Back in the trenches – two eight-hour shifts, back to back. The world must be coming to an end because I’ve decided to actually go to work and work.

Where to start…I’m in an exceptionally relaxed frame of mind and there are no grouchy spots or people piss offs going on from my side of the green felt but there are still happenings that are noteworthy so let me get started.

$4-8 H, a friendly little game – all male – until the 2s opened. A foxy little chick appeared, with a male sweater in tow. She posted and raised when the action came to her. The Button raised and everyone else jumped right in…big pot. The Flop was all ‘under cards’ one Spade.

The chip runner brought the Foxy Chicks rack of chips and she owed $24 to the pot. She seemed to know what a hand was but seemed out of sorts with what to do and when to do it. She had chips and when it was her turn to act, she said, “I bet $4,” but made no move to put any chips into action. Her Sweater told her to put out $4. Once she leaned back and looked at him, as if looking for advice, I cautioned, he didn’t say anything, and she acted on her hand.

Long and short of it, the Turn and River were Spades. The 2s and the Button got in three bets on the River. He showed Q-Q, she showed A-J S. She pulled in a huge pot. Her Sweater got several empty racks and declared they were going to the Buffet. Hello and goodbye.

The guys were all a little astounded that she won one pot and left. She acted like it was her first time at the table, if it was she just started a long journey with that one hand – I figure she’s hooked.

On to $2-5 NLH – one of those stupid, never should happen things did happen. The Shuffle Masters on a few of the tables are sunken a little too deep – just below the table surface – and it creates an obnoxious lip that’s hard to push chips and cards over. One hand, with three-way action and a raise pre-flop, I hit the lip with the deck in my hand as I was pulling in chips and discards. Of course the top half of the deck popped off of my hand and went into the muck. I honestly couldn’t tell if some of the deck went into/under the mucked cards and/or lit on top. I called for a decision.

Boba came over and after I explained the problem, he said I had plenty of cards intact on the deck so ‘just burn and turn’. He walked away in the middle of some grumbling from the 4s. No one else had a problem with it and the game went on.

$30-60 H and Lance was in the game. He’s like watching perpetual motion. He changed seats once. I kept chuckling over his antics and motions and finally said, “The Rodeo will be in town soon.” Somewhere back in the archives is a post about Lance during NFR.

He threw his hand up over his head and did the bull riding motion from the hand down to hips and said that he’d be bull riding at Mandalay Bay, “I’ll be riding Ol’ Blue out of chute number two.”

Guilty…I cracked up. Then he croaked out, “I’m lying here with Linda on my mind…” and seriously, he was croaking during some of it. Then he asked me if I’d ever heard that song. The 1s said he’d never heard it sang quite like that. *laughing*

Lance said he couldn’t sing it like Conway and then someone said Conway couldn’t sing it anymore because he was dead.

Lance never slowed down, he chatter boxed about how tight everyone was in the game, even the 1s that was a tourist must be the tightest player in his home town, and how did Lance always end up in these kind of games, and then he lost a pot.

Then he added a twist to the song, “Lying here with Linda on my mind…she always fricking kills me…” he croaked it out too.

I was rolling. I can’t help but smile when I see him and I can’t help but laugh when he comes undone. Love ya, Lance.

By now all kinds of camera equipment had rolled into the main entry of the poker room and ropes and security were everywhere. We had to enter and exit through the Sport’s Book entrance and walk around close to the entrance to Light and then cut back across the Casino to go to the Employee area. I inquired. They were shooting an ‘in house video’. The kind you see in your room about things to do while you’re at Bellagio.

I hit another game or two and then I was off to Table 1. All those times I missed it in the last few months…no escape hatch tonight. $2,000-4,000 Mixed. Chau – 1s, Eli E. – 2s, Abe – 3s, Young stranger – 4s, Ted F. – 5s, Todd B. – 6s, David B. – 7s, Ralph P. – 8s.

I announced, “Time Pot,” and dealt Omaha 8.

Todd and David split the pot. I asked them if they wanted to split the Time. I thought Todd said he’d pay it as he threw me a $100 chip. I changed it and took $80 for Time. He corrected me and said he was paying $40. I apologized and explained that I thought he said he’d take care of it. He went with it. I’m not sure what I created or did there but he paid all of it.

