Since TV hit the scene and poker’s become big time, there aren’t nearly as many card throwers and angry players on the scene. It’s great from the dealer angle but it makes for lousy writing. There’s nothing like stress and strife to fire up the pen and light up every adjective known to man/womankind. Lots of crazy things still happen in the poker room and a few people still get out of line, but it doesn’t happen nearly as much as a few years ago. Maybe it’s because there are more new players per capita and they are there for the dance and sheer joy of playing rather than believing ‘someone did it to them’ when they lose. So while I’m mulling that one around (there may not be a conclusion later) a few stories.

I played or tried to play poker again on Friday night. I know…I’m starting to sound like the live one. I just sit and watch them all throw all the bets in and the dealer spin the cards off and push the pot, repeat, blip, repeat, blip. I would have won three hands if I could have called a raise and stayed to see the River card, big pots too. But…as it was I finally got the big E/O along about 11 p.m. and left $90 on the table for the kids to fight over. Hey…I’m not giving up. It’s just time for me to work my shift and go play somewhere else on my day off if I want to play live.

I cruised the room on more than one occasion; maybe I was restless or maybe I could have cared less if I looked at one more 7-3 or 9-4 or whatever the hell the reason, I was on the move.

I saw Rene in the Friday $1,000+60 NLH Tournament again. He’s more of regular in the tourney than he is in the Big Game anymore. He won the tournament…I believe this is his second win. Good for him!

While I was strolling into the Poker Room from the Sport’s Book Bathroom, I passed a $10-20 NLH game. Randy was in the 7s and said hello as I passed. I stopped and gave him a mini-shoulder rub while I asked how he was doing. He said since I stopped by, he was going to raise it to $350…and he did.

J. Kwik was in the 9s and he said, “Linda, since you are lucky for me, I’m going all-in.”

Maybe my mouth fell open but I was aghast that I was in the middle of this little scenario so I politely excused myself with something like, “I can’t stay and watch the outcome of this hand.”

I have no idea whether Randy called, folded, or what the hell happened but I’m really not into that type of action. I know they weren’t laying anything on me but I felt uncomfortable with the whole thing. I escaped.

Funny but not funny, last week when I dealt the $10-20 NLH in which Manny was doing his best to extract tips, J. was in the 3s in that game. He put a good-sized raise on two hands back-to-back and ended up pitching by the Turn/River. The second time he looked at me and asked something like, “Are you my lucky dealer, Linda?”

It wasn’t a question that required an answer – but he wasn’t happy. And that’s another huge reason for me to find an immediate exit before the hand with Randy progressed any further.

What is that luck stuff anyway? Since I never had it, I wouldn’t know what the answer is to any of it. I just keep plugging away…knowing that at some point I’m going to win a hand…or get the E/O!

Still the Super Slacker – where the hell is my motivation to work? I know it should be M-O-N-E-Y! Hell yes, I need it! I never buy a ticket to a lottery, I don’t/didn’t have any rich relatives, and people that are giving away money don’t have my phone number. That would include the poker table from the war side of the green felt – people are giving money away but I’m not on the list. I’ve seriously come to the conclusion there is no way to beat a $4-8 H game now that poker is THE GAME OF CHOICE to the majority of the world.

I’ve played the last two nights (instead of burning and turning) and have no clue as to what or how to be a contestant at the table. Four big pairs were shot down in flames to an under pair each time…mass action…no one made anything except the person that made a Set. Umnhhh!!!! I didn’t take my Set Vitamin before I played. I forgot to…damn it! Then it’s back to sitting for an hour and a half before I even find a hand I could put any money into the pot with. There’s so much money floating around the tables and I can’t seem to net any of it – hey, you don’t even need a fishhook, just a net to scoop it out of the water. Nope – not whining…crying, big, gi-hugeous alligator tears.

I did deal a full shift on Tuesday night, the night I followed The Tip Beggar. Table 1 in Bobby’s Room was full, Eli E., Phil I., Chau G, Abe M., Lee S, Steve W., Jennifer H., and David G.

It was funny when I hit the next table; I got a full-blown quiz about dealing Table 1. People are always so curious as to what the game is like and what ‘they’ are like. It is funny to listen to the lower limit players. “Gee…I’d love to sit in there and watch them play.” – “What are they like?” – “Who’s winning?” – “Who’s the guy in the blue shirt? I know I’ve seen him on TV.”

Upon occasion someone will reference Jennifer Harman and another player will ask, “Who’s she?” That always blows me away. I thought Jennifer was one of the ‘TV People’ that everyone knew.

One youngster wanted to know if the game was by special invite. I tried my best to keep a straight face when I replied, “No. If you walk in with $40,000 or so, they’ll find you a seat.”

But it is fun to listen to people that are in awe of high limit poker players…even if high limit players are just people with a lot of ‘big’ chips.

*****

While cleaning up some files and addresses on my PC, I finally deleted Frank Raymond from my address book. It seems so strange that he’s gone.

*****

Aruba is just around the corner. Some of us leave here on the morning of the 23rd and the general Aruba group – players and dealers – are scheduled to fly home on the 2nd of October. Jim and me are staying until the 5th. We want to cruise the island and I hope to see a few things that I missed last year. The hurricane didn’t hit the island last year but it dumped a lot of water and washed out a lot of roads – that kept me from making it to the Natural Pool and a few other places. This year I want to climb The Haystack, Aruba’s mountain…if you can call it a mountain. And then – my favorite – the early a.m. walks on the beach, swimming with the locals in the surf, nap time, report to work and ask for an E/O…you get the picture.