It all started with Annie Duke’s alleged negative views on WOE’s. Women poker players all over the place took a stand and there are some pretty good arguments out there. In general, there seem to be two viewpoints, on one side you get the women who argue that we (women) were fighting for equal rights so long, and given that all things are supposed to be equal, there is no need for segregation at the poker table. They also argue that male poker players are not superior to women poker players, and that we should not be treated like second class poker citizens. And I agree with all that.
But – on the other side we have the group that argue that WOE’s are necessary for beginners to get their feet wet, for women who like the socializing at the poker table and so forth. And that makes sense too.
I see the validity of both sides, however, when I actually sat down and thought about it, I realized that I play ladies only tournaments because of the fact that more beginners are playing those, and the games seem softer and they are easier to beat. Don’t misunderstand me, there are definitely really great players in WOE’s, but they are easy to spot and I can adjust my play accordingly when they are in a hand.
I was also wondering – where do beginner male players ‘get their feet wet’? Why do we (women) need a special place for that, especially if we want the guys to respect us as poker players, isn’t it kind of an acknowledgement that beginner women players are not ready to play with ‘real’ poker players, but beginner men are? Aren’t we just adding fuel to the fire when it comes to the thinking pattern of the old school male poker player? (You know - the kind who believes women are supposed to be in the kitchen in front of the stove, not at the kitchen table playing poker with the men)
If it’s about the social aspect, then I fully support the idea of membership-only tournaments. Because that takes out the ‘women only’ idea, because for the same price it can be a ‘red-head only’ tournament, if you don’t fit the requirements of the membership, then go find or start your own group. (Though I don’t think a ‘bald-head only’ tournament should be allowed, the glare might be too much for the cameras *grin*)
I don’t play WOE’s so much for socializing and I seek out the company of women poker players because I found that strong female players are so much better than their male counterparts, and I learn a lot from them. Probably because we don’t have testosterone-driven ego’s we need to feed constantly and we are able to channel that energy differently, where it really matters.
Now let’s get Hillary to be president. Or Oprah. Or Annette_15.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
So long, Sahara!
Two nights ago, I was playing in the 7pm Sahara tournament. A lady at the table announced that she was there to write a poker room review for LIPS and/or some online site. The men at the table didn’t really care; they were just glad she was there and brought the girls out for the night too. Women at the table didn’t seem to care, we were just wondering how long it would take before the casino AC is going to get the better of those two babies. (Was around 15 minutes before she brought out the sweater, much to the disappointment of the googled-eyed guy sitting next to her).
Anyway – the lack of playable hands gave me time to judge the room myself, and after evaluating all the things important to me, as a player, I realized that I don’t like the Sahara poker room at all. I can’t wait to read the formal review – now I wish I listened more carefully in order to know where to find it – to see what her view on the room was and how it compares to mine.
By my standards, the room has only two things going for it – free sandwiches and a decent tournament structure. First I thought it was just me, so I’ve put it to the test. I went to play there during various stages of emotional state – I went when I was happy without a care in the world, I went when I was mad at my husband, went before, during and after PMS, went when I was tired and grumpy, and even combinations of all the above. The results were the same. Sandwiches and tourneys were good, but not good enough to make up for all the things I didn’t like about the room.
The room itself – uncomfortable chairs and too many tables cramped in the space, getting out of your seat requires a two week notice to everyone around you and meetings have to be held to determine the most sufficient way to get out of your chair without knocking over chips and drinks or bumping into players behind you. The only thing you can be sure of is that you wouldn’t be bumping into, is the cocktail waitress, because she is rarely there.
This brings me to the second point – the cocktail service. First, I have nothing against the casino hiring older (and I mean older) ladies as cocktail waitresses, but please don’t make them dress the part. There’s nothing worse than seeing a 40+ year-old cocktail waitress having to flaunt all her saggy parts wearing a dress meant for somebody much younger. Please don’t misunderstand, once again, I have nothing against those saggy thingies, I have a couple myself, but I believe they should be kept out of public and safely tucked away in some of Victoria’s Secrets.
Also, hire MORE, please – you’re lucky if you get more than two drinks for the duration of the tournament. I walked over to my husband’s table – actually I maneuvered my way there, it wasn’t as easy as just walking over – and first thing he said was “I ordered my drink when the tournament started, by the time I got it, the blinds have gone up”. Now, he doesn’t even drink alcohol; imagine how frustrated the beer drinkers get!
