Lost Episode 5: Event #12, 6-Handed NL Holdem

My weekend during the series was Mon & Tues. In Vegas, casino employees refer to their 'Friday' as the last day of their regular work week before two days off, no matter what day of the week it really is. Just like days seem timeless within the casino (ever see a clock, anywhere?), weekdays lose meaning, unless I guess, you are a sports bettor. One morning I waited in front of the post office for about 30 mins for it to open before realizing that it was Sunday. Anyway, during my two days off, I did some apartment hunting and got around to a few rooms I had never played in.

Back at the Rio on Wed, it was the 6-handed No-Limit Holdem event. I spent the entire day in this tournament, and it was a breeze. Dealing short-handed is fun to me, because you keep very busy. For the most part, player decisions are quick and you are constantly shuffling and pitching to get the next hand out. Its ideal for cash games, because you can get an awful lot of hands out per hour. Even though I was dealing a tournament, I felt like it was my responsibility to keep the pace up and give the players the most I could.

My first table featured Ted Forrest, who has earned five world series bracelets, all in different events. He was cordial to the amateurs at the table, answering their questions politely, if not initiating the conversations. He explained to one of the guys that he only has one of his bracelets left, the rest were all stolen in a home robbery awhile back. I recall being a bit surprised that he was not nearly as aloof as he appears on television. On a later table, I had two authors whose books I have really enjoyed battling it out, Tom McEvoy and Matt Hilger. One of the other players inquired about how lucrative the book business was, and I was surprised to hear their grumblings about the economics of it all. They agreed on some points that seemed genuine enough to me, not just modest attempts to conceal their success. Other notable poker professionals that I dealt to on this day included: Berry Johnston, Michael Mizrachi, James Van Alstine, Robert Williamson III, Sorel Mizzi.

At one point during the day, I saw Jolyne Thompson walk through the cash tables near me. She is a very good Houston area dealer that has had some tournament success lately, but since I was dealing I didn't get a chance to say hi. In all, I racked up 13 tournament downs today, my highest total yet.