The night from hell, specially prepared by the Card Fairy’s evil cousin, Cardz. Cardz is an abomination that makes sure everything that could go wrong does. Cardz was out and about, running here and there, wreaking havoc at every table I sat down at…why me? I’m still trying to find the answer.

My first game was $40-80 7 Card Stud. New set-up, spread a fresh deck, “Double antes for Time please.” Take time, deal the first hand. As I pull the deck together, Cardz literally snapped a card up out of the deck and it fell on the floor to my left. The player next to me stated, “There’s a card down.”

Like…NO SHIT! I look down to two cards on the floor. Same player asks, “Do you count the deck?”

“Yes!” as I’m counting down to 53 cards. Whoopppppeeeee! I look at Jimmy S. in the 3s and ask, “Did you count those with me?” as he watched my hands. He shook his head no.

I recount, 53 cards. Change the deck and the game goes on, the rack is down $15. Don’t worry, I only hit one table during the night that the rack was right on…all the rest of them were up $20 or down $25 or some such nonsense that just adds extra stress to the art of dealing. Each dealer I pushed never told me the rack was one way or the other…they probably didn’t even count it. I reported the difference to a supervisor each time.

I hit table 19, $30-60 Holdem, announced, “Six for time please,” collected the time, brought in a new set up, the rack was down, reported that, scrambled and as I dealt, Steve in the 8s laughed and made a comment about me being so slow…he’s a ‘friendly’. He then asked me if they piped sound into the card room to make it so noisy that we can’t hear anything.

I replied, “Bose was commissioned to put their dynamic sound system coils all through the room so each sound would be amplified and we’d eventually go crazy with it!” *laughter*

I got through that game and onto $15-30 Holdem. They were ramming and jamming, double clutching and down shifting for the curves as they threw in every chip they could…Jim was in the 9s and having a horrible time. Every time he made a hand in a huge pot, someone else made a bigger hand. I’ve never seen him as frustrated as he was and to top it off, when the next dealer came up behind me, he looked at her and exclaimed, “Get her out of here!”

I was startled by that comment…but that’s poker. The dealer asked me if we were having fun yet. I replied, “I usually do. I can’t have a bad day just because they are playing poker.”

My next game was a doozy. $400-800 mixed. The 3s and I’ve had a few words when I’ve dealt to him on other occasions and tonight was no exception. Everyone else had $100 chips on the table and he had three $5,000 chips. He’d been playing for awhile and it would have been quite easy for him to get a chip change or to get chips from one of the other players but…Cardz must have been snooping this game too and put the bug in the 3s’s ear that I was on the way.

The first hand of Deuce to 7, the 3s and Meng La – 7s, went to war with three bets before the first draw. The only chips in action was the $5,000 and twelve $100 chips in front of Meng La. The 3s instructed me to put his $5,000 chip in front of Meng La.

“Why? Whatever he has in front of him is what plays on the piece!”

I received a grunted, “Ok!”

Meng La won the hand, $3,600 on the piece. The 3s was convinced that he only owed $3,500. Wow! I know my math ain’t what it should be at times but how do you get an odd $100 in a game structure of even bets? It took two other players to convince him.

It ended up being the 3s and Meng La in every hand of Deuce and they were jamming. The final…Meng La won the pot and the 3s owed $2,800 on the piece. I clearly stated, “$2,800 – you have $2,200 coming!” as I started to count out the $100 chips in front of Meng La.

The 3s barked, “Just give all the chips to him.”

I stopped. He continued, “You are trying to give me $1,200.”

I said, “No, I was trying to give you $2,200,” as I pushed all the chips to Meng La and Meng La counted out $2,200.

The 3s snorted, “You’re a liar.”

I looked directly at him with a cold stare and said, “No! I am not a liar.”

He wouldn’t give me eye contact…he took two more hands and left the table in a huff. No one stood in my defense in this game – but why would they. They had him right where they wanted him, stuck and steaming.

My next game was $2-5 blind NLH. LeiLei was in the 2s and a guy she’d gone to dinner with the night before was in the 9s. They carried on a private conversation across the noise and insanity of the table. Everyone was talking – the game was at a standstill and there was no way to move it along. Thanks a lot Cardz…you jerk!

Every game I’ve ever dealt with LeiLei in it is a nightmare. She’s nice and friendly but her breasts proceed her in every thing she does and she makes sure they are the focal point of everyone. The game is at a standstill as she commands the show.

