My friend, Wayne, is catching a red eye flight tonight – heading for a Poker Cruise in which he’ll be disguised as a dealer – while in reality he’s a fun, warm hearted soul that can’t take a compliment well. He left a bottle (unopened) of champagne here from one our Pan/Poker games a few weeks ago and I’ve decided to toast to his trip and partake of the joy of drinking in general.

The toast: May all your days at sea be filled with laughter and memorable experiences.

*raises glass and inhales the delicate bouquet followed by dainty sips* Hey…even when you drink alone you don’t have to chug it!

Thank you, Wayne! I really don’t mind drinking alone…and I would have anyway but it just seemed appropriate to toast you and make it look like I had a reason.

*****

Earlier tonight – I hit the poker room early. I wanted to make sure I was on the E/O list and extremely curious what progress had been made in Operation Face Lift. Not much to report. The whole slot area off of the poker room was roped off and 15 tables sat in the same area that our big tournaments are held in. That means 15 tables had been moved out of the room and it definitely bordered on bizarre. The whole upper section was empty – of everything except the credenza.

Tables 4, 5, 6, 9, 13, 17, 18, 19, and 20 in the main level of the room were gone. Of the remaining tables, two were deadspreads and the rest were running poker, poker, poker.

All the Fridays (dealer’s day of the week) had been called and told not to come in to work. We still had too many dealers but it would take an hour or so to sort through it and see who would go and who would stay.

I spoke with Coulette (secretary in the office) and she was exhausted – most of the day had been spent packing up office files and moving it all to another area…not sure where that area is.

I started on Table 15. It was $10-20 NLH – eight handed when I sat down (this game runs nine handed). Mostly the game was moderate action, nothing to write home about…then KA-BOOM! A moderate raise from the 2s brought in the 6s – Button, the 7s – SB, and the 9s – UTG.

The Flop came 9-8-3 with two Spades. Check, Check, the 2s bet $300. The 6s folded, the 7 and 9s called.

The Turn – 3. The 7s bet $400, the 9s folded, and the 2s called.

The River brought the 3 of Spades. The 7s declared all-in. The 2s counted himself down – several times – and made the comment, “You have to have a three or Spades.”

He counted himself down again – looking at the board, the pot, his opponent – searching for an answer to something.

I knew the answer but I’m a dealer…

He recklessly threw out his last $800 plus – he was covered – to be shown A-3 offsuit by the 7s.

He stumbled away from the table and punched the wall on his way to the Cashier’s Cage. Yup! He punched it! Some of the players were laughing over the room remodel and wondered if he started the process by knocking a hole in the wall…but everyone conjectured over how he could have brought up Spades…with three 3’s on the board.

He must have been horribly tired or frustrated and missed something there. Couple that with a hand that hurts and he had to be having an ugly little night.

My next table was one of the deadspreads and Dan, another hiking buddy/poker playing friend appeared. We had the opportunity to discuss a hike planned for Sunday this week…love it!

Then I was out! Fantastic! Way too many dealers…no tables to fill.

The only news I got on my way out was that the Wednesday’s NLH Tournament is cancelled for this week but the Friday’s at Five should be running as usual. Other than that I have no more news on Operation Face Lift and just enough champagne to make me too lazy to write.