All kinds of things to write about today but time for only one. One topic would be ‘bad guys gone good’. How many times have you witnessed a player behaved so badly that even God would slap him and make him sit in a corner while a blind monkey got to play his chips for three days? These players are everywhere. Of course in a room that enforces rules and stops bad behavior, they either learn to stop or they can’t come back and play.

One such case is P. J. He used to play at the Mirage. Every night found him blasting chips across the green felt in a $15-$30 or $20-$40 7 Card Stud game. He played almost every hand but he never shied away from putting as many chips in the pot as he could, even when he had the worst hand.

When he was losing, he’d grumble, mumble the dealer and try to make them feel guilty for breathing air, let alone dealing the cards. When he was winning though…yippee skippy…the dealers all loved him. He threw more chips in their pockets than he could ever hope to win in a life time.

He was becoming unbearable at the Mirage and then he moved over to Bellagio, with everyone else, when it opened. He had several wars with players and dealers and ended up being sent home for the night more than once. Then the straw that not only broke the camel’s back but blew the camel all to hell leaving everyone stranded in the desert happened.

He got into a fight with Carina M. Word was that she instigated it but he picked up all the loose ends, stamped them into a bottle and lit the biggest Molotov Cocktail a poker table has ever seen. He was seriously going to ‘kick her ass’ and security had to come and escort him from the room. The whole room stopped. It appeared that he was going to fight security also but he finally gave up and left.

He was on the 86’d list and didn’t show his face for over two years. Perhaps he’s been back at the Mirage since then but the understanding when Bellagio opened was that if a player was barred from one room, they would be barred from both until the player understood that kind of behavior would not be tolerated. He magically appeared night before last. All kinds of beaming smiles and hand shaking and how are you and how have you been went on. So nice to see old friends come together…choke – sob – gasp!

He didn’t play the first night. He returned the following night and took a seat in $15-$30 7 Card Stud. He wasn’t winning but he appeared to be in control and calm…how long? Maybe he’s a bad guy tightly corked!

He’s not the only guy that ever got 86’d from a room. Bottoms was never allowed in the Mirage from the day it opened, until Eric D. was no longer the card room manager. What happened there? There are rumors but the truth is unknown so you figure it out.

Mike D. was 86’d from Bellagio for awhile. The first six months the room was open, J. C. P. was not allowed to play there…guess he saved a lot of ‘blues’ during that time period.

A few players laughingly ask, “Hey, what do I have to do to get 86’d? It would save me money.”

Nobody really wants to be 86’d. For one thing, if they want to play again in their favorite game, close to home, they have to face the music and admit they were wrong and learn to modify their behavior. A few of them have laughed about it, acted as if they could care less…but they always come back. Go figure!

*****
This post is done by Chanzes – during the time period that I took a break from posting in the Diary.

Let’s take a brief pause and think about the Poker God Theory. Out of all the people in the world playing poker at any given moment of the day, the Poker God just zips in and snaps you off of a big win or the absolute reverse…gives you the only River card that you can win with.

Why? How does the Poker God decide where to land and who to screw with? Is it strictly random or planned? What about the player that goes on a rush for months at a time and wins every time they play…then one day it turns around and they cannot win, no matter what they do? Is that a diabolical Poker God trick? Did this player make a pact with the Poker God which allowed them to win and then reneged on it? Is it the Twilight Zen of Poker?

This really isn’t going anywhere but a few people would like to know because a reference to the Poker God has been made a zillion times over the years. Next time you see the Poker God, why don’t you ask Her? Oh yeah, if there’s a Poker God, is there a Shuffle Master God also? Check that out too, please!!!

~~~~

Back to the real world. You jump into a $1-$5 7 Card Stud game, it’s on table 29 which has a Shuffle Master installed, deal to a bunch of newbies that you’ve never seen before and most of them have no idea what’s going on except they want to play poker. And you’re off and running…dealing away…about half way through your down, you forget about the Shuffle Master, scramble the deck, shuffle, cut and deal. After the hand has been dealt, it dawns on you that you forgot to use the deck in the Shuffle Master. Best part of it is that no one even noticed that you did it the hard way. Sweet! Love these players

~~~~

$60-$120 Holdem…action, action, action! Five players take the Flop in a capped hand. Flop, 4-3-J. Bet, raise, raise, raise, raise. Four players take the Turn – a 7.

