I am seriously trying to change my ways. In that, I mean I’m trying to go to work and work my full shift five days a week. But when I walk through the door on Monday and the supervisor asks me if I would like Thursday and Friday off, something in the back of my head snaps and I say, “Absolutely!” One would think that I would just tra-la-la-la right into the dealer’s box every night and be totally content to be there. I really DO like my job. And it’s the greatest show on Earth but I’m just like the next kid on the block – a slacker.

There was a time when it was almost impossible to get an extra day off. With all of the poker tournaments and new players coming in to the game, there has been an incredible rush of new faces in the dealing force. And believe me, at Bellagio, we have more than our share. That’s why I’ve been able to be a slacker – because we have plenty of happy, little people that want to sit where I’ve been sitting for over 20 years. Yup – I know. I’m dating myself but that I can’t be helped. I’ve been in the dealer’s box for a helluva lot of time. So that’s what happened this week, I worked three full shifts and had Thursday and Friday off.

Most of my night on Wednesday was fairly relaxed. No one seemed to go off the deep end, not a lot of noise, or any special excitement in the room. The game in Bobby’s room was running but I missed it. The only game that really rings as out of the ordinary was a $10-20 NLH. And the reason this game was out of the ordinary was not because of intense action or strange hands or problems. It was because I dealt to the 2005 World Series of Poker Champion, Joseph Hachem.

I am really impressed and completely delighted that he wasn’t in Bobby’s room mixing it up with the big name players. The rest of the world may not share my view but I appreciate a person that doesn’t allow a big win to jumble their sense of reason with visions of playing higher and against tougher competition and in games they might not understand or even know how to play, but they play anyway because of peer pressure. I did deal to Bill Gates, in a $3-6 H game, at The Mirage years ago. I DID really like the fact that he just wanted to play poker. He wasn’t trying to impress anyone with how high he could play – he just wanted to play. Just because a kid has a lot of toys doesn’t mean he wants to play in someone else’s backyard to show them off.

I found Joseph to be completely relaxed and in control of his game. Sure…it’s easy to be that way when you’ve taken down the score that he did but some people would find it difficult not to have ‘ego attitude’ after besting all those other players for the title. The players were pretty quiet. The 2s was walking when I sat down and obviously had gone for an “ammo refill’ from the look of what was left on the felt. He returned within a few minutes and bought the minimum, $600, making a few comments to other players implying that they had most of $3,000 that belonged to him. I never have any idea if what I hear at the table is the truth so it’s possible the 2s was in the game that much…or not…

Joseph left the game for a moment and in that game a player is dealt in if they haven’t missed their blind. He was UTG and came scurrying around the corner just as I dealt the last card to the Button. He said something like, “I made it back just in time. You didn’t cold deck me did you?” as he looked directly at me just before he looked at his cards.

He raised the bet to $120. And looked at me again. Everyone folded and he turned over A-K off.

He said, “If I had straddled it, I would have picked up 2-4.”

I was almost laughing when I said, “That was really strange. It wouldn’t have been so strange if you haven’t looked at me after you looked at your hand. Especially right after asking if I cold decked you.”

In general, I enjoyed dealing the whole down. As I left the game, I stopped beside him and asked if he was here for the tournament across the street. He said he was here until the first of the year.

I said, “Great. You’ll be here for our tournament.”

So…Linda meets another Super Hero in the Poker World. Damn I love this job…and I like having four days off in a row too. Sweet!