Work Sucks, I'm Going Fishin'

Highlights from Today (and last night):

I don’t know why I included last night on the lists of highlights, because there weren’t many. I did go to the corner club for awhile and hung out with Jose, Fernando and some others. It was a good night, but then I couldn’t get to sleep. I did manage to wake up on time.
Dealing to Helen Powers. That is definitely a highlight. She is a popular DJ for KBER radio in SLC.
Eating a McDonald’s double cheeseburger. Two actually, and they even held the onions for me.
Daydreaming. I really came up with some good stuff today. Long days are like that sometimes.

Well, the tournament weekend is finally over. It was a good weekend. Not too many stories to tell, but I made some dough and saw a lot of people that I have dealt with in the past. One thing that is killing me is remembering everyone’s names. I can’t seem to keep up with everyone, and I feel bad about it because they are the people that are really paying me.

I did have a run in with a regular, but I think he was just blowing off some steam. I know I was.

I am excited by the presence of so many women at this weekend’s tournament. I think it will help spread the popularity of the game. I don’t mind the scenery either. One more thing, I think women are better tippers than men. Not the biggest, but consistently the best. I really do appreciate it ladies!

Wow, it’s been incredible outside. I was able to go out in just a t-shirt for the past two days. I can’t wait for this summer; it should be a great one. Barbecues and Parties a-plenty.

I’ve been debating this one for awhile, but I’ll go ahead and write it. Jose clued me in to an important fact of life. If you’re doing something you’re not supposed to be doing and you get caught, try to involve the people who caught you. That way they won’t rat you out, because they’re doing it too. Brilliant advice from a pro. And it really worked too.

J

Saturday is my Friday

I got called in early. Today was cool. Elias dealt the bad beat, and there were lots of players all day. Money was good today. I’m doing the best I can to try and stay home and save $$$.

Our tournament ended early tonight… Everyone was all in pretty quick, and we managed to keep bad hands from sucking out. I never saw as bad of play as I saw today in the tournament. All in on 72o pre flop. Twice. Ridiculous calls with no pair. I wished I was playing, but dealing was just as fun too. I like the day crowd better than the grave crowd. I just wish I could trade personnel too. I miss going out after work with everyone. Maybe Monday night after the WSOP tournament.

J

NASCAR Pictures

Some NASCAR Highlights from last weekend:

Strands of rubber on the ground and flying at my unprotected face. At 200 mph.
$6 beers and no hotdogs. The guy in front of me got the last one.
Patches of personality everywhere.
Redneck marketing at its finest.
The long bus ride there and back. It took us 2 hours to get back to the hotel.
My positive attitude and joyful demeanor through it all.

Enjoy some pictures….

Standing With Some Jack Daniels' finest
Fernando forgot earplugs
The view from my seat

Jimmy Johnson Jenga. I guess he won.

Weird Packaging

I only brought white golf balls....

12:30pm
I just bought some socks and things from Wal Mart, and it wasn’t until I opened the socks that I realized they came in a resealable bag. It had a zip lock at the top. Why the hell do you need a seal for your socks? Cut open the plastic, wash the socks, and put them away. I don’t get it. It wasn’t like it was just there either. Hanes felt it necessary to include it as one of the features printed on the box. Longer Lasting. Now Double Tough Heel and Toe! Resealable Bag. No Shit.
I just finished my first day of quarterly poker tournament. We had the place packed for 12 hours straight. I hope the money is good this time. They make it hard because of the tournament structure. The winner receives $15000 in prize money, consisting of a $10000 World Series of poker buy in and $5000 in cash. Second drops off to $4000 or so, and it pays all the way to twentieth place. I can’t believe how many people wasted $150 on the buy-in. Not too may good players in a field of 180.

5:30pm
Damn. Paulin broke my new callaway driver. Snapped the neck rught off. I played it off like I was cool, but I was pissed. I got over it pretty quick when I started nailing everything my 4 iron on the range. It was still too cold to golf. (see picture). Maybe if I buy new clubs it will warm up…

Going To Bed Early

Fernando Hard at Work
Daily Highlights:

-Winning a $20 sit and go on Absolute Poker. Again.
-Making a killer read on a hand while dealing.
-Making $$$ for the Vegas trip.
-Staying out of the bar for 2 days.

