If I could pick a day…a day to remember and cherish…a day that made me feel that I had tasted life…I would pick today. There are a lot of other days that I cherish and remember, for a lot of different reasons, and some days that make my blood run cold and my heartache in remembering them…

But today. A day that a few select friends met me in the early a.m. – not even their choice of times but because they are my friends, they arrived at the time I specified. We cruised to a Toyota Dealership where I left my favorite vehicle for scheduled maintenance – of course it’s a toyota 4x truck – and we drove to Mt. Charleston to visit an avalanche area and then drifted off to Fletcher Canyon for hiking, hiking, hiking.

Somewhere in this area is where the avalanche started.

The final result was a mangled mess of snow, dirt, trees, branches, rocks, and all around mayhem.

My hiking ‘buds’ (Dan B., Chad P., Jed L., and Wayne) are standing on about 40 feet of packed snow and the avalanche happened more than a few months ago. Don’t fool with Mother Nature. Isn’t it amazing that even though I live in the desert, I’m just an hour’s drive away from snow and mountains? Sweet!

Fletcher Canyon was a lot of uphill, down in the canyon, along the bank of a raging little snowmelt stream, which we crossed several times, in both directions. We made it almost into the canyon, after about a mile and half trek, before we decided to give it up and come back at a later date when the runoff was finished. The weather had changed to overcast and intermittent sprinkles.

I picked up my truck and came home to nap for a few hours before getting ready to visit Jeff’s house for a poker tournament. Wayne met me there. There were new faces and familiar faces of people that I know from the poker room. Thirteen of us played in the tournament. I tried to run over A-A with the A-K H…WOOPS!

I had a great time. Of course I was drinking my favorite wine. All kinds of munchies, friendly people, and poker! Wow! That’s the perfect combo. My camera was a must for this event so I managed to take a lot of pictures and make a few .mpgs of some of the kids while they played poker.

Around midnight it was time fly. After I arrived home, Vivienne found me in an online chat. I suppose I hadn’t had nearly enough to drink or just wasn’t ready to end the night, but no matter what it was, she came over and joined me in a backyard chimenae fire, wine, and long conversation.

Somewhere around 5 a.m. I managed to hit Sandman Land. Too tired to think, too much to drink, too much fun, never enough time…

I just celebrated another year of life…yup, I’m a Taurus baby. The Taurus horoscope reads pretty much true into my personality. Not a lot of variables. I’m a sensual beast that likes my creature comforts and I love my friends the way they are…but don’t fuck with me! I’m a horrible enemy. I just diss you from being human and you no longer exist. No one wants that so get in line, shape up your life, give everything you have to give in taking care of those you love and your own life and you’ll be tops in my book.

I can’t stand cheaters. I hate liars. I don’t want to hear lame excuses…although I will listen to your troubles and drear…hey…what are friends for if you can’t use them. I don’t mind mistakes and learning errors but I hate WHINERS! Don’t step onto the treadmill of perpetual grief, oh woe is me, life sucks, the world owes me something, or I get horribly bored with you in the first five minutes.

I like change…not necessarily in my home but in my face and thoughts.

I like a challenge. The harder I have to work for something, the sweeter it is when I achieve it.

I like people that laugh. Like? I love them!

I love love! I love hand holding, kisses, hugs, touching, and sharing thoughts.

I love babies, kids, young people, old people, and all those inbetween. I love people that love life.

I love people that go out of their way to say something nice instead of something mean.

I love the Earth; the beauty that Mother Nature spreads before us each day and quietly waits for us to take a look and relish what we have. Even that damned wind that makes me crazy has value.

I love being half crazy, just smart enough to figure out where I am and how I got there, just dumb enough to know I need to learn a lot more before I leave the Earth, and wise enough to know when I have the best of it.

Believe me…I have the best of it! I live in a world that most people dream about. I’m single, make a more than adequate living, manage my life without too many headaches and too many problems (because I refuse to create problems for myself), rub elbows with the elite in the poker world, don’t stress over what might have been or what could be because I pick and choose my friends and my lifestyle. What else is there?