Check, bet, raise, raise, checker folds, raise, raise. Three players take the River. River, Q.

Bet, player 2 raises, player 3 calls, Better raises, player 2 calls going all-in, player 3 overcalls. The Better shows down 5-6 OS.

The all-in player turns over Q-Q, he thought he got a bad beat…grumbled and mumbled and held onto his hand for a few minutes mourning the death of a Set. After the Turn he was drawing dead and got there. See…the limit doesn’t change a thing when it comes to gamble, gamble, gamble. Some people just want to play!

*****

This post is done by Chanzes – during the time period that I took a break from posting in the Diary.

Still no High Limit…as in the sky’s the limit type of limit. George, normally plays high pot limit Omaha, is playing $80-$160 and $60-$120 Holdem and has been for about two weeks. His attitude is still the same. He’s short stacked when you get there and after 20 minutes into your down, when he takes a beat, he mumble, grumbles, “Nothing ever changes, It does not change.”

You’d really like to agree with him, because where he’s concerned, it really will never change. But if you do, you just invited him into your head space and it only goes down from there. There’s no upside to his poker play. He’s miserable. He swears the only place he ever loses is at Bellagio. So…what the hell is he doing playing there?

~~~~~~

Archie K. was playing $30-$60 Holdem tonight. When he’s on the up rush, he’s playing pretty damn high and his attitude is much different. When he’s taking beats in high limit, he’s absolutely no fun to do deal to.

Tonight he was quiet and played more like a calling station than the Archie most of us know that has chips blazing from both hands when he’s on a roll. He went broke in one hand and bought in just a little short of the buy-in requirements. One short buy-in is allowed in all games over $10-$20 limit and it must be half of the minimum buy-in. He played a few hands and picked up the few chips he had left and walked away. Who is he? He’s the guy that ran $10,000 in to over $30,000,000 in ’94. Read about him in the People in Poker section.

*****
This post is done by Chanzes – during the time period that I took a break from posting in the Diary.

My poker theory: 1) It’s a war out there. 2) Never surrender, never give up, never let them see you bleed. 3) Read all the books you can and listen to everyone talk about poker but be prepared to throw it all out the window and adjust your speed to play your best game…after all, you’re not playing against a field of computer programs or book readers, you’re playing against a field that’s based on human emotions and reasoning. 4) When you can’t handle the heat, just leave damn it! Before you make yourself look bad. 5) Never take a beat personally. If they are specifically trying to beat you, you have the best of it by far. 6) Always have enough ammo in front of you to defend your position. 7) If you think you’re the best qualified at the table to take home the chips, and you’re alert, and playing your ‘A’ game, stay and play. If you don’t, pick up your ammo and depart rapidly, run for the nearest exit because there will always be another day.

~~~~

Get ready to rumble, rock and roll, prepare to play, for Bellagio has three tournaments planned this year. The first is the Five-Star World Poker Classic set to kick off with Satellites on March 31st. The tournaments begin on April 2nd with Limit Holdem. Info will be posted on this soon on the Bellagio Tournament page.

The second tournament is the Festa al Lago Poker Tournament which begins on June 21st with Satellites and the tournaments starting June 23 with No Limit Holdem.

The third tournament is the second Five Diamond World Poker Classic which starts November 29 with Satellites and the tournaments starting December 1st with No Limit Holdem. You’d better be here! If you aren’t you’re missing a great time and opportunity in Bellagio’s move into Tournament Poker. Besides…where else can you have all the social interaction, thrill of poker, poker, poker, cocktails served by the loveliest of lovelies, and rub elbows with all of Poker’s Name Brand Players. GET IN HERE!

*****
This post is done by Chanzes – during the time period that I took a break from posting in the Diary.

Time just never stands still for anyone…especially this poker working person that should be putting up more information on the Real World of Poker (vs. the fake world of poker). HAH!

The Shuffle Masters installed in three tables are the NUTZ! Wonderful little creations that keep the action moving instead of the shuffle lull that’s normally felt while the dealer scrambles and shuffles for the next hand. Every dealer that’s used them so far, loves them. The players seem to be very happy with them also, the ‘more hands theory’ goes into effect here. We are hoping they will be installed in all of the tables ASAP!

