Okie-Vegas Trip Report: Part 2

TripJax and I leave Tunica and set the GPS for GCoxville, Oklahoma. The trip across Arkansas seems quick as we are so excited to get there. GCox calls us and we are only about 15 minutes from his house. TripJax is ready to take a nap as he's been up for about 30 hours. I on the other hand have only been up a mere 24 so I let Gary know I will be going with him to the airport to pick up Kat. We get to the airport and I am already on "Meet Invisible Friends" overload and that kicks in to turbo as Kat comes out to greet us. I'm overwhelmed with emotion from meeting three people in person for the first time that I've known online for so long. That's just the beginning as we later pick up 23Skidoo (a familiar face from back home) and head to Norman to meet up with Maudie. We all go out to eat and then play a sit-n-go at her house where she promptly welcomes us to Oklahoma with a thundering display of skill taking down the sit-n-go and letting us know she's a player. Well, I didn't actually need to be shown; after all she's practically taught me everything I know about poker with all the moves she's put on me in the blogger tournies online. She's the one player in those tournaments that seems to always have my number.
We decide to go to the Riverwind casino and Maudie calls ahead and gets us on the list for 1/2 no limit. When we arrive, they have our names up on the board and they open a new table for us. We take our seats around the table along with a few random folks that have no idea what they are in for. Hammers fly and the fun ensues as my stack begins to grow and grow. I look down and I have over 500 in front of me fairly quickly from the 200 I started with. As I glance around the table, I'm once again overwhelmed with emotion. Kat to my left, then TripJax over on the other side of the dealer. Maudie to my right and GCox on her right. 23 Skidoo across from me. It can't get any better than this, right? Wrong. Another blogger arrives. Oossuuu754 comes in wearing his Full Tilt jersey and takes the 3 seat! Ok, that's as good as it gets, right? Wrong again as poker author Gary Carson sits down in the 4 seat. I loosen up my game a little and manage to double most everyone at the table. It's the most fun I've ever had at a cash game in a casino. I think Kat was the big winner for the night. (a trend that will continue through the weekend, way to go Kat!!!) It's over way too soon. We get back to Gary's and Skidoo and I head for our hotel room.
There's one bed in the room so we make do and get a little sleep. For me, it's the first sleep I've had in almost 40 hours so I have no problem getting to sleep. We wake up early and head back to GCox's to begin the next day..........