Now the part that annoys me the most. First, let me say that I’ve met three of the Sahara dealers when we were in Mesquite, and I really like them, and I am happy to say I exclude them from the following comments.
• dealers chewing gum while dealing
• female dealers wearing so much make-up I almost thought I missed a couple of months and Halloween has arrived
• female dealers flirting blatantly and heavily with apparently regular male customers
• all three points above combined
• sitting at the table seconds before the tournament to start, the dealer’s cell phone rang. Imagine that. THEN SHE GOT UP, TOOK A COUPLE OF STEPS AWAY FROM THE TABLE AND ANSWERED THE PHONE. How nice of her to have the courtesy to not pick up the phone at the table. She came back, one of the players asked – ‘Did you just get out of the box to answer your phone?’. Her reply ‘Yes, but it wasn’t important, just my daughter’. While his jaw(and mine)dropped to floor, her phone rang again…..rinse and repeat
• dealers being rude to each other in front of customers
• dealers being rude to players
• dealers discussing their private lives with players (in great detail)
• dealers discussing player’s hands and plays when the hand is over (guess we should be happy they waited until the hand is over)
Next thing, the location of the room is such that the difference in temperature between the front and the back of the room differs probably around 10 degrees. In one area you’re freezing, in the other area you’re sweating like a pig. Not really the poker room’s fault, but it does add to the negative image I have.
Adding up all those factors, I decided that I won’t make an effort to play at Sahara anymore. Granted, they probably won’t miss their portion of my meager $62 a week tourney entry, but truth be told – I won’t be missing them either.
Anyway – the lack of playable hands gave me time to judge the room myself, and after evaluating all the things important to me, as a player, I realized that I don’t like the Sahara poker room at all. I can’t wait to read the formal review – now I wish I listened more carefully in order to know where to find it – to see what her view on the room was and how it compares to mine.
By my standards, the room has only two things going for it – free sandwiches and a decent tournament structure. First I thought it was just me, so I’ve put it to the test. I went to play there during various stages of emotional state – I went when I was happy without a care in the world, I went when I was mad at my husband, went before, during and after PMS, went when I was tired and grumpy, and even combinations of all the above. The results were the same. Sandwiches and tourneys were good, but not good enough to make up for all the things I didn’t like about the room.
The room itself – uncomfortable chairs and too many tables cramped in the space, getting out of your seat requires a two week notice to everyone around you and meetings have to be held to determine the most sufficient way to get out of your chair without knocking over chips and drinks or bumping into players behind you. The only thing you can be sure of is that you wouldn’t be bumping into, is the cocktail waitress, because she is rarely there.
This brings me to the second point – the cocktail service. First, I have nothing against the casino hiring older (and I mean older) ladies as cocktail waitresses, but please don’t make them dress the part. There’s nothing worse than seeing a 40+ year-old cocktail waitress having to flaunt all her saggy parts wearing a dress meant for somebody much younger. Please don’t misunderstand, once again, I have nothing against those saggy thingies, I have a couple myself, but I believe they should be kept out of public and safely tucked away in some of Victoria’s Secrets.
Also, hire MORE, please – you’re lucky if you get more than two drinks for the duration of the tournament. I walked over to my husband’s table – actually I maneuvered my way there, it wasn’t as easy as just walking over – and first thing he said was “I ordered my drink when the tournament started, by the time I got it, the blinds have gone up”. Now, he doesn’t even drink alcohol; imagine how frustrated the beer drinkers get!
Now the part that annoys me the most. First, let me say that I’ve met three of the Sahara dealers when we were in Mesquite, and I really like them, and I am happy to say I exclude them from the following comments.
• dealers chewing gum while dealing
• female dealers wearing so much make-up I almost thought I missed a couple of months and Halloween has arrived
• female dealers flirting blatantly and heavily with apparently regular male customers
• all three points above combined
• sitting at the table seconds before the tournament to start, the dealer’s cell phone rang. Imagine that. THEN SHE GOT UP, TOOK A COUPLE OF STEPS AWAY FROM THE TABLE AND ANSWERED THE PHONE. How nice of her to have the courtesy to not pick up the phone at the table. She came back, one of the players asked – ‘Did you just get out of the box to answer your phone?’. Her reply ‘Yes, but it wasn’t important, just my daughter’. While his jaw(and mine)dropped to floor, her phone rang again…..rinse and repeat
• dealers being rude to each other in front of customers
• dealers being rude to players
• dealers discussing their private lives with players (in great detail)
• dealers discussing player’s hands and plays when the hand is over (guess we should be happy they waited until the hand is over)
Next thing, the location of the room is such that the difference in temperature between the front and the back of the room differs probably around 10 degrees. In one area you’re freezing, in the other area you’re sweating like a pig. Not really the poker room’s fault, but it does add to the negative image I have.
