I have more than one memory of Bob, some of them through one of his female friends that played poker at Bellagio in the lower limit games for awhile and eventually moved to NLH.  She was a kick…probably still is and she’s probably extremely sad because she appeared to have very strong feelings for him.

I dealt to Bob in several big tournaments from beginning my initial tournament trail in 1987 to 1989 and then opening The Mirage and moving on to opening Bellagio in 1998.  Bob was not a frequent face at the table, even when he had chips on the table, and long periods of time often passed before I saw him or heard any news of him.  The 1995 motorcycle accident he survived left him somewhat resembling Bob Stupak but it was unbelievable that he even survived it.

One of the saddest things to my heart was dealing high limit games at The Mirage from its opening to April of 1993 when I moved to Mississippi to open the Gulfport Grand Casino; on opening night at the Grand I had to deal a heads-up game between Johnny Chan and Bob Stupak.  Way bad beat, leave Las Vegas, move across the country, location changes but the faces are the same!  I thought I left all the high limit name brand players behind when I hit the coast.  And Bob picked his nose at the table.  And there were two women sitting behind him for awhile but he still blatantly picked his nose.  It really grossed me out.  If I’m remembering correctly, I had to deal that game because all the Mississippi break-ins didn’t have any high limit experience and they missed me on the push so I was there for an hour.  That was in the days when Johnny Chan was never dealer friendly, although I never had many issues with Johnny – he only called me a Mother Fucker once and that was somewhere around ’95 after I was back at The Mirage.

Back to Stupak, I never had an issue with Bob.  He always acted comatose when I saw him in later years at Bellagio – perhaps because he did like to drink, perhaps it was a ruse.  After the accident, I felt that he had to have lived on pain killers and alcohol and having as many bones broken as he did, he was probably always in pain.  I thought Bob was really hard on a poker game because he would get one started, look at a few hands, maybe win a few pots, and go to the bar, sometimes never returning and his chips were picked up.

I laughed out loud when I landed on table 2 one night at Bellagio a few years back and the game was just going to start with Bob and Lee (I’d tell you Lee’s last name but I can’t remember what the hell it is – I’ll add it later when it pops)*K, the name didn’t pop, I had to ask Carmen, Lee Salem*.  They were both drinking heavily and talking up a storm.  Lee had left more than one game to go sit at the bar with Bob and gab instead of play and they hit it off quite well.  They were getting chips from the main cage and talking about a variety of things, including the games they were going to play and ordering game plaques for the table since it would be mixed.  I politely asked what limit they wanted to play.  They ignored me and kept talking.  Lee said something about putting the cards in the air and I asked if they were going to play a different limit for different games or the same limit for all.

Bob had been looking at Lee and had a side profile to me.  He stopped, turned his full attention to me, and asked me if I was going to tell them what limit they could play with a quizzical, child like expression on his face.  I just busted up.  I managed to convey that I was asking what limit they wanted to play.  It all went over well.

So, goodnight Bob.  I can’t say I knew you, but I did spend a very small amount of time watching you interact with the poker world, it was a different view than most.