deardealer

So much has changed so much has not. Players still whine and blame the dealer. These are usually players with no class or too much ego (false). A smart dealer will only look a player in the eyes when receiving a tip. Some players will never be looked at. The new kids on the block who play poker now are the biggest babies. This attitude that everything should be for me and right now isn’t happening in the poker world. I hear players say people are idiot and moron all the time. Some of these people are professionals but just don’t know all the poker lingo and moves because they were spending their time in college learning something useful. Most players think that they are the smartest players at the table. Remember kid, they are thinking like you too. The old timers that play poker are thought about just like that. We may be old sonny, but we have had more time to experience the hands that you haven’t had BEAT yet. Act like you’ve been here before, Matt!

My favorite poker rag, “Poker Pro” printed a very interesting article this month. It told of the tax deductions of the final table of WSOP 2008 that finished in 2009. The differences in the deductions were amazing. The United States collected 56% of the American winners or 7 million dollars. The Russians have a flat rate tax of 13%, BUT GET THIS, in Denmark the tax agency called SKAT. Any casino gambling money earned can be taxed up to 75%. That would mean the winner of the WSOP, Peter Eastgate, may have to pay $6.6 million of his $9.1 million grand prize.

Oh, to have such problems! It is very important to know the guaranteed amount or number of players you are up against for the amount of money you can win. Some events add money and some don’t have enough players to make the prize money worth your while after taxes. Some tournaments have an overlay which means they are giving more prize money than they’re taking in. This happens in cases of grand openings or promotions or some failed attempts at big turnouts, but it does happen. Chose your tournaments wisely and know that you will not win every one but even if you win 1 in 15, that could be a great payday. My partner and I used to cash 1 out of 6 BUT the fields were smaller than. Doyle Brunson and all the other big names have been out there year after year but more often in the days of old. the days of smaller feilds. In the beggining there was 11… players not tables!

In a time of downsizing and recession, maybe we should use our heads to think outside the box. Sometimes we have to use unconventional thinking in depressed times. If you have lost your and cannot live well without it then you need to spend your energies going to a place that everyone else did not go when they got laid off.. Start a website, have a garage sale, take in laundry or type or correct papers for teachers, etc. Something that you would think is for someone else may just get you by. Not that you will make the paycheck that you are used to or that any of these things can become careers BUT you will be doing something. Networking and talking to other people everyday even if you’re doing it on the Internet, brings offers and ideas. At the very least you will have your mind off your pain. In the past you needed to do everything for yourself but NOW you need help. You would be surprised what I’ve found surfing the web. My husband lost his job last week and it was devastating. You get a surreal feeling like when someone close to you dies. We are a little behind in bills even with the loss of just one week. We did have 2 incomes and now we don’t. The first thing we did after we got drunk was make up a budget. We tried to eliminate all the things that we spent money on that we didn’t really need. We both worked so we ate out a lot and we do not now. I cook and he cleans and also works in the yard now. I want to spend this time regrouping and putting the very important things on top. We have our health and the love of our family. Things happen and not always how we would like it. Life and the world is constantly changing and we have to be resilient enough to bounce back from diversities. This new year we are downsizing our lives and getting rid of things that we don’t really need or love. Eating at home and caring for our dry cleaning ourselves has already saved us over $200 this week. A penny saved is a penny earned and where there is a will there is a way.. All these corny sayings that my grandmother had are all coming back to me now. So, take a breath and wipe the tears from your eyes. We have so much that we take it for granted. Sometimes are life is in a rut and it is advantageous to make a change. Everything happens for a reason.

Readers will have a hard time believing this one. Several years ago we moved from San Jose to Phoenix, Az. I was playing in a $100 buy-in L Hold-em tourney at “Casino Arizona” in Scottsdale. There was a very large man sitting to my left and playing very snug. He raised preflop with 9-9 and then two players called in front of me. I called with A-K off. I check the flop with no help and he bets with two callers behind, one of which is all in. I call with my big slick and then a J comes on the turn. Knowing that I want to call a bet with 2 overs (short stack), I just bet out hoping the guy on my left puts me on a J. With two players behind him, he lays down his hand. I have to show my hand to the all in player and I win. The 9-9 player goes ballistic. The next round puts him in the big blind and me in the small. I raise him all in and knock him out of the game. He gets up and kicks the chair into my arm really hard before he walks out of the door. The players are amazed and the dealer asks if I am alright. It hurts a little and as the hour progresses, it becomes numb.