Adding up all those factors, I decided that I won’t make an effort to play at Sahara anymore. Granted, they probably won’t miss their portion of my meager $62 a week tourney entry, but truth be told – I won’t be missing them either.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Tournaments galore
This last week or so I played in a couple of live tournaments – first one being Caesar’s 7pm with a buy-in of $150. Nothing of interest happened there, only thing that bothered me (apart from busting out before the first break), was two guys to my left who didn’t like me raising their blinds. I don’t know if I have such obvious tells or if they were just dedicated blind-defenders, but every time I raised from the button with a mediocre hand, one of them would re-raise over the top – unfortunately I didn’t stay long enough to figure them out, and I lacked the aggressiveness needed to play back at them at the time to get the info immediately.
Second tourney was Friday night at Treasure Island. Thirty-three players and I played pretty well and got to the final table with medium stack. Two big stacks on my right, two smaller stacks on left, perfect actually. There was a constant battle between the two groups, I didn’t know when to make a move so I just sat back and let them do their thing. Which resulted in the blinds and antes dwindling down my stack and soon enough I found myself next to short-stack with 5 players left.
With 9-10 of diamonds in the BB, everyone folded to big stack SB who made a standard raise, so I pushed. He called with Q-7o and got a Q on the flop, my hand didn’t improve and I was out in 5th place. Payout was up to 6th place, so I was in the money!
(In the meantime, Richard was playing NL at Venetian where the poker gods were smiling down on him, he flopped back-to-back sets with pocket 10’s and were doing really well.)
I took my winnings from Treasure Island and went to play at Sahara. Now there’s a tournament I've never been able to make it further than 3 tables left, and it’s bothering me. I needed to get to the final table. (Turned out it wasn’t going to be that night either). Had a couple of UK players at my table, at least I got to make fun of them because SOUTH AFRICA SLAUGHTERED ENGLAND in the Rugby world cup the day before. Also had a biker-dude with an attitude busted by a mousey-looking girl with a diamond in her nose who firmly believed in the power of AK. I didn’t get the diamond in the nose - judging by her overall appearance, she was no fashionista, haven’t heard of make-up or the beauty of L’Oreal #27, why bother prettying up the nose then? Maybe she lost a bet.
Anyway – she took a bunch of my chips on a 6-6-J-2 board, I had pocket 2’s, she was going to town with her A-6, and of course, with the luck of the nose-diamond, the river brought an Ace and her boat’s bigger than mine…. Arrrrrrrr (it was Pirate Day yesterday - if you didn’t know). From there on I was hanging on by a thread for a couple of hands until someone helped me out of my misery. Highlight of the night was definitely the free sandwich the casino provided.
Monday night back to Treasure Island for the ladies tourney. Fourteen players and I managed to get a bunch of chips thanks to big draws coming in, and I was destined to win the darn thing (I’m running out of spa certificates, I needed to win). My big stack didn’t last long ( I really should study short-handed tournament strategy, I suck at this), and before long there were 3 of us left – in the money – and we were pretty even stacked. The other two were friends, and I knew I was going to be their main target, so I suggested a 3-way chop. Nope, they wanted to play. Surprise, surprise.
So one or two hands later, I got AQ in the SB. UTG folded, I raised 3x BB, girl thought about it for quite a bit, and called with a painful look. I put her on a baby Ace and felt pretty good when the flop came Ace high. I figure she’ll bet the flop if she has an Ace, so I checked. She checked behind. Now I’m confused. Turn is a 7 and I bet. She called. River is a 8, I pushed, she apologized and called – she had 7-8 and caught two pair on the river. Still think I made the right play to maximize my profit off that hand, she just got lucky on the river.
Of course as soon as I went out, they chopped. Go figure. I talked to them afterwards though and they turned out to be really nice and apologizing for chopping the moment I went out and explained that they were friends and on vacation, etc. I didn’t really mind, I probably would have done the same thing if it was me.