A seat opened. The 10s informed me there was a seat open. I said, “I know. My Brush Person is not at the Podium and until they are, there’s no reason to call it.”

We now have a feeder game that feeds all the other games – it changes all the time…new day, new rule. And we were going to get a player because we were not the ‘feeder game’. One arrived, just as I was finishing the down. He took the 6s. The button was in the 8s. I asked him if he knew what his options were…rather I yelled it because no one could hear anything anyway. He said, “No!”

The 10s informed me he was from a must move game. I replied, “Yes! I know.”

I proceeded to explain that he could come in for free right now or wait one full round for the button to pass him and come in for free.

The 10s informed me, again, that he was from a must move game and didn’t have to post.

My voice got louder, “I didn’t say he had to post. This is not my first day. And I’m trying to explain his options to him.”

Cardz don’t ever drift into the parking lot when I’m on my way home…I’ll wring your silly little neck.

I tried again, with the same statement of coming in for free. The 10s jumped in again, “He doesn’t have to post.”

This time, as I stood up, I yelled, “I didn’t say he had to post.”

I was wondering if I could drop kick the 10s into the casino and do it before anyone could stop me…

I had lost it an hour ago, it just took until now to show up. I hit another $30-$60 game and spread a deck out of the well, turned it face down and found a green card in a brown deck. Frustration to the max, I yelled, “Boba, I need a set-up!”

He came over with the new set-up and told me quietly to watch my tone. He was right! I apologized to him later.

My next game – $80-160 Holdem with a snotty little Asian in the 2s that tried to run over the game with 6 high and when he missed a straight or didn’t make a pair, just couldn’t believe that he hadn’t won a hand with me. Hell…I’ll fall for it. I can’t believe it either.

He too had the $5,000 chip thing going on and once I tried to give him back the wrong change. I apologized to him and the player that won the pot. That wasn’t good enough! He lectured me for five minutes about how I shouldn’t apologize to the other player, I was supposed to apologize to the player that I tried to ‘cheat’ out of the right change. I never said a word because if I had, I might have lost my job…hey…that’s a thought!

The bright spot of the night was that while I was dealing the one and only $4-8 holdem game of my night, my friend, Murph, stopped by for a minute. We visited briefly between the push on 26 and 27. How nice to see a friendly smile in a sea of Cardzs.

The $4-8 was the only low limit game I dealt…it wasn’t much fun either…and yes, the rack was down in that game too.

Some days I wonder if I’m in the right profession…

The end of “Post-poned”. $4,000-$8,000 Omaha 8 or Better and $1,000-2,000 Blind PLO. There were some serious amounts of chips on the table.

Sammy F. – 1s with a sweater…blonde, cleavage to the extreme. They were drinking something wonderfully, tangerined color in long stemmed flutes…frankly I wish they’d bought me one – or even offered. Swear to God, I might have chugged it before my butt hit the dealer’s chair…just kidding!

Phil I. – 3s hidden behind a mountain of chips – as in he had most of them on the table – and he had multiple sweaters…a guy with a good looking chick sitting on his lap.

A full rack of $500 chips sat alone in the 4s.

Minh – 5s doing what he does best, watch everyone else and wait for a hand.

Lyle B. – 7s had a sweater also. A guy I’ve never seen before.

Chip R. – 8s. Chip was the usual Chip, quiet. On the phone for part of the down.

I announced, “Time pot!” spread the new deck, shuffled, and asked Minh if the 4s was a player. He took off in his hard to understand English and said no, then continued for another two or three minutes, speaking to me and the table but looking directly at me as he expressed that I was smart enough to ask, some of the dealers just sat down and dealt the rack in. I nodded and kept dealing as he kept talking.

Sam was totally focused on his sweater and when I told him the action was to him, I had to put my hand on his arm to get his attention. He grabbed his arm and jumped into a fake, “Ouch! You’ve hurt my arm,” as he smiled at me and asked how much he could sue for. Then he demanded, “What game are we playing?”

I laughed. I thought he was kidding. They were only playing two games and we were on the fifth hand of Omaha 8 or Better. I told him. He turned to his sweater and told her I was the only dealer he liked, threw his hand away, and went back to the ‘sweater business’.

The next hand was almost a repeat of the first, Sam demanding to know the game and folding. He and Lyle had a thing going on between them that wasn’t obvious when I first sat down but grew into their own personal game in the middle of the game.

