Bellagio Event #3 finished today. The bad/sad news is that Bellagio has changed their guaranteed tournament pay out. The guarantee is now strictly for 1st place. I find this to be sad and embarrassing.

I’ve heard and read comments from people that think it’s funny that Bellagio was forced to fade the $55,000 guarantee on this tournament. I really wonder what those same people would think if all the casinos closed their poker rooms because the room lost money and it was more cost effective to have slot machines instead of green felt in the same space. For all of you dunces that think a poker room is supposed to lose money, read this please. You certainly would not continue to operate a business that lost money so why would a casino?

On the events of the poker room tonight: I started in $1-$5 7 Card Stud and moved to $8-$16 Holdem. The game was better than lively, it was a screamer. Mass action and lots of raises. At one point, a player jokingly said, “Misdeal.”

I said, “I wonder if that’s what happens when we die at a young age. Our life was a misdeal and everyone/thing is called back and we have to start over.”

Several players looked at me with a startled expression and a few others took off with, ‘do you believe in reincarnation, karma, etc.?’ To which my answer is, “Yes.”

*****

Linda Resnick died over the last weekend. She played $1-$5 7 Card Stud at the Mirage and at Bellagio. Her mom, Jeanette, plays $8-$16 Holdem and her dad, Bob, plays $4-$8 Holdem at Bellagio. My heart twisted when I heard she was gone. I will miss her spunky little smile and cheerful attitude.

*****

I moved on up to a three handed $400-$800 mixed game with Magic, Frank, and Hamid. Hamid was grumbing, moaning, crying, bleeding all over the cards, the table and mostly himself. At one point he said to me, “Are you enjoying yourself?”

How in the hell could I even qualify an answer to that stupid question. My answer was silence.

My next game was heads up with Mike M. and Minh, playing $400-$800 Omaha 8 or Better. Mike was paying Minh $800 an hour to play against him. Ok, for all of you that don’t get it…Mike feels that he’s got such an edge on Minh that he will easily overcome the $800 and take all of Minh’s dough.

Minh made a back door low/high hand and won the whole pot. Mike looked directly at me and explained, “He plays so Fucking bad that there’s no way I can’t win all of his money.”

Minh spoke only to me when he said, “Yeah, I play so fucking bad, that’s why I’m winning his chips.”

I looked from one to the other as they kept talking to me and I busted out laughing. I said, “You guys are so damn funny.”

Still they kept explaining to me how they knew the other one played so fucking bad and could not win. They like me and I like them. It was an easy down and I couldn’t help but marvel at how they included me like I was a key factor in the game and they still tried to bludgeon each other’s brains out.

Mike won the $5,000 buy-in Omaha 8 or Better event at the WSOP this year and Minh took 9th place in the BIG ONE.

I hit table 6 which was $20-$40 Omaha 8 or Better with a 1/2 Kill. My back is to the rail which borders the Sports Book. I had a French Braid in my hair tonight and while I’m in the middle of a huge pot and lots of action, Kian C. (a high limit player) leaned over the rail and grabbed my braid and began half pulling, half flipping it in the air. I turned around and said, “Stop it!”

He said, “You want me don’t you?”

He’s funny. He can be so charming and then so…()&%$…of course I said, “Yes!”

I went back to dealing the game.

Then it was the good old $150-$300 Razz game. These guys just never give up, 3 of them fought it out through the half hour of my down. Yes, there were arms and feet of dead Razz players sticking out of their mouths.

*****

I heard a rumor that Bellagio would be hosting a $1,000 Buy-In Tournament every Friday night. Starting when? Don’t know. Is it true? Don’t know. The rumor starter said the events would be different games each week.

Also heard a rumor that the monthly tournament would be a guarantee of $100,000 for 1st place, 2nd would get $75, 3rd would get $50, and 4th would get a buffet comp. *Big Grin* No, I did not make that up…someone said it.

YIKES! I’m drinking wine…2 weeks with one beer and one glass of wine, not even on the same day, and now I’m going off the deep end. You know what that means. Hell yes, you do. The ramble is on and so is the wine.

*****

I know all of you think that I’m a cold, heartless, bitch when it comes to a few of the players but the ones that have hit my super doo doo list really deserve it.