David seemed to be oblivious to everything as he and Eli were doing Proposition Bets. Even when the game went to 7 Card Stud, they picked out what the Flop would have been and who would have gotten what and sent big chips flying across the table to each other. Once when David threw a chip to Eli and it came so close to hitting me that I jumped back in my chair, Eli laughed and said to David, “Don’t hit Linda. If you’re going to hit her, hit her with a big chip. Right, Linda?”

I agreed. Of course we all know that is never going to happen.

Chau had Kleenex stuffed in his ears with long pieces of it hanging down by his neck. I asked him if it was because the music was too loud. He said it was because the 7s never shut up. *chuckling*

I tried to misread one hand between Eli and Abe in Omaha 8. They had a split but I thought Abe had a straight. Nope. No straight. Todd sang out, “This isn’t Montana, Linda.”

That was funny too. He played in Lakeside, Montana. Same game, just a much smaller limit.

I headed up to Table 4. $400-800 Mixed. Yen – 1s, Mike W. – 2s, Ali – 4s, Lee – 6s and walking, Eskimo – 8s.

Yen asked me if I was the Linda that helped Michael Craig with the information for his book. I just smiled.

They gamboled. Lots of chips flying…especially in the triple draw games. Once when Eskimo threw out $500 and reached back for $300 more to raise, Yen quietly said, “That’s a string.”

I pushed back the extra $400 to Eskimo and told him he couldn’t raise. He argued. I called the Floor. The decision was that he could not raise as he didn’t state it or put out half or more of the raise.

He called Yen every name in the book. “Little mother fucker. He always pulls that on me. I never say anything to him. Cocksucker…”

And on and on it went. Yen never said a word. He really could care less. Eskimo was slamming chips in the pot now and Yen had the best of it. I got pushed and a few minutes after I hit the next game, that one broke up. Ali and Yen came over to join the game I was dealing now.

Due to the ‘in house video’, they were closing all of the games in the upper section and moving them to another part of the room. When the Floor informed the players they would be moving the game, a player complained, “We’re stuck.”

The Floor, Jimmy, replied, “You can be stuck down there.”

My game broke due to players moving to another section. It was almost 3 a.m. Time for this girl to fly.

Damn pocket nines! Or is it damn the Card Fairy? Or maybe it’s both. I was cruising along in PokerStars Inaugural Blogger Championship – intermittently picking up 9-9 – raising it, going all-in against someone that had fewer chips than I did, and I lost with them, four – COUNT THEM – four damn times. The last hand sent me to the rail. I raised pre-flop…who the hell can remember how much and what the blinds were? $100-200 I think. I raised – around $600 (another I think), got raised for the same amount. Flop 10-8-6. Queen-queen, as I found out a moment later, bet and I raised all-in…somewhere around $3,???. Of course I got called, no help, out in 884th place.

C U PokerWorks. It’s ok though…I enjoyed the online experience and the opportunity that PokerStars gave to the Blogging Community of the world. One thousand-four hundred-seventy three of us were seated and slugging it out…may the best player win. Obviously I’m not stating ‘may the best blogger’ win because there are so many great blogs out there, it would be hard to judge…besides, this tournament is about playing poker, not writing.

Vivienne (friend, late night walking buddette, pan/card playing pal) made it to 586th place. Greg P is still in. (Another pan/card playing friend, hiking bud, new dealer at Bellagio). I’m watching his table and scanning all the chatters as fast as I can while I write. There are currently 263 players left – they are falling like locusts from the sky at harvest time. Blinds are $300-600 and antes are $50.

*real time intermission*

I didn’t see Sam Grizzle anywhere during Bellagio’s Festa al Lago. What the hell happened there? I just can’t imagine Sam not being in…watching the action…coercing someone for a buy-in…or playing. Somehow it just doesn’t seem right. Maybe someone will send me an email if he’s spotted. Consider this a ‘Sam Grizzle Watch’.

Daniel Negreanu was playing Bobby’s Room Thursday night. Now the question has to surface…what happened at Wynn? Not my question but the world’s question. Because for months, every since remodel in April, the word has been out around all the tables that Daniel had a contract with Wynn and could only play tournaments in other rooms, all of his live play had to be at Wynn. I don’t have any answers because I haven’t been that curious. He’s always a welcome addition to any game I deal. J

*end real time intermission*

Ouch! Greg just took a beat with – you guessed it – 9-9. Up against A-K. He still has over $7,000 in chips and he plays well…I’m rooting for him. GO GREG!