Next tourney, Caesar’s Ladies Tourney Tuesday night. Here’s where I won the Dazed Donut (thanks, Liz!) award. I got there, signed up and since it was only 6pm, I figured I’ll go wander around the casino until the tourney starts at 7pm. At 6:45 I aimed for my seat just to notice two tables full of women with play in full swing. DUH! The Ladies tourney started at 6pm, I was thinking about the nightly tournament which normally starts at 7pm.
So, I sat down, already one of the short stacks at the table and feeling like a complete idiot. Luckily it was a very passive table and I picked up a couple of pots to put me back to even.
I played REALLY well and built my chip stack to almost chip leader at my table. I have to admit, I still have no clue how to play players which look at every Ace as a winner, if it comes with a big card, they raise, regardless of position or prior action, if it comes with a rag, they’ll just call. Folding an Ace doesn’t seem like an option. Oh well, at least most of the time it’s easy to figure out where you’re at in the hand.
I made one mistake – thought she raised with two big cards and my pocket 6’s were good, and I built a pretty nice pot for her pocket 10’s. Lost more than half my stack there, but managed to get it back with a push when I have top pair and open-ended and same woman called with straight draw and my top pair held up.
I was in pretty good shape when final table started, unfortunately I had two big stacks to my left, one of them very tight, the other either folding or going all-in with decent hands, so I had to be very careful about getting creative.
Four people left – payout is up to third – and with second to short stack, I was definitely competing for the bubble position.
Next hand the short stack went all in with QQ, and got called by AA. GREAT – now the Aces can knock out the short stack and I can get in the money. Alas – a Q hits the flop, the Aces didn’t improve and now I am the short stack.
Very next hand it’s my turn for QQ. I pushed and got called by the girl who just doubled up, holding K-10. Flop is 10-10—x, turn a blank, and to add insult to injury, a K hits on the river and I’m out. I was SO disappointed; I worked so hard to work my way back and then bubbled out. But oh well, I’ve managed the art of accepting poker results like you wouldn’t believe, an hour later I was over it and went home and won a online Razz tournament just to feel like a winner again!
Second tourney was Friday night at Treasure Island. Thirty-three players and I played pretty well and got to the final table with medium stack. Two big stacks on my right, two smaller stacks on left, perfect actually. There was a constant battle between the two groups, I didn’t know when to make a move so I just sat back and let them do their thing. Which resulted in the blinds and antes dwindling down my stack and soon enough I found myself next to short-stack with 5 players left.
With 9-10 of diamonds in the BB, everyone folded to big stack SB who made a standard raise, so I pushed. He called with Q-7o and got a Q on the flop, my hand didn’t improve and I was out in 5th place. Payout was up to 6th place, so I was in the money!
(In the meantime, Richard was playing NL at Venetian where the poker gods were smiling down on him, he flopped back-to-back sets with pocket 10’s and were doing really well.)
I took my winnings from Treasure Island and went to play at Sahara. Now there’s a tournament I've never been able to make it further than 3 tables left, and it’s bothering me. I needed to get to the final table. (Turned out it wasn’t going to be that night either). Had a couple of UK players at my table, at least I got to make fun of them because SOUTH AFRICA SLAUGHTERED ENGLAND in the Rugby world cup the day before. Also had a biker-dude with an attitude busted by a mousey-looking girl with a diamond in her nose who firmly believed in the power of AK. I didn’t get the diamond in the nose - judging by her overall appearance, she was no fashionista, haven’t heard of make-up or the beauty of L’Oreal #27, why bother prettying up the nose then? Maybe she lost a bet.
Anyway – she took a bunch of my chips on a 6-6-J-2 board, I had pocket 2’s, she was going to town with her A-6, and of course, with the luck of the nose-diamond, the river brought an Ace and her boat’s bigger than mine…. Arrrrrrrr (it was Pirate Day yesterday - if you didn’t know). From there on I was hanging on by a thread for a couple of hands until someone helped me out of my misery. Highlight of the night was definitely the free sandwich the casino provided.
Monday night back to Treasure Island for the ladies tourney. Fourteen players and I managed to get a bunch of chips thanks to big draws coming in, and I was destined to win the darn thing (I’m running out of spa certificates, I needed to win). My big stack didn’t last long ( I really should study short-handed tournament strategy, I suck at this), and before long there were 3 of us left – in the money – and we were pretty even stacked. The other two were friends, and I knew I was going to be their main target, so I suggested a 3-way chop. Nope, they wanted to play. Surprise, surprise.
