Who dresses them and how do they get here? Don’t bother answering that one. I dealt two $4-$8 Holdem games tonight in which there were NO locals. I did not know any of the players! They had no idea what was going on, when/how/who, but they wanted to play poker. They’re fun. They just want to play a hand. So color me right in the middle, helping them get the rules and the standard of the game into a format that’s fun and they know they want to come back for more.
Years ago, I learned to play Pan with a bunch of old Railroaders in Missoula, Montana. In those days, you could sit by the Mucker and he would tell you whether or not to play a hand and he would help you play it. None of the other players cared. They wanted new blood in the game as they were a dying breed. I enjoyed playing with them. However, when I came to Las Vegas and faded the crabby wenches at the Sahara and the Plaza, my idea of Pan changed immensely. I can remember a few people in their 30’s coming in to play at the Plaza, trying to learn the game, and some of the ‘born and raised Jewish Queens’ told them that this was not the place to learn…go home and learn. Great idea if you know people that play pan but if you don’t, how do you learn?
My thinking here is that the ‘Jewish Queens’ just cut off their nose to spite their face. Soon all those 60’ish and 70’ish people will die off and there will be no one to take their place…so it is with poker…if all the people that know how to play, end up playing against each other, with no new blood and money coming in, they will end up like the players in Montana, still fighting over the same $100 for the last 20 years. Sad sight!
I’ve read a few posts on the internet about seasoned players being irritated with new players because there’s such an influx that the seasoned players have to wait for a seat…bummer in your summer, buddy. These new players add a whole new twist to the ball game and make it quite interesting. They’re definitely hard to read because they have no idea what they have so how could you? It’s going to make you play your ‘A’ game. It’s going to send you home talking to yourself sometimes. It’s going to make you glad that you have all the knowledge you have to keep yourself out of traps and ahead of the game…so shut up and play…they’re going to.
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My friend, Jim, is in from Colorado. He’s a jewel, a pal, a bud, a ‘live one’. He was drinking and gambling by the time I came in to work…kept the $30-$60 on Table 4 jumping and hopping through most of my shift. Please…he knows he’s a ‘live one’ so don’t fret about my writing it here and he’s a reader. Love ya, buddy!
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I dealt a short handed, $20-$40 Omaha 8 or Better with a 1/2 Kill, on Table 6. None other than the piece of garbage, J.C.P., was in the 2s. He won the first few hands I dealt. Bummer for the rest of the boys because if he’d lost them, he would’ve been ramming and jamming and mumbling about ‘saving the blues’.
Joe was in the 1s. He started teasing with me and giving me a little ribbing. I pushed him a pot and he said, “I knew you could pull but I didn’t know you could push.”
As I shuffled the deck, I leaned towards him and said, “There’s a lot of things about me you don’t know.”
He asked me when I was going to show him and I laughed.
A few hands later, Joe flopped top set, Jacks, gave up on the River, after showing me his hand and asked, “What are you trying to do to me?”
He was leaving anyway, had a dinner or show engagement, and he picked up his chips and $100 bills and hit me in the head with the bills, several times like he was slapping my face. I laughed and said, “Good night!”
As Joe walked away, it would’ve been J.C.P.’s blind. J.C.P. grumbled, “If you’re going to laugh and talk, deal me out,” as he started loading his chips into a rack.
Don’t worry, if he’d been loser, he would’ve stayed and gambled from hell to breakfast, but he was winner and looking for an excuse to leave. The fact that I might laugh and enjoy dealing a poker game probably ranks close to the Number 1 thing he hates most in life. The freak can’t stand himself so how could he deal with anyone that likes life? Moot question…don’t try to answer.
The rest of my night was a slice of pie. Lots of new players in the $4-$8 Holdem games and action, action, action. Hello to the WPT…everyone wants to play.