Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Well, Glenn and I had our dinner with James. The good of it is, James seems to understand me, my sense of humor, my desire to do the right (ethical) thing in all situations. He actually "got" the crack joke, since JV is so obviously the opposite.

The bad of it is, James still thinks I was "harassing" one of his employees. Not only that, but several of the dealers seem to think I have it "out" for them, because of my journal, because of me joking with them during their downs. I was disappointed to learn that they thought this about me. Almost 100% of the time I'm just trying to give them a good laugh while they are working. I know how tedious dealing is, my Mom dealt for ten years and told me all of the stories.

Anyway, something ironic that happened right after we had dinner with James was that April twisted her ankle or stepped funny somehow. That set her into a slight wobble. Devra, another dealer, said, "April, how many times have I told you not to come to work drunk!" Everyone laughed.

Me joking with JV about crack was NOT a joke and pure harassment, so saith the demigods at the Belle. Devra shouting out about April coming to work drunk was a JOKE.

Apparently, what made JV make so many mistakes during his down was overhearing me say that he was a bad dealer. I made him nervous, and that is why he misdealt every hand. I had no idea he heard me in any conversation before his down. I was in the eight seat at table five, which is almost smack dab in the corner of the poker room, looking OUT at every other table. I never saw JV anywhere nearby. But supposedly, the tight player in the ten seat had been telling me about an experience he'd had at the Belle on Saturday night in the 10/20 game. He said, "I had the worst dealer I've ever had deal to me on Saturday night." He started to tell the story. I said, "Oh, that must have been JV!"

So JV was already "doomed" before he even entered the box.

Now, I would never purposely hurt someone's feelings right before they sit down and deal to me. Not because I have tact or that I'm a nice person, but because it would purely effect my bottom line. If he or she sits down and starts making mistakes, or making trouble with me because I said something that hurt his or her feelings, then I've suddenly reduced my EV.

But at any rate, even if I HAD purposely tried to cut someone down before they dealt to me, the fact of the matter is, they are supposed to be doing a job, and doing it well. They are not supposed to screw up every hand.

Put it this way. What if I went to a play, and I was sitting next to a friend with the program in hand, and I said to my friend, "Oh, I don't really care for this actress. She overacts in the wrong places and tries to upstage everyone." Now say the actress happened to be in the vicinity of my seat and overheard me. Would she go to management and have them get in my face, threatening me, pointing fingers? Would security come and threaten to kick me out of the play?

How about if a server in a restaurant messed up everything she did, and I said to my date, "I don't think I'll let this server wait on me again, I'll ask for someone else, she has messed up everything from the moment we sat down." If she happened to overhear me talking about her, do you think she would send the manager over to threaten me? Do you think they would say I was "harassing" their server and that I should be thrown out of the restaurant, and still have to pay for my uneaten meal?

Obviously neither of these situations would ever happen. The difference is that people who perform are used to criticism. People who are in customer service try to work hard for their tips and know that they aren't always doing their best. They know paying customers will complain, and perhaps even to management.

But the Belle is different. They are the most pampered dealers I've ever seen. Instead of this being a customer service issue, the whole thing has turned into "poor JV, he can't deal a hand, but it must be all the customer's fault." If there weren't customers sitting in front of him, giving him tips, he would probably be dealing perfectly, haha.

It is almost like the Belle is trying to swing the polar opposite direction as the Riverside. If a dealer gets punched in the jaw at the Riverside, and nothing is done, well, the Belle will overcompensate by demanding that you don't even say anything when a dealer messes up a hand (remember Glen telling me that we shouldn't even say anything when JV screws up, because that will make him nervous, and he might mess up even more?).

C'est la vie. I'm a grown person and I can take it.

Before the tourney, I was lucky enough to speak to several of the dealers who were dead spreading games. I told each of them that I have never felt anything but friendship for them, and that if I ever joked around with them, it was just that, a joke. I only wanted to get them to smile or diffuse a bad situation. Most of them understood. One of them asked me if it hurt to have to "apologize" to people. I told him that first off, I didn't "have" to apologize to anyone. Secondly, I wasn't really apologizing, but trying to explain my personality and the situation. Thirdly, I have absolutely no pride whatsoever, and have no problem apologizing when I'm wrong. I have every intention of apologizing to JV when I see him again. Apologizing for hurting his feelings, which I never intended to do. I'm not going to tell him he's not a bad dealer, he is. He sucks, he's the worst. But no, I have no problem apologizing when I'm wrong. I never have.

Anyway, tonight's tourney was the $110 NLHE. We only got 22 participants. I was on the "newbie" table again. We had a couple of experienced players, but most of them had never played in a tourney, or had played before, but had no idea what they were doing.

Once again, I started off on the wrong foot by getting every hand sucked out on, either on the turn or the river. I was down to about 600 chips in no time flat. Then I stole a pot, then I won another, and was back up to 800 or so.

Ali was the first person out. He didn't even make it past the LHE portion of the tourney, lol. I couldn't believe he was gone, after all, he is the 'BEST poker player in the world, making hundreds of thousands of dollars off of our horrible playing every year.' He is a legend in his own mind.

I was moved to a very experienced table after the break. I only played one hand there. I was dealt A8s in the SB, it was passed to me, and I moved in, with only about 650 chips left. I stole the BB.

I went back to my original table, only to have to pay both blinds again immediately. Four hands in a row I was in the blind, grrr, which means I was getting short.

I went in with 88 and doubled up when someone called with K6o.

We were down to 12 when I was dealt A6o in the SB. We were shorthanded, it was passed to me. I shoved in, and the BB called with slightly more chips than I had, and A5o. We laughed it up, until he got a five on the river, then I stopped laughing, lol. No, seriously, it was a tossup, and he got the card he needed. He was a fun guy, we had been talking trash throughout the night.

Glenn did very well, but I don't want to spoil it. So go read Glenn's new journal and find out for yourself :)

------------------------------------------

Don't forget the PJK tourney again this Sunday, April 4, 2004 at Planet Poker. It is still NLHE, the same structure, the same buy-in. 9pm EDT/6pm PDT. Be there or be...I don't know...

LOL!