I get knocked out of the tourney about a half hour later and go to security to file a report. They asked why I didn’t go to them immediately. Hey, I still had chips and it was a pretty big money tourney. They called their ambulance and then questioned weather or not I could just have my husband drive me. We tried to cooperate and I went to the emergency room at The Mayo Clinic. The nurse took my statement about my injury and said, “You should have come here by ambulance. It would have helped your case and you would be seen sooner”. I was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff in my left shoulder. I couldn’t even get my hospital bill paid by The Casino Arizona. I sent them all the documentation and they sent me a letter of apology. Not needed, just take my hospital bill out of petty cash. Nope the wonderful American Indian gaming industry of Arizona didn’t think it was an issue for them. It was their property but they are not bound by the same laws of the state as a non Indian casino would be. They are not subject to the laws of the city or state. They have their own law and my injury just wasn’t covered by it. Many stories like this will never be read in any publication because it is just not good politics. My politics are just that of a law biding American citizen.

The only publication that I have read about cheating and real stories no matter how politially correct is my favorite, “Poker Pro”. This blog and that magazine are the homes of true grit. We choose to exercise our freedom of speech because after all what do we really have but free speech and the choices we make!

.jpg’>In this country of convenience and instant gratification, we have just about everything AND we have it quickly and easily. We have power at our fingertips with the Internet and most things are easy come easy go. We can throw away our dishes and disposable diapers and cameras. The things that were free now come with a price tag. We now pay for water to drink and good TV. isn’t available without a cable payment. We have fought the good fight for so many things in this country. We value our freedom and the rights we have just because we are Americans and we were born here. We are now finding out that it is not the advantage that it used to be. People in other countries are coming here taking advantage of every loop hole and free meal on the backs of the taxpayers that is YOU & ME. That is if you’re lucky enough to still be employed. In this age of the new millennium so many things are still in the dark ages. There is still much predjudice and discrimination of all types. Of course this is illeagal BUT you know that people have lost their jobs for all sorts of illeagal reasons, race, age,gender,color and everything in between.
Just as poker is just like life, it is no different here. What club is not going to prefer a beautiful young girl who can do the job and doubles as eye candy, over an old man with over 3 decades of experience. The answer is: not too many. The truth is we are all disposable Americans. Now what is the country to do with this discarded group of people whose population is growing day by day. The other question is “What will these people be doing to/for our world?”

Gardena was known as the Los Angeles Gambling Capitol until the big clubs like The Commerce, The Bicycle and Hawaiian Gardens sprung up. There were no dealers, just the players dealing at the table and it was awful. There was plenty of cheating and rock tight games. Some players were so old they could hardly keep from exposing every card. In 1981 I was dealing Pan at The Rainbow Club in Gardena. Then jackpot hold-em came on the scene in Los Angeles County. I changed departments the first day hold-em arrived. Most of the players were not too happy about this change and the arrival of the jackpot which cost an extra $1 drop. I soon became dealer manager amongst a crew of hard nosed floormen who didn’t want to see women in management. I moved on to The Commerce Club upon its opening. You wouldn’t believe the cheating going on there the first year. I tried to enforce a uniform deal when I was promoted to manager. The big boys on top were getting their feathers ruffled with me there. Mr. Ross sent me to Dick Bisbine’s office, who was the new Casino Manager, to discuss my salary options. Instead, DICK says “Honey you’re doing a fine job but I think a man would get more respect”. I took it upstairs to Human Resources and I was asked to not repeat what the moron said because this was not the old days. You cannot discriminate in this manner. H.R. assured me that the new G.M. wasn’t to verbalize his reasons in such a blatent way. I had 4 positions in three months. The new owners were quick to see that this was nothing like the coffee business, which they knew much more about. Harvey gave me a sabbatical and said to take some time to relax with my family. After a few months managemant changed again and I was invited back. Fred, my new boss inforned me that I was to deal poker with no further chance of advancing. As herstory now shows, I did outlast Fred and did advance in management. It was just a merry-go-round that I wanted off of. When I left the floor the jackpots were hitting in record numbers. The owners, Harvey Ross and Herb Stern finally made a clean sweep of the culprits. I couldn’t wait until they opened their eyes and I moved on to The Bicycle Club working for the egomaniac George Hardy. He liked seeing his name in print so much that they named their special “The Hardy Burger”. The Commerce Club is now the biggest in L.A. It’s hard to believe that it was 25 years ago when it began. It is a factory but you will have a choice of many games. I guess with these big card rooms and the Internet gambling, poker is not the intimate game that it used to be. It has more of a circus style now! It’s no wonder that so many tournaments have been held in tents. Bring in the clowns…