There was some chip passing going on from Phil I. to Lyle, Lyle to Chip, Lyle had a score sheet and a pen in front of him (before you take off with this isn’t allowed in poker room rules, this particular game is a game played by a select few. If they want to pass chips, etc., it affects no one but them because there isn’t a waiting list. They play against each other all the time and know each other better than a lot of married couples know each other).

Sam was playing to his audience. He goaded everyone to throw out the Omaha 8 or Better and just play PLO. His sweater danced to his tune…maybe he was dancing to hers as she agreed with him. When he raised, he exclaimed, “Raisey Daisey!” When he called, he exclaimed, “Calley Molley!”

His sweater repeated his raisey daisey thing on several occasions and I couldn’t help but chuckle. It was quite a show. At one point, Lyle was facing an all-in bet from Sammy, in which Lyle was prodding Sammy if he was playing behind. The discussion took about five minutes and finally Chip had to interject to move the hand along. Sammy and the sweater were agitating Lyle about ‘did he bring more money with him…how embarrassing to run out of money in Vegas…’

I can’t imagine Lyle ever running out of money in a poker game so…

The show went on. Lyle called Sammy’s all-in which was around $40,000 and Sammy won with some freak hand that gave him two pair…like sevens and deuces against Lyle’s A-A-K-?

During one hand, I knew it would happen this way, it was action pre-flop with a raise, and Sammy asked me how much was in the pot. I said, “Hell if I know!” as I counted it out…$35,000. It was the only hand that I didn’t know what was in the pot so I had to be asked how much????

There was so much going on, it was hard to focus on the game. At one point, Sammy was doing the dialogue dance with Lyle and forcing Lyle’s attention to Sammy’s sweater. Sammy even reached behind her back and jiggled/wiggled her bra up and down. Lyle was all ‘eyes’ and so was Lyle’s sweater.

My front row seat ended a few hands later. As I waited for the next dealer to finish the hand at table 3, I turned to Sammy and whispered, “Thanks for saying I’m the only dealer you like.”

Not because I really believe I am but it makes it much easier to survive these downs if you can get along with the players.

He queried, “Oh…you heard me say that?”

His sweater jumped right in with, “He really paid you a great compliment.”

Sammy told me I understood the player’s mind. That’s why he likes me.

Oh God! That’s the side of it that scares me sometimes…I really do.

The promised post…this is how it started. I hit the poker room and got slammed back into the parking lot by all the noise and body heat. It was wall to wall people, sound that never had a beginning or end but kept rising, and poker action.

I had gone into the office, clocked in, and Cuckoo was meandering down the hall way to the office. He stopped to talk to someone and gave me a half assed nod – like he knew me from another time and place but I didn’t place high enough in the gray matter data base to be truly acknowledged. As I was walking out of the office, I asked, “What the hell kind of hello is that?”

He has a devilishly, impish grin when he’s not physcially attached to a seat at the table. “Oh…you want something like this?”

With that, he gave me a hug. I wished him Happy Holidays. Actually I wish he’d win enough money to leave town and never play poker again or that I’d win enough money to leave town so I never had to deal to him again.

As luck would have it, I was starting on Table 1 – right where Cuckoo was holding court. $1,000-2,000 Mixed. David – 1s, Jimmy W – 3s, David O. – 6s, Jeff – 7s, Cuckoo – 8s.

I announced, “Time pot!” pulled the shuffled deck out of the “master”, did a quick once over on the rack which held $1,000 in chips (for big chip break down) instead of the normal $500, cut, and dealt Omaha 8 or Better. The first hand went into action so I broke a $500 chip down and put $50 on the Drop Slot for Time. The hand ended up being three quarters to Jeff and one quarter to David O.

Cuckoo went into a full blown, the Earth is coming up at 1,000 miles an hour, tailspin when I pushed the big chips and gave $75 to Jeff and $75 to David O. Cuckoo tried to take the extra Quarter back from David O. and give it to Jeff. All the while telling me I was wrong because the Dollars stayed in $100’s and weren’t broken down. I told him it was a time pot so it was broken completely down. He argued. I called Carmen. Carmen agreed with me. Jimmy W. agreed with me (not that I need to be agreed with, it’s the house rule). David O. agreed with me.

Cuckoo grabbed the $50 off the drop slot and tried to show Carmen that the whole $100 went to Jeff and David O. only got $50 because the other $50 was in the drop slot. Even though he protested that it was the stupidest fucking rule he’d ever heard, he finally gave it up. The Time was dropped, the hand finished, and the next game was Razz.

