I finally got the South Main night I’ve been wanting for a while. Wandered into Max’s Sports Bar about 8. The bar was a little less busy than usual, and I got a seat, a PBR, and a little blue crack box. What do I mean by “crack box?” Well, it’s the controller for this:
Max’s has the Buzztime game network, and has one TV dedicated to poker and one to trivia (as well as 8 other TVs showing sports). Trivia is always available, and even if no humans are playing poker, you can play against four “bots,” each of whom has a different playing style. I figured I’d take a shot at trivia. Looking at the TV on the right, it’s too bad John D wasn’t there. He would have done very well.
The bartender, Michele, had other ideas. Not long after I asked for a crack box, she said, “Paul, let’s get a 1-hour poker tournament going.” She’s able to use the bar’s master account to set up custom poker tournaments of any length and structure. So we talked 5 more people into playing, and she set the time at 1 hour, starting blinds of 25/50 with stacks of 10,000 chips for each player.
The photo taken above was the first hand of the tournament. I must have had something really bad, because I folded (I play under the handle PROFPR, “Prof” because I used to teach at the U of M). Usually I’m willing to see a flop with most any two cards. The blinds increased every six minutes, moving up to 50/100, 100/200, 300/600, 400/800, 800/1600, 1000/2000 (and higher, but that was the last level we ever reached). I hit some good cards near the end and won the first tournament. “Let’s play another!” Michele said. I busted out in 3rd place in that one, but I came back to win the 3rd and 4th tournaments. I’m pretty happy with the result of winning three of the four, but I have to admit I got lucky! There are some very, very good poker players who hang out at Max’s. A couple of them were giving me so much difficulty post-flop that I wished they’d go down the street and get their eardrums tortured at crappyoke night.
Michele, by the way, is one of the best bartenders ever. Here’s a pic of a PBR she poured me a couple of weeks ago.
Did you know it was possible to fit 17 ounces of beer in a 16 ounce pint glass? I posted this pic to Facebook, and one of the Saucer managers left a comment lecturing about the proper way to pour beer, leaving enough head to get the aroma and all that jazz. Then another bartender, one who has worked at the Saucer and Max’s before, followed up with this comment: “Dude it’s just a PBR.”
A very laid-back evening, good times with good friends. The thing with Max’s is, it’s just about all regulars, and some nights that can be a good thing. And despite the fact that we didn’t have to deal with terrible singing or douchebags in Affliction shirts, we still managed to have two shining examples of tube top dress hotness in the bar (sorry no pics, was busy concentrating on poker).
My only regret is that Max’s is the only stop I made last night. You can actually make an entire itinerary out of South Main on a weekend night. Dinner at Harry’s Detour or 5 Spot, then Max’s Sports Bar, then Earnestine & Hazel’s is a pretty fine plan. If it’s a Friday the Blue Monkey can be an additional stop as well. (Ya know, typing this just made me realize, I’ve never eaten at the 5 Spot. I really need to do something about that soon.)
Plans for today: Majestic, then Saucer. You know, I should write a WordPress plugin that inserts “Plans for today: Majestic, then Saucer” into every post I create on Sundays. Would save me time. Happy day to all the fathers out there.