Experience is a great teacher. Still, I’m like a child that really wants to believe in the Cinderella Story, the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, and all that wonderful stuff but mankind just keeps beating me in the face with their greed, selfishness, and anger. Yes…I could quit my job and go to the mountains but then what would you, the reader, have to do with your valuable time? And where else can you get this truly human insight into the real game…not just the game as it’s played by Sklansky and Malmuth…but the REAL game?

Lots of people think that I hate Mike D., including Mike D. I do not. I’ve actually started to feel a little sympathy tug for him. He’s barely playing, which means he’s struggling and tonight he was called for $15-$30 Stud. That’s scary for him. I dealt a $30-$60 Holdem game on my last down and he was in the game. I don’t hate him, I just want him to stop throwing cards at me and calling me a ‘piece of shit’ when he loses.

I walked past him the other night and said, “Hello, Mike.” He put his hand out as if he were trailing water in a canoe ride and went on by. Guess it was some sort of ‘hello’. I honestly do try to get along with a lot of players, even if they hate dealers…except J.C. Pearson. I will never give him any consideration as a human because he isn’t one.

*****

I’ve had a lot of people tell me that I should write for a magazine. Truth of the matter is that I don’t want to write for someone that edits me out and sugar coats what’s really going on…I want to tell it like it is…the way it’s played out…the bottom line. You get the picture.

*****

Not only did I deal the $800-$1,600 Mixed Game on table 1, I did not get the $25 tip when time was taken because Cuckoo didn’t want to do that. He wasn’t even in the game when I got there but his chips were.

Flash back to last night…break room…I’m seated with Tung and Thang. Tung had gone through the game with Cuckoo and all the players told Cuckoo when he won the 1st pot that he had to pay time and the $25 to the dealer. Cuckoo literally threw the $25 into the rack. He proceeded to lose the next few hands and kept making comments to Tung about giving him the $25 tip. Ridiculous. Thang and I both told Tung just to chalk it up as a classless idiot that plays high limit.

Soooo….I made $10 out of the game…big $$$ here. But on to the funny parts. I spread a green deck, the game was Deuce to 7, triple draw low. On the 2nd hand dealt, four-way action, raise-raise-raise, Frank, Eli. E., and Magic all managed to point out that some of the backs of the cards were darker green.

Ok. Too much action to worry about it now. It was four-way action, Barry was in the hand also. Ali, in the 1 seat, began pulling the muck towards himself and sorting through it to look for darker cards. I asked him to leave the muck intact because I might have to reshuffle to give the last draw to the players.

Frank in the 5 seat…leaned across the table to me and pointedly stated that we would have brand new cards in the game and that I should tell the supervisor that if more cards came in like this, that they (the players), would call the gambling commission and report this.

Hey. What can I say here? I know that when a bad card is found, it is crushed. I also know that when a player gets mad because they didn’t make a draw or they lost the pot, cards get creased and crushed. I also know that we have substitute cards that are put into decks in place of the destroyed cards. I also know that cards come from the factory, right out of the plastic, with defects and odd colors. So beat me up and knock me out…I refuse to be a carrier pigeon and report old news, so I asked the Brush Person to call the Supervisor so Frank could tell the story to the person that could change it. Obviously I can’t.

Pete came up and listened to Frank…new decks were brought in, right out of the cellophane. Damn it! You Kem Card people should read some of this…you aren’t above reproach here.

Then Magic took off with the ‘they make $2,500 in 24 hours off of this game, we should get brand new decks on every change’.

Yeah, right! First of all, the game normally runs seven handed. $10 per player for each half hour is the time drop. Now…if the game ran 24 hours a day it would be different. And if it ran with 7-8 players all the time, it would be different. But it doesn’t. I’ve often wondered how these mathematical geniuses come up with how much the house makes because all things taken into consideration, the geniuses make their statements on the basis that the game runs with maximum players, 24 hours a day. Not true. If it did, maybe the corporate jerks wouldn’t close down all the poker rooms and roll in the slots.

Well anyway…my next game was $150-$300 Razz. Yes…razz players really do eat their dead.