The first hand I dealt, it went to heads up with a raise. Fourth Street gave the low hand an Ace of Hearts and a Deuce of Clubs. I called, “Deuce of Clubs.”

Cuckoo went into a thing. “You mean Ace of Hearts.”

The hand ended with a bet from the low hand and as I changed decks and asked for antes, I said, “No. I mean the Deuce of Clubs.”

It was another five minute ordeal in which he told me I was wrong. His version, I was supposed to call the lowest card in the hand to start the action, as in the Ace of Hearts.

The only other thing I said was, “No. I call the high card of the low hand. And I’m going to take back my hug if you don’t watch out.”

As he started to jump on my miscalling the card, the other players set him straight. They flat out told him he was wrong, where had he been, and did he know we were playing Razz? Jeff went so far as to tell him that he owed, “This lady an apology because she was right on top of it…”

Not to worry, I never got the apology but I didn’t care. I just kept dealing.

The conversation moved away to an incident that happened a few days ago with David O. believing he’d made a ‘7’ in Deuce to 7. He’d turned his hand up on the River and stated, “Seven.”

His opponent mucked and the dealer never caught the fact that David had paired. David was asking Jimmy’s opinion on finding an arbitrater because David’s opponent felt (someone/somehow pointed out the fact that David had paired after the hand was over and the pot was pushed) wanted David to give him the amount of the pot.

David didn’t feel that he’d done anything wrong because he honestly believed he’d made the hand. His opponent stared at David’s hand and didn’t see the pair. The dealer didn’t see the pair.

The question kicked around was, “Do you think another player at the table should point out the hand?” and everyone at the table seemed to feel that 90 million people had seen the hand…all except for the opponent and the dealer.

Cuckoo of course had his opinion on the whole deal. It was “the fucking dealer’s fault.” – “The dealers never do their job.” – “They can’t read a hand.” He went on and on about the dealers.

I never got into the middle of that one. I just kept dealing. As far as I can figure, Cuckoo’s Court was out of control and the only reason it ever happens that way is because of the dealer…whether we are doing our job or not. Damn dealers! I’ve always wondered – if we are such horrible people handling all that money that belongs to those great poker players – why don’t they have a private game and deal to themselves and each other? *Snort – choke – ROFL*

My next game was Sammy F.’s table. Post-poned until tomorrow.

Damn it! I came home from work early this a.m., did a brief check on email, hit the bed and drifted off into Sandman Land. Wonderful! Woke up to “YOU CAN’T CONNECT TO THE INTERNET!!!!”

After doing all those little techie things myself, like disconnecting the cable modem from the power supply, network cable, reboot the systems, check the ‘network’ settings and ‘repair the connection’ – blah, blah, blah, I gave up and called Cox. One technician ran me through a set of drills, some of which I’d already done. I was able to log onto a website. Hang up the phone!

Aghhh! Can’t log onto any website. Call Cox. Another technician tried a few other things, long onto several websites, hang up the phone.

What? Can’t log onto any website. Call Cox. Repeat…finally this technician connected me to a ‘higher grade of tech’. We walked through several of the same steps and he concluded that either the operating system was having a problem with the registry and breaking the connection or it might be my network card or it might be my cable modem…AGHHHH!!!!

I jumped past the networking card by connecting my modem through a USB cable. That meant finding the installation disk for the modem etc. Done deal. I’m now able to connect but it took two wasted hours of my precious time and lots of irritation for me. Damn, double damn, triple damn! I hate it when I have a computer problem.

I had a wonderful little run of a post to put up and now it will have to wait until tomorrow because I’m out of time and out of patience…oh yeah and work is waiting.

Check back though, it’s about a little $4,000-8,000 game with superstar Sammy F. Even though most of the dealers wish he’d just get sucked into the cooling system I just can’t help but chuckle over his antics and his personality.

A shorty before I leave for my home away from home, Bellagio’s Poker Room. This is one of the most over used and least understood statements at the poker table, “If no one objects…”

First, if you’re playing at home, objections are usually in strings of expletives and the game is geared for action, action, action…a free for all if you will.

If you’re playing in a casino game, “If no one objects…” means someone is trying to bend the rule in their favor. If a player wants to bend the rule to allow you to pass chips to your losing buddy, or get past the No Short Buy-In Rule, or one of those types of rules that actually protects the game and the players, beware because you are the live one they are trying to keep in the game. If they are trying to pump up the action by adding ‘the rock’ or another push that makes you put more money in the pot, they know they have the best of it and are trying to take advantage of you.

