Soon I’m going to begin testing this statement, “I do this for a living,” as a normal routine check to see if I can say it and then NOT make a mistake. The phrase has escaped my lips approximately fifteen times in my dealing career. BOOM! As soon as I say it, I make a mistake. What the hell is up with that?

I skipped into a $20-$40 Omaha 8 or Better with a Kill. A few of the ‘usual suspects’ were in the game, namely Jay and Jeff. The field was comprised of new faces. They weren’t new players, just new faces.

The 1 and 2s were somewhere in their mid thirties and extremely impatient for A-C-T-I-O-N! The 10s had a horrible time looking at his cards, taking an extra 30-45 seconds, when the action came to him. And he was losing! Short chips through my whole down, finally dragging half of a small pot, I felt a slight sympathy tug for him.

The 1 and 2s kept barking, “He’s got to hurry up! Tell him to speed up!” when I dealt the first hand.

I snorted, “He’s entitled to look at his cards.”

They were on the verge of ‘grumble explosion’ but they eased up a little bit.

As I dealt the third or fourth hand, the 8s was the Button and he pushed the Button to his right, almost in front of the 7s. When I came around with the 2nd card, I asked him, “It’s your button isn’t it?”

He replied that it was and he had just moved it out of my way so I wouldn’t expose his cards. Super pet peeve of mine. Leave the damn button alone. I set it where I know I won’t hit it or expose a card…another post somewhere. I moved the Button back in front of him and flippantly exclaimed, “I do this for a living…at least sometimes.”

Jay chimed in that I was probably one of the very few that could make that claim. It’s always worse when someone gives you a compliment and then you really blow it.

Not to worry, within a few hands, mega action, I missed the 10s on a raise on the Flop, pulled the bets in, burned and turned. Ooops! The 10s and the 7s brought it up. Call for a decision. Finish the hand. A few hands later, I tried to pull the bets in without allowing the 10s, once again, to call a raise.

The 7s had a cute little smile on his face when he said, “I thought you said you did this for a living.”

I knew he was going to tag me on it and wondered how he missed the first mistake. I replied, “I said I ‘sometimes’. Tonight I’m only here because I snuck in after management went home.”

He laughed and replied, “We’re all ok with it.”

Jay laughed too and said he’d keep me from making any more mistakes. Whew!

When I escaped the down, I stopped behind the 7s, put my hand on his shoulder and said, “I was wondering how long it was going to take you to jump on the statement I made. I couldn’t believe you missed the first mistake.”

He was laughing. I thanked him for being gracious about it.

So…if you hear me make the statement now, it will simply be a test and not because I’m lipping off to a player. I hate tests, it always reminds me of the statement, “Pay attention now, there’s going to be a test later.”