*real time intermission*

I dealt a $40-80 Mixed the other night. Eli B. was in the 7s and Freddie was sweating him. This Freddie used to be the ‘major’ food runner for the high limit players. It was such a great job, I even thought about quitting mine just to run food for them. They gave me a $100 tip more than once when I went to CPK at The Mirage for them. And more one time when I went to Smith & Wolinsky. Well…anyway…back to the original story. Eli has thrown cards into me more than once and we’ve had words at the table…of course we get along away from the table. Go figure!

Eli said that all the dealers were lazy now because of the shuffle masters and dealers didn’t know how to shuffle anymore…as he looked at me…even though he was supposedly talking to another player.

I lipped off – in good humor – and said something about dealing.. He, in turn, made some sarcastic comment about ‘old dealers know how to shuffle’.

Freddie started laughing and said, “Linda was dealing before poker was invented.”

I cracked up. And I had to agree with him. That’s how I feel sometimes – I was the beginning. *laughing*.

*end real time intermission*

There are 160 players left in the Blogger Tourney. Blinds are $400-800 – $50 ante. Greg has $11,178 in chips…time for a hand. Come on Card Fairy…shine on my friend.

*real time intermission*

I had to work six whole hours on Thursday night. Unbelievable…and I was second on the E/O list. The final table – Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship was going to be my next game when I got tapped out for the E/O. It was the final seven battling down to the final six. When they reached the final six, it would have stopped for the night and resumed the following day in Fontana with the WPT Crew filming away.

The dealer following me may have meant well and may have been having a great time but I seriously thought about setting the deck down, capping it with chips from the pot, and ‘pimp slapping’ him.

He was on a break. I was dealing $30-60 H. My next game would be the ‘final table’ on Table 40. He walked up behind me, hand on my chair, “Linda, don’t break anyone on the Final Table. That way I can deal it.”

I asked for ‘time’ and started to push my chair back. The Dealer was gone. WTF???? Does he know I was dealing a hand? And involved in running the game? Not to worry, he came back again, about a minute later, and chatted into my ear again, same topic…’don’t break anyone’…then walked off again.

This time I turned around and looked for him to see if he was there to ‘push’. Sam was in the 3s and he said the dealer must really like me because he had to keep coming up to talk to me.

*end real time intermission*

Blinds are now $600-1200 – $75 ante. Greg has $9,303 and hasn’t danced since he got moved to the new table. Just blinds and antes.

Now the Blinds are $1,000-2,000 – Antes $100. Greg and ‘easy-wind’ just held A-K all-in vs. StiffKing’s 3-3. StiffKing was short chips, side pot split left Greg with around $8,000. Man – he needs a rush.

*real time intermission*

The Dealer interrupted me twice in about two minutes just to tell me to not to break anyone on Table 40. He was finally – really – ready to push. When he tapped me out of the game, he repeated the repeat, “Don’t break anyone…”

I got the E/O. I don’t know if Erika broke anyone or if the Dealer got to deal Table 40. I hit the Time Clock.

Michael was in the room, playing $15-30 H. We had a ‘hug’ and a short visit. His newly beloved, Michelle, was at another casino and we have yet to meet. They just returned from a Hawaiian Honeymoon. *wishes and congrats*

*end real time intermission*

Crap! Greg just went BUST! His 8-8 vs. A-K bit the dust! He finished in 98th place. Great showing but no fun.

*real time intermission*

I was such a lucky girl. Pete asked me on Tuesday if I wanted Friday off. Hell YES! I’m on the three-day weekend. Yippeee!!! The weather’s great, life is good, and I have the answer…’if poker is only a game, why do we play so hard?’ but you need to figure it out for yourself.

If poker’s only a game, why do we play so hard? That thought popped into my head yesterday and has been running around, racing through the hallways, careening off the sidewalls, dancing with the ganglia, and popping to the front of the other thoughts that are crowding around, waiting to be heard and experienced.