Second, if they throw out the line, “If no one objects…” even though you may object, you don’t want to be singled out as the person that threw a wrench in the gear. Why should you even be put through the mill with that one? The reason behind poker rules in casinos? To protect the game and the players.

Beware of the dude that throws in a wrinkle and when the dealer states it can’t be done, they continue with, “Well…if no one objects…”

If no one objects…I have to leave for work.

Damn it! I object!

Tough, just shup and deal, Linda!

We have 25 tables in the pit this time around. The world of poker was hopping and skipping at Bellagio last night. Yet the night was bizarre from the working standard. I dealt four tables in the main room and spent the rest of the night in the pit area and on break. Literally…break. Deal two tables, take a break, deal two tables, take a break, deal one table, take a break, dealt the final two tables of the tournament and the contestants went to ten, my game was broken to fill the main tournament table. It was 2:05 a.m. and I went home.

I hate those nights. The shift takes forever and there’s literally nothing to do other than hit Mangia (the Help’s Hall) or hang out in the noise.

The upside is that Bob S. from Milwaukee came into town yesterday and we got to spend one of my breaks visiting over coffee/water in the Sport’s Book. He’s a reader here, plays for a living, and easy to visit with. He was playing in the $2-5 blind NLH when I came in. He told me he’d met Mama-mia-Mary and related a story of playing with her. Mary is one of my favorites and the subject of a post back in September. Small world…especially poker. They both knew me and now they know each other.

I heard a rumor from Bill L. while I was dealing $8-16 Holdem in the main room. He said the 25 tables would stay in the pit, the room would be closed for renovation, ten new tables would be added to the room, etc. This is all going to happen at the end of our Tournament. The norm is that players know what is going to happen before the dealers do. He brought up the question: Would Bellagio put the Shuffle Masters in all the tables?

My reply was, “How the hell would I know? I didn’t even know we were going to be closing the room.” We all laughed over that one.

It may or may not be true but it makes sense. Everyone is gearing for the opening of Wynn Las Vegas…apparently so are we.

It would be so sweet to have the Shuffle Masters, new tables that are sized for holdem instead of running holdem at an eight handed stud table, and…God forbid that my thinking it would queer the event…that we might end up with those little push button thingies that we originally started out to have for ‘open seat’, ‘cocktails’, ‘fills’, etc., back five years ago. That would be so SWEET!

*****

I spent the morning in the dentist’s chair, two fillings replaced, woke up with a semi tooth ache around 11:00ish, can’t bite down because one of the fillings is too high so…guess where I’m going tomorrow! But after that…snoozy time and poker, poker, poker. And that’s where I’m headed now…c u there!

I’ve kicked around the ‘whys’ of poker for a lot of years. What brings people to the table, what keeps them coming back to the table, what progression or regression they’ve made with themselves (not necessarily their bankroll), and most importantly…why I’m there. Why I’m there is the key factor because I’m the center of the ‘Poker Tapestry’ in my world.

What motivates me to be there? I’ve held other positions – some run of the mill, regular every day jobs – and had considered becoming a lawyer when I worked for an attorney, years ago, that prompted me to consider progressing from legal secretary to lawyer. My conclusion:

1. A huge part of it started from the money that flows across the table, some of it being sent to my pocket.
2. Playing…the excitement of the game, the energy of everyone around the table.
3. Being part of the family. Yes…there’s a certain unity in poker players that isn’t shared by anyone else in the world. You barely have to say anything for the player next to you to understand where you’re at and where you’re coming from.
4. The dream. To constantly carve out a win or take down the biggest tournaments of all time and have the freedom to play when ever you want and do what ever you want with your time.
5. Mostly – for me – the people experience. Listening. Learning about people through their emotions, conversations, and actions – and in turn – learning more about myself.

Now the world watches everyone play poker. I may be unique in what I perceive at the table – although I’ve talked to other people that share my view – I’m sure that most of the world watching televised poker aren’t picking up half of what’s going on. And on the thread of my perception, I receive occasional comments about my being uncomplimentary in what I write or that I’m not writing if everything is good and I’m not upset. Not true…not true…not true.

