Thursday, June 16, 2005

Every night since I returned from the Emerald City, two games have been running on my shift in Bobby’s Room. Missed them…not as in I felt bad because I didn’t get to deal them.

I had a query from a $4-8 H player last night, “How high a limit do you play here, $300-600?”

I did my best dead pan, “Any limit you want to play, someone will play with you.”

“Really???” came from around the table.

Then we had to do ‘how high a limit have you dealt’ and we were off and running. I gave them a teensy background of the Beal/Corporation Game; explained that the corporation pooled their cash and they played Andy one at a time. They were completely and totally awed by the thought of a $100,000-$200,000 game. The original questioner sarcastically blurted, “Yeah, one blind is the cost of my house.”

Several players did a guffaw/noise/throat clearing and I said, “Yes. It’s obscene. But that’s the way it is.”

*NOTE – a limit being obscene is not a judgment on my part. Everyone has their own wrinkle and perspective/priority on what it takes to make things work for them.*

They asked me questions, I answered some of them. Who was my favorite player to deal to? What was the biggest pot I ever pushed? And on and on and on. I left them laughing and they did the same for me. Fun group!

I was totally exhausted by the time I hit the end of my shift. Since our remodel, our newest tables are bigger and there’s no dealer cut out. I literally cannot reach the chips in front of the 3 and 7s – or the cards for that matter. Of course the players in those seats always set their bets out two inches from their fingers. Go figure! The Shuffle Master in some of our tables is indented so far into the table (not Shuffle Master’s fault) that it creates a lip which seems to trap cards and chips. Extra time is spent trying to pull/push cards and chips over that lip. It all adds up to irritation and exhaustion for me and most of the dealers. Plus some sections of the room are like an oven, especially up on ‘the hill’ with the beautiful new glass panels that surround it for privacy…no air moves through there. Sum it all up to my butt’s crawling after eight hours.

Andrew – a reader here – looked me up in the room. I dealt to him the first night and managed a short visit with him on a break last night. He’s on a LOA from his job and planning on spending a month in Sin City. More time to visit coming up.

I dealt an $8-16 H game on Tuesday night with a smiling, happy face in the 8s. When I sat down, he informed me that everyone was really grouchy there. He beamed and smiled through my down and by the time I left, I think most of them were ‘ungrouchy’. He found me between pushes last night and told me his name is Chris and he reads here too. KEWL!

I have a possible early a.m. hike on the agenda for Friday…right after work…with the Patterson Brothers and their Mom – Mom’s visiting from out of town. Calico Basin is my pick, easy to get to, beautiful area, and the company will be top of the line. Right now it’s shower time and I’m off to the Real World to find more people that read here. 🙂