Happy Birthday to me…Happy Birthday to me…

No…it isn’t today – and it wasn’t yesterday…Happy Birthday, Linda…

My oldest son, Dan, celebrates his birthday one week after mine. I’ll be calling him on Tuesday to wish him a Happy Birthday.

So with the thought of celebrating another year of life, I wish for all of you to have half of the happiness and wealth of companionship and love I have from friends and family; for in receiving only half, you would be completely overwhelmed. If I wished for you to receive the full dose, your heart might explode when it hit.

In a heartbeat, in less than one teensy breath, summer is going to be here. It will be hotter than hell and I’ll wish for the days that bloom into the night that I’m experiencing now…my evening. It’s beautiful. A light, gentle breeze that whispers as it wraps around me, a promise of life and fresh thoughts, daydreams coming true, and a new beginning. I believe in new beginnings. We need them to keep moving forward, to protect us from becoming taciturn and jaded, to strengthen us for living our lives. We need progression, always forward, carving a path into a new and unknown side of ourselves and only looking back to remember where we don’t want to be.

Hell yes! I’m drinking. So what? Grab a glass for yourself and possibly some of this will remind you of some part of you.

I have a great friend, Sylvia Hart. We work swing shift together and have the same days off. As of late, we walk the employee parking lot (two laps) after we get off work at night. It’s about two miles and while we walk, we hash and bash our nights and in general, laugh our asses off. We both want to lose some flab. Sylvia has gained quite a bit of weight and on her small frame, it’s very obvious.

I keep chuckling over this one statement she made about two weeks ago. While we are churning up the pavement in the parking lot, she’s stating that she really likes to eat. I’m listening and adding a note here and there. Then she states, “Those fucking bears are so lucky, all they do is eat and sleep.”

I was spitting laughter as she continued the conversation asking how long they hibernated for because that’s what she wanted to do, eat and sleep. Instead we were pounding the pavement at 3:30 a.m. trying to get our girlish figures back.

On the employee parking lot, after about two weeks of walking, we were finally ‘carded’ by Security. They wondered if we work there. We laughed our butts off over that. Like why in the hell would we be cruising the lot at 3 a.m.? Just sneaking in for our usual walk? Sure they have a job to do…

A zillion things I could write about tonight but how much can I send from my brain to cyber before I run out of steam? Remember…I’m drinking.

I have to share a hand that unfolded in the $2-5 NLH game. It started with nothing in particular before the Flop…as in no raising. The Button was in the 10s, Satellite Sam – he’s sort of a legend in poker and he used to ‘floor’ at the Mirage in the old days.

Seven or eight way action, the Flop was 8-5-8. Check all the way around. Sam bet $50. The 1s called, the 2s raised it to $200.

The 5s raised it $439 more all-in.

Fold to Sam and he folded.

The 1s went into count the chips, fidget, think about it, fidget, count the chips out, fidget, “I need a little time.”

He finally called.

The 2s said he would call and raise it to put the 1s all-in. That was about $200 more.

No thinking by the 1s now. He just pushed his chips in.

The 1s turned over 8-3 off. The 2s turned over 10-8 suited. The 5s turned over 5-5.

The 1s mumbled, “A 3 would be nice.”

Bingo! Right off on the River, like it had eyes, as if it’s ears were tuned in and ready to please…a 3.

As I pushed giant mounds of red chips to the 1s, he asked, “What should I do with all of these?”

While this isn’t my normal dealing attitude, I quietly said, “Give me some of them.”

Hysterical. He did give me a tip, after he put them all in racks to see how big the pot was and changed some of them up for bigger chips.

On another note, my friend, Jim AKA The Monkey from CO has been in town for most of the last two weeks. He’s done the chip tango and the dialogue dance with the best of them in the $80-160 and the $30-60. I barely drug him out of the game for a short visit early in the week. He’s going to Aruba with me this year to deal the Ultimate Bet Tournament…and not only that, Wayne, my super buddy, hiking partner, pan playing, ultra cruising buddy is going to deal that event also. That should be some kind of event…the three of us, loose on the island of Aruba.

