Picture an anthill teeming with activity on a warm summer day and add SOUND.  That’s Bellagio Poker Room right now.  The noise alone overwhelms the senses.  There seems to be no happy medium, either it’s too quiet or too busy.

The whole room is filled with high limit.  It’s not all bad but it’s a far cry from laughing and singing through a shift.  I find it to be mentally exhausting.  Of course the $200-$400 Blind Pot Limit Omaha was right at the very end of my night and I made 2 mistakes on calling the pot size.  I feel like an idiot and am my own worst enemy when it comes to a mistake…believe me they let me know when I’m wrong so it’s not like it goes unnoticed.

George was walking when I entered the game, no chips in his seats, his bag was on the chair and his wife sat nearby.  No one, including his wife, was sure if he was going to continue to play or if he was done.  He came back and rejoined the game with assurances from a few players that they wouldn’t talk they would just play.

He went all in with A-A-garbage and lost $20,000 in the hand.  He carefully arranged his cards like 4 panes in a window and pulled them over to the rail so he could sit and relish the beat, staring at them, before finally giving them up.  He was beat on the flop but none of that matters to George.  He then spoke Greek to his wife for 5 minutes.  I dealt him right in and he lost $10,000 a few moments later and left.

The whole table made comments on his behavior.  If you’re going to talk, I’m leaving.  On my honor, I will never play with you again.  They were laughing and gesturing, mimicking his actions and voice.  They conceded that he’s really losing IT.

I did not laugh with them.  I wanted to cry.  George is extremely hard to deal to and with and he takes it all personally and wants to include the dealer in all of his beats and bad hands.  I’ve never done hallucinogenic drugs but in dealing a game that he’s in, I almost think it might be worth it.  The thought that I have to deal to him again and again throughout my career in poker is like a session of despair in the Twilight Zone.