I’ve played one night a week for the last month or so, usually my Friday and I’m looking for an E/O when I sign the list. I stopped playing $4-8 and moved up to $15-30. It’s funny in a way, years ago when I really had no idea how to play, I played $15-30, $5-10-20 on the end, $10-20-40 on the end, and a few other crazy limits – including NL. Once I learned to play, I settled into the low limit niche. I wasn’t ready to move to $15-30 until recently. It’s a much better game for me and I find the dealers don’t screw off as much in higher limits as they do in the lower limits. Truthfully I find a lot of dealers to be totally irritating. They can’t just deal the game, they have to get involved in it…and in low limit it’s a field day for those dealers.

I watched one dealer in a $4-8 H game look at player’s cards when the player folded (not just once but numerous times) and then put the Turn card face down with lots of action in the hand…he thought it was really funny. He never shut up during his half hour down, talking and chortling, jumping in with comments on the play of the hand. He’s fast but he helicopters the cards and puts a spin on them a pizza maker would envy as they loft through the air at the player’s chips. I talked to him about it later. He was pissed at me and told me that’s how he makes his money and that he doesn’t do it in high limit games. I asked him if he thought low limit players didn’t deserve to have a game ran as professionaly as a high limit player. It didn’t go over well at all. In truth, I told him he could be a great dealer if he just quit fucking around when he was in the box. Well slap my mouth! Guess I expect too much from my co-workers.

Then we have two dealers that can’t just drop the deck when the hand is over. They shoot the stub, in an accordian move, from one hand to the other. Guess they missed their calling and think they are a magician instead of a dealer. A stupid question on my part, but what if they have to recover the deck…like they may not have completed the board? Should look great on camera. And one of them always pushes the pot, leaving three or four odds chips out, which he stacks beside the pot followed by, “Thank you!” Yup…he’s soliciting a tip.

Another $4-8 H game that just started with me in the 9s. The dealer sold all of the chips from the bank brought by the floor and took all the cash and receipt from the Cashier’s Cage and stuck it into the rack. We aren’t even supposed to begin dealing until the Table Bank is picked up. A few minutes later I told him that he needed to call someone to pick it up. He laughed.

I pushed it then, “You can get written up for it.”

He chuckled again and said he’d just give everyone back their money…like his ears were painted on and he couldn’t hear or understand what I said. Not only could he get written up for not calling for a pick-up, his bank was now way over and that’s another huge NO!

Then in a $15-30 H game, when I won a pot, the dealer pushed it to me – holding onto it for a moment as he looked at me and said, “You’re a winner!”

Good God! I need him to tell me? I retorted, “I’m a winner whether I win a pot or not!”

More dealer tales –

I pushed a dealer out of a $20-40 7 stud game one night and he informed me the rack was down $24 and the supervisor knew about it. There was $20 in blue chips in the rack. Normally the bank carries around 140 or more as they are used in rake, antes, and general change for players. When he stood up, I asked, “You don’t believe in getting a fill?”

He said, “No.”

As I slid into the Box, I retorted, “Good. I’ll remember that when you are following me.”

The players told me that he’d dropped their antes when he sat down. Sorry…but I’m laughing my ass off over that one. I’m not sure how he could figure $3 from each player was Time.

When I pushed him out of the next game, he apologized for not getting a fill. He said he was new at Bellagio. No shit? And that he hadn’t dealt Stud in over eight months – like where ever he moved from didn’t spread Stud anymore.

Which brings up another issue – new dealers. Bobby B. has been playing in – you guessed it – Bobby’s Room. None of the new dealers are allowed to deal through there so the experienced dealers are being shuffled into a line-up that routes us through that room. And of course if we deal through there, we are going to deal all of the higher limit games – that’s the line-up. Ouch! It looks like the good old days where everyone had to be able to deal all games to work at Bellagio are over. Dealing all high limit makes Linda a ‘Sad Jill’.

*****

Pauly was in covering the Bellagio Challenge Cup and we had the opportunity to visit briefly while I waited for a seat in a $15-30 game. Yup, I signed up to play on MY Tuesday. We may even manage a brew, a meal, or a visit…or all three…while he’s in town.

A pleasure to see and chat with for a moment, Joseph Smith, does such great coverage of poker tournaments in Vegas and he’s in the room for the Bellagio Challenge Cup also.

I swear, if I didn’t have to work for a living, I’d be doing a lot of this type of thing myself…damn work! What a catch 22.