it picks up speed and races light across the universe.

Last week I went to Betty Hiller’s retirement party. Donna Harris – Mirage Director of Poker Operations – had sent me an email notifying me of the time and date of the party. I arrived in a late window of the overall time period it was being held. I swear that Betty Hiller doesn’t look like time has touched her at all, she looks exactly as I remember her when I worked my last shift with her over 10 years ago; I like to see people that way.

Betty has worked the Golden Nugget and Mirage for a lot of years. I don’t know how many. She had received – one of two if my memory serves me well – a golden nugget presented by Steve Wynn back in the Golden Nugget days for being a super-duper employee. She graciously gave that nugget to Donna at this retirement party.

Donna and Jay were facing off over a game of pool, as I came in. I had passed Rocky Romano as he was headed out. It was kind of like an old who’s who of the Mirage poker room – and I was only there a little over an hour. Bill Malcomson and I had a chance to visit for a few. He’s quit playing poker and he said it’s too bad because it used to bring him into the room where he had a lot of contacts with people that he would go play golf with and get out and do things with. How true. Poker has a lot of great things going for it. Although I’ve ran in to Bill at other parties, and taken pictures of him, I’ve never gotten one of him that I felt was a good photo – and in this one, he was hugging Donna but if I put the picture up with her in it, she would kill me…it’s not a good one of her, so she’s cropped out and the blonde hair on the side of Bill’s face is hers.

Eric Drache was there, he was my first card room manager in Vegas. Eric is a phenomenal person and always a pleasure to bump into – funny but one day when I was having lunch with family up at Mimi’s in the NW part of Vegas, he was there having food also with the phone glued to his ear, but it didn’t stop him from taking a moment to say hello to me. Nice!

Betty and Eric – Mamo and Eric – Donna and Todd Brunson:

Don Sanders, his wife (I don’t know her name), and Patty:

This guy, I do know his name, and he’s a class act. Vince Stella has been around poker in Vegas since I’ve been in Vegas – maybe we arrived at close to the same time. I think he’s the greatest thing since crunchy peanut butter and I’m always happy to see him. We got to visit for a few minutes too. He’s so damn cute. He said he always loved my dealing to him but when I sat down in the box he was ready to go to war with anyone that made a comment about me. And believe me, he did more than once. You just can’t go wrong when you have a friend that always accepts you, believes in you, goes out of their way to say hello, stands up for you if someone tries to give you heat, and always has a great smile.

There were other people there, Jimmy Knight and his wife, a couple of other couple that I don’t know their names, and people had been coming and going before I got there and probably came and went after I left. Nice.

I often think about the people that I’ve met because I was involved in poker and though there are a few that make everyone miserable, there are so many that make it so great. Happy I am to have been there as a dealer, happy I am to not be there now, but I sure cherish the friends I’ve made and the experiences I’ve had.