I feel my writing portrays what the whole scene is about…in the long and short of it, nothing is glamorous about poker. Someone has to lose for someone else to win. The win and loss is like the rise and fall of the tide. If everyone sat around in neat, little orderly rows, and placed their chips in nice little stacks, and never burped or farted, and were always clean and neat, and calmly said, “Nice hand!” when they lost, and gently slid their cards into the dealer, poker would not be as we know it today. And this is NEVER what happens in a poker game. The game is built on emotion, skill, perception, people. That’s what I write about. The real world of people in poker.

If all the conversations and actions of people in the games were recorded and played back, the world would be shocked that this stuff went on in ‘public’. The world can’t believe that Scott Fischman acted the way he did at the final table or that Phil Laak behaves the way he does or that Phil Helmuth acts the way he does when TV portrays their behavior. Why not? Why would their behavior on TV be any different than their behavior at the poker table in a casino?

The ‘whys’ could go on forever. So let me leave this thread with an exchange I had with Gus – tall, Greek, temperment of a shark in a feeding frenzy – (no, this doesn’t mean I have a problem with him – I get along quite well with him considering he’s got a very dark personality and it shows in the following conversation).

He flits between Holdem and 7 Card Stud but has played mostly Stud lately, $15-30 or $20-40. He always sits in the 4 or 5s and squints a lot when he looks at his cards, takes an hour to look at the board and make his decision, gambles a little too much, and always appears to be unhappy. This particular time, he was running over the game. He had at least three to four racks of $5 chips in front of him and by his relaxed mode and behavior towards his cards, it was easy to see that he was quite happy, although his face never gave up that info.

The player next to Gus lost a couple of hands and was grouching, cards were coming in a little fast, mumbling about the beats he’d taken, etc.

Gus chimed in with, “Shoot the dealer. But use a 38 and not a shotgun, that way she might live through it.”

He thought he was being quite funny and entertaining. I didn’t say a word until he repeated it the third time. Finally I said, “Gus! Knock it off. That’s not even funny.”

He gave me his grim idea of a smile and just acted like it was part of the everyday conversation that everyone in the world goes through. I wasn’t mad. I wasn’t upset.

I do find it strange that people relate to life and their experiences with violent thoughts. Their way of solving a problem is not my way. But that’s poker…a world where everything is outside the lines of everything else we do in life. That’s why I’m still there.

Turkey Day has come and gone and so has another week since my fingers ran over the key board with a post. I’ve thought about posting, every day as a matter of fact, just got lost in the time warp and Jewel Quest. Oh…and the forever yard project…lost in that too. This is really the year that I will get it finished, from the day I planted the first trees, then vines, then more trees, then laid block wall, and a few million other projects, it’s coming around. It started four years ago – a one woman project. Fourteen tons of River Rock hit the street in front of my place last week. That was enough for the front yard…lots more needed for the back yard along with windsor stone, stepping stones, etc.

I ended up with a four day weekend, just like real people. It’s the first time in over 14 years that I’ve had Thanksgiving Day off. Nice! More than nice is the fact that I spent it with some of my family. I never narrow down a day of thanks to one day of the year. 🙂 There are too many wonderful things to appreciate and enjoy to jam them all into one day of giving thanks.

Back in a few with poker, poker, poker.

$2-5 blind NLH – Table 14 – on the 17th, found me with a few seats open and new players on the way. Or old players because they were coming in from another $2-5 game. We usually have three games and two of them are ‘must moves’ into the main game. The player coming into the 6s started unracking chips and put out a Blind – the Button was on his right and he would be right behind the Button at the end of the hand. I asked if he was from another game of the same limit, he said yes and I told him to just wait a hand and he could be dealt in for free.

Max C. was in the 10s. He’s always armed with an ample supply of wit, a cup of coffee, a glass of merlot, and a bottle of water. Max was trying to capture a gnat that kept flitting around his section of green felt and someone made the comment the gnats were attracted to his wine. He said they died when they hit the wine…another reason to stop drinking I suppose. Max used to play only 7 Card Stud but the $2-5 blind NLH has become his new home. Whether or not he does well in it – I would assume he does – he’s there to stay and has filled a little niche that makes him part of the game now.

The game was fun, two frisky kids in the 8 and 9s that were supposed to be going class but were blowing it off for the local poker game, quite a bit of talk and general gambling going on without any pain or agony from anyone.

The 6s made the comment that he’d just put the worst beat on someone in the other game. The other player flopped a straight, the board paired on the Turn, and the 6s hit his pocket pair on the River. He was still shaking his head over it. I said, “Not like it has ever happened to you before, right?”

