 thousand dollars. I called him.

He had the aces.... a boat...... a boat bigger than my boat. I actually laughed. I mean, come on.... I only lost 2 hundred bucks. I got up, walked to him, shook his hand, smiled, laughed, and mentioned how cool it was to be in this very cool moment. I actually only lost two hundred bucks, and I couldn't have been happier. I'm learning how to love life..... even if it means I lose a few hundred.

God bless you all.

Why am I glorifying losing a poker game? I didn't lose a poker game. I found me.

I lost, and I loved it.

B. Jon Traylor

Entry Filed under: Skiing, Snowboarding, Snowmass, Carbondale, Colorado, Travel, Outdoors, The West, United Post