Well…not exactly. I keep telling myself that I need to just settle down and deal a shift. It’s really quite painless. I know how to do it – almost in my sleep -there’s always money to be made, and I can always use the $$$. So what the hell is going on inside my skull? Hell if I know. I keep trying to delve into the inner being, the place where that secret imp hides, and figure out why I’m not content just to go in and do the 9-5, or in my case 7-3. No answer. As soon as I hit the card room, Secret Imp starts doing a tango with my work ethics and resolution. Imp jumps out of the crowd, grabsmy resolution around the waist and starts dancing over the green felt and across the chandeliers, singing in a melodious, hypnotic voice, “Just get on the list, Babe, and don’t delay. Others may sign and you won’t get out to play. Leave the dealing side of poker to those that have no choice, take a seat in the game, you are a Poker Voice. Just get on the list, Babe.”

With one last twirl and a deep bow, secret Imp slides off into the mass of noise and bodies and I’m heading for the list. Kee-rist! Am I sick or what? My strategy, every night when I walk through the door is to have no strategy. So far it’s working. I’ve dealt one half hour of this week. It’s already Thursday. I’m auto pilot off on Friday…too many dealers for what’s going on, even with Fest al Lago in full bore, we are not running at max speed. Nothing is going on in Bobby’s Room during week nights, possibly on the weekends but I don’t work weekends…come to think of it, when do I work? Umnhhh!

In the meantime, I’ve played some $4-8 at Bellagio, and I’ve been playing quite a bit, late night, on Tony G. Poker and Absolute Poker. I’ve always loved NL tournaments but stayed with LH in live play. On these two sites, I’m finally tinkering with NLH live. Very small blinds, but still tinkering. It’s an experience. It will take more time in the game for me to have an accurate understanding of how I handle it, mentally and bankroll wise. I’ll be back on those thoughts at a later date.

In the meantime, I have the Secret Imp on my dance card in a few hours. More later.