He said yes it did happen to him all the time, he just wasn’t used to doing it. He stopped and looked at my name tag. This was my introduction to Kram. We finally met in person after reading a ton of his posts on the discussion forum and missing him several other times when he came into town.

Max was in rare form, talking it up, and I introduced him to Kram. Max called him Graham. It took a few minutes of correcting and adding “Mark spelled backwards,” to get it to register with Max.

Kram settled right into the business of playing NLH. He bet into A-K (with a King on board) – heads up – with A-J of Clubs. The A-K never raised him on any street. No…he did not win the pot but he played the hand as if he held A-A. Kram won the next hand, much smaller pot, and sent me a batch of Red Birds. Muchly appreciated. Max made the comment that if tips kept up like that I might break $200 for the night. I just smiled and agreed with him.

My last hand – two players went all-in against Kram. The Flop was out – 5-7-10. They all turned up their hands. Kram had 5-7, one opponent held 9-7, the other had a Q-?. A Queen on the Turn. Kram said something like, “Linda! Holdem, baby.”

Hold they did. He threw me Red and Blue Birds this time as I left the table. I told him I’d check on him on my next break. When I cruised by again, he was getting J-J cracked with a board that was somewhere around 9-8-9-7 by a player holding 8-8. Kram did win the side pot. Ugh! He said he’d lost another big pot earlier by set over set.

I hit another $2-5 blind NLH game on 17. Mark H. was in town and we’d said ‘hello’ the night before when he came in. The 10s was open in this game and they were calling Mark for it. Just when I thought he’d miss the seat, he showed. Said he’d been watching Table 1.

He jumped right into the game and right into the action. He won his first pot and shoved out a batch of Red Chips with, “You’d better write something really happy, Linda.”

Well…OK! It was turning into a ‘red chip’ night and that made me pretty happy, plus I was dealing to people I really enjoyed…I met them through this site. Sweet! He started the Red Bird Train. The guy in the 4s won a pot and threw me two of them. The guy in the 1s won a pot and gave me two of them…love those ‘tip shills’. He even brought up the fact that he started it – I agreed and couldn’t be more thankful.

He was laughing when he told me to write something he could show to his wife. About him and/or his poker play. Here it is – he’s always great to have in a game. I know if someone heckled me in a mean way…or any dealer for that matter…Mark would champion for the dealer and the heckling would stop. He’s never rude or discourteous but he’s a guy…sure I’ve heard him swear…so do the girls at times. I mentioned the fact that he’d always stated what a great wife he had – and he does – and he followed with, “I’m the luckiest man in the world. I did something really wonderful in my last life…(he sort of shuddered with a chuckle here)…and she did something really bad.”

The best of the best…he’s happy, knows it, and shows it. The game went on.

Kram walked by this game and told me goodnight. It looked like it had been an ugly night for him.

*****

The following night, the 18th, I played on shift. Kram had been in an $8-16 game and I talked him into coming to a $4-8 game and playing with me. We both got ran over…literally, they backed up and ran over us again. I met Andy and Will in this game…these two were sitting by me and we visited back and forth while I waited to get kicked off the curb and ran over again.

Kram gave up and I thought he was leaving for the night. When I cashed and left the game about an hour later, I heard, “Linda!” he was in a $2-5 blind NLH game with stacks of chips in front of him. I walked over, he stuffed more Red Birds in my hand and told me, “Thanks for the site.”

I was starting to feel as if I should give him my social security number so he could claim me for a deduction…not that I didn’t appreciate it, I did. I left him with hopes that he would do well in the Fridays at Five Tournament the following day.

I liked his table presence. He has an extremely expressive face but he never gave up anything while he was in a hand. He played each hand as if he had the World’s Fair…whether he was empty handed or not. So…Kram…I would have to say the pleasure was all mine.

Satoshi was playing mixed games last week – $150-$300. He started at The Mirage years ago and only played 7 Card Stud at the time. His visits are few and far between now but he remembers me, mainly because he had a ‘poker connection’ with my son Dan some years ago. He’s always player/dealer friendly to me and just likes to play. When I sat down in the box, he smiled, said hello, and after I dealt the first hand, he threw a green chip and asked for reds. I complied.

