Every now and then I get a ‘red flag’ from someone about a post that’s been made about me on the internet, either in a newsgroup or on another poker forum. Sometimes I take the time to go read the thread and other times I just let it slide past like tears in the rain…I can’t catch the tears and keep them as individuals, separated from the raindrops, so why bother with a post, on a thread, that runs forever into nonsensical crap that I don’t care about.

First, keep in mind that I have set a standard for a poker site that’s not like any other poker site on the internet. You can cruise all of them and they either mimic the last site, or they’re trying to sell something, or they want you to sign onto a casino or online poker site from their site so they can earn income from it. It’s only been the last few months that I even placed an ad on my site and it’s not a flashy, screaming banner, so I’m not interested in the hype, the $$$$, or the all mighty public consensus on what I do or don’t do.

Don’t like this site? Get the hell out of here and go read somewhere else, where all the little kiddies pat each other on the back and tell each other how cute and wonderful they are, intermingled with who they’d like to bang, slam, kill, smoke, stuff, etc. That’s grade school.

Some of the posters on other sites feel that I’ve given up privileged information about a guest that plays in the poker room. Absolutely untrue!!!! I have never stated what a person won or lost in the room unless the whole room was talking about it. Many times I’ve been asked if someone was a winning player or a losing player and my reply is, “I wouldn’t know. I deal for a half hour and if they win when I deal, they may have been losing before I got there.”

Other times I’ve been asked how much someone won or lost, I’ve replied that I have no idea. When it comes to ‘the big game’, I’ve dealt games where someone told me they just heard a 22-year old girl beat a banker from Texas out of $5,000,000. Everyone in the room knew it which means everyone in the world that’s anyone to the players in the room will hear about it…it’s huge, startlingly, incredible news, since most of us will never even know what it’s like to have $5,000,000 all at once. But if I mention anything about it, I’m out of line?

As far as stating what happens in a game, yes, I do. I write about poker. I write about what happens in the normal, every day run of poker, the hands, the players, the events, the fun, the pain, the absolute insanity, and the human nature side of poker. I’m not mean or condescending to anyone, other than J.C.P., Sam G., and Mike D., (if you stop and think about it, out of the zillions of people I’ve dealt to, it’s pretty amazing that there are only three that have hit the ‘nonhuman list’ with me).

So after reading some posts, the news is that if the poster ever plays in a game I deal, I will be STIFFED, because I write about the human side of poker. Stiffed! Oh, my God! This is something that’s never happened to me before…in a poker room, of course. You mean I’m going to be deprived of receiving a gratuity? Shocking! Scary! Earth shattering news!

Right now, on a daily basis, I’m dealing to a lot of new faces and new ideas that have erupted in the card room in low limit games. They have been watching the WPT. They have been playing poker online. They’re now surfacing in the card rooms. They will be moving up – they like the game, I like them.

I do my best to handle them with kid gloves, take the time to explain what the blind is, never bark at them or make them feel uncomfortable and keep them interested in poker. They are ‘stiffing’ me because they don’t know that tipping is part of the process. I never flinch or act wounded or make a comment to them…I don’t want them to leave.

While I train them to play the game, and they may be your bread and butter at some point, make sure you stiff me, OK? I’ll do my best to keep a game running and help you make your living, but make sure you stiff me because I write about poker! And if you think ‘stiffing’ me is going to make me change anything, you’re wrong.

Everything changes…poker is coming up, out of the secretive darkness, into the world of light where everyone sees it, talks about it, writes about it, watches it, and plays it. I’m ready for it to happen, are you?

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A funny part of poker: $15-$30 Holdem, the 1s played and lost a hand. The following hand the bet was raised and the 1s called with A-7 off suit. The Flop was K-7-3. A 7 popped off on the Turn. The initial raiser checked and called a bet from the 1s on the Turn and River.

The 1s showed his hand and explained that he wouldn’t have called the raise except that he lost the previous hand.

I said, “Steam!”

He asked, “What?”

I said, “Steam!”

He said, “Yes, I was over boiled.”