Wayne stopped in tonight to visit and we did the ‘tourist thang’ of Bellagio’s Poker Room while I was on a break. Love that guy! We are going to Jeff’s house (Thor is my pet name for him) for a poker tournament this weekend. Chit Mon! I’d like to win one of these events! But if I don’t, the company will be great and I’ll just be packing around my little glass of ‘never empty’…wine that is.

So…while dealing tonight, $15-30 H, I sat down to mostly strange faces and greetings. Nice! No one was grumbling and ugly looking…just came to play. About the fourth hand I dealt, I had this dipshit thought zip through my brain and I just spit it right out as I pushed the ‘green’ button on the Shuffle Master, “I wonder if I’ll get carpal finger doing this?”

The 5s looked right at me and said, “If you aren’t getting carpal finger from your husband at home, you won’t get it here.”

I almost spit!

Then I hit a $30-60 H game in which a long time jerk, crab-ass, never happy, plays as bad as he can play just to prove that when he wins a pot he isn’t going to tip, named Tom, was in the 2s. He played almost every hand I dealt. Once, when he was the BB, he called a raise heads-up with Q-6 D. The Flop had one Diamond and he runner-runnered a back door flush to beat A-A. Of course he was a star then and the cards didn’t come ‘zinging’ in trying to burn my fingers off at the first knuckle. What a diptard!

One hand, raised pre-flop, on the Turn and River it was heads-up with Cal and Tom. The board was A-K-8-8-5. Tom turned up A-Q and Cal turned up A-5 Suited. I started splitting the pot.

Tom blurted out, “What are you doing?”

Mike was in the 8s, IMHO has the ability to be one of the best players in any limit as soon as he’s got his own mindset settled, exclaimed, “Yeah…what are you doing, dealer?” He was laughing his butt off.

Several other players chimed in that it was a split pot.

No shit, Diptard. Figure it out!

I never said a word, just carved the pot into two equal stacks and pushed it. Cal tipped me. Tom sucked his thumb…or whatever it is that losers do.

I spent my last down in The Bobby Baldwin Room. Did I mention that I love life? I do! I know I mentioned I’m drinking…so…

As previously stated, PokerWorks.Com is changing – drastically – for the better. The new pages will be online within a short time. The whole interface is changing. Be prepared! Don’t think you’ve gone to the wrong site or were redirected. The look and feel of Table Tango is changing also. Lots of updating and work still needs to be completed in that area…and it will – where the hell is that gallon of wine? Just kidding! It’s an improvement of everything. So get ready. But remember, if you bookmarked Table Tango, that bookmark will be defunct when the new site launches.

*****

I received this email from Mary, after a post I put up about a Sahara poker playing dealer. She agreed I could share it with you.

**Begin email**

Linda,

I read your piece on the dealer from the Sahara. When I was in Vegas recently the MGM poker room had just opened that week. I stopped in to check it out and play a few hands. I was not overly impressed with the room, but the folks at my table were interesting.

Among them was a dealer from the Sahara who was the meanest, crabbiest, rudest human I have played poker with ever. (I of course made a note to self to NEVER play at the Sahara). He had only been in Vegas about six months I believe. I think he was trying to earn at least part of his living playing and things were not going as expected, thus the reason he was playing 4-8. He impressed me so much that I was just telling a dealer at my card club about him yesterday. It was odd to read about him in your blog. He had apparently lost thousands in the time that he had been in Vegas to the “damn” tourists. When he stalked away from the table a gentlemen who plays for a living gently explained to me that the amount of money he lost was a lot for a poker dealer. It was a kind thing to say and a nice gesture to make on the part of the player.

The “pro” player himself was quite the character. He was looking at rooms to rent by the week up toward that end of the strip because of the new poker rooms. He was currently renting downtown. He and I had a lively discussion about the various games around town. How the games at Binions were disrupted due to the filming of a movie and how he did not like to play in the tournaments there because of the high vig. He told me that the longest he had ever gone without going bust was 6 months and how health insurance was beyond his reach. I got the impression he was a grinder who never got much above 6-12 either due to insuffient bankroll or lack of skill.

I wish that all the young people who think/dream about going ‘professional’ could have met these two.

