TALES FROM BEHIND THE BOX: AN EXCERPT FROM MY NEWEST BOOK

I'm working on my 2nd book. This will from the world I know very well: Poker dealing! The synopsis of the book will be tales from the box. Stories from the world I see as a professional poker dealer. The idea of this book is a elicit an emotion from my stories: Happy, Anger, Sympathy, Love, and Sadness! I've written 50-70 stories, but I'm trying to condense it into 50 best of the best. In fact, I want to share a part of my creativity: so here's an excerpt my newest book:

“What is the difference between a puppy and a poker dealer? – Eventually the puppy will stop whining.

Sitting in the box (it's where a poker dealer works), I watch the diverse personalities at the poker table interact. On one side, a retiree Calgary who spends 8 months of the year in Vegas to get away from the cold of Calgary, Alberta Canada. He has to be helped to his chair from his motorized cart – one of the nicest guys I've ever met in my life. Very likeable guy, who's never said a bad word about anyone, who takes his bad beats like a true gentleman (no matter how bad those bad beats are), and a guy I generally root for. One another side, is a retired Army helicopter pilot from Arizona, who frequents our poker room 2 or 3 times a month – a tall imposing fella,who loves the game of poker, plays a tight game and has been friendly to me and everyone I've worked for – also our liaison for the Arizona Lottery along with Mega Millions, which we still have won...yet!!! This Arizona gentleman is so loyal to our room, he'll sit at an empty table for a hours until a game is started – all poker rooms need people like him. In the center is another retiree from Texas, who's apparently been poker his entire life, strolls into our poker room at a snail's pace, pushing his glasses up the rim of his nose at any moment, “Seat open??” he speaks in a soft Texan accent. Unlike, the other two gentleman, my Texan friend takes some horrible bad beats that I seemed to deliver at a frequent pace. He's a table-hopper, trying find the right combination of a good table draw and a good run of cards – all of which he does at the aforemention snail's pace...nothing is rushed with him. He is a true definition of a grinder. Tipping is not one of his strong points, despite it all, I generally like this man. I generally root for him to win......

To be continued...

There you have it. I'm really proud of what I've written, and I think this will be one of the best things I've ever written. Hopefully, when I complete this book, you'll enjoy these poker dealer stories as I enjoyed writing them.

Poker with the Bloggers -- LIGHTNING36, PLEASE FOLD!!!

Poker is a social game. Poker is a people game. More importantly, poker is a "take as much money from your opponent as possible" game. However, there are times where you play people you don't want to take money from, but the circumstances drive you too....

Few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of playing $1-$2 No Limit at the Luxor with 3 bloggers, who I have the absolute respect, admiration, and huge fans of their particular blogs: Lucki Duck, Robvegaspoker , and Lightning36. The 3 bloggers arrived at the Luxor about 20 minutes after I was there. I was sitting in a very very very extremely extremely tight tight table!! (Did I mention the table was very, extremely, tight??) Lightning said they had enough to start a new game. At first I was apprehensive about joining the game because I have this thing about playing people I like cause I really don't want to take their money, and in the case of Robvegaspoker and Lightning36, they've been very generous tippers to me whenever I've dealt then, even tipping in small pots when they didn't have too. It was a definite quandary, it's the reason I don't playing where I work, and if I do, I NEVER play at the table if I've dealt it already. It's my belief you shouldn't play at poker room if you work there...it's a "conflict of interest" rule. Yeah, I know it might be a little paranoid, cause in 99% of cases, your regular players really don't care if you play with them, but I usually am uncomfortable if I'm check-raising a guy who tipped 15 bucks the week before...lol

The only reason I decided to join the new table was the table I was at was very very extremely extremely tight tight table!! (I have mention how tight my table was??). The first hours, the table really played tight, but I was enjoying the conversations with my fellow bloggers. We talked about an array of interesting topics, one of which was the whereabouts of "Backpack" Steve, a leech who used to hang around poker room begging for money. When I told them what happened to him, the bloggers, particularly Robvegaspoker was shocked yet not too surprised. It was definitely a delightful time, to the point where I sometimes forgot were in a card game..it was like we were sipping a cold one and shooting the breeze in a bar. But alas, the game of no limit Texas Hold em took hold of two of the us...one of which was me...the other was Lightning36.

Like many no limit poker hands, the hand started out nonchalantly, A player opened for $12 from a $90 or so stack....I'm sitting two seats later with Pocket 10's and call. My stack was a little over $200. Two more callers behind me, and Lightning in the Small blind calls. So we take the flop five-handed...The flop comes A A 10 A. I actually did a double take...did I just flop a boat?? Lightning, first to act checks, the initial raiser bets $20. Quickly, I raised to $40. I acted quickly because I'm a believer if you flop a monster you act the opposite of what you'd normally do. I see it too much as a poker dealer, when someone flops a monster, they put on the "Hollywood" Act as if they a tough decision to make. I can pretty much tell they have a monster by this act, and I'm almost always right. It's actually helped in my poker playing in identifying big hands and being able to either get away from them or lose the minimum. The 2nd part of this hand is why did I raise on the flop with a full house. My goal to extract maximum value for my hand and with 5 players in a raised pot, there had to be an Ace somewhere with my 4 other opponents, and I wanted to get that Ace to commit this stack to the point as early in the hand as possible where he is forced to put the rest of his chips in the next two streets.