New shirts on the way for Bellagio Poker Dealers. Every since the opening of the Mirage, the dealers have wanted a classier, cleaner looking shirt than the tuxedo whites that were part of our uniform. The tuxedo whites look like green felt gumbo around the cuffs and shirt pockets (you know, where the tokes go) even if they are cleaned daily and some dealers don’t even bother to clean them daily so they look twice as bad. We are going to be adorned in black – word is they will have a beige cuff and split collar. We wish they would be all black but someone, somewhere, had to come up with the beige cuff idea so that’s the way it is. It’s just such a relief to get out of the tuxedo whites and neck tie garb that we will live with it.

Even though high limit has been on leave of absence for a few weeks, the room is very busy with new faces popping up in all the limits. The highest game on top lately has been $80-$160. The $60-$120 Holdem game is pretty strong. Lots of action in the rest of the room too. From a dealer’s point of view, there’s no bad start in the room…no heads up Razz game and no other nightmares on the horizon. Don’t worry, it always pops up again and we will cheerfully be there dealing our butts off because we have normal monetary obligations like mortgages, car payments, utilities, food, etc. Oh yeah, honey, we are normal people. We really don’t sleep under the Sarah Street Overpass with our shopping carts as shelter.

*****
This post is done by Chanzes – during the time period that I took a break from posting in the Diary.

Sometimes just getting into the poker room is a major ordeal. The first part of the experience is jumping on the freeway and trying to defend yourself from people in a hurry to die and they want to take you with them. Taxi drivers are the worst offenders and really want to make sure the rest of the world goes out with them. When Mother Nature dumps a load of water on Vegas, just multiply all the scary incidents that pop into your head by 5,000.

Once you hit the Strip, you now have to change lanes to escape the vehicles that are parked, in a right turn only lane, watching the Fountains at Bellagio. There are people scurrying between vehicles waiting for a traffic light to change. Instead of using crosswalks and even after the signal light has changed to ‘DON’T WALK’, they still gamble by crossing anyway. They seem to be in a hurry to end their life or spend it maimed.

Once you’ve made it to the employ entrance on the Strip and Harmon, construction for the new Spa and connecting Harmon from East to West, is a myriad nightmare. There’s only one way in and one way out, slow and irritating. A Security Person stands at a small guard house and looks for your employ ID as you enter. They always look like they hate their job and their life and you for making them be there.

Now you look for parking…there are lots of places to park but they are close to 1/2 mile away from the building. You have two choices, park and walk or wait for the employee shuttle. The shuttles arrive almost back to back during regular shifts but during off hours there’s only one and you can wait for 10 minutes sometimes for it to appear. There have been times that a small hand written note is posted at the Shuttle Stop, stating that there will not be a shuttle at certain times. So you’re stuck. Get ready for a walk. Taking a seat in the shuttle is not possible at times, it’s standing room only. You get jostled and bumped by big butts passing by, handbags and back packs, and inconsiderate fellow employees that fail to realize you’re a person instead of part of the shuttle.

Once you arrive at the Employee Entrance, you are now greeted by another Security Person that insists you show ID to enter the building. This done, you now have to walk down ‘heart attack hill’, don’t worry, when you leave the building, you are walking up it. Word has it that if you walk up it five times, you’ve walked a mile so this gives you an idea of the trip.

You pass offices, uniform control where literally thousands of garment bags hang on automated rails from a 20 to 30 foot ceiling, (and one of them is yours), Mangia (the employees dining area), the Dealer’s Room, (where all dealers in the casino can go for a break and it contains your locker…lockers are shared by two people), an employee’s discount store, and a satellite cage, (where all employees can cash out and the bank is picked up and turned in by bartenders and people in the retail stores), plus entrances and exits to the Grand Ballroom, storage, kitchens, spa, bathrooms, and a million other places unknown to God and man.

Once you’ve made it through this, you have the choice of walking up two flights of stairs or taking an escalator to see another Security Person, (watching everyone come and go), and finally an entrance/exit into the casino floor. Think you’re home free? NO WAY!