I did deal a three-handed $1,500-$3,000 Mixed Game later in the night. It was cute because I dealt to Eli E. in this game and had dealt to him in the $800-$1,600 game earlier. I like him and his wife and find them to be refreshing and easy to get along with. Although I’ve had him slam the cards down when he loses and make comments like, ‘she gave me….so I could lose the hand’, he’s never mean or malicious.

*****

One of my last tables for the night was a $1-$5 7 Card Stud game. I told them I had two choices, I could come home and drink some great wine or go out for a jog/walk. A few of them said go for the walk. One of them said walk home and then drink the wine….

Well…I did some upper body work with the total gym and then went out for a 2-3 mile walk and then drank the wine. The hell with poker. Happiness!

David Rabbi was at the first tournament table I dealt. And, true to form, he acted like a jackass. I haven’t dealt to him in quite some time but there’s one thing I’d make book on and I never bet on anything besides a poker hand, I’d bet that for the rest of his life, he’ll always believe that he could have excelled if someone else hadn’t stopped him from doing it. Namely poker dealers…we are the reason that he can’t overcome poker.

David raised, 1 out of the big blind, everyone folded and the Button, Mori, raised. David called. The Flop was A-A-little. David bet – Mori called. The Turn was a middle card. David bet – Mori called. The River was a King. David checked, Mori bet, and David called, mumbling something about A-K.

Mori showed A-K and David zinged his cards into the rack with a sarcastic, “Thank you!” aimed at me.

I ignored it and pushed the pot to Mori.

David muttered and mumbled something about ’10 years’, when in reality I’ve been dealing to him about 12 years and it’s way too long. He’s still a classless, slime trail in the live action and tournament trail of poker.

The next hand found David in the big blind, he went all-in, heads up, and won the pot with A-K, no pair. He didn’t thank me then. What’s up with that?

He was completely 86’d years ago from The Gold Coast Poker Room for shoving a dealer into a wall when she went past him on break. Why would he do that? She’d dealt him off in a tournament – stupid bitch! Didn’t she know who he was and that he’s always supposed to win? There are countless tales of his abuse aimed at dealers over the years. He’s part of the reason that tournaments have ‘sit out’ rules.

Someone else sent him packing about 45 minutes after I left the tournament table…positively had to be the dealer’s fault.

*****

The $1,000 – $2,000 Game was up and running as usual. Color me jaded here but sometimes it’s so hard to gear up to deal these thankless, stress filled games.

Two guys in a $4-$8 Holdem game towards the end of my night kind of refreshed my whole attitude about poker. They didn’t know diddly squat but they are what poker’s all about.

I pushed one of them numerous pots and never got tipped but it hardly mattered. They were in the 2 and 3 seat. I asked the 3 seat to push his bet out because I couldn’t reach his chips and showed them both how to look at their hole cards so they didn’t have to lift them up a foot off the table for a peek. They both exaggeratedly pushed their chips out for me after that.

One of them called down with Jack High, no pair and the 10 seat won the pot with an exclamation, “He didn’t even have a pair.”

Quietly I said, “Don’t remind him, he just wants to play.” Everyone got the picture and play they did.

When I left the game, I walked around behind both of them and scratched their backs for a minute and said, “You guys are doing just fine.”

They both said, “Thanks, Linda. We’re just killing time and want to play.” *big smiles*

I couldn’t agree more. I love people like this. No hang-ups, no headaches, no ego, no bullshit – they just want to play.

It’s hot as hell in Vegas and so is poker, NOT! Bellagio is quiet. The $1,000 – $2,000 crowd is always there though.

Satellites were running for the #3, Limit Holdem Event during the evening.

Although the room is quiet, the games are still strong and easy to deal. There are some pretty big poker jackpots around town right now and as soon as they are hit, we will have most of the action again. After all, we are the best of the best in Las Vegas poker.

*****

I’ve watched some amazing poker hands and play over the years but one hand in particular in a $4-$8 Holdem game still is popping into my thoughts. George, a longtime Mirage/Bellagio player won the hand. He’s poker savvy and plays a lot when he’s in town. He’d won a few hands previous to this one and was one off the button. The pot was raised to him and he came in with 9-4 Clubs. It was 6 way action.