Two players behind me folded quickly, the action was now on Lightning, who tanked. At that point, I knew he had an Ace, and I thought, "Dammit, this is not what I wanted." I wanted one of the other guys sitting with an Ace and Lightning would insta-fold his hand. Lightning hemmed and hawed for a long time, starting at me, playing nervously with his chips before sliding the $40 towards the pot. the initial raiser were all in for another 18 bucks or so. Since it wasn't a full-raise I could only call as did Lightning. The Turn was a 3...Lightning check, I instantly go all-in for around $140. I actually was hoping Lightning would see this as a sign that I had the goods and he would fold, but when he asked how much I had...I knew there was no way he was folding his hand. AFter another minute, Lightning calls....River was a 9....I announce "Full House" and turn over my Pocket 10's...Lightning shows AJ and the other player mucks claiming he had an Ace too.

I had mixed emotions scooping that pot. On one hand I was happy for winning such a monster pot, but felt bad that it had to come in the expense of Lightning. But I don't blame him, he played the hand very well. I probably would have played the hand the same way.  It was just a "cooler" hand that comes up from time to time where hands kind of play themselves. Lightning took the beat very well, and I  was happy when he texted me the next day saying he won his money back at Ballys.

Next time, Lightning comes to town, and stiffs me, believe me I will not be angry about it. I'll shoot him a sly smile and wonder what would have happened if he paired his Jack on the river :)

LADIES LIPS CHAMPIONSHIPS: INTERVIEW WITH TONYA BALTAZAR (MY WIFE)

On July 1, 388 Ladies competed in the 2012 LADIES LIPS CHAMPIONSHIP! After nearly 24 straight hours of play, Tonya Baltazar (My wife) went got through a tough final table including professional poker player, Karina Jett, and got heads up with Tamara Cruz of Arizona...After tough heads up battle, Tonya came up short to finish in 2nd place...I took some time to interview my wife about battling through a VERY tough field:

Q: What was your initial strategy going into this tournament??

   

My strategy in an all women poker tournament is very different than when I play an open event with men.  I find women are harder to bluff.  I always maximize the value of my good hands and flops that I hit because women will tend to call you down if they hit any part of the board.    

Q: Was there a hand or hands you played that indicated that you were in for a long run??

I just moved to a table and I had about 35,000 chips, I just played the blinds and then on the button I had J 10os everyone folded to me so I made a standard 3 times raise, the lady in the SB reraises me but only doubles my initial raise so I call.  The flop was  A K Q, I flopped the nut straight, lady in SB bets out so I go ALL-IN and she instant calls me and she turns over pocket 5’s and I double up.  I’m not even done stacking my chips and a lady UTG raises, everyone folds to me and I look down at  pocket Aces so I announce ALL-IN and she instantly calls me with pocket Queens and I double up again.  A few hands later, I get A J hearts and this lady raised and I call, and I think the BB called too, the flop is K 10 Q, BB checks the initial raises makes a continuation bet and I announce ALL-IN BB folds and she instant calls and she has K 10 for two pair and I take her out.  I went from 35,000  chips to over 200,000 at that one table.  

Q: You had a mountain of chips with two tables left, but lost a big pot to eventual winner, Tamara Cruz, how did you overcome when you got to the final table:

Well I am a Short Stack Ninja Specialist, I know how to play a short stack well. 

Q: Talk about your double up against Karina Jett early at the final table.

Well I have played with Karina before and have taken a WSOP boot camp that she taught with Annie Duke, so I know her style of play and what her hand ranges would be.  She was one of the chip leaders going into the final table , but she did double me up twice, which was nice. 

Q: I know there were issues with the tournament playing out the tournament in one day, I heard not just yourself but other players had an issue with it, please explain your stand on this issue?

 Yes, it was complete craziness, they changed a lot of things this year with the Lips Championship than the years before.  It was the Golden Nugget’s decision to make it a 1 day event this year even though in the past years it was a 2 day event, and this year was the biggest turnout that Lips had a record of 388 women.  It definitely should have been a 2 day event. 

Q: Fatigue played a major part in not just you but your opponent, how did you maintain your compusure in the end?

I drank a lot of starbucks coffee! 

Q: Finishing 2nd is a great accomplishment, can you put into perspective how important this tournament was for you??

First of all, I have played the Lips Championship for the last straight 5 years and was always close to the money or bubble girl, so to actually get this far and finish 2^nd was just one of the greatest accomplishments that I had in poker besides my two cashes in the World Series of Poker in 2010 and 2011.  

Q: How was your support able to get through this tough tournaments such as your friends and family??

I truly have the most amazing husband who not only taught me this great game, but always supports me and encourages me to be a better player, he is my ROCK!  I also have the most amazing friends that I have met because of poker, who will be long life friends, and who are always my cheerleaders not only in poker, but in life!  Poker is just not a game to play for money, but it’s a great way to bond and have fun with the people you love.   I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful husband, kids and friends who support my passion for poker. 

Q: What poker goals do you have left to accomplish??

  

My next goal is to play in the Main Event at the World Series of Poker and to make it the final table, but if I cash in the Main Event, I will be just as happy…I will be working on that goal this coming year in my 10K league. 

Thank you for the interview.....

Kudos to Victoria Coren!!

Found this interesting blog written by well-known English professional poker player, Victoria Coren about a young chap (England's term) who played in the $1000 Ladies No Limit tournament, and totally made an ass out of himself. One of the better blogs I've read in a long time. Point is....if your going to crash a party no one wants you to be in, don't spike the punch too...

http://www.victoriacoren.com/main/blog/archive/pick_on_someone_your_own_size

As if this writing, this asshole is still in the ladies tournament. He's gonna face a lot of hate and scrutiny once this blog gets out....