Friday night at the zoo!

Ahhh…an expression that might not please corporate management but it seems to be the bottom line. The question would be who are the caged and who are the free? We are all trapped. No matter how we try to explain it or ignore it, we all have our chains. Our bondage manifests itself in different vices and traps designed by self!

The zoo? It’s home: a place I visit; people I interact with that add ‘a pinch of this and a dab of that’ to my over view of life. D-A-M-N! And I make a living at it.

The room was a screamer. It seemed the whole world wanted to play poker at Bellagio and they were there, waiting for seats, lists a mile and a half long, people milling in and out, satellites and live games running on the tables in the pit, noise and confusion…and hot. Nope, I wasn’t having hot flashes. It was just damn hot, everywhere in the room.

I started in the pit, dealt a few games of the $2-$4 Blind WPT NLH…they were gambling…and then two Super Satellite games. After a break, I was on my way to Table 1. Sheesh! Is this going to be a habit or what?

Table 1 was a 10 handed, $100-$200 Blind, Pot Limit Omaha game. George P. was in the 5s this time. He won several pots, in the neighborhood of $5,000 or more, and was pretty calm.

The game was smooth, I happened to be right on when asked the size of the pot, how much the raise could be, etc. Happiness and a pat on the back from me…it’s not always been that way. Dealing pot limit isn’t really difficult, it just takes time to adjust to it and I’m much better at it now than I was a year ago. When it’s an occasional game, it’s tough to get into the mathematics…now that we are dealing it on a steady basis, it’s much easier. I’m sure I have a lot more mistakes in me though, so don’t hold your breath.

One hand went heads-up with Ralph P. and George, a lot action with George checking and calling Ralph on every street, except the River…George bet, Ralph called.

George won the pot by catching a Q on the River to match his pocket Queens, giving him Queens Full. Ralph was in the 10s and pitched a Queen – sailing it right in front of my face into the area of the 2s.

Sam F. came up, said hello to everyone, including me, and chuckled over the game, the players, and the action…he was here to play. Before I left for the night, he was in the game jamming.

The last hand I dealt, the pot was around $20,000. Jason went all-in pre-flop and George and the 4s semi went to war on the Flop, building a $5,000 side pot, and checked the Turn and River. George won the pot with a pocket pair of 10’s.

He was one bundle of happiness when I left the game. About three hours later, when I hit Table 7, right by Table 1, the whole situation had reversed.

I was dealing $80-$160 Must Move Holdem. Perry was dealing Table 1. About half way through my down, a whole helluva lot of chips went into the pot on Table 1.

Sure…how do I know this? My game was four handed and there was nothing between the two games to obstruct the view. Several of my players kept jumping up to check out the action on Table 1 and coming back with a report.

George, the 10s, and Jason went to war. Just from the look of the chips in front of the players, I’d guess the pot was around $60,000. Jason won the pot but it took almost six minutes before the dealer could push it to him. George had to talk about the death of his hand and then bury it, two cards at a time.

I watched the flush spread on Perry’s face as George went into the usual burial routine. From all of my experiences with George, it probably went something like this: “What did I have? (pause) What could I have made? (spread the cards on the table) Do you see what I started with? (look pointedly at the dealer) What does he have? (stare at the dealer) What did I make? (fold two cards in half and throw them in but hold onto the other two for another two minutes while asking the same questions)…repeat…repeat…repeat.

Terry was playing in my game. She kept bouncing and down, looking at Table 1, returning to look at her hand, and exclaimed that she didn’t know much about Omaha but she couldn’t believe that guy took five minutes to turn in his hand and get the show on the road. I agreed.

My players either cashed out or moved to the Main game. I ended up with a semi bust out, hit the time clock and headed for fresh air and two days off. Sweet!

Those two days are almost over, back to the zoo soon. Wait a minute! Am I caged or free?

*****
I was part of this project. Sweet!
Howard Lederer’s ‘Secrets of No Limit Holdem’