I had the pleasure of spending a few hours yesterday playing $2-$5 NLHE with Orel Hershiser at Caesars Palace.

He was extremely nice and willing to share baseball stories at the table. I asked him about the Kirk Gibson home run and he said that he had set the ball up on a tee for Gibson before the game, and Gibson couldn't even walk up to the tee because his legs were in so much pain. He said that Gibson then went into the locker room and dunked his legs in ice for nearly the whole game. Orel said that he told Tommy Lasorda, "Gibby can hit," and Lasorda told Orel to keep it quiet. He didn't want any word getting out that Gibson might hit. The rest is history.

Orel got me good on one pot where he had raised preflop on the button (he was ALWAYS raising preflop on the button) and I had KQ and had limped in late position. One of the blinds calls as do I and the flop comes Jack high with 2 clubs (I don't have a club). We all check the flop. The turn is the King of clubs. I bet $35 trying to take it down right there. To my surprise both Orel and the big blind call.

The river is a red 8. Blind checks. I check. Orel bets $200. The blind folds. Then I've got to think if he's bluffing or not. He'd shown some bluffs and the hand I put him on was one club in his hand, trying to make a flush on the river. I called the $200 and he showed me pocket 8s with the 8 of clubs. He had been trying to get a flush but he did even better by making trip eights on me. I still think it was the right call though, even though I lost this time.

If you want to see Orel Hershiser along with many other poker and non-poker celebrities, they'll be at Caesars Palace, starting Friday for the NBC Heads Up Championship. Call Caesars Palace poker room at 702/731-7110 to find out how you can be in the audience if you're interested. Or you can just go play at the cash games, because I'm sure the celebs will be all over the place.

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