deardealer

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!

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…

Over twenty years have passed since I encountered the physco at Lake Elsinore. I took a job dealing in San Diego and told the crazy story to a couple of dealers. One dealer tells me “Oh I know him, that was Bill. He was a killer and a woman hater. He used to play here. Last I heard, he was back in prison”. Whoa I’m so glad he wasn’t in prison for killing me!
My best friend was murdered in Las Vegas and was a beautiful girl who was only 29 years old. I went on a week-end trip and when I returned home, I saw her story in the local newspaper. This was Vegas so the real details were not given. I was her roommate and was never even questioned. Her boyfriend went to the police and got the gory details. He found out that her body was covered in cigarette burns as she was obviously tortured. I still cry if I think about it too much. There was no mention of her $10,000 ring that was missing. Many years later I ran in to a card player, Fred “Horseface” Stanton,who told me that he knew who did it. If it really was the two guys he fingered, then I say thank God they are both dead now!

I was dealing Lo-Ball @ The Sahara Dunes in Lake Elsinore, California, during my entire pregnancy. On about the eighth month I get a crazy lunatic in my game. The man is 5 ft. at best with a long scar across his entire face. He is about 60 yrs. old with long grey hair and beard. He looked like he could be related to Charles Manson. So this little mutt is cursing at a whisper and to the players on either side of him. I could see one of our regular customers becoming annoyed and worried. The first mf word to come out of his mouth that I could distinguish got him a warning from me. I told him that I didn’t know where he played before but you cannot speak that way in this club. He gave me the stink eye and tried to put a curse on me! I said “If you pipe up again, I’ll have to call the floorman over, buddy”. I figured that I needed a little male back up at that point. He quieted down a little But the next evening he was there again. Same senario only this time I gave the shift boss a heads up on the “Grim Reaper”. The security waited behind him to escort him out but stood by idley while he threatened me. He told me that he was going home to get his shotgun and come back to blow my head off. Turns out he had murdered a woman in San Diego and was just released from prison. Win some lose some.

Yes, you read it right, I said killers! I have dealt to 5 killers during my dealing history and that is only what I am aware of. I mean murders that were comitted by intention and premeditation, not a drug overdose. The Hustlers, etc., are what people think of when they think of card rooms. I mean card rooms NOT casino’s. When people gamble often or above their means they sometimes get desperate. When desperation sets in, anything can happen! This means that someone is looking for money and will do things that are normally against their grain or moral fiber. I see a somewhat desperate time for Americans and the same applies in life as in the poker game. Crime happens when the need for money arises and it comes in many forms…even murder. During the next several blogs I plan to share with you the circumstances of these horrific crimes. A book was passed around the casino about a murder. When I asked about it they put me on the list to read. This story was of a man we dealt to every weekend and tells every detail in his murder investigation and how it was botched. Another was a roommate of mine, who was only 29 years old. Card rooms have been looked down upon by the public since the beggining. Some of these attitudes are pertinent. Working in it every week tends to make me look beyond the sickness. Now that t.v. has glorified the world of playing cards, i see alot of desperation in our futures and this includes you. You will be affected by this somewhere in your future. The younger generation thinks that it is all fun and games. After all it is on t.v. and it is a game Heck, you can even play on-line for free. What harm could that cause? Right? Teach your children well.

Although i have many opinions and ideas from what i see at the tables everyday, i do also have stories. When i started out in Vegas there were no women poker dealers. I have elaborated on this subject in past posts. The times were very different and part of the reason was the Internet. I was only 20 when i started to deal at The Alladin but is was easy to change your dates or lie about employment and become whoever you wanted. At that time you couldn’t be checked out as easily or did The Human Resource Department really even dig in. At that time the casinos did not really run the card rooms. The card rooms were leased at that time so investigations were only made by the card room managers. Johnny Moss was mine, and he was the first to hire women in Las Vegas. Now you may walk into any card room in the world and possibly see more women dealing poker than men. Of course, when you look at the tables , you will see more men playing that women. But we are out there and in the games so men BEWARE. Playing like a girl doesn’t mean what it used to.

Is there a game called “Bad Beat Poker”? NO, but it sure seems like it some nights. A bad beat is when a player draws out on a percentage hand. Some players think that if they have pocket Aces, anything that beats them is a bad beat. Many things have changed in Hold-em with tournaments and universal structure and many rulings that are a little different from the original game. One thing is the same BAD BEATS! You are going to get them if you play cards. Certain players that seem to beat you all the time, give you reason to sit back and analyze this situation. Is he playing better kickers than you or does he just seem to be hold over you? Simple, stay out of his way unless you are not gambling on the hand at all. Bad beats will surface during the course of your play, you just have to know this. When it does happen just suck it up and go on with the next hand. If you cannot then take a walk and if that doesn’t cool you off, then take a hike. Come back another day, there really is a such thing as running bad. Recognizing this is one thing acting on it is another. Be mature and show a little class, this is how you will be remembered!

It may seemed far fetched BUT gambling takes the place of sex for many. Believe me I know this is TRUE. My own mother who used to be a Lo-Ball player, would say “I would rather play cards then have sex”! The rush and adrenalin flow pulses through your body when you win a big pot, or when you bluff and are waiting to see if you are going to get a call or not. It is the feeling, the HOOK, that gets your addiction started. Anyone that has played for any length of time knows what I mean. My point is: Don’t fall into the trap. Don’t stay too long. Don’t forget where you are and know you are in another state of consciousness. This is why time passes so quickly when you are gambling. Ask yourself if you came for the fun or came to win money. The average person, of course would like to win money BUT really came there for the fun of it. The rush is the reason we play. It can be a very expensive rush that has to be fed often. So sit down and have a heart to heart talk with yourself and find a way to controll the need of the rush. According to The Associated Press, 4-4-08 : Money & Sex trigger the same brain area. Which also shows that sexy pictures make a man gamble even more. Maybe you should just be having more SEX!