I can go forever without any problems from the ‘box’, but when it happens, it ain’t no little fluff ball issue. I’m great at creating a lot of havoc. I feel this incident is my fault, yet I feel the player still must take some responsibility in their role at the table. And this whole issue could have been avoided if the player had done what the normal player does in this situation. And I wasn’t dealing with online players that had never played live before – these three knew what they were doing.

So…all of that out of the way, this is how it went. A free roll was starting with 150 players, I believe it was for a seat in the $540 3 p.m. tourney but I’m not sure. There were four tables set up for the $645 satellites that would give a seat into the main event. The rest of the room was set up for $60 (pay one winner a seat) and $120 (pay two winners a seat) satellites in the $540 3 p.m. tourney. There were people milling in and out, Jason was yelling out, “One seat left in a $120 satellite…,” repeatedly, people were talking, satellites were starting right and left, and everything in general was noise and heat.

This was my fourth satellite of the shift, there were four players left when I sat down, then three. The play was generally tight, one player would raise all-in, and the other two would fold. They bantered back and forth a few times about “give me $100 and you two can just take the seats…” but in general, I shuffled, dealt, shuffled, dealt, repeat, repeat, and if they spoke, it was mostly something that I couldn’t hear and didn’t pay attention to because it just goes that way when I’m dealing. It didn’t pertain to me or game play and it just rolls on by. About five minutes before I was to be pushed, the SB raised all-in, (blinds were at $300-600), the BB did some ramble but I honestly couldn’t hear a word he said. Perhaps I should have been focused on his lips and tried to decipher what was going on at that moment, but I wasn’t. I had fallen into the lull of the raise/fold.

The BB was in the 3s; suddenly his hand came flying in, face up, and landed on my side of his blind bet. I scooped up the cards, threw them into the muck, dropped the deck and was ready to shuffle the next hand as the SB turned up A-A. It still didn’t register, I thought he was simply showing the fact that he had Aces and no one called. The 3s pushed out his stack with a groan – not because I had taken his hand, but because he saw the Aces. Then it dawned on them that I had taken his cards and was ready to go to the next hand. Kee-rist! I called for a decision. Jason (runs the satellites here and at Bellagio) and after listening to the events, he went to ask for Jack McClelland’s opinion.

The Button in this hand, a woman I did not know, went ballistico. I had just cost her $540…on and on and on. I was in the ‘sit and wait for a decision’ position, and after listening to her for five minutes, I finally asked, “It’s already happened, I can’t change it, I’ve apologized, what would you like me to do?”

She informed me that I could give her $540 because that’s what I cost her. Right! Let me get out my wallet and just count it out to you sweetie. What about the guy that should have looked at me and said, “I call,” and pushed his chips out in front of him, or laid his cards down in front of him so it appeared that he was interested in continuing with the hand? And is it written in stone that A-A would have won the pot? Hell no! Mine rarely does in a heads-up situation.

She informed me that the BB made a PRODUCTION out of the fact that he was making a bad call, and that THEY knew he was calling. Sweet! Why don’t players actually let the dealer know what they are doing? That’s what I would have done. Since the other players aren’t in control of the deck, why let the players know what you are doing? Especially when there’s so much noise going on that no one can hear anything. But not to worry, everyone knew something was going on at my table because the Button made more noise than anyone. And if you’re thinking that I blame her for being upset, I don’t. The fact is that it had happened. Having a cow about it won’t change history.

Jason returned with this – since the BB had no cards, the deck was unplayable; the BB did not have to call the bet and could take his chips back. UPROAR, SCREAM, YELL…mainly the Button. Jason became a little defensive and told them the decision was made by Jack and that Jack was known throughout the world as the best tournament director, and that was Jack’s decision. She never slowed down, stating that UB should take the heat, it was the dealer’s fault, ‘they’ should pay three seats instead of two…blah, blah, blah. She also brought up, more than once, that they knew what his cards were, K-8 off, both red, and the hand could have been reconstructed. She was right about that. I had told Jason the hand was thrown in ‘face up’ when I called for the decision.

I did what I’m supposed to do, grabbed the cards, moved the button, “Blinds please,” shuffled up and dealt. The Button went all-in; the SB was thinking about it, the BB (woman) was still havinga fit. She said she was going to Jack and left, her hand was unprotected, the SB was still thinking…we waited. She would have choked me to death if the SB called and I mucked her hand…I won’t even go there, although that is what I am supposed to do.

We could briefly hear her voice over the roombecause she was right in Jack’s face and she was being picked up by his microphone. As she returned to her seat, Jack walked up behind me to talk to Jason; I looked over my shoulder and said, “Jack, I didn’t hear him say he was calling.”

Jack told me not to say anything. K…point made, I shut up. He told me not to do anything. K…point made, I didn’t. He left for the outer areas, his free roll players were on a break. We sat there. My push had arrived about five minutes ago; he signed the down card, and hung out somewhere behind me. Of course a crowd seemed to hang around, waiting, and the woman barely stopped talking. Another five minutes passed. Jack walked back by me and barked, “Linda, I told you not to deal.”

I really hate this part. In my own defense, I retorted, “I’m not. I haven’t done anything for the last 10 minutes.”

He went on by. Another two to three minutes passed. Jack came back to the table, behind me, “Linda, bring all the chips in.” His voice was a little ‘tight’.

I said, “I had just dealt this hand…”

His voice got a little tighter, “I said bring all the chips in.”

I dropped the deck and started pulling in the chips. The players sat there, still holding their cards, until Jack said, “Players, turn in your cards and follow (staff member) to the registration. You all have a seat in the tournament. Jason gave me the wrong information.”

Jack did apologize later for yelling at me, he said the woman had him a little tense as she had been yelling at him. Umnhhh! He could have made it simpler by walking up behind me and just telling them they all had seats…but we all react differently under stress.

I got pushed. My next table was a dead spread and I had the opportunity to visit with Jason for a bit, and Suzie Lederer, she always works this tournament and is one of the main reasons that most of us go. We love her! Jason said that the time for Jack to have solved it all would have been before we went to the next hand. True! I totally agree. But things often go awry in the heat and noise of a poker room, especially when we are dealing with human emotion. I asked Suzie what her decision would have been, just out of curiosity. She said she would have reconstructed the hand and put out the Flop, Turn, and River. Jason queried Jack later, after everything cooled down. Jack said the same thing Suzie did, if he’d known the hand had been shown face up, he would have reconstructed the hand. I don’t have any problem with any of it, except the fact that no player should ever throw their hand into the dealer’s zone, face up or face down, if they want to continue with the hand. It’s like holding two tickets to a lottery, if you want to win the pool, you have to have the tickets in your possession.

*****

On another note. A song drifted through the Lower Lobby that grabbed a few moments out of time and threw them back in my face. I’m a sucker for a song with a great melody reminiscing a lost love. It opens a place in my heart and leaves me yearning for the touch…but the rest of the time I’m a Stone Bitch about all of it.

And check out this kid walking the beach in a gorgeous sunset.