First, let me welcome a new blogger to PokerWorks, Tony G. has joined the fold and will only add to the other great blogging tales that are going on here. The bloggers at PokerWorks are a diverse crew and will fill the table with everything from appetizers to the main course to desert, make sure you stay tuned.Â

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On the dealing side of life, I made it through three hours before I gave up and signed the E/O. There were four dead spreads and my heart wasn’t in it…maybe it was my mind that wasn’t in it. On the bleak side, the IRS is renegotiating the ‘tip compliance’ law with Bellagio (and I’m sure with a lot of other places out there). I’m actually surprised that they haven’t demanded lock boxes at all the tables, just like in Mississippi years ago, and at the WSOP this year. Which still brings up the bogus act of someone holding a gratuity that was meant for me, and utilizing it with interest and more, for their own financial gain, until it is returned to me on a paycheck? GET FUCKING REAL!Â

But I’m a little person in the cog. I have no choice if that’s the way it’s going to be. The new ‘tip compliance’ is being renegotiated at $16 or more an hour. That’s very painful. First of all, we sit a lot of dead spreads when it’s quiet. Secondly, it will eliminate playing dealers. It will eliminate me anyway; I can’t fade being taxed on $16 (and up) an hour (we still make a minimum wage that we are taxed on) and hoping I can make it up in hourly play. Yes, times are definitely changing. Another downside is that our paychecks contain only our hourly wage; we will be sending/paying taxes by check or what??? To where??? Of course I know they will work it all out for us. *gag* The upside is that we can pay more into our SS fund and more into our 401K.Â

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A back track to dealing last night – at one point, when Marty started with a bare Ace in the hole, he called raises in a three-way action pot, and managed to back door a Queen high straight, beating out a Jack high straight (also back door), and pounding John that started with Aces and made Aces and Queens. Yes…John was smart enough to fold on the River. But Marty was doing his usual gloat bag, idiotfest, great player mentality thing, “The balls of an elephant and the brain of a hare,” as he smugly stacked the chips.

John sarcastically replied, “I would go with the brain of a hare.”

I looked at John and followed with, “I seriously doubt that he has the balls of an elephant.”

That was the only thing I said during this down that didn’t pertain to game play…honest!

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Boulder Highway is never a quiet place to be, even early in the morning. I was ready to go out for a walk when I heard a loud boom, followed quickly by another, and then about a minute later, a much louder boom that made me wonder if someone was outside shooting or if an auto accident was in progress. A few minutes later sirens were screaming everywhere, right by my RV park, and I grabbed the garbage (I had planned to take it on my walk anyway), and headed for the back of the park rather than out, towards the highway. If I had went immediately highway side, I would have raced back in for my camera, as it was, I missed most of the fire that might have made a great picture.

My reason for not heading towards the highway was, 1) if someone was shooting, I didn’t want to be shot at; 2) if it was an auto accident, I didn’t want to see any mangled or dead bodies; 3) I had already planned to travel the roads through my park rather than walk the highway and fade the distress of mankind that hangs out along the stretches of dark, scary, edges of neon glitz.Â

It turned out that either a pre-fab home or a big motorhome went toast. There are several manufacturer/sales outlets there and it was hard to tell in the dark, exactly what was burning since if was in the second row from the highway. There were approximately six fire engines with lights blazing and men working as I caught the tail end of the fire being put out.Â

It was very windy, the smoke was billowing away from my park, and I was happy to see the firefighters dispatch the flame as quickly as they did. I did take my walk, met a new neighbor, although she may be on the road soon (hey…that’s why we are living the way we live…mobile) and may be an ex. And now I’m moving to Sandwoman Land.Â