I wasn’t dealing when this happened but it was heard from a very reliable source. The game was $400-$800 stud.

First let’s discuss high limit etiquette. Slow rolling is a horrible, terrible, mean, nasty, rotten thing to do to your fellow players – kind of like gouging their eyes out after you’ve beaten them to a pulp. Also offering to “Chop” means that you’re really intending on doing it – well maybe you’re hoping your opponent will say “NO”, so it’s another form of appearing weak with the best hand. Yes, in high limit games, if no one objects, two players can agree to split the pot without showing down a hand.

Both of these “Big Bad Baddies” were done by the same player and it was intentional. So much for etiquette, eh?

Notaris held rolled up Q-Q-Q and asked the other player for a chop. The other player said, “Ok.”

Things went haywire, Notaris changed his mind – saying no to the chop after he offered it. The dealer called the floor person and it was chopped after a lengthy ordeal where another player came from another game to translate for Notaris – he speaks mainly Russian.

Then a few days later, Notaris went to the river with another player, stating to the player, “Straight’s good!”

The other player turned over a straight. Notaris turned over one card at a time and revealed a flush.

Unbelievable…what will happen next? Will they start being nice to dealers?

It’s been a nightmare run for the last three weeks of play. Sure, it’s part of the long term play but I still hate it. That part about getting beat by a two or three card out gets really old along into the 100th hour of play. It seems to be terminal and I start wondering if this is how the rest of my poker playing career will go.

A few days ago I left my sanity and sense of reason laying under table 17 – my chips were on top of the table distributed in other player’s stacks – when I flopped the nut flush and had one end of the straight flush blocked. I had the A-10 of Spades, the board was 9-7-3 of spades. Well, alrighty then, you take it 6-8 of spades. The one card out got me – just like the card had eyes.

I was calm about it. My left eye didn’t twitch or jerk out of its socket. I didn’t curse or throw my cards, just calmly picked up my chips and hit the window.
I did talk to myself all the way home. I even talked to myself after I got home. I’m convinced there is a card fairy and if you ever get on the bad side of that little imp, you’re going to suffer.

I looked up to see a new face playing in the high limit area last week. There were two other players at the table and judging by the limits they play, my guess would be the game was $500-$1000 or something to that nature.

I dealt to the stranger the following night. A friendly little game of $1,000-$2,000 hold’em. It was four handed. The stranger looked up at me and asked me about the area I’m from – our name tags list a city and state. We did a little bit of small talk off and on while I was dealing that set. He was friendly, clean cut, enjoying the game…the fact that he was winning may have had something to do with it.

The Stranger mentioned that he used to play Blackjack and now found out he liked poker. Uhmmmmmm! One of the players told him that if they kept the game going, other players would come in. The Stranger said he would only play another hour because his time schedule was three hours ahead of ours. The other three players were unified as in – hey no problem, that’s cool, etc., etc., etc.

The following night I played on shift. No silly, not that limit. I saw the Stranger in the game with the same three players and suddenly hawks swooped down out of thin air, heard one of them literally flew in from CA when they got wind of the Stranger learning poker.

The game was full in a heartbeat…with a waiting list. The limit $3,000-$6,000. Wonder if the Stranger will ever be back.

Shoot, I’ve been a very, very bad kid about keeping up with my Diary. I took a two weeks vacation from work and then went in and begged for a week leave of absence…got it!

Then when I returned to work two weeks ago, I became a degenerate poker player, meaning that I had a job that I could work but I blew it off to play. The room was pretty quiet and there was plenty of slack for a dealer that would rather sit in the player’s seat. That was me 🙂

It wasn’t pretty. One of the worst losing streaks I can remember in years – Yes, my friends, I know we all have them but this one happened to me.

I now hate poker – for the 900th time – and will return to dealing this coming week. I also will return to updating and finding interesting news for this site…even if it has to come from writing it myself.

I promise.