**end email**

My second game of the night was spent in The Bobby Baldwin Room. Fairly quiet, the game broke up about halfway through my down because Chip had to leave. One of the funny parts of the conversation:

Doyle and Todd were both in the game. Todd had lost several hands to Eli. Eli, Todd, and Doyle in a hand, Doyle stated, “Don’t worry, Son. I’ll take care of him for you.”

I don’t even remember who won the hand. It was just the cute, protective father statement.

Then when Chip said he had to leave, Doyle started racking up too because he rode with Chip. Eli was razzing Doyle about leaving, Doyle said he rode with Chip. It caused a burst of laughter and comments like, “Your son is here, you could ride home with him.” – “Take a limo.”

Easy game, laughter, and I was on my way up to The Hill. Sam G. was in the 1s and ramble/gamble going on. He tipped me a buck on every pot I pushed him…really unusual. At one point when I stopped to question a player getting a hand, Sam told me to deal, if he was tipping me, he expected me to do what he said. *fall off my chair laughing here*

It’s all in the life of a poker dealer. Right? Right!

I made a colossal mistake in a $8-16 H game. Lots of action in the game. The 10s is a new dealer to our room (not a new dealer, just new to the room).

I put the Flop up, bet and raised, with six callers. I failed to give back $2 in change to the 7s. The 10s stopped me to explain that I hadn’t given the change. Not a problem there. I want the pot to be right. I gave the change.

The problem happens NOW! I put up a second Flop. Chit Mon! This is a first in my dealing career. I just burned and spun off three cards, started to turn them face up (yes, they were exposed), and did the double take. *moans from the players with cards*

I called for a decision. Leave the Burn, shuffle, and proceed. I did, with numerous apologies.

Good God! What have I learned in the last 22 years of poker…whatever it was, it went out the window in that moment.

*****

A little nit that’s making me crazy. Yes, I love the Shuffle Masters. But…I hate the fact that some of our dealers think, when they leave the box, that they are supposed to open it, put in the old deck and leave it as is for the new dealer.

That means the damn lid is open, a protrudence and irritation – about eight inches high – to reach over to try and collect time or anything else. I ask them to just set the used deck down and let me take it from there. They get a little huffy!

It’s like starting a shuffle, you start, you finish the hand, otherwise you set the deck down and exit the box. FIGURE IT OUT YOU DIPTARDS!

Thursday night – last week – I dealt in THE Bobby Baldwin Room. It really is beautiful. Three wood framed, glass entry doors comprise the walls and wrap the room in privacy with a view. The center door is the main entrance into the room and the other two are sliding doors. The lighting is gently subtle and lends an air of mystery to the quiet surroundings…an oasis in the middle of the action – an oasis that is the center of the highest action in the world. Two poker tables and room for relaxed seating tend to give the room an air of more than just gaming. Pictures of a few of our players hang from the ceiling, about six inches away from the walls…commemorating what we are all about…poker.

But when I hit Table 1 – in that room, I was not relaxed and comfortably serene. The game was $2,000-4,000 Mixed. I missed dealing this game for almost a month…no, silly, I didn’t miss it…I mean I skated around it in the line-up every night. It was time for the Line-up Fairy to find my name somewhere in the hat and shoot me through the game. So be it!

1s – Todd. 2s – Jennifer. 3s- Eli. 4 and 5s – open. 6s – Minh. 7s – Chau. 8s – Johnny C.

Johnny had his chips down, walking, and hadn’t taken a hand yet. I dealt Deuce to 7 Triple Draw. The chips went back and forth – except for Minh, he never got involved in anything while I was dealing…although he did talk to me a few times and I nodded as he chattered.

Eli was a teensy bit ‘salty’ with me because he won the first hand I dealt and then proceeded to lose each one after that. He’s never mean to me but he does lose his patience at times and it was speeding away on the back of the last hand I dealt. He snipped cards down the table once. Made a comment like, “I know she’s going to deal me like that.”

I just shut up and deal. He gets over it.

