Somewhere, out in the universe, a small hole started when the first poker player kept digging away at the barrier between the player and the poker table. That small hole has turned into a raging tidal wave of players, all intent on visiting Bellagio’s Poker Room – sure a few of them planned to stop other places but eventually they all come to Bellagio and it feels as if they are all there every night on my shift. Noise and bodies to the max. Don’t even bother looking at the room capacity sign (which is displayed on the wall inside the room) because the Fire Marshal couldn’t get in there to move them out even if he had a vat of vaseline and a shoe horn. Besides…they wouldn’t go, they are waiting for the next hand.
Which reminds me of a funny: Montana, years ago, playing at The Oxford and it was freezing outside, which meant it was freezing inside. Those old places have more leaks than a bad drunk in a home game. We had one game, it was 3 a.m., I was locked in trying to get my money back, shivering my t-t’s off and my feet were chunks of ice from the draft blowing across the floor. *IDEA* I raced into the storage room, grabbed a giant sized garbage bag, unfolded it as I stumbled back to the table on ice stumps, stepped into it like it was a pair of fine lace panties, pulled it up around my chest, and sat down. Wonderful! No more drafts and my body warmed up. Most of the other players did the same thing…the poker game ran on and on and on.
On to a few more fun things: In the last few weeks, I’ve met more than a few people that read here. Jeff was in the 5s in a $30-60 game, introduced himself, and towards the end of my down, I exposed one of his cards – red Ace! Aghhhh! Apologies from me – he graciously let me off the hook without any kind of emotion or expression. Later in the night, he came over and told me that he would have had pocket Aces but it must have been lucky for him because he had a load of chips now. On the card exposure, we have several tables in the room that have a draft (hell no I’m not making this up) with the venting above the table and it’s very difficult to deal to certain seats and not have a card flip up. I normally deal forever – literally – without exposing someone’s card unless they start reaching for their cards as I’m dealing…but that damn, sneaky draft.
Then I met Chris from New York – $80-160 – he was in the 5s. The game was pretty fast and with four players in the pot, I announced, “Three Bets!” as I waited for the SB player to call. Chris asked, “How many bets?’
I emphatically stated, “Three bets!”
Chris asked again, “How many bets?”
The bell went off somewhere in my head. The 1s had made it four bets. Thank you, Chris! Damn…not enough coffee or too early in the morning for me…or perhaps that’s just an excuse. Whatever the case, I always appreciate help when something is awry.
One of the most fun tables I’ve dealt in a long time was a $2-5 NLH. When I sat down, the 10s told me that no one would get on my case while I was dealing and they were all having fun. Fun was an understatement. Most of them were putting the live $10 on the Blind and the game was rocking around insults and challenges they were throwing out to each other. Somewhere in the first few minutes of my down, the 7s asked me if I was the one that had the website. I said yes.
Wow! The 10s took off with something like, “Oh my God! Linda?” as he leaned around, eyes searching for my name tag.
Then it became even more fun. The 10s turned out to be Matt from N. Carolina and he never slowed down. He won a pot and instructed them all on how to tip me, putting a red chip on his cards as he pushed them to me, talking and animated, not only was he good for my pocket, he was great for my brain. It was the end of a long night and I had found myself wondering if I’d make it through the next hour. Nothing like laughter to lift the fog.
Chris was in the 5s – the target of the Red Chip Tip Instructional from Matt and when I left the game, both Chris and the 6s handed me a red chip. Woo hoo! Big bucks in this game. Hey…I don’t work for the insurance – I have a mortage, and grand kids, need and want a bed and a hot shower, and kids, and a life, and….
I walked around behind the 7s to visit with him for a moment when I got pushed. His name is Anthony and his friend, Steve, is a big fan of Tango. Anthony’s from L.A. and I did pass him the following night in the room. Great smile!
Matt was blasting it out in a $10-20 NLH game with The Unibomber, Phil Laak, at the end of my shift and I saw him the following night in a full $10-20 NLH game. He’s a kick! Pokerzestive and the kind of person that I really enjoy because their enthusiasm for life infects everyone around them.
An earlier $2-5 NLh game: Seats opened and players were on the way. One player sat down in the 9s with a wad of $100’s and wanted to buy $500. The 8s told him he could only buy $200. The 9s asked me if he could leave his bills on the table. “No!”
The 9s had a tiz, something along the lines of, “How can I protect my hand?” – “That’s completely stupid!” – “Who would want to play in a game like this?” all as he was looking at me.
I sold him $200 in red chips and said, “It’s quite simple. If you don’t like the rule, there’s a suggestion box over there,” as I motioned to the Page Desk.
He walked – waiting for the Blind. The 10s laughed, “That really was a great reply…about the suggestion box.”
Well hell! If you don’t like something, why harp about it at the table? Go to the person that can change it. I’m never consulted before there’s a rule/room/game change so I’m obviously the wrong person to handle that kind of complaint. But on the other side of it, I honestly believe the $2-5 NLH game has never broken down since the day we started it. It’s ran 24/7 and we generally have three to four of these games every night. So if it ain’t broke…don’t fix it!