A lot of things are going on in the poker room…you know…all that crazy gambling stuff that people seem to get into over the holidays. It’s always true that one of the busiest times for poker is during the week of December 25th to January 1st and this year is no exception. The room is crammed, jammed, slammed, and even though it is a holiday time, people are not always at their best. Nope…no grouchy crankies have been in my path or created a problem for me, but some of the stress seems apparent in the whole atmosphere of the room. And we never seem to have enough employees in some areas. Cocktail service is not optimal and our chip runners are too busy running food so the stress in that area alone makes it almost unbearable. People want a drink…AND DAMNIT!!!…They should have one. I feel the same way when I play (don’t forget I like to drink when I play because it takes the edge off of 9-4 off suit for hours at a time). But getting past that, a glimpse of time at the tables.

I played one night last week and wanted to post about the game in general. It deserves writing. I met a young lad named Jason, he was in the 1s, I was in the 3, and we visited about the game in Bobby’s Room. He was almost mesmerized by the level of play, the players, and the game in general. The game in Bobby’s Room was full and one of our players got up several times to go stare through the window and then come back to report who was playing.

Several seats opened and new faces sat down as we visited. The 6s was a complete stranger…well hell…everyone in that game was a new face, but the 6s was being an absolute ass so he stood out over everyone else. He slammed and pounded his chips into oblivion and everyone else’s stack (except mine – I was in the 9-4 off suit mode), and he was totally vocal about every beat he took and how could anyone call his raise and a lots of other little idiot statements that we’ve all heard before but not just so many from the same person in such a short time. He went through about $300 in the first hour I was in the game. On several different occasions, I wondered why the dealer didn’t say something to him about his behavior – but why would I expect that to happen?

The 9s feigned being new to the game and poker ignorance but he definitely knew what he was doing. Most of them were just there to play and didn’t say much, especially with the verbal scalding they were getting from the 6s when they beat him.

The 5s opened, enter new player, I put the straddle on the blind, can’t even remember what the result of the hand was but I chirped, “Put the straddle on it!” on the next hand. The 5s, young, attractive guy, informed me that he didn’t straddle – no smile or twinkle there, just stern as hell. Not leaving it alone, I followed, “You must not play much NLH or PL.”

Woops! Now he was grouchy, “This IS limit isn’t it?”

“Ok, don’t get upset about it.”

Jason and I continued to visit and our half of the table was intent on our conversation, that is when the 6s wasn’t exploding over something…and the 6s did the re-buy thing. The 6s jumped up to ask for a table transfer. Everyone in our game immediately agreed he was a whacko lemming just waiting for a cliff to jump off of. The 4s opened, the 5s moved over next to me and loosened up a little bit after he escaped sitting next to the 6s. I was in the Card Twilight Zone and just filling a seat so I definitely enjoyed the opportunity to occupy my thoughts with something besides looking at bad hands. I did pick up one hand in which I flopped top pair with a four flush, raised it on the Flop, bet the Turn when it was checked to me, and the 9s fired a bet at the River with bottom pair – deuces. He was holding 2-3 off. Of course I called and won the pot. Possibly my table image read ‘hey, just run over me’.

Jason had to leave with a promise of an email, which I did receive. The 6s got a transfer to another table, and the 5s and I chatted about poker in general. His name is Meyer and he’s from Washington. He told me he’d played $300-600 with Johnny Chan and (I think he said) David Sklansky at Bellagio a few weeks earlier. For no other reason than he just wanted to play them. He said he ended up winning a couple of thousand but he was nervous as hell. And that Johnny visited with him a bit and he thought Johnny was damn cool. I never see that side of Johnny so it’s refreshing to hear that Johnny does have a personable side. Meyer seems to have his head on with poker, he’s finishing school but playing more or less for a living. I liked his attitude about the game – realistic instead of ‘I’m a pro’ type of thing.

I left the game about a half hour later…out of the line-up…off the clock…and sick of looking at unplayable hands for hours. Hey…that’s why I’m not a pro. I can’t stand the GRIND. But I enjoyed the game and the players in it – even the steamer in the 6s.

*****

Off the poker scene, I received a call from young Jason Mulholland on Christmas day. I missed his call but returned it. He’s having a very difficult time still in dealing with pain and by the time I called him back, he’d taken a pain pill and was almost dozing as we spoke. I promised a visit to him within the next few weeks on one of my days off. I want to sit with him, give him a giant hug, and tell him how special he is in my thoughts. And I want to tell him about all my life plan changes that are coming up, not something I could do well over the phone. I just feel honored that he thinks of me still and would take the time to call while other things are more pressing in his life.

And I got a call from Chad Patterson on Christmas too…sweet! Love that boy, and his bro, Greg, and Greg’s gal, Amy.

See what poker really does for me…it brings great people into my life. And shortly I’ll be back in the box, slinging tickets around the table, meeting more great people.