I dropped the deck after the second draw in one hand in which it was Todd and Eli heads-up. Thank Heaven I always do the same thing the same way when I’m dealing…the deck is in a relaxed, retrievable stub with the cap card on top of it. They never even blinked when I picked the stub back up and told them I’d call the Floor if there was any question in their minds…unison, “Deal!

Johnny had taken his seat by now and was being dealt in. Another player sat down in the 5s and in the BB. I announced the game change to Omaha 8 or Better – twice. The new player posted and I had dealt the first round and started the second round of cards when Eli and Jennifer both jump started with something like, “He can’t be dealt in. This is a six handed game,” as they were both starting to push their cards in like it was a misdeal.

I said, “It’s Omaha 8 or Better.”

Chau said, “Leave the dealer alone.” *TKS, Chau.*

I finished the hand. Todd shut the door to the room and it felt strange to be isolated in a poker oasis in the middle of the poker world. Someone said it was like playing in a home game and Chau said it sure was, he played against the same players everyday. *laughter*

I didn’t laugh. I was too busy trying to concentrate on chips flying, cards, the game, and wishing it was 3 a.m. Just as I was finishing my down, Sammy F. waltzed through the door and started negotiations to change the game and add PLO and raise the stakes to $3,000-6,000. They were still arguing as I left the room.

As I left the table, Chau threw me a Greenbird. ***Double TKS, Chau***

My next game was PLH up ‘on the hill’ – it’s beautifully enclosed with glass panels and wood also. Lee S. and three other players – they were talking about Sammy F. Apparently he had just left that game and sort of blown it apart although he was pretty big loser in it according to them.

My last game was Mixed $300-600, four handed. I think this is funny…maybe not but it struck me as so. Yen lost a hand and pitched his cards too hard. One of them slid off on the floor almost under Ritchie’s foot. Ritchie picked it up and handed it to me. Our policy is to count the deck down when a card hits the floor.

I immediately started counting it. Lenny was in the 2s. His conversation went something like this, “You don’t have to count the deck down, Linda. The shuffle master does it.”

I kept counting.

More persistent, “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

I closed my eyes, nodded yes, and kept counting.

He kept it up, “You don’t have to count the deck.”

I was done by now, put the deck in the shuffle master and took out the other one, cut and dealt, with, “I haven’t heard that ruling yet.”

He replied, “You just did.”

I just chuckled. Whether or not he’s dead serious, he comes across that way.

I got pushed a few hands later. Eli, either taking a break from the $2,000-4,000 or cashed out and ready to go, was visiting with Lenny. When I walked by him, he was laughing, “And the way she deals me…” motioning towards me as he turned to walk off.

I demanded, “Get back here!”

He turned around and came right back. I asked, “Who the hell is playing those hands?”

We were both laughing as I escaped for the night.

Another day in paradise…

I hit the room tonight with the intent of meeting my friend, Greg, for a brief visit before work and in time to sign the E/O Play list before the line is drawn…that’s at 6:45. I made it in plenty of time and spent about 20 minutes visiting with Greg in the quiet area off the Sport’s Book which is an employee’s area. Greg deals at Harrahs and is one my Pan playing, hiking buddies…although work has gotten in the way of both lately.

I hit the room at 7 p.m. donned my dealer’s apron and name tag and dealt three games. Break time. When I returned from break I was out to play but couldn’t E/O. I was second on the E/O list and really wanted to hit the night air and leave the poker room behind but it just wasn’t to be until around 1:00 a.m. I planted my tush in a $4-8 H game and basically never won a pot.

I did split one that was good sized but only one person was trapped in the middle and it didn’t begin to cover my losses. Hey…I can’t beat A-Q with A-K suited, nor can I beat J-7 Off with A-10 Off when the flop comes A-J-3 – nothing on the Turn – J on the River. I managed to run K-Q into chip hell when the Flop came K-Q-7 and the other player had 7-7. Then it’s sit and fold for three weeks…never folding a winner because nothing I fold ever comes on the board. I know it happens all the time. Only problem is it’s been happening to me for about a year and a half. I used to live to play poker and now I can barely stand to look at two cards…in anyone’s hand. But I won’t dwell on that. Everything changes and I hate whiners so on to room happenings and poker.