Well, I did go in to the Nugget bar but just to talk to Fernando. I did have 1 beer so as not to be rude. We are on for NASCAR this weekend in Las Vegas. He’s a big fan. I could give two shits in a paper sack for stock cars. But it does sound fun. It is a giant tailgate party after all. Besides, its Vegas and 'Anything Goes Sundays' at Hogs and Heifers. And I havent been to Hooters or Caesars new poker room yet. You better believe thats on the list of things to see this weekend. Look for plenty of pics.

I am loving online poker. I have been playing sit and gos on Absolute Poker. I would say it is a minor success. I haven’t really won anything of substance, but it is fun and I’m not losing. I was itching to play live at Montego Bay last night but I don’t want to risk my trip, or my car. I can’t wait to have wheels again. Walking is fun and everything, but it is still 30 outside at night. Summer isn’t far off. Anyone for a barbecue?

J

Coconut Shrimp at six in the morning

Kamar Playing a Sit n Go On Bodog
Yesterdays Highlights:

Going home and going to sleep.
Breakfast at the gutter.
Kamar winning the tournament without saying a word for 3 hours.

Ok, it wasn’t really breakfast. I had the fisherman’s platter. It was 6 in the morning, so it counts as breakfast. Carlos, Kamar and I were celebrating a good night. It all started early in the shift, when someone found a roll of duct tape up at the front counter. It soon evolved into a bet. We do work in a casino, after all. Jason bet $10 that Kamar couldn’t keep completely silent during the entire tournament. Not only did Kamar win the bet, he won the whole damn tournament. A six – deuce off suit in the blind. Flop came 3 4 5 rainbow, and it was over in a flash. After the last card fell, Kamar let out a yell that filled in the entire 3 hour gap of silence he had left. My boy Paulin came in third. Almost a trifecta, but we still made killer money. A 2-5 game lasted all night too.

I came across a moral dilemma last night; I’d love to get some feedback on this one. Player number one, lets call him ‘Mike’. Mike is shitfaced drunk. Nicest drunk in the world, and pretty controlled. No violent movements, no drool. All the glass around him was still intact. But the dude was hemorrhaging money. He would call until he couldn’t anymore, and the man loved to check raise. He didn’t start it off until halfway through the night, when he pulled it off twice in the same hand and got some fish to pay him off when he showed the nuts. But then he lost it. Check raising with nothing over and over. Everyone caught on real quick, and before long he’s stuck more than I’ve seen anyone get stuck in a 2-5. And he loves it. The most gracious loser you’d ever met. I felt bad and wanted to cut him off, but it was so surreal. I just sat there and watched that train wreck for hours. Is that wrong, and will I go to hell for it? What about just bad karma…. I’d better be good for awhile.

J

Fear and loathing in West Wendover

Just a few highlights from yesterday:

The Family Dollar - My first visit to Wendover's newest store.
Dinner at Trino’s – Mexican food in Wendover is the best.
Watching the Jazz game.
The ingenious invention of the three pointer drinking game.
Trolling for hot babes at Montego Bay.
Playing poker for 3 minutes because the game broke.
Playing darts at the Nugget.
The long overdue visit to Southern Exposure
The long walk to McDonalds after we left Southern Exposure 15 minutes after getting there.
Putting Crumpled McDonalds garbage under Greg’s Explorers drivers’ door handle.
Sleeping…. Wow! My head hurts.

I started the day off well, waking early, playing online and mainly waiting for the clock to pass so I could go to work. I was excited to get back after having 3 days off. I dealt to a game full of Georges and left early after 4 hours with plenty of dough. I met Kamar and Rick after work for some drinks. We were watching the Jazz – Timberwolves game at the sports bar in the Wendover Nugget. I pressed the guys into drinking every time someone made a three pointer. Rick amended the game to include and 1’s as long as the free throw was made. I looked it up today, and the Jazz shot 9 for 16 and the Timberwolves were 8 for 13. Both over 50%. I have no idea what the stats were for free throws after made shots. I do know that we got crazy there.
We all went to Southern Exposure after 2am or so. I have only been there once since moving back, and every time I go there, I have to remind myself that the place sucks on the weekdays since Mitch moved. No more backroom antics in the place. They actually asked me for ID last night. That hasn’t happened in a long time out here. I guess the police are doing a great job here in Wendover, because one of the dancers kept asking me if I had any ‘shit’. Pretty bold or pretty desperate, I'm not sure which. I had to get out of there before I paid $6 for another beer.
I couldn’t get a taxi so we all decided to walk down to the Rainbow. That was the plan until McDonalds came into view. I was pissed that it wasn’t late (early) enough for me to order breakfast, but we ordered anyway, except for Rick. His drunken ass insisted he wanted some ‘real’ food from the café at the Rainbow. We need a real restaurant here….
After a way too short sleep I went to a mandatory meeting on gaming regulations. We had a John Goodman look alike spend two hours teaching us how to thwart terrorism (make sure the government gets their money) by following all the gaming reporting procedures. Thank god for the US government and the Patriot Act helping keep terrorism and evil out of Wendover!