I have a complexity of thoughts about that and I can’t/don’t want to share them right now. I still need to allow them to ferment, scrape off the foam, saturate my soul in them, tuck them away in a darkened corridor to ferment some more, and then try to put them into a specific time slot where they are logically patterned and can be interpreted into rational thought.

WTF did I just say? Please catch up…Kee-rist I hate having to spell it out.

Before I hop into the Poker World, this is a little bit of my world.

I’ve been strangely detached from everything that’s going on around me lately. It’s kind of like having a front row seat in a movie without the popcorn and sodas. I just drift along watching the scenes, catching the lines, and simplify it all into a little jumble of life that really has no consequences or bearing on what or where I will be in the next five years.

So! As my ongoing plan develops, I sold my trusty steed a few days ago…my sweet little Toyota Tacoma, Double Cab, dirt munching, 4×4.

This is on order and should be in within the next few weeks. Only picture it in Silver.

This machine is part of my plan. Stay tuned, more on that as the details develop.

Now – without further ado – I return to the action. PokerStars is hosting an Inaugural Blogger Championship NLH Tourney. Check here for the event and action…to date there are 1437 entrants. It’s going to be a toughie but I will be there, trying my best to finish…no explanation needed there.

Bellagio has just been crankin’. The games are slamming, Bobby’s Room has had two games every night, and all the ‘name brands’ are in action and milling through the room.

The players in lower limit games are in awe of the fact that all the ‘name brands’ are there and moving freely about the room. Like what are they supposed to do – teleport themselves from the casino or valet to Bobby’s Room?

It’s funny to watch the newbies ogle and gaggle over the ‘name brands’. And when they hear a list or name being called for a $100-200 or higher, they start jabbering, “Wow! Who could play that high?” – “Can you imagine playing that limit?”

I like that new, clean attitude – the nervous hand that releases chips, the giddy excitement over winning a pot, the chip clatter and table chatter that goes on when people are there to have fun and aren’t trying to mask their emotions and don’t mind explaining why they called a bet or played a hand. I like the seasoned player also. It takes a mix to make poker what it is, which returns me to the question. If poker is only a game, why do we play so hard????

Poker is just as crazy as ever. All the big names are in town and the room is rocking. Doyle hosted a party at Light on Tuesday night – don’t know what the event or occasion was but a lot of players were talking about it in different games. And Doyle was looking rather spiffy in his western hat as he sat outside the room on his motorized chair talking with a couple of ‘dollies’. Bobby’s Room has been w-a-a-a-y active. Of course I’ve managed to veer around it as I sign the E/O and slip quietly out of the room after a few hours. *big smile*

It has occurred to me that I’m missing out on a lot of great events, that I could be writing about, by doing the E/O thang…not to mention the $$$. What am I thinking??? Long story but it will eventually come out.

My first game tonight was one of final event tables. The final event of Festa Al Lago is the Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship. BTW there were 420 entries, 213 left at the end of the day, and Chau Giang is the chip leader. GO CHAU!!!! I was in the main Poker Room and even though we have shuffle machines, the Fontana Tables don’t have them so we have to shuffle by hand. The players were on a 15 minute break when I sat down. When the Tournament resumed, the antes were $75, blinds $300-600, and the players I knew at the table were Thor Hanson – 1s, Dewey Tomko – 4s, and Rodeen Talebi was in the 10s.

An incident that shows how important it is for players to act in turn, happened in my down. The 1s was the SB, Thor the BB, Rodeen the Button. Everyone folded to Rodeen, the 1s threw his hand away even though I was doing, “TIME. TIME.”

Of course the 1s apologized but it opened the door for Rodeen. He raised – I believe it went to $2,000. Thor called. The Flop was 10-8-2. Who bet what, I can’t remember. Thor ended up all-in and Rodeen had him covered. Thor turned over 10-8 of Spades and Rodeen turned over 8-2 of Clubs. A blank on the Turn – a little deuce on the River.

After Thor left the table and Rodeen was stacking chips, Rodeen voiced what had happened. When the SB folded out of Turn and Rodeen raised, Thor thought Rodeen was stealing. And Rodeen said that he was stealing.

Sometimes you can get caught stealing and still win the pot but if the 1s had held his hand…

I made a super idiot mistake tonight. It was $300-600 Mixed, Table 4, a nice field of faces, and on the very first hand I dealt, Lance – 1s, and Carlos – 2s were heads-up in Deuce to 7 Triple Draw.

