Tipping...not a city in China

Not too much blogging today 'cause I can hardly move my arms. My husband warned me about going out tubing behind a speed boat, he said I would get beat up. Wasn't so bad, had a lot of fun, BUT...today, not so much! Arms, shoulders, neck, legs, I'm feelin' the pain. Good pain though, lets us know we're alive! Still had enough strength to get ready and go out for some music. Kings of Kalifornia at a local bar, loud and metal... A player at the club I work at said he had a side line singing in a band. Had to check it out. After all a band is not heard without an audience. Over the years dealing poker to, doctors, auto mechanics, lawyers, teachers, dancers, accountants, judges, policemen, fireman, drug dealers, Hall of Fame recipients, pregnant women, widows, students and players of every occupation known to man, I pick my professionals from my mix of patrons. I did however refuse the services of a gynecologist that I dealt to at The Garden City in San Jose. My floor boss Kathy, told me "All of the girls working here go to the Doc". Sorry 'bout that, "All but one". I always find a good car mechanic, after all the guy knows that when he comes in to get lucky, I may be dealing to him. He surely doesn't want any bad JUJU. That is why many players do tip the dealer. They want the dealer smiling on them. The law of attraction, keep your dealer smiling and luck will smile on you. It looks like an easy job but over the years it really breaks you down, mentally, physically and emotionally. They call it dealer burn out. Dealers need to take vacations and breaks as much or more than other jobs or professions. Dealers make minimum wage so we really make the bulk of our income from gratuities. If you regularly tip your dealer you sometimes have an edge over the other players by having the dealer protect you from certain minor things that cost the pot. Be kind to your dealer JUST IN CASE

LUCK BE A LADY TONIGHT

It was a crazy day at the office (poker room). Anyone who never played a hand of poker before could have been lucky. All good players got rivered. the players that were winning played hands that should have been thrown away early. There was a wave of craziness in the cards. It just goes to show me that on any given day the cards could go against you and follow you around wherever u are. It could go on for hours, days or even weeks before the good hands beat the bad ones and you are back in control . If you didn't start out with a big enough bankroll to overcome this black cloud, you may be one of the really lucky ones who prefes not to gamble at all. The luck of the draw as they say is so true. Anyone that tells you that the best player always wins or that poker is all skill, hasn't played enough to have an educated opinion. Luck has a great deal to do with it and I must say that I see how some players seem to have a lucky edge over some of the others. i have been watching players from both sides of the table as a dealer and player, for more than 30 years now. I would say that makes me a bit of an authority when it comes to player watching. When I'm dealing I have no choice but to pay attention to all the players. So pay attention to the full moon & watch out for the lunatics Lady Luck, Lucky Horseshoe, four leaf clover, bamboo, the color red, whatever works for you and keeps you surrounded in an upbeat & positive aura. Play when you are running good or feeling lucky, there really is something to it.

Johnny Moss RIP

To read my tribute to my dear old boss, Johnny Moss, go to pages at deardealer.today.com

Spare Change

So much change in a blink of an eye. If you don't go to Vegas often then you will be amazed everytime you travel there. With changes in the way we live our lives and the speed of electronics and medical miracles, we sometimes forget our history even very recent history. It really wasn't that long ago that there were no cell phones except for maybe the CIA & Maxwell Smart's shoephone. You couldn't play poker on-line because there were no computers. Even when computers were introduced to households there was no dierct line to Party Poker. Now people even advertise their home games on-line. On the other hand there were no panhandlers with signs on freeway exits. There were no school shootings with bullied kids at the end of the shot guns. Mom & Pop stores and home cooking is now replaced with 7-11 and Dennys. You didn't have to pay for a glass of clean water and could just turn on your t.v. & the light bill was all there was to pay. The biggest change that I have seen in over 50 years has been the change in people. Poker is the same game it has always been but the people have changed. We have more things in our lives to worry about. There is a scary e-coli, flu, disease, killer bees, predators or some other horror, lurking and waiting for us as we roam the earth. Or at least the media hypes it up that way. People are not as open or forgiving as I have seen in my past. The ways of this world has made the general public more wary. This has to affect the way the game is played as opposed to the players of the olden days. In the 70's when I saw the game introduced in Vegas there was not the action you see now. As the game changes so must the players. I believe that the main difference is odds, whether pot or implied, that tends to rule a players decisions foregoing the players, the humans, who are involved in the hand. Allot of it comes from the mentality of playing on-line, loosing the real FEEL of the game. I feel that the game of poker was a more intimate game back then. It's hard to completely focus on your game in a warehouse of over 100 other games or cameras following people around, flashing lights in your face and asking some really ridicules questions. Remember you are not a machine nor is your opponent.