J

Best Line Heard in a Drive Thru This Year

"Gimme a number four with the biggest orange juice you can get and an Egg McMuffin. And we want it to go because we're in the car."



Spoken by my father while getting breakfast yesterday in the voice of that guy on the left (Jim Bruer) in Half Baked.

Sunday Is My Saturday (1st Day Off)

Well, the Sunday tournament didn’t go as well as planned. I was out after playing two hands, the first being a good read that left me crippled and the second a desperation attempt with A-Q off. I did however go home early and play on Bodog for a lot longer than I expected. I was checking all the sites I have cash on (Bodog, PokerStars and Absolute Poker) to see when the soonest scheduled tournament was. Bodog had a $7+1 with a $3500 guarantee, but when I went to the cashier I had only $6 or so. I went to a .10 -.25 no limit table and doubled up real quick with KQ suited, catching a king and a caller of my all in. With 12 bucks to my name I entered the tournament with about three minutes to spare.

I couldn’t lose! For the next two hours, I was DESTROYING everyone. I was the chip leader for most of the time until we got to the money, when everything changed. There were something like 390 players, and it started paying at 36. Once we got there, I couldn’t win. I did manage to hang on for a 16th place finish and $43, but I would have loved that $875 first prize. Next time…

I spent the night last night in SLC with my dad and daughter. Good times, though the Jazz game last night was stressful. The Jazz were up by 20 and almost gave it away. They scored 1 field goal in the fourth quarter. Thank god for Kirilenko, who swatted a couple shots with the game on the line to save the day. I crack up on all the little white kids in Utah who are going to want a Mohawk just like him. Hmm… I wonder if his old lady gets a free pass every year too…

Hearts tonight. I am looking for a big win. If anyone has some good hearts strategy tips, send them along. If they’re good, maybe we’ll split or something. Tuesdays is a long standing tradition for poker dealer hearts games in Wendover. Just two bucks a game and ten cents a point. Worst I’ve seen anyone get hurt for is a hundred or so. I’m lovin' the camera phone, so maybe I’ll post some pics tomorrow.

J

Things to do with $300 when your bored at the table...

Guess What?

I’m Baaaaaack………


Finally, I’m back online and writing again. First, I am no longer VegasPokerDealer. I will now be known as WestWendoverPokerDealer. You see, I had to move back to Wendover for two reasons. First and foremost, I wasn’t being a good father by living 400 miles away from my daughter. Second, I wasn’t making enough dough in Vegas, and pardon my English, but shit in Vegas costs too much. $3 a gallon for gas? C’mon… I thought we were at war for the oil. Someone should tell Bush to make the petrol cheaper. That is the real reason for his 20% approval rating. Oh yeah, and he’s an idiot. But enough about politics. Let’s talk about rent. I had a real nice house in Summerlin, but $2200 for rent, power and cable is a lot, even splitting it 3 ways. So I left and came back to this little desert paradise.

Things have been good here, but I was spoiled in the Vegas poker world. Oh how I miss structured limit games. This spread limit junk is just a holdover from the days of stud, and no one here seems to realize that the rest of the world plays 2-4, 4-8 and 10-20. 2-5 is a horrible game. I have all but sworn it off and started concentrating on tournaments and no limit play.

Biggest news of all- I hit the bad beat for $3500 last Sunday. I had pocket queens, and Marv had pocket 8’s. The flop was 8 A 8, and we caught running aces to make the beat happen. Thank god I was drunk or I would have never played those queens past the flop. Who says that tequila doesn’t impair your judgment?

You can all thank the bad beat for my new laptop. Makes this blog thing easy again.

I have a new hobby of making chip statues or forts or whatever. As soon as I can get my Phone to transfer Pics I’ll post some.

I’m off to play the Sunday 3:00 at the Nugget. $45, no rebuys. I’ll post again after and leave some results.

J