I must have been a million miles away or… Well anyway, I dropped the deck after the second draw. I just knew I had three burn cards out and they were finished. Yeah right! They never slowed down with bets and raises and Lance wanted one more card, Carlos rapped pat, and Linda was in shock.

Lance asked Carlos if he wanted to split the pot because of the error, Carlos said, “No.”

I called for a decision. The deck was intact on top of the muck, Kamell had me just burn and give Lance the top card. Lance paired. Carlos showed an eight.

I apologized – several times. I especially have to be thankful for the way Lance handled it. He’s easy on dealers and he let it slip away like smoke in the wind…at least it appeared that way. He doesn’t mutter and grumble and zing cards; he just plays the game.

Ali was in this game and a few minutes later, he said he was ‘playing behind’. I told him he couldn’t. It’s like a never-ending discrepancy in our high limit games. Some of us dealers know that it’s not allowed and some don’t. It’s hard to enforce when the dealer’s before me haven’t been doing it. I ended up getting a statement from Tim, Floor Person, to verify it for the Table’s sake.

Jimmy W. was in the 3s, he split a pot with Carlos in Omaha 8 or Better. The pot had $300 in it and all their bets were in front of them, they took those back, I put two $100 chips in front of Jimmy and one $100 chip in front of Carlos and asked Jimmy to give Carlos $50. Jimmy asked if there was $300 in the pot, as I was saying yes to Jimmy Carlos threw Jimmy $50.

I looked at Jimmy, more of a questioning look, because I didn’t see Carlos grab one of the $100 chips in front of Jimmy. Carlos said something to Jimmy and Jimmy said, “She’s looking at me like I stole something.”

I laughed…more of an abrupt exclamation than an actual laugh, and started to say ‘no’ but Jimmy finished it with the fact that Carlos had taken the $100.

It’s funny but it’s not. The reason I looked at Jimmy is that once I make a mistake in a game, I’m good for two or three more…Murphy’s Law.

It must have been a night for mistakes. David was pushing me but he went right on by me and pushed the next table. No biggie because we all do it sooner or later but it dawned on him about five minutes after he sat down…I was just getting ready to notify the Floor that I hadn’t been pushed. David and I just switched tables while Jason stood over Table 5 and waited for me to get there.

This puts David and me facing each other, about 10 to 12 feet apart. He was having a terrible time in the game I’d just left. He’s an excellent dealer but something went awry and he had to call the Floor for a decision too. Then Ali, David L., and another player switched seats and it created a disruption because of the Blinds. I was watching David’s frustration grow – his face told the story.

I…in the meantime…was chuckling my butt off. Dealing Chinese – $200 a point – to Tim Phan and Paul Phillips. They were more than entertaining as they traded chips, hand motions, and words.

Then I raced for the outside air…E/O time.

The skies been crying, it’s wonderfully chilly feeling, and wet…summer’s over.

Don’t think the railbirds only hang out in casino poker rooms. They are everywhere. I got tagged by one in cyberspace a few days ago. He didn’t catch me through the chat function in a poker game I was in – he caught me through AIM. It was a cold call. I will admit I was slightly startled by the intrusion as he wasn’t on my buddy list and I had no idea what/who was in progress when he popped in. It went like this:

Session Start (lrgeenen:pokergod05): Thu Oct 13 16:24:44 2005
[16:24] pokergod05: hi
[16:25] lrgeenen: hi.
[16:25] lrgeenen: who?
[16:25] pokergod05: Hi, I am only 16, but have won almost 2k playing poker live w/ buddies…….So i’m looking around for a small time backer to stake me some cash over at pokerstars…….I was in fact staked once on stars 25$ and was able to get it up to 200$ however after i paid my backer 75$ I became VERY stupid as far as bankroll management and emotional management(both things that were strong factors in my success before losing it all).