The Flop was 4-3-2 with 2 spades on board, it was bet and raised before it got to George and George raised it. One more raise was taken by the original raiser and five players took the Turn. It was a 9. The original raiser bet, George raised, three callers, the raiser raised, George raised, three callers, and the original raiser got the last raise in. The River was a 4. The bet/raising never slowed down.

Go figure. Two perfect runners gave George a huge pot. He played the hand as if he had X-ray vision and knew exactly what was coming or as if he was on great drugs and wanted to donate all his cash to the poker players of America. I know he wasn’t on drugs….

A friend of mine came into the room on Wednesday night, the 12th – Jon. I was out on a “play” and we visited about life in general, poker, where we used to be and where we are now. Two other people that I really enjoy are here also, Ralph from Florida, he’s promised to hike with me when he comes back in January, and Frederic from the Belgium Consulate in the Congo, he’s the subject of a post in 12/9/2000. Funny how poker explodes into your life and you either stay in it or eventually move on to other things…the best of it is that you make some great friends along the way and they stay with you.

*****

I dealt the $1,000-$2,000 mixed game on Table 2 – one of the games was Deuce to 7, Triple Draw. Normally the game is played seven handed because of the Deuce to 7 game and the 1st player out of the big blind, is dealt out in each hand. Not enough cards. Upon occasion, an exception is made and it’s played eight handed, unless a player/players object. When that happens the 1st two players out of the big blind are dealt out of each hand. When I got into the game, it had just gone eight handed to allow Curtis B. a seat.

I asked if “time” would be taken from the pot or if the winner would pay it. The discussion began about how the dealer normally would get $25 for dealing the game and $70 would go into the “time” drop. Since the game had just gone eight handed, they discussed the fact that “time” would be $80 and the dealer would get $20 instead of $25.

Eli E., a bonus to the game from my standpoint, said, “Linda’s going to object to Curtis getting a seat because it costs her money.”

I started laughing, “You damn right I am. I just got the bad beat.”

John H. came back from a cigarette break and threw me an additional $10, said he didn’t want me to get stiffed. He’s now known as Johnny World. Not a name I gave him, just a handle.

Curtis said, “I’m really glad you guys made it eight handed for me. I’d rather be sitting here stuck, than waiting thinking I could win.”

The whole game was relaxed, fun, and easy to deal although Curtis stepped into the subject of tipping and what he thought the dealers made in most games and how he felt we did better in the bigger games. He mentioned hearing dealers talk about not making any money out of some games.

I said, “The dealers that complain about not making money during a down are usually the ones that aren’t doing their job well all the time.”

He agreed with me. I do not agree with him about the big games and tipping. We make much better money from most $4-$8 Holdem games than we ever do out of a big game – this game happens to be an exception since they initiated the $25 going to the dealer in the “time” pot. But most big games are not good money for a dealer, they are just part of the shift.

*****

I dealt a four handed, $200-$400 Razz game…it was dull and lifeless but they say Razz players eat their dead so that would explain it. A player I haven’t seen in at least five years was in this game, Al. It would be all right with me if I never saw him again too. He’s no bonus.

My next game, unusual in the respect that it was single draw, $200-$400 Blind No Limit, single draw, Deuce to 7 was running short handed. Bob Stupak was in the game and he’s always up and down and in and out. He’s the reason the game would start but he’s also very hard on a game.

*begin tipping follow-up* On the subject of high limit games and tipping, I made $4 from the $200-$400 Razz Game and $2 from the $200-$400 Blind No Limit, Deuce to 7 Game. No, I’m not complaining, just following up with a point from my earlier conversation on Table 2 with Curtis. I had a very good money night due to other games and other players. *end tipping follow-up*

*****

My last game was $1-$5 7 Card Stud, all guys, and five of them were friends. One of the five was watching the game as he had gone broke earlier. It was hysterical. The 4s played off his last $7 in a hand without looking at his cards because he’d picked up nothing to play for an hour. He was really funny. He didn’t look at his cards until the hand was over and he rolled them one at a time…he was open ended for a straight but didn’t make it. His buddy in the 8s won the pot.