When I looked up, he was looking at me and then nodded towards the table. He had the tip system all set up. $5 – $10 – $15 – $20 – $25. I laughed and so did he. No one else got it but that’s ok. I made it to $20 and then he added $30, $35, $40. I got pushed. It was sweet on his part and fun for me, especially since I pushed him a few pots. The norm for me is that if someone threatens me with money, I usually put them on the biggest ‘belmont’ they’ve ever been on. What’s a belmont? A backwards rush.

*****

There’s all kinds of hop skipping, jumping, and twisting sideways over Wynn Las Vegas. Lots of players ready to jump ship and go there to get treated like royalty??? Whatever that means in the poker world.

Lots of employees that are applying there, whether or not they decide to make the move. I wonder why everyone believes that everything is going to be different there. It will be mass confusion for the first year or so, just like all places that open. It takes about a year to iron out all the wrinkles and then it settles right into the same old routine – poker, poker, poker.

Me? I’m sticking with Bellagio.

*****

While dealing a $2-5 blind NLH game last week, a player in my game, looked up at the top section and queried, “Is that Sam Grizzle?”

We replied that it was and he followed with, “I want to go shake his hand for putting Phil Helmuth in his place on TV.”

I’ve never watched that episode but I’ve heard about it a lot of times…but then I get to see Sam in action all the time.

One night last week, he was playing $1,000-2,000 with Lee S., Gus H., and Renee. Sam was in the 1s, Renee in the 7s. They went to war in a hand of 7 Card Stud. Truthfully, I have no idea how the hand started, who was low or who had what, the end of the hand I remember very well. Renee showed nines full of deuces. Sam showed trip Queens and one nine as he shuffled his cards and kept looking at Renee’s cards…shake that up with comment upon comment.

“The case fucking nine. She had to give you a deuce,” more card shuffling, “A fucking deuce…she had to give you a deuce…” repeat, blip, repeat. He threw his cards across the table, mostly into Renee’s hand.

Sam went all in on the next hand and left the table…Lee won the hand and then made the comment that Sam had been on self destruct.

Last night I dealt a $10-20 blind NLH game in which Sam was in the 4s. I can’t help but laugh at his antics and the way he totally believes he is the best player in the world. You have to admire someone that believes in themselves that much…anyway I do. That doesn’t mean I’m always happy to deal to him or that I hold him in high esteem – I just admire the fact that he never stops believing in himself. And he can be pretty damn funny at times.

The game was mass confusion – the dealer before me never had control and I never did either. Troy was in the 3s and threatening to do a fist tattoo on anyone’s face…not sure if he was serious but he looked pretty damned unhappy (which is unusual for him) and for some reason, most of it was aimed at the 1s. The 1s was a complete stranger to me, fairly small build and had a European accent. Everyone was talking, the 5s took forever to look at his hand and make a decision on what he wanted to do, each hand took an hour, and Sam was ‘over talking’ everyone else.

At one point, after the Flop, Sam bet, the 5s raised and went all in with an overly loud, “I’m raising you, Sam, because you never have anything.”

The Board was Ace-face-face, and Sam showed an Ace and folded and filled in all the little cracks in the silence with something like this, “Yeah, I never have anything…”

The 5s showed a Broadway and announced that he showed Sam his cards because he liked Sam and added, “You are pretty hard to like though.”

Sam threw out a startled, “What?”

The 5s, “I like you…but you are pretty hard to like.”

Someone on the left side of the table agreed but it was almost lost in all the conversation and noise going on.

The 8s left. J.C. (not the dreaded J.C.P.) moved from the 2s to the 8s. Another European sat down in the 2s and started talking to the 1s. Troy jumped into the middle of both of them and told them not to talk to each other because he wasn’t going to put up with it. He was really out of character. They took it pretty well. Still if they said anything to each other, even when they were out of a hand, Troy jumped on them.

Two more Europeans walked up behind the 1 and 2s and started visiting. Lets hear it for more noise and confusion because that’s what it was. One of them made the comment that the 2s was the best Backgammon player in the world, then someone else blurted out, “What about Gus Hanson?”

“Oh yeah! Gus Hanson is the best.”

Just like a surgeon with a laser, Sam cut right into the heart of the conversation and everyone went stone silent. Sam stared at the original speaker behind the 1s and declared, “You are looking at the best poker player in the world.”

“What?”

Sam’s gaze never faltered as he continued, “You are looking at the best poker player in the world. I don’t know about all that other stuff.”

The noise and confusion folded around his last word and the game of poker semi/sort of went on.

There you have it…not only do I get to watch him in action, I just dealt to the best poker player in the world.