So one or two hands later, I got AQ in the SB. UTG folded, I raised 3x BB, girl thought about it for quite a bit, and called with a painful look. I put her on a baby Ace and felt pretty good when the flop came Ace high. I figure she’ll bet the flop if she has an Ace, so I checked. She checked behind. Now I’m confused. Turn is a 7 and I bet. She called. River is a 8, I pushed, she apologized and called – she had 7-8 and caught two pair on the river. Still think I made the right play to maximize my profit off that hand, she just got lucky on the river.
Of course as soon as I went out, they chopped. Go figure. I talked to them afterwards though and they turned out to be really nice and apologizing for chopping the moment I went out and explained that they were friends and on vacation, etc. I didn’t really mind, I probably would have done the same thing if it was me.
Next tourney, Caesar’s Ladies Tourney Tuesday night. Here’s where I won the Dazed Donut (thanks, Liz!) award. I got there, signed up and since it was only 6pm, I figured I’ll go wander around the casino until the tourney starts at 7pm. At 6:45 I aimed for my seat just to notice two tables full of women with play in full swing. DUH! The Ladies tourney started at 6pm, I was thinking about the nightly tournament which normally starts at 7pm.
So, I sat down, already one of the short stacks at the table and feeling like a complete idiot. Luckily it was a very passive table and I picked up a couple of pots to put me back to even.
I played REALLY well and built my chip stack to almost chip leader at my table. I have to admit, I still have no clue how to play players which look at every Ace as a winner, if it comes with a big card, they raise, regardless of position or prior action, if it comes with a rag, they’ll just call. Folding an Ace doesn’t seem like an option. Oh well, at least most of the time it’s easy to figure out where you’re at in the hand.
I made one mistake – thought she raised with two big cards and my pocket 6’s were good, and I built a pretty nice pot for her pocket 10’s. Lost more than half my stack there, but managed to get it back with a push when I have top pair and open-ended and same woman called with straight draw and my top pair held up.
I was in pretty good shape when final table started, unfortunately I had two big stacks to my left, one of them very tight, the other either folding or going all-in with decent hands, so I had to be very careful about getting creative.
Four people left – payout is up to third – and with second to short stack, I was definitely competing for the bubble position.
Next hand the short stack went all in with QQ, and got called by AA. GREAT – now the Aces can knock out the short stack and I can get in the money. Alas – a Q hits the flop, the Aces didn’t improve and now I am the short stack.
Very next hand it’s my turn for QQ. I pushed and got called by the girl who just doubled up, holding K-10. Flop is 10-10—x, turn a blank, and to add insult to injury, a K hits on the river and I’m out. I was SO disappointed; I worked so hard to work my way back and then bubbled out. But oh well, I’ve managed the art of accepting poker results like you wouldn’t believe, an hour later I was over it and went home and won a online Razz tournament just to feel like a winner again!
Monday, September 10, 2007
It's Mesquite!
Two weekends ago, Richard and I packed all the white shirts and black pants we could find and headed to Mesquite to deal at the Oasis’s bi-annual (I think) weekend of poker tournaments.
While admiring a lovely green golf course to the right, we almost missed both exits to the little town. Fortunately just past the golf course, there was a huge sign that said: OASIS and we figured that must be it, a traditional oasis (even in Nevada) would probably not have helpful signs for thirsty travelers.
Before I get to the dealing part, let me quickly tell you about Mesquite. The town’s slogan seems to be “It’s Mesquite!”. Now, I am not sure if they feel they have to announce it given the size of the town, or maybe they didn’t have anything else to say, I’m not sure, but it’s on ads, on tv commercials and on souvenirs, everything yells “It’s Mesquite’. So if you ever plan to get so drunk that you don’t know where you are, don’t go to Mesquite, because everything tells you “IT’S MESQUITE!”
At least it cleared up one mystery for me – I know now where all the Orleans players are bussed in from! IT’S MESQUITE!!
Ok, let me cover the shortest poker dealing career in history. On Friday night we had to deal the first tournament. Now to say I was not nervous, was probably like saying Zimbabwe is not in trouble. Or that South Africa is going to win the RWC this year (KIDDING, I have hope!!!) Let me tell you, I think the last time I was that nervous, was when I realize I’m nine months pregnant and there is only one way to get the little monster out!! (Love ya, Clarese!!!) If only there was an epidural available this time.
