While living here in Las Vegas, I've quickly realized just how much tourists run our economy. So, Friday night, while playing poker at the Linq (formerly the Quad, formerly squared the Imperial Palace), I had a moment when I "took one for the team "and helped make a tourist's experience all that he wanted.

It was getting late and I was close to packing it in, when this guy (apparently sober throughout his time at the table) sits down to the $1/1 poker game on my immediate right. He announces, "I'm buying in for $100 and I'm planning to lose it." He also says something to the effect that he doesn't want any white chips and that he plans to make it $5 to go every hand. Now, amazingly, 2 or 3 players left the table shortly after this guy sits down. But, as a local here, I felt it was part of my job to make this guy happy and help him dust off his $100. He actually showed me and his other neighbor a couple of his hands early on -- 5-3 off and 6-2 off -- so I knew he was literally raising to $5 ATC. I also realized that while he made it $5 preflop and often C-bet $10, after that, he actually played pretty straight forward -- he'd call a bit light on the turn or river, but he didn't go crazy after his flop C-bet.

I'd been totally card dead and folded every hand since he sat down. He managed to lose about $50, but then he felted one of the other short stacks and was back up to about $90 when we finally got to play a hand. He raised to $5 from the small blind, I looked down at A-8 of hearts in the big blind and called, there were 2 limpers who also called. Flop was A-8-4 rainbow but with the 4 of hearts (one of the best flops possible for my hand). He C-bet his standard $10, I raised to $35. My thinking was, if he hit the Ace he could stack off but if he totally missed he wasn't giving me anymore money anyhow. Also, I didn't want to just call and give him a free chance to hit some weird straight with a hand like 7-5 or 2-3. And I thought if he flopped a set, then I'm doubling him anyhow. He thought for a minute and then shoved, called and turned over my hand. He never showed his cards, but claimed he flopped 2 pair (probably 8-4, but maybe A-4). In any case, top 2 pair held up and I made that tourist's night by helping him to lose his $100.

Sometimes we all just have to do our part.

Dave