Guess I’m a little startled over the comments on the Shuffle Master from a few players, both low and high limit. Seems they feel that they might not be getting the complete, real shuffle and they would feel better if they could see the machine shuffling.

How would the Shuffle Master know who it was that was supposed to lose, what seat they were sitting in, what the game would be, and to deal them off and who was supposed to win? Ok…don’t answer the question because it’s not really a question. It’s my musing, simply trying to understand the mind that always thinks they’re being cheated or set up.

Speaking of which, I recently dealt a $400-$800 7 Card Stud game. Mimi was playing over the 2s. Schlomo was in the 1s, Curtis was in the 8s, unknown player in the 4s. The action went to all the raises on the first three cards with Schlomo, Mimi, the 4s, and Curtis. Curtis’s door card was an Ace and he raised every time the action came back to him.

A lot more chip slamming developed on each street, raises, more raises, calls. Curtis was high on every street and put as many chips in the pot as he could except on the River where he turned into a ‘check and call’.

Schlomo bet, Mimi and the 4s folded, Curtis called. Schlomo said, “Straight.”

Unfortunately our poker tables have a slight indent in the dealer area so we sit a little into the table and the players in the 1st and last seat have a difficult time seeing around us. I had to lean a little forward to reach for the 4s’s hand while Schlomo was turning over his straight.

Curtis had an exasperated tiz over the fact that he couldn’t see the hand as it was being turned over. His comment went something like this, “…he needed a gut shot 8…how do I know it didn’t come from the hand next to him…I couldn’t see it being turned over.”

Curtis ended up with Aces Up and Schlomo did have the straight, 10 high. Yes, Curtis was frustrated and a little steamy. I can’t change the fact that as soon as a player folds, I have to scoop that hand into the discards which means I will be leaning forward and reaching across the table, possibly blocking someone’s view…much better that I do that than have that folded hand retrieved by it’s owner because they realized they overlooked something.

The fact that Curtis has made more than one reference to ‘being cheated’ lately makes me wonder if he’s not only jumped into the deep end but completely drowned because he always has the look of a haunted player. Definition? He’s lost in the Twilight Zone and it’s all rotating in slow motion, a floating, almost invisible wraith keeps calling every bet Curtis makes and then showing Curtis runner, runner, beating every big hand Curtis holds.

I stopped trying to guess or delve into what people think when they make the same statement and behave in the same manner, year after year. They’re stuck in a rut and no one, repeat, NO ONE will ever be able to show them the way out. They’re like the horse in the burning barn that has to be blindfolded to be led past the flames even though the doorway is right in front of them.

This is not a Curtis Roast. It’s just an example of how a player reacts when they are running bad. My thought is that when you’re in ‘the pink’, when ‘life is grand’, when ‘everything is coming up roses’, jam the hell out of it…shove the accelerator through the floor. When it turns around and you’re running barefoot up an ice hill, covered with oil, make sure you have a sled attached to your ass just in case you slip.