Happy Friday The 13th!

When a fellow is 59 and holding and birthday time rolls around, what is he to do?

In my case, being footloose and fancy free, I decided to drive down to Jacksonville, FL and spend a couple of days playing poker at the BestBet Casino.

I made the 234-mile drive from Charleston, S.C. in just under four hours. After some zigging and zagging on Interstate 295, i found the four-year-old casino.

BestBet has 70 tables, a restaurant and a staff of professional dealers nd floor people who know how to make you feel at home. The poker room supervisor helped me find lodging for the night, after which i sat down in a $4-8 Omaha High-Low game.

Now I plan Texas Hold'em, seven card stud high-low and some of the other mixed games, but the game that has been the best for me by far is Omaha High-Low. The only major tournament i ever won in my life, along with a bracelet, was a World Poker open event in Tunica, MS. at the Horseshoe Casino then owned by Jack Binion. Jack talked me into entering a one-taille satellite, i won a $540 buy-in into an Omaha High-Low tournament, and then swept to first place in the tournament, besting 276 other players and capturing the first place prize of $42,000.

So here I was playing $4-8 Omaha High-Low against seven other players.

I basically broke even my first day in Jacksonville. Promising to be back, I drove to my room for a good night's sleep. On Friday the 13th, my birthday, I awoke refreshed and ready for some action.

The BestBet Casino opened at 10 a.m. It took nearly two hours to get a $4-8 Omaha High-Low game going, but the table finally filled and I took my seat.

BestBet has a bad beat competition. The Texas Hold'em Bad Beat is over $240,000 and the Omaha High-Low jackpot was just under $40,000.

I told the other players it was my birthday. Ironically, one of the other players at the table was also celebrating his birthday.

Omaha High-Low is a strange game that provides a lot of action. You think you're ahead when you're behind, but the game is such fun, it doesn't seem to matter.

I was down maybe $200 when I picked up my four cards and discovered pocket aces along with five and seven.

I raised the pot and got four callers. The flop came ace, king, ten, including two hearts. I checked my three aces as did every one else.

The fourth ace fell on fourth street. The player in seat two came out betting and along with the other two players, i called.

On the river, he came out betting. I raised.

He raised.

I raised.

Smiling, he raised me all in and said, 'I hope you have two aces.'

He turned over his royal heart flush and I said, 'I do. JACKPOT!'

The table went crazy. The bad beat jackpot was shared by everyone. The guy who had beat me, a commercial fisherman named Lloyd, pocketed just under $10,000 while i collected more than $19,500. Each of the other players was paid a little over $1,340.

jacksonville and Best-Bet, I love you.

Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.

(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).