If this works then we should just be getting happier. Every year we live we hear “Happy New Year ” at the begining of each one. If we listen to all the good wishes every year then we should grow happier and happier. In a perfect world anyway. Was my New Years happy? I could say that I had to work New Years eve and New Years day or that I had my worst nights ever at work. But I choose to say that I had my health and that I saw all my children during the holiday season. I could say that two of my kids are not speaking to each other nor did they see me Christmas day. I would rather think that they are well and I love them no matter what. I thank God for the ability to still work and that I even have a job. Is your glass half full? I thought for so many years that my glass had a hole in it. I just read that John Travolta’s 16 yr. old son just died and right before their eyes. I cannot think of a more horrible way to enter the new year. Sometimes we just think about ourselves and don’t feel the big picture that is all around us. We are just a speck and should always value our lives and the ones we love. I have friends and family who love me. I sleep in a warm bed and eat when I am hungry(& even when I’m not). Some of our brothers and sisters in the world are not as fortunate. I take this moment to wish every reader a Happy Happy New Year and hope life gets better and better for you. Life will happen and change will come and the only thing we have in life is choice so choose wisely and be happy.

When you gamble, do you really want to win? Do you get mad when you lose and just bet more? Do you get drunk, so that you don’t have to think about it? When you go to Vegas do you say “I have x amount to lose”? Does that sound like a person with an attitude to win? They say that gamblers really want to lose. I know most expect to lose but WANT to lose? As the next year progresses try and keep your attitude positive. Don’t say that you have money to lose, you may as well say that you have money to burn. Go in with an attitude that your money is being invested. Maybe not a sound investment but if you play poker it is somewhat of a calculated risk. Gamble with a plan and try hard to stick to it. Don’t bring your ATM card with you. If you lose your money, go home and come back another day. There most certainly is a luck factor and when you are running bad, there is nothing you can do. Vegas was built on the theory that people put a limit on their wins but will lose anything they can get their hands on. Limit the wins and not the loses, makes you a broke gambler.

Sorry that i’ve been away for so long, and I’m sure you don’t want to know why.
So I guess I owe you a good one. As you may know my favorite poker magazine is “Poker Pro” for many reasons. Let’s say they cut to the chase. The stories are real, the facts are right on and the bio of different players at the end is interesting. “Poker Pro” has a staff of young intelligent people who have everything but the old stories. They go to the old timers for those so everything is complete. Other poker rags have stories from a bunch of old players that ARE the staff.

Last month they ran a story about Puggy Pearson that was so unbelievable even for someone who knew him. I wouldn’t put anything past this totaly rude and nasty player. But this particular story was totaly outlandish. I had heard the part where a dealer threw all of Puggy’s chips into the showroom line, near the pit. He had three racks of black chips, $30,000, that were scattered on the casino floor. The dealer felt she could take no more. The new and unbelievable part was when she came back and hit him in the head with her shoe heel. While the floormen where holding Puggy to keep him from killing her, she turned around and took off her high heels and struck him in his bald head, SEVERAL TIMES. Where is this woman? I want to give her a reward. In fact I know many dealers who would chip in.

I called my good friend and source “Starman” who was dealing at the time. Was this story really true? I know it was in print but that doesn’t mean it is true, does it? Starman’s answer was that it was all true. It all happened at The Dunes Hotel and Casino. Why not? I do remember when Shoeshine Nick took a whizz in front of the casino in valet parking lot. That was better than when he peed on Polly at The Alladin Hotel & Casino right at the table. Yes, things have certainly changed. If this happened now these people would be locked up. This is what the dealers had to put up with. Well you wanted to be a poker dealer. Yes. and I wanted to be first. For more details on this story go to the Jan. issue of Poker Pro. Better yet, subscribe and see my article next month.

Act like you’ve been here before. We have heard this before but what doeds it really mean? It means show some class and don’t act like an idiot. don’t act like it is the first time you’ve won a big pot. or the first time that you’ve won a tournament, even if it is. Class is not a prerequisite of a poker player. How do you want ot be remembered? The Phil Helmouth type or the Phil Ivey type? Both Phils are very different and the bad guy probably induces more poker conversation, that is true. But who do you really respect. The loudmouth who thinks he is the best and the only one who is supposed to win each time. Self controll is a seldom used word in the card room. If self controll really was practiced then there would be no customers. Most players don’t even want to win although it would be NICE. They just want to play and be in action. The action is the exciting part or else more people would cash out as a winner. There are only a handfull of players in any given club who are truley there to win. The game isn’t as much fun when you come to get the money. Drawing out on the best hand or beating the best player seems to be the agenda for most. So think about what you are doing at the table and then do it. Acting like an ass when you lose a pot or screaming at the dealer just puts a target on your head because you have a tilt TELL. If you play for pleasure then manage your money and just loses what you came with. Do not go to the ATM because you will feel stupid tommarow. if you don’t get in too deep then you can always get even next time. The casinos will still be there. When i lived in Vegas I was always in a hurry to go out and play, I had something pushing me all the time. I should have chilled a little more and picked my games. Advice is hard to take if you are a compulsive player. Slow down & think first, just a little.