Lucky Day

I had two incredibly lucky moments last night. The first came at a pool hall, where I had gone with George after work. He usually wallops me, and last night was no exception. I usually have at least 1 or 2 shots which convince the balls to defy the laws of physics. Last night was perhaps the greatest of said moments. I don't remember exactly what I was aiming for, but I remember that the cue ball was at the end of the table where all the other balls start, and my target was not too far from the cushion on the other end. I was probably just trying to cut the ball into a corner pocket. I missed, and the target ball hit the cushion, bounced off, for some reason took air, and landed on the rail. It then rolled most of the way down the rail, somehow hopping over or swerving around the side pocket (though it would have been sweet if it had gone in there, too), after which it rolled back down onto the playing surface, came off the cushion where I was standing when I took my shot, and then proceeded toward the other side pocket at an insanely sharp angle. I think George almost bashed me in the face with his cue when it went in. For a professional schematic (of the shot, not of George mauling me), go here.

The other piece of luck came at the poker table. Of course, this happened on the 2nd or 3rd hand I played, so blinds were low and nobody was warmed up enough to start playing with the big chips. Nonetheless, I managed to scare up a bidding war with the guy across the table, who happened to have the highest straight possible and thus thought himself assured of the victory. However, I trounced him with an A2345 straight flush. According to wikipedia, if you're playing 5-card draw, the odds for this hand are 71,941 : 1. I'm sure the odds are different for Hold'Em, especially since you can count them at several different points. Nonetheless, I can now say I've gotten the highest type of hand in the game (I don't think the royal straight really counts as a different type of hand).

Anyway, after that, we continued playing for another 4 or 5 hours (until about 5:30 AM), and I am pretty sure I won less than 8 hands that whole time, and went home empty-handed. I still think I won the moral victory, though.