Daydream Believer

Vegas in 45 days!

And I've got it all planned out... As soon as we check in at The Rio on May 29th we walk past the poker room toward our suite, suitcases in tow. Hecklers from a $10-20 NL game point and laugh, shouting obscenities at us such as "tourists!" and "guppies!" I immediately signal to my troops to halt. We exchange a confirming glance, simultaneously drop our wheeled luggage for the girls to grab and converge on the misguided. The floor respectfully starts a new table for us as they sense our aggression. We tell the hecklers to bring it and we suddenly find oursleves squared off versus these wanna-bes at our $20-40NL table. They begin to tell us they're here for the $1k event tomorrow, but we cut them off, explaining that they're the reason it's being called a donkament. We then make $500 last-longers with each of them before telling them to shut their mouths. I hear someone calling my name, so I turn around and it's Danny (Negreanu), asking me how I liked his last book.

"It was okay, Danny-boy, but I'm busy right now."

"Sweet, bro. Call me later."

I say nothing and look down at my first hand. I get 7h8h on the button, and I re-raise my main man's EP raise to let him know I have the strength. Small and Big (Douche crew) call and glare. The flop comes 5h6hAs. SB bets half the pot, BB calls, and I wink at them as I raise it 3x. One whispers in the other's ear until I snap my fingers and he stops with the look of kicked puppy. SB calls and BB folds. Turn is the 9h of course, and the idiot bets the pot. I smooth call and give my boys a confident glance. Dealer burns and turns the Ad. SB douche announces "All-in" with a grin. I scoff, tell my boys to watch this, call, and turn over the nuts. I scrape the $8k pot as the douche whines about his pocket Aces, and he and his crew scatter. We hop up, I give my boys some cash, and we head to the sportsbook.

We pull out our wads as we're glancing over the bets and two waitresses come right over. We order whiskeys. They tell us we're handsome and that they like our Georgia accents. We tell them we know and get back to our sports betting. We all make bold, risky wagers on the Braves to cover the spread cause we ain't scared. We bet $5k between the four of us. I also take the under on the length of the national anthem, being performed by Oasis. I know the bossy Brits front and back and there's no way they're letting it last longer than three and a half minutes. We finish our whiskeys and head up to our room.

Our suite looks amazing and smells even better. The Braves are on ESPN, so we turn on the game while the girls take showers. Liam and Noel crunch out a poppy, psychedelic version of the Star Spangled Banner in a whopping 2:45. Chalk up another sweet score for B. Then Chipper cranks a three-run dinger in the top of the first to put me on a super high. I feel so great I become convinced that I'm actually floating. I look to my left and I see clouds and sun. I think, man this is awesome, I've always wanted to fly. Then I hear Aimee's voice call my name, but she's supposed to be in the shower. I look to my right, confused, and it's Aimee sitting next to me, the sun on her face. "Brantly, wake up, it's the strip!" I blink my eyes a few times and turn to my left. Out the plane window and through the bright clouds I see The Luxor, and just past that I see The Excalibur and a mini-New York City approaching. I look back at Aimee, laughing at myself "Oh awesome, we're almost there."

About an hour later we pile out of our taxi-van and walk into The Rio, bags in tow. We're already having fun and giddy with excitement. I check us in and get our room keys. I pass them out, and we start looking for the elevators. We round a corner, and there it is with all its glory and appeal, the poker room. I quickly look around for a juicy table and any hecklers. I see neither, but I drop my wheeled luggage anyway, turn to Aimee with determination and ask her if she'll take it to the room while I go do some quick work. She laughs and says, "Yea, fat chance." I sigh, say okay, retrieve my wheeled tote and keep walking.  It's the real Vegas.  The one where daydreams are made, but more are crushed.