WSOP Final Table

The final table will come back in November to play to see who will be the WORLD CHAMP and a millionaire. This is the first year that the final table has to wait 4 months to play again. We will get to know all the players thru the media and make our pick. The whole table will make big money and notoriety to boot. Should have a money line on them in Vegas so we can all still be part of the World Series of Poker.

Payouts for the last 19 Lips Championship

1st Yvette Lamprecht $17, 285
2nd Siriwan "Wan" Sukmekerd $11,640
3rd Melissa Nelson $6,855
4th Arlene Krupa $4,610
5th Debbie Burkhead $3,745
6th Anne Spinetti $2,880
7th Donna LaDuke $2,015
8th Kellie Lambert $1,500
9th Sharon Engle $981
10th Alicia VonLeeb $690
11th Sue Yorkovich $690
12th Judy Masquelier $690
13th Shannon Campsey $690
14th Lula Taylor $690
15th Donna Cantor $690
16th Kahala Carter $690
17th London Gallagher $690
18th Jo Anne Bryan $690
19th Rosemary Hawkes $690

MY RECIPE FOR A VEAGS WEEKEND:Play, Party, Eat, Gamble, Party, Eat & remember to sleep a bit

Went to Vegas to play all day and then my plans went the other way. At first I was doing very well and then one push and I was down the well. I had a good time and met some wonderful gals. Congrats to Yvette Lamprecht for WINNING the LIPS CHAMPIONSHIP, YOU GO GIRL!!!The Hard Rock was hoppin' and I got my groove on. Made plans to party with a couple of new friends but fell asleep and didn't get up to go out until 2 a.m. after all it is the town that never sleeps. Slept all day and then went to The Golden Nugget with my daughter. We played poker in the nicest poker room downtown and the action was all right and the floor man comped us to dinner. Won a little money and then on to New York New York for a roller coaster ride right through the casino. It was almost as wild as Coyote Ugly! Didn't drink much there but danced until I was soaked. Picked up a couple of showgirl pictures with our faces in the costumes and it was a great souvenir. I wanted to show my daughter a good time but I think I had more fun or at least as much! It has changed so much just in the last 5 years. Had enough fun to last 5 more years. Sure, what goes on in Vegas stays in Vegas (RIGHT) but my good memories will last forever. I was thrilled to meet Marsha Waggoner, the champion from Australia. She was as totally sweet as her smile and sharp to boot. You gals were a blast and a shout out to Barbara, Susie, Cathy, Rita, Ruth and again to Debbie, thanks for dinner. And a bunch more who's name's I forget because of my middleagedness!! Gotta go feel a hot flash comin' on.

All In

Last year I played a ladies tourney at the Bike in L.A. It was the first time that I played with cameramen, lights and big crowds. I played next to a cute blond woman who was constantly being filmed. The lady to my right asked me if she was famous. I was trying to lean out of the picture, forgot about photo shop. She said she was a model from New York and was in L.A. doing a segment of "Entourage". She was a decent player who had a run of good cards. I was hanging on for dear life and was all in 6 times with short money. The blond was sponsored by an on-line poker site, which gave her room for error. After all she didn't have to put her own money up, so she was on a free roll. After about 4 hours of play she had only one move, ALL IN. My short stack was just waiting for a good hand to call her. The first time she went all in I had made a small bet into her with pocket J"s. I laid them down because I didn't want to call off my chips with a JJ story. She was called and her A 10 held up when she hit the A. Many would have taken a shot with my hand and it doesn't mean I always lay down JJ for a raise. I would rather have chips then bad beat stories. Many times a player goes all in with an A something and then goes busted. To keep this from happening I would rather go all in after the flop. Now you put pressure on someone who hasn't helped their hand and they may lay it down. All in pre flop leaves you NO OPTIONS...