Then the 4s started goading the 3s, another buddy, about putting his last $13 into the next hand without looking…they were ready to go for the night. The 4s did and the buddy in the 8s won that pot too. They were all laughing and roaring, I was too. They went home for the night and so did I.

Unfortunately summer’s here, it’s hot, and poker is slow. The WSOP takes its toll on everyone’s spirit, mental and physical stamina, and bankroll and the games quiet down.

It’s nice to go in and be able to hear and visit with some of the regulars/locals. I like most of them. They pay my bills every month and the majority of them are easy to get along with, understand poker, and show up for their job just like I do for mine.

The tournament schedule for Bellagio’s Tournament has changed. (that link changed with the server change and is not available now) The Satellites keep changing as far as buy-in and number of players so if you’re coming in, call the poker room and check to see what’s going on in that area.

*****

I played on shift three nights last week, 2 wins – 1 loss. Visited the Orleans Poker Room on Saturday night for about an hour. I hit there about 1 a.m. and the smokers roll in on graveyard and that is 3 a.m. I gave up after an hour with a small loss. I truly didn’t want to sit through another hour and feel compelled to get my money back and try to breathe the cigarette smoke from a player next to me.

On the 1st of this month, it’s been one year since Bellagio and Mirage went nonsmoking. What a wonderful relief. Saddest part of it is that now I can smell everything, B.O., bad breath, etc.

I’m fading a software problem on my pc and expecting a call from Microsoft Tech this p.m. so…this is it for the day. Back soon.

Even though the room is fairly quiet around 7 p.m. when my shift starts, new games start throughout the night. More middle and low limit games are running right now which never hurts any dealer’s feelings.

Bellagio is starting a weekly tournament beginning July 12, 2002. It’s called ‘Five O’Clock Fridays at Bellagio’.

A recap…the room is quiet but George (the Isle of Crete) is still here. Someone said he bought a house in Vegas. I have a friend that plays Pot Limit Omaha in London all the time and we chat online. My friend told me that George had been playing a lot in London and bought a house there too. All in all, I hope he goes somewhere soon. I dealt to him a few nights ago and he muttered and mumbled at me and gave me the look until the end of my down when I pushed him several large pots but don’t worry, he didn’t give me credit when he won…only when he loses. Good job, George!

Tonight I dealt a three handed game on Table 1, $1,000-$2,000 mixed games with Jennifer, Eli E., and Gustavo AKA Gus, (winner of the First World Poker Tour Tournament hosted by Bellagio). At the very end of my down, Todd B., and Freddie AKA Kassem, (3rd place in the World Poker Tour Tournament), came skipping up from Table 4, where they had been playing with George, and joined the game. They both stated that George told them they were cheating.

Of course they broke the game on Table 4 when they left and George had no choice but to join them later if he wanted to play…and he did. Poor George, being cheated and all that and then having to put up with us bad dealers that deal the cards right off the top of the deck. Hell…what that poor man goes through just to play poker.

*****

A few nights ago I dealt $4-$8 H and the player in the 3s was convinced that everything was my fault. He won a huge pot with a set of Queens and I guess I was ‘OK’ then but I lost my status in the next few hands. He flopped Kings and 4’s with K-4 OFF and lost it because the board paired on the River and the real hand, A-A, won the pot. He did the ‘she put up the God Damned pair and cost me the pot’ over and over as he gestured wildly at me.

It was his small blind and he sat back in his chair, arms folded across his chest, and glared at me. I asked for his small blind and he continued to glare. I said, “Glaring won’t change a thing, it’s still your small blind.”

He said, “I’m not looking at you, I’m looking at him,” as he pointed down the table.

Yeah right, Buddy.

He threw in the $2 and then sat back in his chair again with his cards up against his chips. When the action returned to him, I waited a moment and then asked, “Sir, would you like to call?”

He sat there, resolute in his insanity that I had really put a bad beat on him. The player next to him asked him if he wanted to call. He sat there.
I said, “Please push your cards in if you’re not going to call.”

He flicked them 1/4 of an inch and sat there. The 3,4,7, and 8 are the hardest seats to reach in a Holdem game.

