The Clan Jam is just over the horizon – Saturday! There should be 17 or 18 people in attendance…Woo Hoo! Nice tournout for a group of Forum posters to get together and meet each other – some for the first time – and play a friendly game of poker. We started small and are growing – a great foundation with great people involved in poker. It’s going to be fun, fun, fun and lots of poker.

Keep in mind that by entering my premises, you are accepting the fact that you will be photographed and publicly displayed on the internet…with poker chips in front of you if the Card Fairy is on your side. *Snicker-snort*

*****

I got the magic E/O Friday night – only worked an hour and a half. I followed Ramze in the line-up…it’s so damn nice to follow a dealer that does their job.

We have quite a few dealers that are really good and keep the game running with just the right mix of humor and control. And some dealers that absolutely destroy the game within a few minutes of their Down, resembling a black cloud twisted into a nightmare. It doesn’t do any good to say anything to them because they are beyond figuring it out. Best to just sit down and try to get the game back in running speed – adding a smile and a soft voice helps.

Something that makes me crazy is when a dealer doesn’t handle a situation while they’re in the box, they want to tell you about it and then leave it hanging and act like they’ve taken care of it.

Example: I pushed Bill out of a $30-60 H game. The 3s had a rack of $20 chips in front of him and about $600 in $10 chips that were unracked. The $10 chips are the normal chip for this game. Bill turned around – as he left the box – to inform me that the 3s knew the $20 chips didn’t play. I said, “They do play, they need to be changed up or taken off the table.”

Bill continued with something like, “No! They don’t play in this limit.”

I argued, “Yes, they do. They either have to be changed up or taken off the table.”

The 5s barked at me, “Just deal the cards. I’m only stuck $3,000.”

OK! Damn it! Bill walked away still telling me they didn’t play.

I got out four to five hands before Boba walked by the table. I stopped him, “Boba, please take care of the rack of chips.”

The 3s jumped in, “They don’t play.”

Boba said, “They have to be changed up or taken off the table,” as he reached for the rack. The 3s gave them up, asked for two $1,000 chips in exchange which he put into his pocket.

What happened is another player had left the chips with him while that player took a break. That’s not uncommon but all chips on the table, unless under a play-over box or in extremely high limit, are going to play. If someone sits down with a $1,000 chip in that game, and $5,000 in bills, it all plays so it’s ridiculous not to think that rack would be in play. It could have been taken care of in the last half hour instead of me getting my head bitten into by the 5s and the argument with Bill. ARGHHHH!

*****

While I was dealing another $30-60 H, on the edge of the Poker Pit, people were standing behind the 8 and 9s, outside the ropes designating the border of the room, watching the game.

A woman in the 3s asked, “Why are those people watching this game? There aren’t any stars or famous people in it.”

I said, “I am! They’re watching me.” Chit Mon, I was kidding.

I had my hair done up in a neat little twist with pink and red roses in it and the 1s, one of our regulars, jumped in, “Linda is definitely a star. She’s dealt on television and she’s quite famous. They recognize her by the flowers in her hair.”

I did have white flowers in my hair when I dealt the Aruba WPT Event. I couldn’t help but chuckle. He was so damn cute and sincere in his statement.

The 3s apologized and almost stumbled through, “…oh…I didn’t know.”

See, you just never know who you’re going to run into in the Poker Pit. It could be me! See you there!