On Thursday night I dealt a little $4-8 H game in which the player in the 5s said she had asked the previous dealer for a set-up but they never got one. We were back in the corner, in a section that’s extremely difficult to be heard from and I belted out, “Set-up, Table X.”

She said something to the effect that I could be heard everywhere and I started laughing. “That’s from raising three sons by myself.”

She then told me I wouldn’t get a set-up since no one had replied. I said, “Yes I will, I always get what I want.”

Her eyebrows went up and she said, “It must be nice.”

I replied, “It’s easy…I don’t want much.”

That’s the key. I want the real things in life, the things that are simple and make life so wonderful. And yes…I dream. I dream of things I want in the future and even though some of them are unrealistic dreams, I still dream them because I believe they can happen and if I don’t dream them there is no floorplan or blueprint. And without that construction never starts.

Today my dream is a dream for health and wellness for everyone in the world, world peace, and the warm comfort of “I love you” shared with people and family close to me.

And for a neverending river of people walking through the door to get on the list…

On my way in to work last night, I sang Happy Birthday into my cell phone as my baby put his phone up to his baby’s ear…my one and only grandson was celebrating his first birthday. He’s cute and sweet and cuddly beyond belief…he’s a real Riot. Yup, that’s his name, Riot!

And that’s the way my night at work was, a real riot. By 5:20, I was seated on Table 7 in the new room. I asked Doug (cardroom manager) and two supervisors if they would send the first table of players in from the Poker Pit to my table so I could deal the first hand in the new room and for just a minute or some nonsensical amount of time, I thought I would have the honor. I got the first table of players but they were part of the daily tournament and they were going on a 15 minute break. POOOP!

The next table of players were in the tournament also, they went to Table 6. Right out of the blue, before the room was even officially open, the 4s knocked a full cup of coffee and cream over onto the table, it ran to the Shuffle Master, and in general made a hell-uv-a mess. Tom, the dealer on 6 spent at least 10 minutes with wet and dry towels trying to clean up the mess while the table was on break.

The first hand was dealt on Table 36 by Bev. I believe it was a $4-8 H game. I’m not resentful or jealous, just kind of hoping…kind of?

When the tournament resumed, the first hand I dealt produced A-A for the 6s. He sent another player home for the night when the other player raised all-in and then showed A-2 Off.

At 6:00ish, Doug announced the opening of Bellagio’s new room and received a huge round of applause from everyone.

The two table, private salon is referred to as The Bobby Baldwin Room and the kids that play the biggest game in town were there in full swing.

The room filled up. I believe we had 32-33 games running when we were at max. When midnight rolled around, and Wynn was opening, we didn’t have a mass exodus, we had games – lots of them. And when I left at 3 a.m., there were still 16 games running.

The poker room is truly a work of art. The colors, lighting, wall coverings, pictures, carpet – everything enhances the spectacular beauty of what I believe is possibly the most beautiful poker room in the world. There are a few glitches that will be worked out and the office isn’t set up and functional yet but it’s on the way. Shuffle Masters are installed in all the tables. There are still traffic problems and not a lot of room between the tables in some areas, hopefully that will iron out and be resolved soon.

April 27th, 2005 – a date to remember. Happy Birthday, Riot – in celebrating your first year of life! Happy Birthday, Bellagio Poker Room – in celebrating your opening and continual effort to improve and provide poker for the world!

This is Riot when he got his ‘2-3’ busted off by an idiot tourist that had no clue how to play the game.

I told Riot not to worry, if the ‘tourist’ stayed long enough…

Hello new home! Tonight I’m going in at 5 p.m. to help start the transition from the Poker Pit to my new home…Bellagio’s Poker Room. I might even end up being the first person to deal the first hand in the new room. That would be like ultra sweet…all kinds of sweet with more sweet piled on top of sweet. Yummy.

From what I understand, dealers will be in the room, waiting at tables for players to come from games in the Poker Pit. As the players come in to take their seats, the games in the Poker Pit will close and the games in the room will begin…let the games begin. YIPPEE!

