Even Derek got suspicious. No one aside from bloggers reads his blog… and only a handful do; Halverson, Daddy, Bob Genius and Boy Genius, AlCantHang, and…. Iggy.

“Iggy?” I half whispered.

He smiled. I gave him a big hug. At that moment I knew that no matter what else happened in Vegas, the entire trip was worth it, even if I was beaten to a bloody pulp by a guy named Vito or got drugged by a sexy starlet at one of the casino bars and lost both of my kidneys by a sophisticated ring of Chinese organ thieves… none of that mattered because I met the Blogfather! And he was drinking… Budwesier. Huh?

At least the two biggest rumors on the net were squashed. Only rumors about Lindsay Lohan’s fake boobs were burning up the Internet as much as the actual identity of Iggy. Yes, it’s true. Iggy was a normal sized human and he was not a sober housewife from Ohio as I originally hypothesized. Otis… on the other hand… is a 93 year old Grandma in a walker, the ones with tennis balls on the bottom instead of wheels. And that old broad can drink!

With the internet rumors squashed I let out a sigh of relief. When I set up this event there was one person I had set in my mind that I really wanted to meet more so than everyone else… Iggy, naturally. When he told me he couldn’t come I didn’t want to push. I let Al do that and it worked. He had me fooled for sure. The night before I left for Vegas we played on a table at Party Poker together. I felt bad that the bloggers (Sean, SirF, Glyphic) I was playing with would not be able to come with. Little did I know Iggy knew he’s be seeing me the next day. The fucker!

I also realized how hard it is for a guy like Iggy to find time for everyone in Vegas and I was honored for the time we did get to hang out. Every fuckin’ second. He found a seat at my table and all I kept thinking was how much the trip was getting better and better. Maudie, Me, Iggy, and Derek… all in a row. Man oh man. 2:13am PCT on Saturday in Vegas was a moment I’ll never forget. There was no other place on Earth I’d rather be.

We played for a few more hours and the cards were a blur. I chatted with Iggy about so many things. Our blogs, his horses, living in Vegas, the trip so far. He was trying to keep his identity a secret and eventually told Boy Genius, Otis, and CJ. I cashed out… up a few bucks and we were off to wake up Daddy who passed out in my bed hours before. On the way to our room, we spotted a bar. I really wanted Krispy Kreme, but how could I pass up having a drink (or three) with Iggy in Las Vegas at 4am. We stopped at the Sherwood Forest Bar and became engrossed in a conversation that I wish I could have kept going until sunrise. Maudie, Iggy, and Derek were all yapping about poker and life and blogs. Maudie has some life experience and has plenty of stories to tell. Afterwards, Maudie retreated for some sleep and we ran up stairs to wake up Daddy. He had no clue Iggy was coming and was pumped when Iggy woke his fat ass up! We hung out for a while before they went downstairs.

Now the late night mini-parties in our room (Derek and I shared a room) are a serious blur. I’d wake up and find the room trashed and empty bottles all over the place and I’d forget exactly who was up there hours earlier. I can’t recall the full roaster of people there on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday and it’s probably best we don’t talk about what happened between the hours of 4:20am and 6am in Vegas. It’s just a personal rule of mine. Events transpired in Las Vegas County between those said times are not in anyway blogworthy… that’s the stuff you’d have to read about in my novels or in sealed court documents.

With that being said, I was exhausted. I only had 3 hours of slumber in my previous two days! I had to get some semblance of rest before the big event… the Holiday Classic at Sam’s Town. I also had a couple of hours of personal writing that I had to do before I slept. I fell asleep at my laptop, when I woke up an hour later I shut the fucker, rolled over and as soon as I closed my eyes, I swear… the phone was ringing. It was my wake up call. Wake up? I just went to bed! I was still wearing all my clothes from the night before. I was suffering from mental dehydration and had a wicked case of cotton mouth. As I stared up at the ceiling, all I could think about was… where the fuck was Grubby?

… to be continued.