The Pan Game Plays The Venetian – Continued

*Post continued*

Marie and I were seated in separate games but a seat opened in her game and we were side by side within a few minutes. Nicholas called and would meet us in the poker room. Viv arrived and got into another $3-6 and on the transfer list for our table. When seats opened up in our game, we just went to our buddy/buddette and told them to move over. We didn’t even go through the proper poker room channels because THERE ARE NONE! Soon Chad and Vivienne were in our game. This is my buddy Chad; Viv will show up in other pictures in this post:

Nicholas was in the house by now, he took a seat in another $3-6 and had his name on the transfer list. The whole ordeal of trying to get the floor people to call a list and move a player was unbelievable. Really!!! There was a list for a $5-10 H-O-R-S-E game and Suzanne and Claudia opted to play in it with the thought that if we could get our table switched to most of us (and other players in the game wanted to) we would ask to have our game changed to 1/2 Omaha – 1/2 Holdem, or even throw in Omaha 8 or Better. It never worked out that way. But in the meantime the H-O-R-S-E game cranked off and the two girls were in it, side by side. They had never met and I went back to intro them to each other:

Marie was teetering between playing in the game we were in and taking a seat in the H-O-R-S-E game. Viv was in the 6s, Chad the 7s, me the 8s, Marie the 9s, and the 3s opened. Hey, hey, hey…Nicholas you’re seat is open. I didn’t even bother going to the floor, I walked over to tell Nicholas ‘his’ seat was open and one of the players in his game objected to his leaving because they already had a seat open. Nicholas couldn’t move for a few moments but made it shortly after that, in his proper place, he changed his seat Karma by moving into the 5s, next to Viv:

I know I’m on a continual bitching rant about dealers. I believe it’s a disease with me and I don’t know how to find a cure other than just play online where I know the bets are called in order, the buy-ins are correct, the dealer won’t be slamming or pounding the table and the cards or pointing or waving their hands at each player almost before it’s the player’s turn to act, and no one can fold out of turn. For some reason, this particular night, Marie had had it with dealers. She told us at our ‘meet and eat’ that she wanted to “…knock the caps off of one dealer…” Wow!

Marie is so low key and non-confrontational that I couldn’t help but LMAO over her statement. Her attitude didn’t improve as the night went on.

When I first got in the game, I asked the dealer if I could post in between the Button and Blind, “NO!” Then I asked if I could buy the button, “NO!” So I waited for the button to pass to post. I found out later that I could have posted, and Marie knew it. I asked her why she didn’t just let me have the dealer call the floor person for a ruling. She was vehemently not in the mood for that because all it would do was slow down the game…more than it already was. I told her that unless these dealers are forced to call the floor and receive a ruling, they will never learn the rules. She agreed to disagree. Ok.

Before I continue my dealer rant, The Venetian has some incredible art on the ceiling. Just like they’re supposed to have. This is out in the pit, right outside the poker room:

Wayne arrived and took the 4s, next to Nicholas that should have been in the 3s but was in the 5s. Look at those bright, cheery smiles and angelic eyes. HAH! What one of them can’t think of to stir up, the other one will. Vegas beware!

I decided to move to the 3s and visit with Wayne while looking at ‘ugly’ cards. It was ‘ultra’ time and I was kicking into my third or fourth beer. Me and Wayne:

Back to the dealer rant. We had one dealer that zinged the cards at every player. If I didn’t keep my hands out of the way, I could have sued The Venetian for loss of fingers. And he pointed at everyone and ran over everyone’s ears with, ‘CHECK!’ – ‘BET!’ – and on and on and on. He must be exhausted when he clocks out. I know the biggest problem with dealers is that the sudden explosion of poker games has left us in need. There are not enough experienced dealers to fill the spaces opening up and even a lot of experienced dealers just FUCKING SUCK when they sit down in the ‘box’. The problem lies with management. Management needs an ongoing training program and person to oversee and occasionally watch the dealers as they deal.. Someone in authority needs to take the dealer aside and tell them what they are doing wrong and what they are doing right. And tell the dealer they are expected to correct the issues that are not satisfactory and then have this training person check back periodically to make sure the dealer is changing their procedure and adhering to room standards and policies.

Having said all of that – It ain’t gonna happen. Most rooms have poker by accident, not because they plan to make it a better experience for the player. As I see it, most of the dealers in the world think they are great dealers, even the ones that just came out of dealing school. Kee-rist! Ok…I’m done with the dealer rant for this session.

I saw Double A in a game and took his picture. He told me I could keep it only for myself. I said, “OK!” It’s a great picture and he’s such a great guy. He’s someone that I always treasure out of my poker experiences. He plays more often at other rooms now and I seldom ever see him at Bellagio. Too bad for us.

Marie’s Gary was in a $20-40 H game and the cards were killing him…or was it the players?

Marie was now on the list for the H-O-R-S-E game. A seat opened, Marie knew the seat was open. After stopping the roving floor person – way more than once – and twenty to thirty minutes going by, she finally did take the seat – on her own initiative. Somewhere in here, I wandered back out into the casino and checked out the high limit section from the casino side. There are two rooms – one leads to the other – and the more private of the two has two tables in it and both are enclosed, separated from the casino by etched glass. The glass on the right protects the two table room.

There’s a batch of these beauties on the wall, just past the poker room, adorning the entrance to a restaurant:

While on my tour of the area surrounding the outside of the poker room, I decided to visit the high limit section and take a peek. In the first high limit room I found two tables of $40-80 players. I knew everyone at one of the tables. They all said hello to me and Sam spent 15 minutes telling me how the players only wanted respect and to play what they wanted to play. Another player said he could care less about respect, he just went where the action was. *laughing* Eddie was in the game and he’s always jawing me about being hooked on playing – ever since he saw me in $15-30. He’s looking out for me. Sam said I should go to work at the Venetian. Eddie said I didn’t want to work. Right on brother! If I have to work, I choose Bellagio for a lot of reasons. I excused myself and went back to my pals.

Chad had left us somewhere around 8 PM as he had to go to work. The rest of us played on…and on…and on. The $5-10 H-O-R-S-E game broke up. Claudia had a friend coming in to meet her for food. Gary was ready to go home which meant Marie was ready too. Viv had to leave due to an early morning trip to Phoenix – to watch her granddaughter graduate from high school.

Time to go.

Nicholas had to pick up his bags at registration and we trekked with him. This is the hallway between registration and the casino:

This beauty adorns the wall behind the registration desk:

And this is just one of the eye grabbers in the ceiling at registration:

My overall picture of The Venetian poker room cannot be taken with a camera, but it can be written here. The room is beautiful, spacious, well laid out, and even has a sitting area for people waiting; but there’s a lot to be desired in the way the list attendants do their job. I’ll stay off of dealers because that is a universal problem. The Venetian is offering a monster free roll tournament that one can qualify for by playing 50 hours a month for three months. They also have jackpots. The room is worth a visit.