Judy. Startlingly refreshing and ready to play poker, I liked her the moment we exchanged our first words. I pushed into Table 20, $15-$30 Holdem, she was in the 7s and sliding her chips over to the 8s that had just been vacated. She took the Button with her, looked at me and said, “I’m the bl…er…button.”
I laughed and said, “You’re the blonde with button.”
She finger flipped her bleached hair, that had a mass of dark brown roots, and asked, “Do I look like I’m a real blonde?” as she laughed and settled in.
She played almost every hand, visiting with anyone and everyone as she called every bet. She’s the only woman I’ve ever seen wearing a square bracelet, it had a diamond edge on it and looked quite stylish on her. She had a Southern accent and even though she was very striking and dressed fashionably, she also had a pleasant, down to Earth attitude as she played the game.
A few hours later and she was in another $15-$30 game I sat down in. This time she occupied the 3s and for some reason could never see the Flop. I read the cards to her each time. Once a player suggested that she take a middle seat if it opened so she could see better.
I said, “I’m her seeing eye dealer.”
She loved it. And expressed the fact that I was doing a very good job of helping her out. She was in town for Magic…clothing…and it’s huge every year.
The 4s had a sweater and between the two of them, they were so intent on her that I wanted to deal the 4s out…it was too difficult getting his attention every time the action came to him.
The 2s asked her name and after she told him it was Judy, he kept calling her Susie, she retorted, “Susie, Judy, they’re all alike.”
She had just become MRS. and nothing much was ever said about her husband but she wasn’t shopping for a guy, she was there to play poker. She did.
The whole table was pretty relaxed and ready to gamble with her. She won a few pots before I left the game and she said that she wished she had the opportunity to get to know me because I was such a calming factor.
I thanked her for the compliment and when I got pushed, walked around behind her and gave her a card to this site. Her eyebrows went up and she asked, “Oh, are you going to teach me to play poker, Linda?”
I said, “No. There’s no poker game there, just stories about poker and people.”
I left it at that and went to my next game. Hey, maybe she’ll send me an email and we’ll become life long ‘buddettes’. I’ve met some of the best people in the world at the poker table and I’m always in the mood for good people and new friends.
*****
When I bopped out of a game that had my Colorado buddy, Jim, in it, a guy that had been watching the game from the rail, came up and introduced himself to me. Mark. He had wanted to play in the game I was dealing but nothing was moving…he reads here. His enthusiasm was great. I ran into him later in the night and he’d played $15-$30 and beat them…Sweet!
I dealt two of the $1-$2 NLH games tonight. They were both lively. The first one, the 9 and 10s looked like they were 12 years old. Maybe I’m just getting old but they look like they just picked up a fake ID or slipped downstairs after their folks went to sleep and got a seat in the game.
On two different hands, the 10s raised the $2 BB to $20 and managed to outrun the best hand after going all-in both times. He escaped with about $400 shortly after I sat down.
No one ever seemed to have a fit or go crazy…they played the game…just like it should be played, taking a beat, booking a win.
The second $1-$2 game was filled with all new faces…it was a Must Move to the Main game. A few of them had an idea how the game was played and what it was all about but some of them had no clue.
I felt a little tug of remorse for one player…he was in the 6s. He seemed to have no idea what was going on except he knew it was a poker game.
Once when the Blinds got raised to $9, he threw out $10 and said, “Make it $10.”
Before I could open my mouth, two players informed him that he couldn’t raise $1, he had to raise the size of the raise which was $9…they were wrong, he would have to raise by at least $7 or more but I just jumped in with, “He knows that, he was just testing me to see if I was paying attention,” as I gave him $1 change.
He gratefully gave me a weak smile. Then the worst of worst scenarios happened. The rule is that when a player goes all-in and it’s a heads-up situation, they must both turn over their hands before the rest of the cards are dealt on the board.
On the River, he checked, the 1s went all-in. The 6s thought about it for a few seconds and then said, “I call,” and pushed his chips out. He had less than the 1s.
I put my hand out to the 1s and said, “Starting here,” expecting him to turn over his hand and before I could blink, the 1s turned his hand up and said, “I thought I had a straight,” showing 10 high, no pair, N-O-T-H-I-N-G!
The 6s pitched his hand into the muck…right into the dead cards. I didn’t say a word, just pushed the pot to the 1s, moved the Button and shuffled for the next hand.
The 5s asked the 6s if he had a pair. “Yes.”
The whole routine started, “Why didn’t you turn your hand up? He didn’t have anything.”
The 6s said, “He said he had a straight.”
I interjected, “He said he ‘thought he had a straight’. Anytime you call a bet, just turn your cards up in front of you.”
He bought another $100 and made the comment that implied he’d been an idiot and made a super mistake. Several players told him they’d made worse ones than that and he took it pretty well.
A few hands later, he was in the SB and called a small raise pre-flop. The Flop was something like 10-8-3 of Spades. He checked, the 5s/Button bet $25, he thought for a half a second and called.
The Turn was King. He checked and the 5s went all-in for around $55…he called.
Long and short of it, the 5s flopped a set of eights and the 6s turned a set of Kings. Neither one of them had a Spade. The 5s left the game and so did I a few hands later. When I checked back on the 6s a half hour later, he had around $500 in front of him.
Dear Chip Fairies and Poker Gods, thank you. We need these new people in the game and they have to see a positive side to it too or they won’t be with us long…Amen!!!