I spent eight hours in ‘the box’ tonight. I can’t really believe I’m expected to work when I waltz through the door at 6:30ish. But that’s exactly what happened – Deal, damnit! Deal!

The Big Tournament is over – but we still had action, action, action. There were two games running in Bobby’s Room, Table 23 is still in the mix and it was intermittently short handed and then almost full as the night progressed. I missed it because I was in the 1-2-3-4 type of line-up. That means I dealt Table 1. It was eight handed and jamming. There were some prop bets flying back and forth but not nearly as much or as many players were involved – much easier for me to deal and figure out what was coming in from where. The line-up: John Juanda – 1s, David Benyamine – 2s, Phil Ivey – 3s, Minh Ly – 4s, Gus Hanson – 5s, Doyle Brunson – 6s, Sammy Farha – 7s, Barry Greenstein – 8s. Of course the game was ‘mix’ $2 and 4. Add some zeroes.

Most of the time, unless the dealer makes a mistake, it’s as if the dealer is an automaton – no heartbeat, no thought, just something mechanical that drives a procedure, as the conversation floats back and forth between them. That is actually how I prefer it to run. I don’t get involved in any of it unless they include me (once in a Blue Moon). Sammy won the first hand I dealt – he paid the Time. A few hands later, he lost a pot to David and exclaimed that he never beat David and made a comment to me that I never dealt him a winner. No comment from me. He made it a point to ask me, before he bet each time, what was in the pot. I have to admit that he said he was tired and that he appeared to be tired, but in general, it’s his way of needling the dealer if he’s losing.

In one hand, he made an $80,000 bet and got called by John – with three spades on the board. On the next card, when Sammy bet, John thought about it for some time and finally folded. It was a damn big pot by my standards, but to them it’s nothing.

They also play with a cap on how much each player can bet/call in a hand. I don’t have the mindset or mental calculator in my brain that can help me establish ‘what’s left?’ when I’m dealing that game. I don’t even try. Most of the time, they never expect the dealer to know and they don’t ask the dealer, they talk it out between themselves. I believe it’s $100,000, unless someone straddles the blind. Believe me when I tell you, everything is subject to change in a heartbeat in those games.

Sammy put a live straddle on one hand and exclaimed, “The Cap is $150!”

Don’t worry – he made it a point to ask me how much he could raise it when it came back to him. On every occasion except one, I knew what was in the pot when he asked. On the one occasion, I said, “I have no idea.”

I don’t think he was trying to needle me, I think he really was exhausted, he simply said, “Well…who should we ask then, the Floor Man?”

If I’d been anywhere else but where I was, I would have fallen out of my chair laughing. I didn’t have to say a word. The other players started explaining what was left of the cap and how much he could bet and it went off without a hitch.

The finale of Bellagio’s Fourth Annual Five Star WPT Championship was running on the televisions in the room and it caused a lot of comments and noise from time to time. The final two were Joe Bartholdi and David Matthew. David Matthew is black and at one point, Minh made a statement that somehow implied that David Matthew looked like Phil Ivey. Not even close. Phil sarcastically asked, “You think he looks like me?” as he looked at me. That was the only time I laughed during this down. And I did laugh out loud. The only connection could be that they are both black…maybe Minh’s heard the ‘they all look alike’ type of thing so many times that he believes it.

When I got pushed, I had to exit around the 7 and 8 seat side of the table. Sammy jumped up, blocked me with an arm he put around my shoulder, stuck his face in mine, and explained that I (meaning me) would never believe what he had when he bet the $80,000. Of course I would. And I believed him when he told me what he had. He’s so damn funny.

I’m outa steam! But there will be more steam coming…as in I got it from Lee Salem at another game later on.