Now you fight your way through the buffet line which is conveniently located across the employees entrance/exit doors…NOT…and through crowds of people going to “O”, stop to answer Guest’s questions and give directions, and finally…the poker room.

It’s never easy. People always stand in the doorway and traffic aisles to talk. They walk three abreast coming towards you and act like you are supposed to disappear into the carpet or levitate yourself so they can pass unimpeded. Even tho you wear a white shirt and stand out in the pedestrian traffic, you are still invisible and they run right into you. A lot of times they are very overweight which makes your slipping past them impossible. Believe it or not, usually the worst offenders are employees. This is before you’ve ever turned a card or clocked in…you need valium just to get to work…OK! Now put on your best smile, look through your wardrobe for your best attitude shirt, slip it on and get ready to DEAL.

*****
This post is done by Chanzes – during the time period that I took a break from posting in the Diary.

A bag of double ugly, covered in chopped up mean and nasty is in the 3s when you go in to deal $20-$40 Omaha 8 or Better with a 1/2 kill. He plays the first hand you deal, with four other players and loses it. Immediately the hate and doom, death and destruction, glare begins. He can barely grumble out the words, he’s so angry his voice is quivering. “Ah’ll tell you one thing, Ah’m sure saving a lot of blues.”

It’s such a sick repeat of years of poker dealing to none other than J. C. P., too bad he doesn’t get a new line to go with his never ending whine. He wins a few pots and appears to be more angry because he won than he did when he lost, except, of course he’s not mumbling now.

Once when he walked by a $30-$60 7 Card Stud game, a player in the game invited him to take the open seat. Norman R., another player, emphatically stated, “Don’t ask that bunch of negative karma to join us!”

The only thing that’s frightening about him and his behavior is what if he explodes and some of that negative ugly gets on you? Horrifically scary! Maybe there’s no cure.

~~~~

Something in poker that’s pretty hard to deal with at times is watching a person that you thought had it all together and had some class and then BOOM…

One incident is watching a high limit player dig in their nostril for a full minute and then when they find what they were mining for, they actually look at it before wiping it somewhere. Gag!

Another one is listening to a player that’s arrived at the table, with chocolate covered strawberries, tell everyone at the table that they eat at the buffet every night. When asked if they get a comp every night, their reply is, “No! I just walk in like I already had a seat and take whatever I want.” That’s stealing. No matter how you cut it, it’s demeaning and cheap.