I’ve listened to the ‘natter natter’ of players stating that we are trying to compete with Wynn and as soon as Wynn opens, we will lose our business and to that I say, “BULLSHIT!”

Competition is healthy and good for all industries but we aren’t competing with Wynn for the poker business…they are competing with us. We aren’t going to lose our games or sit dead or go dark. We are the leader of the poker world in Vegas and one of the best poker rooms in the world for live and tournament action. We aren’t going any direction other than UP! So come in and join us.

*****

The live poker scene. I hit a $4-8 H game in which I thought I was dealing to a high limit asshole that went broke somewhere in Hades and was chewed up and spit out of the core of Pain and Agony Done Went Broke to spend his time with mortals instead of the Nether Spirits that never find peace.

He was in the 9s, had chips in front of him, agitated and crabbing over the slow play of the players in the game, and jumping in and out of his seat like he’d been shot in the butt with rock salt.

The kids in this game…literally, kids, were jawing and having fun, some of them green as hell and had no idea what they were doing but they were having fun. The 6s folded his hand to a check. I did what I always do, “It’s a courtesy to check, never let them know what you’re going to do until you’re facing a bet.”

He didn’t get it. He folded to a check again on the next hand. I told him he should check because folding to a check was a tell on his play and he just gave up the protection of another player in the hand. The 9s went butt brain idiot on me and told me not to tell the 6s how to play his hand.
I said I wasn’t telling him how to play his hand, I was explaining poker etiquette.

The 9s snorted something like, “And you know how to be rude too!”

That left three players in the hand, including the 9s. Off comes the Turn and the 9s folded, the 10s checked, and the 3s bet putting the 10s at the mercy of the non protection thing I was just talking about. I started to say something to the 9s about it when he grabbed up his chips and raced off to a table transfer.

I sort of snorted, “Gee…the resident pro just left.”

The whole table took off on what a total asshole he was. But don’t worry, he was waiting just a few tables ahead in my line-up. When I hit that game, he was in the 5s. I stood behind the dealer I was tapping out. As she pushed him a pot, he said, “Don’t worry about it. I’m a dealer too. I know what it’s like.”

WTF???? Why on God’s little Earth and green felt tops can someone be a dealer and act like that?

I sat down. I dealt the first few hands and at one point, I gave the 5s direct, colder than a well digger’s ass, eye contact. He looked at me, I looked at him. I wanted to knock him off his chair.
He won a big pot and threw me a $4 toke, explaining that he didn’t normally tip that much but it was in the form of apologizing. He went on to explain that he couldn’t believe how young the kids were in that game and he must be getting old…he had no patience for them and he thought he was better off leaving the game than being ‘pissy’. NO SHIT!

I asked him where he worked. The Sahara. I made a mental note never to go there. Why would I want to play in someone’s game that makes my time in the box miserable? I don’t want to play in his game and act like a Jack-a-low because that is a reflection on me.

Come on…figure it out! Poker is changing. The tight lipped, ‘I’m going to die if I don’t win this hand jackass’ that knows everything, and does this for a living is a dinosaur. If you can’t adapt, you ain’t going to survive in today’s world of players that are running hell bent to jump into the action. That means as a dealer and a player. Get a grip, take a look, test the wind, go with the flow…or get left behind.

*****
Get ready for monumental changes at PokerWorks.Com. A new interface, a bold exchange, new ideas, new thoughts, and tons of information. Everything is changing. Check back often.

Bellagio is kicking off a daily tournament, starting today. The tournaments will begin at 2:00 p.m. All satellites start at 9:00 a.m. daily. The buy-in: Sunday through Thursday $540. Friday and Saturday – $1060.

My newly remodeled home away from home is draped and waiting to be filled with the noise of poker. Right now its wide expanse resembles a haven of peace and quiet away from the casino…that won’t last long. A female security guard stood inside yesterday/last night, and shooed people away when they moved the drapes to look at the room. Comical. If no one was supposed to look, they wouldn’t have removed the walls. It’s a teaser, like previews of a coming attraction.

It’s hurry-scurry time…race to sign the E/O list and try to escape for my weekend…but before I go…
Continue reading Friday, April 22, 2005 →