We have 25 tables in the pit this time around. The world of poker was hopping and skipping at Bellagio last night. Yet the night was bizarre from the working standard. I dealt four tables in the main room and spent the rest of the night in the pit area and on break. Literally…break. Deal two tables, take a break, deal two tables, take a break, deal one table, take a break, dealt the final two tables of the tournament and the contestants went to ten, my game was broken to fill the main tournament table. It was 2:05 a.m. and I went home.

I hate those nights. The shift takes forever and there’s literally nothing to do other than hit Mangia (the Help’s Hall) or hang out in the noise.

The upside is that Bob S. from Milwaukee came into town yesterday and we got to spend one of my breaks visiting over coffee/water in the Sport’s Book. He’s a reader here, plays for a living, and easy to visit with. He was playing in the $2-5 blind NLH when I came in. He told me he’d met Mama-mia-Mary and related a story of playing with her. Mary is one of my favorites and the subject of a post back in September. Small world…especially poker. They both knew me and now they know each other.

I heard a rumor from Bill L. while I was dealing $8-16 Holdem in the main room. He said the 25 tables would stay in the pit, the room would be closed for renovation, ten new tables would be added to the room, etc. This is all going to happen at the end of our Tournament. The norm is that players know what is going to happen before the dealers do. He brought up the question: Would Bellagio put the Shuffle Masters in all the tables?

My reply was, “How the hell would I know? I didn’t even know we were going to be closing the room.” We all laughed over that one.

It may or may not be true but it makes sense. Everyone is gearing for the opening of Wynn Las Vegas…apparently so are we.

It would be so sweet to have the Shuffle Masters, new tables that are sized for holdem instead of running holdem at an eight handed stud table, and…God forbid that my thinking it would queer the event…that we might end up with those little push button thingies that we originally started out to have for ‘open seat’, ‘cocktails’, ‘fills’, etc., back five years ago. That would be so SWEET!

*****

I spent the morning in the dentist’s chair, two fillings replaced, woke up with a semi tooth ache around 11:00ish, can’t bite down because one of the fillings is too high so…guess where I’m going tomorrow! But after that…snoozy time and poker, poker, poker. And that’s where I’m headed now…c u there!