May 30, 2002

When I came in, the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic was just in the process of breaking down for the night. It begins again on Saturday at 2 p.m. in one of the Ballrooms and the public is invited to attend. The final six will be there when it begins. There are 24:36 minutes left at the $1,000 ante (each player) and $3000-$6000 Blinds. I say be there. It’s going to be quite an event.

*****

Earlier this week, I finished my night in Deuce to 7 Triple Draw. It started out heads up and eventually became four handed and at that time the limit jumped from $100-$200 to $200-$400. About twenty minutes into my down, I noticed one the cards had a crease down the middle that was obviously there because a player bent it. I pulled out a new deck, spread it, scrambled it, dealt out the first hand, and on the draw, while dealing the second player three cards, I saw a green card in a brown deck. Funny because I normally would’ve seen this when I turned the new deck face down and scrambled before I shuffled and dealt. I did not.

The Supervisor was standing by the table and I stopped everything and pointed out that the deck was fouled. One of the players said we’d been playing with the deck for half an hour and he’d lost at least $10,000. Hysterical! He was joking but sounded so damn sincere. Everyone got their money back and we put in a new set up.

*****

Earlier I dealt to O’Neil L. I’ve been dealing to him for a good many years and I find his character to be very interesting. If you’re playing NL or PL with him, get ready to put some chips in the pot or he’ll blast your socks off with his raises and reckless attitude for chips. That is not to say he’s a bad player but he’s not afraid to stack off.

On the character side, sometimes while he’s playing, he sings, “I’m sorry but I didn’t know the gun was loaded.”

It’s tuneless, or appears to be, and I have no idea if he made it up or it’s part of a song. It’s as if he’s warning you not to mess with him while he’s in a hand.

He likes to order hot chocolate with whip cream. On occasion, when I look over and see that he’s got the whip cream stuck across his upper lip, I will wait a moment and then put my hand in front of him to get his attention, (he always acts as if he’s hard of hearing, some say he has selective hearing), then I point to my own upper lip as I look at him. He gets the message and the funniest part of it is that he always blushes. In the crazy, wacky world of poker where nothing is sacred…he blushes.

*****

I dealt a $30-$60 Holdem game in which Gabe occupied the 10s. He’s a doll, nice mannered, great looking, and always says, “Hi.”

He motioned to Boba, the Holdem Brush, got Boba’s attention, and pointed to another game. Boba acknowledged.
I asked Gabe, “Now you use sign language?”

Gabe said, “I’m speaking Boba now.”

It’s funny. Boba is a unique character, very good at his job, appears to be rough and grouchy most of the time but he really isn’t, it’s just his way of communicating.