People packed, player jammed, the war of the microphones was on…80 entries into the Friday’s at Five, No Limit Holdem Tournament…and ‘hurrying scurrying’ in every part of the room.

Amazing as it may seem, the games just keep getting better and better. This statement is not a dealer/tip increase statement but action/new player statement. They appear out of nowhere, ready to play, willing to sit down and gamble, gamble, gamble, even if they have no idea how to play. Even late in the night, 15 to 20 people walked through the door with giant drink glasses, from another casino, in their hand and sort of did a single file, parade, walk through the room…not like they were doing a ‘conga line’ but like they were looking and watching as they went through.

Poker’s finally hitting the big time. It’s talked about, discussed and played on television, no longer hidden away in some dark corner of the basement, it’s ‘SHOWTIME’! Speaking of Show Time, I’m on my way to Aruba, next month to deal Ultimate Bet’s Ultimate Poker Classic II, an official WPT event. I plan on having an ‘Ultimate Trip Report’ when I return.

*****

I officially met Justin. I had dealt to him about six to seven months ago when he was in a game with Jillian and Ramsey…another post. He was in the 1s in a $4-$8 Holdem game and I said, “Hello,” he replied back, conversation went to when he was here last and the Jillian/Ramsey thing.

He took off on, “Where’s Sam G.? I keep hearing his name paged but I haven’t seen him?”

I did a, “He’s not one of my favorite people.”

He did something like, “He’s not someone my parents want me to model my life after…”

I caught on. “You must have been reading my site.”

He laughed and gave me, ‘of course I have, how would I know this, Linda…’

So I asked his name…now we’re officially introduced.

He was ‘messin’ wit me’ and it was funny. We visited through most of my down. The game was lively and everyone was slamming chips in the pot, the automatic shuffler was on this table and all in all, it was what I consider an A+ on the dealer’s report card for games I’d like to deal.

The funny part is that Sam G. was in the room and playing on Table 1. I dealt to him a few hours later. No one is immune to a Sam G. verbal attack and he tried to put one on Carmen. He, of course, thinks his wit and humor are beyond compare and that the world is his stage so everyone should be ready to applaud and laugh when he says something.

Carmen walked behind the dealer’s chair and consequently Sam’s chair, while performing her job duties. Sam leaned back and she put her hand on his back as she went by.

He retorted, “Get those man’s hands off of me. I don’t like any man that dresses up as a woman.”

She laughed and replied, “That’s not what I hear.”

I liked her reply, I hated his idiot statement to her.

She’s not tiny or petite, she’s a ‘classic beauty’. She greets everyone as if they were the only person in the world and deserved her utmost attention, and they get it. She does her job very well and that includes working with the Railbirds of the world.