Got LIPS?

Gettin' ready for the Vegas trip this weekend. I'm working until 2a.m. Friday/Saturday morning to gather all the (investment) money I can for Las Vegas! My daughter is coming along for the fun and it will be her first time there. Although I started dealing in Vegas in 1972, I have never shown the highlights of the city to my kids who are now grown. She is 22 and fresh out of college and headin' for the neon lights. One thing she would like to do while there, is the indoor skydiving. For me it sounds like a spectator sport. The only exercise that I've been getting lately, is at the poker table, exercising my options! I really don't beleive in bringing children to Vegas even if it is a so-called family friendly town now. Checking in while dodging strollers is not my idea of what Vegas should be like. People should be taking a break from children and everyday life when they come to "Sin City". So the next time you or a friend want to come to Vegas with your children, do them and everybody else a favor and make other arrangements for them at home. It is really not a place that you want your kids to be excited about, especially at an early age. You can tell yourself that you are bringing you children to show them a good time while you too can have some fun. Who are you kidding? You bring them because it is easier than other arangements and YOU really want to be in Vegas. I can see trouble down the road for these kids. If you are really planning this trip so the kids can have fun, rethink this plan and go to Disneyland for the weekend. Just an opinion! Hope I have good news to share about winning my first Lips Tournament...fingers crossed

How Many Poker Hours in a Day???

Independence day is over but the spirit will continue. We are free to play poker just about anytime we are not working or sleeping. Nowadays some people even play cards at work. There are those of us who actually work in card rooms or casinos who can play live games and be paid while you are working. In fact this is your work. You could be a shill or a proposition player, where you are paid for playing poker. So you are not really playing at work because you are actually working. A shill is a player who keeps games together with houses money and also gets a salary. A proposition or "Prop" player gets paid more than a shill but has to play h/h own money in the games that are short, for an entire 8 hour shift. The bigger the limit game that the prop player has to play in, the higher the pay. The prop player keeps the money he wins of course, but the shill turns in wins and loses. Then there is another type of player who can sneak on line and play poker while at the office. As a dealer I now deal to players who play the game live while playing a hand held game of poker and watching the big screen of a rerun of an old WSOP. HOLD-EM has converged on the world. There are casino poker games and house games, tournaments and leagues everywhere. You can even go on-line to find a home game in your own neighborhood. Love that Craigs list! Retired men & women, grandmothers, soccer moms, college kids and the gas station attendant down the street all love to play poker. So remember that you don't have to be in a hurry, there will always be a game. Being too anxious is a bad sign. Learn to get up and walk around or have lunch or something to get you away from the table after a bad beat, eliminating the tilt factor. It's fun to play but even more fun to cash out and come back again another day. If you get up a looser but not by too much, you can recover in your next play or two. But if you lose too much at one setting, well you get the picture. Love the game as a winner and you will be respected and enjoy the game much more.

Take the win not the friendship

I keep hearing how very nice or very old or very whatever a certain player is at the table. Does that mean that u don't want to bet ur winning hand? Play the game! In the last couple of years since everyone has been watching t.v. poker, so much has changed. There are no friends in poker, there is no sugar play. It is bad for the game in general and it is bad for ur own game. If u really want to soft play a friend then just play ur game and give the money back after the game or over a drink...Poker is a game where the winner gets the chips on his/her side of the table. That is the point of being the winner of the game. Just because there is money involved should not make a difference in wanting to be the winner, even among friends. Play to win and don't let anyone talk u out of the pot. Don't ask questions and don't answer any. What usually happens in a tournament when u soft play a friend is that you could have had all or most of his/her chips and instead is crippled or killed by someone else. The player that wins the chips that u should have had will come back with the ammo that could have been urs. Get the picture? That is the player that will end up busting u, directly or indirectly. If u get serious about winning. Play to win and if you have to check raise your grandmother, you may win the tournament but you will always be the black sheep of the family! That is until you win the WSOP...