~~~~

The room is slow but the games are still good. It’s funny to have 15 to 16 games running and think of it as being slow, but it is. Not much happening in high limit right now, the kids are either out enjoying their home life or are in L.A. for a tournament. The highest game on top last night was $80-$160 Holdem and it was full.

~~~~

Nothing new on Bruce and Paul returning. We are hoping they do. Suzie L. has been covering some of graveyard in their absence. The hour change and sleep schedule is tough on her, but she’s taking it like a trooper. We all love Suzie!

*****
This post is done by Chanzes – during the time period that I took a break from posting in the Diary.

Ritchie is one of our regulars in the $8-$16 Holdem game. He’s great to have in the game from a dealer and a player standpoint. If you’re playing in the game with him, he’s consistent with his play…you know he’s got a hand or he wouldn’t be there. He’s not going to show you 5-2 OS at the River after catching runner-runner for a gut shot straight. He’s either got you beat already or you’re drawing wounded and better make a real hand. If you’re dealing to him. Ritchie will never give you heat or the look, even if you make a mistake. He takes the good with the bad and he’s George when he wins a pot. We all like him. This is a little run on a few of his table sessions:

1. This is from last year, taken from the Dear Diary: An $8-$16 Holdem game on table 30 left me shaking my head over 1 hand. Ritchie raised pre-flop with K-K and got 3 callers. The flop was 10-7-4 with 1 Spade. Three players went to war on the flop with all the raises.

A King of Spades popped off on the Turn. Ritchie checked, the 5 seat bet, the 7 seat, which was also the Button called, and Ritchie check raised. Both players called.

The River was a Spade. Ritchie bet, the 5 seat folded, the 7 seat called and Ritchie turned over a set of Kings. The 7 seat turned over 10-4 of Spades. I’m not even sure if the 7 seat knew he had a flush…he just knew he’d flopped 2 pair and thought he was now beat. Huge pot, ugly ending for Ritchie.

2. This is also from last year. Ritchie was on the list for $8-$16 Holdem and a new game of $4-$8 started. He took a seat while waiting to be called for the $8-$16. The very first hand started like a volcanic eruption with everyone picking up a hand and chips spewing out onto the green.

Ritchie picked up, you guessed it, K-K. All the raises went in pre-flop with eight players.

The flop came off all little, rainbow, with an 8 as the highest card. All the raises went in again, with somewhere around five players this time.

A small, unrelated blank card on the turn, all raises again, and an 8 on the river with a bet and one raise, with three players at showdown.

Connie held 8-8. Ritchie showed K-K. Another player stated that he also had K-K but pitched it on turn, the other player at showdown held J-J. Another player stated that he held A-A and gave it up on the River.

The deck had just been spread and players drew for the button, it was the first hand of a new game. The pot was gigantic and Ritchie was shaking his head over K-K as he got called for the $8-$16 game. Later on, he even tells me he’s not going to play K-K as long as I’m dealing. 🙂

Present date: Ritchie’s in the 3 seat, $8-$16 Holdem. This game never started out as a Waltz or a Soft Shoe. Chips exploded into the pot. Cause? The 2s was a young, know it all, egotistical, fuel injected butt head that figured he’d win if he could get in the last raise.

At one point, when the pot had been max raised pre-flop, with five to six player, and max raised on the flop and on the turn, it went to three players with the 6s betting, the 2s raised, the 5s called, the 6s raised, the 2s raised, the 5s folded, the 6s raised, and the 2s looks at me and queries, “How many raises are allowed?”

I state, “One bet and four raises.”

He asks you again, looking right at you, “How many raises allowed? Because she was in…” he gestures at the 5s.

I reply, “One bet, four raises. She folded before the fourth raise was made.”

He still repeats his question, looking at me like I was speaking Greek-n-ese or some strange language.

Again I state, “One bet and four raises.”

He still makes a motion at the 5s and still states that she was in. The other players are now impatient with him and make noises implying that he can call or fold or raise. He finally elects to call.

On the river, he can’t even call a bet. He throws his hand away with a comment that if the Ace of Spades had come off, he would’ve made a straight flush and his opponent would have been suicidal.

I laugh and he has a fit with me because he thinks I’m laughing at him. There’s no explaining it to him so I just tell him that I will laugh if I want to.

He sparks off more chips and buys more and swears as he throws chips in the pot so I have to tell him to watch his language. He’s sitting beside Ritchie and ranting about everything.

The first explosion that involves Ritchie is a pot that’s raised by Ritchie. The 2s and three other players call. The flop is A-J-7. Chips scream into the pot. The turn is a 9. A raising war breaks out between Ritchie and the 2s. A few stragglers are still calling. The river brings a Jack.

Ritchie bets and gets called in two places. He shows pocket 9’s and wins a huge pot.

A few hands later, the chip wars begin in earnest. Seven players take the max raises to see the flop. The flop is 7-6-2 with two Diamonds. All the raises go in on the flop. The turn is an Ace of Clubs. All the raises go in on the turn. The river is a black 3. Ritchie bets the river and gets paid off in two places, one of which is the 2s.

Ritchie turns over pocket 7’s and the 2s shows a black 4 and says, “Straight!” and then throws his other card face down into the muck.

Ritchie wins the pot of the century in an $8-$16. Hey, he should know by now that K-K is never any good when he has it! 🙂

*****
This post is done by Chanzes – during the time period that I took a break from posting in the Diary.

A lot of dealers are players. The general rule of thumb is that a playing dealer is a better dealer because they know what it’s like to sit on the other side of the table and understand the game and read hands much faster and accurately than a non-playing dealer.

Some poker rooms are non-playing rooms…none of the room employees can play there. Other rooms are playing rooms and there are good reasons for both. The upside is a playing dealer will help fill games when the room is quiet. The downside is a playing dealer may get out of line and end up running players out of the game.

Upon occasion a player has a little tiz when a playing dealer check raises them and/or beats them in a hand. Their thought traces this thread: I tip them when they deal to me. I’m never tipping them again. I’m a customer, why are they trying to beat me. They have a huge advantage over me since they know how everyone plays.

Other players love to see playing dealers in their game. Some of them state that their dream game is nine white shirts and an open seat. Dealers are touted to be the worst players in the world. They see so much ram and jam action, and bad hands and bad play winning the pots, that they believe they are going to sit right down and run over the game. Even back up and run over it again.

A few players that end up busted go to work as dealers. They usually become/are playing dealers just doing temporary time until they get back on their feet and can QUIT!

While it’s true that a lot of playing dealers play poorly, it’s also true that a lot of them are very good players with great people skills and card sense and are attributes to any game.

It’s quite startling to see Attila the Hun seated in a $4-$8 Holdem game in a player’s chair, chips in hand, and a jacket over a white shirt with a name tag peeking out that reads ‘Allegra’. Yes, Attila is a poker dealer named Allegra.

Attila does everything that’s a taboo in poker etiquette and attitude.

· She flashes her hand to players on each side of her, even if they have cards, because she wants them to know she raised with A-K and the Flop was 9-4-2.

· She tells a player – in a multi-way action pot – what she has and ruins every one else’s action.

· She folds an hour before the action gets to her when she’s taken a beat.

· She stomps away with the comment, “I’m taking a walk,” after she tells the dealer, “You’re killing me.”

· She keeps a list of dealers that she will stiff and even tells them that they are on her list. There were five on it a few months ago, who knows how many now?

· When a dealer walks up to her table, that she didn’t win with on her last play, she says, “Stay away. I don’t want to play while you deal.”

· She speaks four or five different languages and talks to players in the game that are involved in the hand, in a foreign language.

· She rolls her eyes and flashes her cards, then folds.

The truly amazing part of it is that she sits in the seat that takes the heat when she’s not on the EO/Play list. She hates to put up with players that have any kind of negative attitude and she’s especially resentful of a ‘stiff’ as she calls them. Her behavior is even worse than that of a bad tempered player because she knows better. When she loses, she always mentions it to the dealer/s that dealt to her, as if trying to make them mourn her losses.

People sometimes ask to transfer to the game she’s in by stating they want to move to Allegra’s game, not the Table Number of the game. Forgot to mention that she plays any two, from any position, for any amount…Woo Hoo!

*****
This post is done by Chanzes – during the time period that I took a break from posting in the Diary.

There’s some major happenings going on with two of our favorite Graveyard Supervisors, Bruce and Paul. Word out right now is that they are suspended pending investigation. Does not sound good at all and this is not good for poker, the room, them, or any of us. Sadness and long faces are showing here…

