The most interesting things always seem to happen in High Limit. It’s the one place that you can sometimes, depending on the situation, swear with them and be part of the group. Very seldom ever that you’re included in the group, but it does happen.

During one session last week, Chau was in the 1s and Minh in the 8s, they got involved in a hand together, and yakked it up, back and forth, with me in the middle. Their English is broken and can sometimes be a little difficult to understand.

Minh declared that he had a certain hand, and Chau said, “I don’t fucking believe you,” it was meant in a joking manner and they bantered back and forth.

Chau didn’t call. And as I dealt the next hand, Minh prodded, “What did he say?”

I said, “He said he didn’t fucking believe you.”

They roared over it.

In this same game, Jennifer was having a horrible day. Her whole table presence was ‘gloom, mixed with more gloom, and solidified with double gloom’.

They were playing $2,000-$4,000 and she split a pot with Phil I. in the Omaha 8 or Better. I meant to give Jennifer the odd chip because she had the high hand. It was the case of brain wants to do something, hands fail to obey. She queried me as to why he got the extra chip, it was supposed to be split.

I said I thought I gave it to her. Chau interjected and said I didn’t. She told me it was supposed to be split, I said I didn’t know, she followed with, “Did you ask? Next time ask, if you don’t know.”

I said, “Ok! I will,” then asked Phil to give her a $500 chip. He did.

I got pushed a few minutes later and I stopped behind Chau, he handed me a toke and told me I gave the best massages…Jennifer mumbled something, I stopped behind her and put my hands on her shoulders and said, “Don’t be mad at me, Jennifer.”

She jumped like someone had screamed, “Clear!” and hit her chest with a defibrillator. She threw both arms out to the side and exclaimed, “Don’t touch me!”

I said, “Ok!” and moved away like the house was on fire. About that time David G., almost yelled, “She was only kidding.”

I turned around as I was exiting the High Limit area, and Jennifer was looking at me too, “I was only kidding!”

I said, “Ok.”

She continued, “I hope you know I was only kidding.”

Experience has taught me there is a very fine line between dealing and playing. Sometimes you’re just better off to move on and not say anything, even if everything’s in jest…in a heart beat, it’s not…it’s painful and ugly.

I said, “Ok,” and kept moving. I was off for the night. That was on Monday night, on Wednesday I passed her on my way to a break. She was standing by the Middle Podium. I said, “Don’t touch me.”
She really, really, expressed and over expressed, that she was only kidding.

We visited through most of my break…she was waiting for a seat in a game. I gave her a CD of the pictures that were taken in Aruba. I had one of her in a bikini, only the upper body is in the shot, when she came to the Azzurro Restaurant to see who/what was going on. I told her the picture was on the CD and that I had made copies for the dealers and a few supervisors that worked the Tournament. She asked me how much it would cost to buy all the copies…funny!

Back to that same game, on Monday night.

David G. was in the 4s. He’s such a nit. Not that that makes him a bad person but he likes to JAB the fact that someone made a mistake or isn’t paying attention…he’s pointed out to all dealers that they ‘have to pay attention’. Well in this game, he put in $2,000 for the Small Blind, which is $1,000.

I really wanted to say, “David, you have to pay attention! You’re playing for real money here!” in a demanding voice, but instead, I pushed the extra $1,000 back to him and just dealt without saying a word.

*****

I’m always amazed when someone gets 86’d for bad behavior. No, not the fact that they get 86’d but the fact that they immediately try to come back into the room as a player. Maybe I’m a strange bird but if I behaved so poorly that I was asked to leave, I’m not sure I could stand to walk back into the room and act as if nothing had happened. It happens all the time in the poker industry.

Some of them are long term sickos…err…ahhh…offenders and some of them are short term. To me, it’s like saying I’m an idiot and I can’t take a beat so they had to throw me out…but why the hell do I want to go back? Hit the discussion page for this one.

Perfect example would be Ritchie, high limit Holdem player, dealt to him for years, he’s really mad as hell when he’s not winning, the smile goes only to his ear lobes when he is, and when he’s away from the table.

He literally was told that if he didn’t leave the table, Security was going to be called. He sat there until Security was called, then left the table…after stating that the dealer was ‘fucking lying’. But he was back on Monday, apologetic, ready to behave. Ugh!

*****

Discussion with Ed, mentioned in previous posts…he’s cool and ‘with it’…we talked about player anger. His opt was, “How can they not think they are going to lose a hand?”

My opt was, “They react because of other things in their life, not necessarily poker, but their unhappiness and actions in other things.”

We spent one of my downs/dead-spreads with this discussion…hey, this kid knows what’s going on…but does the rest of the poker playing world?