So, add the combination of ceiling fans, sticky cards, tables that either let the cards stay right in front of you or slide all the way to under the rail, with my unbridled fear and nervousness, and you have a recipe for disaster. I was concentrating so hard not to make mistakes and to keep control of the game, that I made the mistake that got me ‘labeled’. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed one of the grumpy old men called the floor over, whispered something in his ear. I assumed he wasn’t asking him out on a date, and when the floor said ‘Ok, I’ll say something about it”, I definitely knew he wasn’t.
After the first down it went better, I didn’t make any major mistakes, couple of things that were easy to fix with no repercussions. THEN, after a couple of tournament downs I get more relaxed and actually started to enjoy it, then they put me down at a dead spread where an Omaha H/L live game was going to start. That was the point I was starting to pray to every god ever known to man or animal. I prayed that I was going to get pushed before the game started, but alas. All the gods out there teamed up and 5 min before I got pushed, I had to start the game. Now, if you know poker players, that’s one thing, OMAHA players - they are a different breed. (I think they should get their own planet, by the way). Now, when all is well, being a poker player, when I look at the flop, I can almost immediately tell you what the nuts are (also helps that I normally get beat by those, so I picked up on that pretty quick). Fortunately for this Omaha game, I had only time to deal two hands – and that was a good thing, because I looked at the cards, and I saw nothing. NOTHING. They didn’t make sense at all. Hearts, spades, Ace, King, - all looked the same to me. Ek het nie geweet of dit Dinsdag of Dingaansdag is nie. I guess the players smelled my fear and both times they announced their winning hands and I just made sure to push the pot to the one who made the winning noises and not the guy saying ‘Damn River!’.
So, Friday was much better, I made one big mistake (which may I add, most poker dealers make at some point or another), where I burned and turned too early and cost a player a huge pot which he had no problem pointing out to me. After work on Friday night, I was informed that players complained that I was ‘too slow’. OK, I know I was no lightning bolt on Friday, but give me a break, I play poker and I see dealers almost every day, I knew I wasn’t that slow. But – as in business, in poker the customer is always right. So, I was now labeled as the ‘slow dealer’.
I woke up Saturday morning and decide that’s it. I hate failing and I hate quitting, but I didn’t think this was fixable, especially with the tag team tournament coming up where half of the game is Omaha. Being nervous already, as well as labeled, there is no way with my limited experience, that I will ever be comfortable enough to deal Omaha, so I semi-resigned. I talked to the people in charge and told them that I was ok with not dealing at all. Unfortunately they still needed me, and I had to work on Saturday, both tournaments. I think the floor guy Saturday night missed the discussion and didn’t realize that I was supposed to suck, because even whey I TRIED to go home, I was routed back into the line-up. I stayed and dealt the tournament until only 3 tables where left (out of the original 16 or so). Now if I was THAT bad, why didn’t he send me home and kept one of the other dealers? I just realized I am a little disturbed by how this panned out. One thing is for sure, I’m done dealing. And I’m ok with that.
Sunday I didn’t even go in for work (Omaha alert!) and on Sunday night I played in the tournament. Made it to 29 out of 135 people, got unlucky when I pushed with pocket 99’s, got called by 9-10c, and he managed to suck out a straight on the river. Oh well. That’s poker. We’ve all been there, more than once probably.
Monday morning I *tried* not to work, but still got a couple of tournament downs and one live – which was fun. At that point, I was pretty comfortable with the players, the cards, the rake and not nervous at all anymore. And I also knew by then that I wasn’t that slow. My career as a dealer can RIP.
The fun thing about that weekend was that the same players played in every tournament (there are only SO many people in Mesquite), and we got to know most of them quite well. I have met some really lovely people and I definitely plan to go back there. As a player, not a dealer, of course.
After all, IT’S MESQUITE!
While admiring a lovely green golf course to the right, we almost missed both exits to the little town. Fortunately just past the golf course, there was a huge sign that said: OASIS and we figured that must be it, a traditional oasis (even in Nevada) would probably not have helpful signs for thirsty travelers.
Before I get to the dealing part, let me quickly tell you about Mesquite. The town’s slogan seems to be “It’s Mesquite!”. Now, I am not sure if they feel they have to announce it given the size of the town, or maybe they didn’t have anything else to say, I’m not sure, but it’s on ads, on tv commercials and on souvenirs, everything yells “It’s Mesquite’. So if you ever plan to get so drunk that you don’t know where you are, don’t go to Mesquite, because everything tells you “IT’S MESQUITE!”