Anyways, my mind is right again and I’m ready to play and win for whoever is willing to back me. I will payback 150% and will be able to send it back within 2-3 weeks(pending how much u send)
[16:27] lrgeenen: $0 – that’s what I would send.
[16:27] lrgeenen: But I wish you luck.
Session Close (pokergod05): Thu Oct 13 16:27:45 2005

Session Start (lrgeenen:pokergod05): Thu Oct 13 16:27:54 2005
[16:27] pokergod05: ok thank you.
Session Close (pokergod05): Thu Oct 13 16:28:06 2005

Session Start (lrgeenen:pokergod05): Thu Oct 13 16:28:14 2005
[16:28] pokergod05: I know you dont know me or anything, but mind if i ask why you wont give me a shot bro?
[16:28] lrgeenen: I work and deal in live poker. There are always people asking to be staked. If I want to put someone in a game, it’s myself.
[16:29] pokergod05: so u wont help me out and send like 5$ to start up playing online(it takes 2 seconds, “requests” then “transfer money”)
[16:30] lrgeenen: OMG! I can’t believe you can’t take no for an answer. But the answer still is “NO”.
[16:31] pokergod05: ok
[16:31] pokergod05: u know any1 who might be interested?
[16:31] lrgeenen: nope, not right off hand.
[16:32] pokergod05: ok
[16:32] pokergod05: well if u run into some1, can u im me?
[16:37] lrgeenen: sure
[16:37] pokergod05: thanks dawg

There you have it, my friends. If any of you want to contribute to a supposedly underage person that has already learned the fine art of begging, please jump.

But on to poker in the real world: While dealing a four handed (two walkers) $80-160 H, Must Move game, one of the strangest incidences I’ve ever experienced with Barry S. happened. Barry walked up to the table and asked what we were playing, question answered, he enthusiastically stated, “I want to play!”

He sat right down, took the blind, the brush person went for his chips, Roger E., on Barry’s right handed Barry a stack to play on until his chips arrived, the bet was raised, and Barry called. Barry and the 2s were heads-up. The Flop: 7-7-5. I honestly can’t remember what the action was on the Flop or the Turn that brought an 8.

A King popped off on the River, Barry bet, the 2s raised, Barry called, and Barry’s chips arrived at the same time.

The 2s turned up 5-5 with something like, “I can’t beat a bigger full house.”

Barry looked like someone let the air out of him. He shuffled his cards for half a second, jumped up and started putting his chips in a rack as he stated something to the effect that he wasn’t playing with assholes.

The 2s said, “If I said something wrong, I’m sorry.”

Barry kept stacking and continued to look at the table and the chips he was racking up.

The 2s asked, “Would you tell me what I did?”

Barry left.

The 2s specifically asked me if he’d done anything wrong. I told him, “No.”

Roger said, “Maybe it’s because I said, ‘Welcome to the game!'”

What just happened there? I’m still surprised by the whole thing. Barry’s been around the tables a long, long time. Maybe he just got knocked out of the tournament or something else was going on in his life before he joined the table.

One of the “walkers” returned and the game went on. Jim M. was playing on Table 4 and I overheard him say, “None of you noticed. I’ve been quiet for 63 minutes.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. Usually the only time he’s quiet is when he’s got a bet with someone or he’s threatened by the floor that he has to be quiet or leave the game. He came by my game, stopped to chitty-chat with the players in general, “What are you playing here?” and a few other queries.

I said, “Hey Jim, I heard you were quiet for 63 minutes,” and I started laughing.

He waited until I pushed the pot, then leaned across the table – yes, he’s tall and lean – and did a mock smooch on my face…damn, his stubbly growth is scratchy, and then acted like he snatched some chips out of the pot I pushed. He held up his hand, claiming to have snagged two chips and no one even knew it. Funny guy!

My work week was over…E/O on Thursday and Friday after dealing a few hours each night, Saturday’s Pan Game – at my house – played poker so Dave could deal to us, and tomorrow will find me back at Bellagio. C U there!

Get in gear you lazy turtle! Wait…I’m not in Aruba. But my catching up with what’s going on currently is kind of like ‘running on island time’.

Monday night – the 10th, found me back at Bellagio. Festa al Lago was in high gear and I even got to deal five downs of it in The Fontana. Of course I had to embarrass myself on two different counts when someone went all-in and I counted down their chips. I gave the wrong chip count. I have the worst time with that. Perhaps I’m a blonde in disguise, or still in Aruba, but whatever the case, I wish I could just get with it. I know what a stack of $500 and $1,000 and $10,000 are yet when they have stacks and stacks of all of them and I have to count them down, I lose it somewhere. Ahhh…maybe it’s because I try to E/O instead of working. If I worked, I’d become familiar with counting mixed chip stacks on a daily basis…right?