I said, “When I deal, I deliver your cards to you. When you fold, you push them into me.”

I smiled right at him as I said it. In a huff and with exasperation, he pushed them at me.

Still looking at him, I said, “The only one that you’re making look bad here is you, so settle down and play the game.”

He did. Damn, I don’t know why I don’t get paid extra for babysitting and psychology lessons.

My first game was $4-$8 H and Earl was playing in the 9s – although he was walking when I sat down. His chips were in general disarray, as if he’d pulled in a huge pot and just walked off, so when he came back a few minutes later, I looked at him and demanded, “Earl, clean that mess up!”

Everyone laughed.

Earl is a very different poker personality. I’ve never seen him sober so I have no idea what he’s like in that state. He’s funny. He never cries or has a fit when he loses; he just gambles like crazy. I’ve dealt to him in $20-$40 and $3-$6 H at the Mirage and he just never changes. He uses the term “doink”. When he says “doink ’em”, he’s raising. He slows the game down a little because he likes center stage when he plays, but as a dealer, he’s a refreshing treat.

Everyone in this game seemed to enjoy having him there.

He made some comments about women players and a youngster named Damon, tackled him in mid-sentence. Damon told Earl that women should be shown the respect they deserve and should be left alone and allowed to play poker. Damon was cute and stood his ground. Even though Earl tried a quick rebuttal, he couldn’t win. Damon was too quick for him. Everyone at the table laughed at the verbal duel. Damon and Earl ended up going out to the bar to have a drink together.

There were 2 women in the game, Tootsie, a woman I’ve dealt to since Bellagio opened – she was having a lot of fun in this game, and a new found friend, Christine.

About 10 minutes into my down, Christine looked at my name tag and asked, “Are you Linda G.”

I said, “Yes.”

She said, “I know you.”

She reads this page. I got out of the line-up to play after that down so we spent some time visiting…it was great.

We walked over to watch a few minutes of the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic. Impressive, the seating for the audience, the stage, lighting, and the cameras showing the player’s faces and the board cards during the hand. There were three players left when we were there, John, Gus, and Kassem. Kassem took 3rd place while we watched.

Christine’s intelligent, has a very spicy personality, and warmth. Nice addition to the world of poker and my collection of friends.

The BIG event takes place tomorrow – six players battle it out in front of cameras and an audience to claim prize money that includes an entry into a $25,000 buy-in tournament to be hosted by Bellagio next year.

*****

Gus is one of the final six. I love Gus, Gustavo to the rest of the world. He’s the chip leader at the end of day four. I get a huge kick out of Gus and his happy go lucky attitude whenever I deal to him and see him. He’s like an injection of “I don’t give a damn what the rest of the world does, I’m having a hell of a good time”. Everyone should take a double dose of that injection every time it’s offered.

I have to say that out of the final six, there are three of them that I truly treasure. I deal to them on a regular basis and they are fun, witty, always pleasant, and easy to get along with. I wish all six of them the very best. What a great event for poker and what a truly outstanding statement for Bellagio to host the first and the last tournament of the World Poker Tour. *applause*

*****

On the dealer side of the world. Last night George had a vase with flowers in it on the table in front of his chips as he played. Apparently it was a night for Sammy F. and The Devil Fish to duke it out verbally. I missed all of it…heavy sigh of relief.

*****

Tonight I thought I’d die laughing. Carmen raced into the office while I was on a break. She was looking for masking/duct tape. She wanted to help with a bet that had been placed in the George/Sam/Devil Fish game in which Sam had been overly talkative and everyone was tired of it. The bet was that his mouth would be taped and he would be quiet for XXX amount of hours.

After I’d left the room for a few minutes and returned, Carmen said, “Look at Sam.”

I walked up to Table 1 and touched Sam’s arm, he turned around with a piece of slot machine tape sealed across his mouth that read, ‘out of order’.

He pulled one side of it free and said to me, “All the dealers are safe tonight. I’m not saying a word to any of them or I’ll lose the bet.”

He was laughing and so was I. Hysterical…did “out of order” say it all or what?

*****

My night was fairly simple, just deal and move to the next game. The room was much quieter. Looks like summer sizzle and slow games are looming up on the horizon.