10.07.09

I finally have the urge to think about and actually put to paper what has been going on in my little corner of the world. It's been a number of days since I have "checked in" and I can't stand the isolationism.

I was originally going to play golf this morning. My friend, who is a dealer at the local card room, could not make it for some reason that he tried to convey to me last night. He was rambling on and I felt like his reason for not golfing was made up. He actually said he had to open at the poker room and he hasn't worked a day shift in I don't know how long, but a long time. It's cool though. I'm sure whatever he was doing was more important than our golf game. That is sick.

I've heard the bad-beat jackpot is capped out at 175k at the Daytona poker room. I am taking a trip there today with another poker dealer from the poker room. I should have played golf with this guy. The golf again... have you ever looked forward to something and then just not been able to make it happen? I thought so. Back to the bad-beat jackpot.

The bad-beat jackpot is derived from a dollar, which is taken from the pot, of every hand played in any cash game at the poker room. I'm going to explain how they do it in the rooms I am accustomed to, but I know rules vary from place to place. This dollar is split into four pieces of a pie.

One piece of the pie, consisting of 50 cents, goes to the main bad-beat. 25% goes to the back-up bad beat pool, 15% to the second backup bad-beat pool, and 10% to the "promotions" pool. Now keep in mind, and a lot of people DO NOT understand this, this is OUR money.

The bad-beat jackpot is not something the poker room GIVES us. They only run the game for US. Our agreement with them is that they can use the 10% promotional part of the dollar taken to run other, daily or hourly, luck games in an attempt to attract more customers.

How do I feel about this? I'm not sure. I mean, I am just fine with attracting more people to play poker in the poker rooms. That should go without saying. But personally, I wish there was no bad beat jackpot, and I wish any promotions were paid for by the room itself. It's their business, and I'm not sure why we, the players, need to pay for it.

But, I am in a small minority when it comes to the bad-beat jackpot. The reason being that the prize for winning the bad beat jackpot can sometimes be over 100k. That is one heck of a payday, no matter how unlikely it is to happen. It does happen though, and everyone at the table, who was dealt into the hand, get's a piece of the bad-beat jackpot.

The jackpot is hit when Aces full of jacks get beaten by at least quads, or better. Both hole cards in both hands must play. The loser of the hand (the one getting the bad beat) wins 50% of the bad-beat jackpot. The winner of the hand gets 25%, and the other people at the table split the remaining 25%. It is a pure gamble, requiring no skill, except for maybe the ability to never lay down a hand. But, when it hits, similarly to when Yo-eleven! hits in craps, the place erupts in joy.

I have been in the room more than once when the bad-beat has been hit, but I have yet to be AT the table. I'm certain I probably will eventually, but not necessarily. Maybe I'll win it... maybe. We are driving to Daytona because the bad-beat is getting up there, and also it will be a change of scenery. Plus, the dealers at the room in Jax are not allowed to play in the games where they work.

I hate this rule. I have never been in better poker games than games which are full of poker dealers. These guys gamble. They do it because to sit tight and be nitty with their chips would be very bad for business. They work for tips. I always tip more after I have spanked the dealer in a few hands.

Of course, I'm sure some people would not be able to handle getting beaten by a dealer in a poker hand. People take poker seriously sometimes. I used to become very emotional. These days though I just snap my rubber band, put on my sunglasses, and try very hard to remember To Prevail Takes Apathy. It is a definite struggle, certainly. Some cannot handle it.

Just yesterday an older man, who is normally very quiet, went a bit nutso. We were playing in a tournament, and he was seated next to me, on the right. He is normally quiet and thoughtful, and usually makes good poker decisions. He called the pre-flop raise, and called the bet on the flop. When the turn card hit he check-raised a big amount. His opponent called the big raise. The river card paired the board and both players opted to check. The older man turned over 9-3, and there was a nine and a three on the board. His opponent turned over Q-10. There was a ten and two sevens on the board. The tens and sevens beat the older man's hand.

The older man threw down his cards and said "You've got to be fuckin kidding me". But, not really loud. I laughed out loud. Literally. I was laughing because that hand is not uncommon. It's called a counterfeit. The older man had two pair, and was ahead when he made the big raise, but the other guy played poorly and got lucky. The dealer looked up at him, sort of shrugged, and raised his hands as if to say "what am I supposed to do"?

The older man said "Do what you need to do, just do it!"

The dealer yelled "Floor, I'm sorry, sir. F-bomb on table nine!"

The dealer actually apologized, which I thought was nice. The one standing rule is No F-Bombs. It is ridiculous because I could say FOCK you and would not get a penalty. I could also say pussy, cunt, asshole, cock, dipshit, cum licker, and gosh darnit and I would NOT get a penalty.

The old man got up, said nothing, and left for his one round (about 15 minute) penalty. It's not a big deal, and no one was offended. We were all men at the table, including the dealer, and we've all heard it before. I guess the old man was off his game, and maybe knew it.

He never came back.

He lasted longer in the tournament than I did because his chips just sat there. The dealer took out for his blinds and antes, but he never played another hand. I played like a donkey cum licker and made zero dollars. I guess he'd had enough of poker for that day. He should wear a rubber band.

I got a bit upset at the table yesterday during a cash game. There was a woman who had just sat down. I have played with her in the past and she liked to play a lot of hands. She is not a good player, and it was a guarantee, barring her getting very lucky, that she was going to lose a few hundred. I may not get any of it, but at least one can hope.

She started right off by calling off all of her chips with a K-4 offsuit on a board that read A-Q-Q-10-5. Not good for her, I'd say. But, and here is why I was angry, no one should have EVER known what she had played and lost with.

The winner of the hand had shown his hand, and the woman had tried to muck her hand without showing. No big deal, I do it all of the time. This Clown next to her, who had been in the hand on the earlier streets, but had folded BEFORE the river, asked to see her cards. The woman says no because he was not in the hand at the end. The Clown says he was in the hand at the beginning so he has a RIGHT. The dealer agrees and shows the woman's K-4 offsuit. The woman gets NOTICEABLY embarrassed and stands up and leaves the table.

Did that just happen? That was all I could ask myself for a couple of minutes. Finally I couldn't stand it any longer and I let the Clown have it. What he did was not cool, and it was not classy. He wants to be known as a good poker player and one way, in his mind, of how to do that is to embarrass another player. He knew she had crap, and he wanted to make her show just how bad of a player she is. Nice job, jackass.

I left the game shortly after that hand. It wasn't because her money had gone elsewhere. There was still plenty of chips on the table and the clown had some too. It was just time to go, and it was better to leave after spouting my views on his dumb ass move. Maybe it sunk in.

Anyway, I'll let you know what my share was of the bad-beat was that I'm going to hit today in Daytona. Is it considered incorrect Englsih, in writing circles, to have past, present, and future tense all in the same sentence?

I don't care.

Codsey out.