At least it cleared up one mystery for me – I know now where all the Orleans players are bussed in from! IT’S MESQUITE!!
Ok, let me cover the shortest poker dealing career in history. On Friday night we had to deal the first tournament. Now to say I was not nervous, was probably like saying Zimbabwe is not in trouble. Or that South Africa is going to win the RWC this year (KIDDING, I have hope!!!) Let me tell you, I think the last time I was that nervous, was when I realize I’m nine months pregnant and there is only one way to get the little monster out!! (Love ya, Clarese!!!) If only there was an epidural available this time.
So, add the combination of ceiling fans, sticky cards, tables that either let the cards stay right in front of you or slide all the way to under the rail, with my unbridled fear and nervousness, and you have a recipe for disaster. I was concentrating so hard not to make mistakes and to keep control of the game, that I made the mistake that got me ‘labeled’. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed one of the grumpy old men called the floor over, whispered something in his ear. I assumed he wasn’t asking him out on a date, and when the floor said ‘Ok, I’ll say something about it”, I definitely knew he wasn’t.
After the first down it went better, I didn’t make any major mistakes, couple of things that were easy to fix with no repercussions. THEN, after a couple of tournament downs I get more relaxed and actually started to enjoy it, then they put me down at a dead spread where an Omaha H/L live game was going to start. That was the point I was starting to pray to every god ever known to man or animal. I prayed that I was going to get pushed before the game started, but alas. All the gods out there teamed up and 5 min before I got pushed, I had to start the game. Now, if you know poker players, that’s one thing, OMAHA players - they are a different breed. (I think they should get their own planet, by the way). Now, when all is well, being a poker player, when I look at the flop, I can almost immediately tell you what the nuts are (also helps that I normally get beat by those, so I picked up on that pretty quick). Fortunately for this Omaha game, I had only time to deal two hands – and that was a good thing, because I looked at the cards, and I saw nothing. NOTHING. They didn’t make sense at all. Hearts, spades, Ace, King, - all looked the same to me. Ek het nie geweet of dit Dinsdag of Dingaansdag is nie. I guess the players smelled my fear and both times they announced their winning hands and I just made sure to push the pot to the one who made the winning noises and not the guy saying ‘Damn River!’.
So, Friday was much better, I made one big mistake (which may I add, most poker dealers make at some point or another), where I burned and turned too early and cost a player a huge pot which he had no problem pointing out to me. After work on Friday night, I was informed that players complained that I was ‘too slow’. OK, I know I was no lightning bolt on Friday, but give me a break, I play poker and I see dealers almost every day, I knew I wasn’t that slow. But – as in business, in poker the customer is always right. So, I was now labeled as the ‘slow dealer’.
I woke up Saturday morning and decide that’s it. I hate failing and I hate quitting, but I didn’t think this was fixable, especially with the tag team tournament coming up where half of the game is Omaha. Being nervous already, as well as labeled, there is no way with my limited experience, that I will ever be comfortable enough to deal Omaha, so I semi-resigned. I talked to the people in charge and told them that I was ok with not dealing at all. Unfortunately they still needed me, and I had to work on Saturday, both tournaments. I think the floor guy Saturday night missed the discussion and didn’t realize that I was supposed to suck, because even whey I TRIED to go home, I was routed back into the line-up. I stayed and dealt the tournament until only 3 tables where left (out of the original 16 or so). Now if I was THAT bad, why didn’t he send me home and kept one of the other dealers? I just realized I am a little disturbed by how this panned out. One thing is for sure, I’m done dealing. And I’m ok with that.
Sunday I didn’t even go in for work (Omaha alert!) and on Sunday night I played in the tournament. Made it to 29 out of 135 people, got unlucky when I pushed with pocket 99’s, got called by 9-10c, and he managed to suck out a straight on the river. Oh well. That’s poker. We’ve all been there, more than once probably.
Monday morning I *tried* not to work, but still got a couple of tournament downs and one live – which was fun. At that point, I was pretty comfortable with the players, the cards, the rake and not nervous at all anymore. And I also knew by then that I wasn’t that slow. My career as a dealer can RIP.
The fun thing about that weekend was that the same players played in every tournament (there are only SO many people in Mesquite), and we got to know most of them quite well. I have met some really lovely people and I definitely plan to go back there. As a player, not a dealer, of course.
After all, IT’S MESQUITE!
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