I got rerouted back into the main poker room about three hours into my shift. We have quad-zillion new dealers and none of them want to go home so along about 1 a.m., even though I didn’t sign the E/O, Jason came by and asked me if I wanted to go. I hesitated for one silly second and then said, “Yes.”

Tuesday night was a different story. I pulled the big eight hours. It was grueling; I was crawling at the end of that shift. Serves me right for not working all my shifts – it’s kind of like being in training, it you workout all the time, it’s less painful than an occasional grip and rip. I managed to hit all the black chip games and that’s kind of like fright night simply because there’s no money advantage in dealing them. It’s actually more like a money disadvantage. Something always seems to happen in them though that’s worth writing about.

Three handed, $300-600 Mixed, $400-800 on Razz only. The 1s was taking a beating on the Triple draw games and when the game went to Razz, he wasn’t faring any better. He was also high card most of the time and forced to bring it in. He was getting into the “Unbelievable” part of his poker game – the part where he was completely frustrated, irritated, and wanted to rip the deck apart and he kept saying, “Unbelievable.”

The only funny was when all three of the players received a Queen for their up cards and the 1s had the Queen of Hearts which forced him to open – the other two Queens were Clubs and Diamonds. The 1s was really losing it, “Unbelievable. That’s unbelievable,” as he looked at me.

I normally zip the lip here but I said, “You’re right. It is.”

Jimmy W. was in the 6s and as he folded, he showed the Queen of Spades as one of his down cards and said, “Now that’s unbelievable.”

Hell…I laughed. It was pretty unbelievable. Believe it or not, the 1s and 3s went to war, both with a Queen showing. The rest of the up cards came pretty much, ugly, ugly considering it was Razz. On 6th Street, the 3s gave up and the 1s finally managed to stop the bleeding…seepage was in effect.

I dealt to a lively little seven-handed group playing Mixed games. Marco was in the 6s, Max P. in the 7s. Omaha was in when I hit the table. A few hands later, the 1s and Marco were at showdown on the River. The 1s declared two pair and turned his hand up. Marco held his hand for almost a minute and laid down Aces and Nines to win the pot.

The conversation turned to slow rolling. Max was chuckling and his statement carried over well instead of having a negative effect. He said he hated to be in a hand with Marco on the River – even if Marco thought he was beat at showdown, after looking at his cards for some time, he always found a winner. And damned if it didn’t happen just like that…only throw in a twist.

Marco and Max ended up heads-up on the River. Max turned his hand up – the Board was Q-J-little-little-little – and Max had a pair of Jacks. Marco looked at his hand and looked at his hand and looked at his hand. Marco said something to Max that I couldn’t hear and pitched his hand into the muck. Max picked his hand up like he was moving it out of the way for me to push him the pot, then laid it back down. I started pushing the pot to Max.

Marco did an abrupt, “I had Queens…”

I said something like, “You threw your hand away,” but I stopped pushing.

Marco, “I showed him…” as he motioned to Max.

Me, “Honey, you have to show me. I’m the one that pushes the pot.”

Marco gave up, “Ok. Give it to him then.”

I looked at Max. I knew from the way he looked at the table – without saying anything – that he did see Marco’s hand and he knew he was beat. I also knew that Max wasn’t going to take a cheap shot on Marco and claim the pot. No one said a word. So I took it upon myself to make the decision to push the pot to Marco, with the statement that he needed to turn his cards up on the table or I could be in jeopardy with security and the cameras.

A few hands later, Tom – 8s, misread his hand and discovered that he had the best hand at showdown…after the other player had already shown his hand and was ready to stack the chips. Hey…guess it was just ‘slow roll city’ and they were all OK with it. No one seemed to get ruffled or antsy. Phew!

BTW – Bobby’s Room has another table in it…from two to three. Two of the tables have been running this week. I have managed to miss that room every night…no, not as in *boo hoo* I missed it. As in *yippee* I missed it.

Now it’s time for coffee and a return trip to the tables at “B” tonight at 7 p.m. Yup…it’s my morning for a change. Instead of looking for Sand Woman Land, I’m trying to get the sand out of my eyes. See you there!