~~~~

Bellagio is moving into the future by trying the ‘shuffle master’. It’s already in use in a test phase at The Mirage, or so the word is out. It will be in a test phase at Bellagio also within the next few weeks. They will be placed first on tables 1, 29, and 30, or something in that order to test it in high limit, 7 Card Stud, and Holdem. Whether it will be the ‘in thing’ or not remains to be seen.

One dealer retorted that now the players could throw the cards at the machine when they got beat instead of throwing them at the dealer. My thought is that if the dealer is an idiot and not paying attention, no shuffle master should take the heat for a dealer error. Aw…come on. I’m talking about the TV watching, talk too much in the box, bad attitude type of dealer.

~~~~

For any and all Omaha 8 or Better players, the $20-$40 game now plays with $10 chips, and a 1/2 Kill. It’s a Time Game with a charge of $5 per player, every half hour. The locals are a bunch of wing nuts. They tiz and fret and snort and rag each other until Hell wouldn’t have it. They verbally kick each other into a wild frenzy, stir it all up with a bunch of loco weed, shotgun it, and start over again. Never let it be said that anyone, anywhere in the world can keep up with them when it comes to insults and taunts to each other. Those guys…

There were a few new faces at the table tonight but the locals were trying to run them out. It usually works quite well…they normally end up playing against each other around 2 or 3 a.m.

~~~~

Word right now is that the room will be 28 tables, instead of 30, for the Bellagio Five-Star World Poker Classic. The other two tables, plus 12 more will be set up right outside the room, for a total of 42 tables. We’re getting ready to host an event that we hope will knock your socks off and bring you back for more. C U There!

*****
This post is done by Chanzes – during the time period that I took a break from posting in the Diary.