Dirty rotten rats-l-frats! Crap! The room remodel was supposed to start tomorrow. Friday night I got the major E/O…out by 9 p.m. and since the room remodel was going to find us with 25 tables in the pit instead of the normal 30 in our room, me and a few other dealers were asked if we wanted Monday off.

Yippeee! Yes indeedy! A three day weekend? Hell yes! Sweet! Then as I anticipated all of the things I would be doing with my time off, I got a call on Saturday. Gloom! The room remodel wouldn’t start until Tuesday so all the dealers that were thinking they had a three day weekend had to think again. *sniff* Back to work tomorrow night.

In the meantime – back in the poker room disguised as a dealer – before I started my weekend, Mama-mia-Mary is back in town. Gorgeous as always, she informed me that she’s been reading me every day and she’s really ‘pissed’ at me if I fail to write.

Well…ok! Somedays it just ain’t as easy as it would seem. But it is nice to know there are always people out there waiting for my ‘Poker Petroglyphs’. And that is the way I feel about my scratchings…I’m leaving a memory in cyber of what poker is really like, not the glitzed up glorified rendition in magazines and TV, where the players always look orderly and well kept and in control of their emotions but the real story. This writing on the cyber wall can be read years from now and enjoyed because ‘this is what happened back then’ before the world came to grips with poker.

*****

Sometimes one should investigate the query before responding. While dealing a $4-8 game, the 6s seat asked me if Gus was around. I said no, hadn’t seen him in a few weeks.

The next question was, “Where is he?”

I did a small ramble on the fact that he might have been playing in Tunica during the tournament and now there was a tournament in CA that he might be playing in. I followed with, “Will Phil do?”

“Phil who?”

“Phil Ivey, he’s playing on Table 1.”

“Who did you think I was asking about?”

“Gus Hansen.”

“I meant Gus the dealer.”

Hysterical. As a dealer, we are asked about the ‘stars’ all the time and I immediately assumed he was talking about Gus Hansen. The questioners always refer to the ‘stars’ on a first name basis as if they know them personally.

I haven’t seen Gus the dealer in a few weeks either so I guess it worked out about the same.

*****

Today found me climbing into the Keystone Thrust in Red Rock Canyon with one of my pan/poker buddies, Chad. It was a perfect day for hiking…teensy bit warm down in the wash but other than that, perfect. See it here!

And back to the real world…See you there Monday night!