My first game was $4-8 Holdem, entertaining, looney, only three people at the table really knew what was going on all the time. One of them, Richard L., was in the 1s, Doc, completely drunk on his butt when he hits Vegas but he still knows what’s going on in the game and he’s funny as hell, in the 4s, and a stranger in the 7s. The rest of the table was a bunch of young bucks ready to gamble and ramble. The 8s said he was a friend of Daniel N. and they’d played poker together in Canada for years but he still wasn’t ‘game aware’…maybe that’s why Daniel is a world class player and the 8s isn’t…who knows?

The 10s had ‘attitude’ doubled up and shoved into a small glass bottle with a strip of cloth hanging out of the top. Hello cocktail! He was flipping out because Doc had called him “M&M” and his name was “Flash”! He elected to take a walk, “…because I’m not going to let you put me on tilt.” Hell…he was so tilted he didn’t know which side was up. He returned a few minutes later and Doc started calling him Flash.

Every hand I dealt, Doc looked at me and said, “Protect me, Linda.”

I just chuckled. Believe me, it’s the other way around, the rest of the world needs protection from Doc.

I misread one hand in this game, thankfully I’d not pushed any chips and no damage was done…especially to me. It was straightened out immediately. I hate it when I do that.

*****

$20-40 7 Card Stud was next on my agenda and while this isn’t funny, it kind of is – the 2s and most of the players at the table were all strangers except the 1s, Gary, and the 8s, M.Z., he rarely plays anymore although he used to play every day. A few minutes later, John joined the game when a seat opened.

The 2s had a lot of chips and played a lot of hands. With $24 in the pot in antes, a $5 bring-in, a raise to $20 heads-up between the 2s and M.Z., they checked the entire hand out and the 2s won with two small pair. He asked me if I would split the pot up between them. I told him they couldn’t split the pot as I pushed it to him. He threw out two $5 chips and asked me to give it to the 8s. I told him there were no rebates allowed, it was a house rule, and pushed them back to him. He persisted in asking me if I would do it just his one time. I told him I was sorry but it was the rule.

The next hand, John asked the 2s if he would give back the money he’d beat John out of on the last hand…John did it in a pleasant manner and then followed with the explanation that that was why players didn’t give back half the pot or throw rebates to each other. Thank you, John!

Not to worry, a few minutes later, I watched M.Z. talking to the floorman and looking at me. I’m sure that M.Z. felt that I was wrong and he should have received a rebate on that hand. Ok…if one player receives a rebate, wouldn’t it be fair for everyone to get a slice of the pie? Go figure!

*****

As the night progressed, I dealt more than one, wonderful, strange, gamble it up, $2-5 blind NLH games. You would literally have to be there to see all the things that are happening at one time and then…only then…could you truly appreciate my abilities as a dealer. The first thing that happened in the second one I dealt, Dave – illustrious leader of the lost and confused – came up with the clipboard and announced that this game would be a must move game. He asked me to give each player a card and we would take the high card as the first name on the list and the next card, etc. But Dave’s reasoning was the first card after the high card dealt would be second. That just ain’t the way it’s done. I dealt everyone a card face up and ran the order of the cards for Dave, and asked for each player’s name so Dave could record it. Shit! It took five minutes of my down.

Right after that game, I moved into another one. This was insanity. No one’s fault really, just the way it came down. I had two seats open, players were coming in from other games, several players went broke in hands and I sold all the chips out of my rack…no cash on the table in this game. I couldn’t beg, borrow, or steal a chip runner, and even if I could the line was 19 customers long at the Cage…one cashier on duty. Nothing was moving except the action.

Dave announced I had a player coming in; the player for the 1s told me that he would get his own chips. During hands dealt, players going all in, mass confusion, seat changes, and catastrophic events known only in the poker realm, the new player was at the cage for ten minutes. During this time period, I called Kamell, (shift supervisor) and told him I needed a fill and couldn’t get player’s chips. He tried to help but the back up at the cashier left everyone in a mess.

While this was going on, Dave arrived with a new player for the 1s. I told him I didn’t have a seat open and that I hadn’t called the seat open. At the same time my player arrived…finally had his chips…and Dave queried him as to where he was coming from. I interjected. I told Dave that he’d been sent ten minutes ago and had gone to get his own chips and I hadn’t called the seat open. Dave gave him the third degree on what was his name, where was he at on the list, etc…

I jumped in again and told Dave that I hadn’t called the seat open because it wasn’t open and the seat belonged to this guy. Dave left with that confused look on his face. In the meantime the action was hopping, the game was in overdrive.

The 3s opened. Hello Flash!. None other than the little M&M AKA Flash arrived for it. The 1s said he would like the 3s, Flash said he wasn’t moving. I said the 1s had priority as a player in the game and Flash said the floorman told him to sit there and he was sitting there. Can’t someone light the strip of cloth hanging out of that damn bottle?

The 1s relinquished and said it was “OK,” and Flash was in the big blind. I asked him if he was ready for the blind and he replied, “No! I don’t like the way I’ve been treated.”

Well kiss my grits!

I must have done a “W-H-A-T?” The 7s, found out later his name was Chris, was laughing with me and about ready to fall off his chair. Max, God bless him, was in the 10s and made some statement about “you should wait…you’ve got the best dealer in the house and you want to wait for someone else”.

I dealt the hand, dealing Flash out, and looked right at Flash, “How have you been treated?”

He replied, “I just don’t like to be treated that way,” as if I’d done something evil to him.

Chris told everyone at the table that Flash wouldn’t last a half hour in the game…he’d be broke.

The next dealer tapped me out when I had the Flop up, Chris gave me full eye contact and said, “Just drop the deck and walk away, Linda.”

I finished the hand and talked with Chris for a moment after I left the game. I was on a break and while I was sitting visiting with my supervisor, Chris stood up and pointed at the empty 3s, “See. I told you he wouldn’t last a half an hour.”

Chris was right. All that was left of Flash was an empty chair.