Strange first day. Well, maybe not strange for most but for me.
I was so nervous that I couldn't keep my shirt buttoned to the top without losing my breath.
Our start time was at 6PM, as we are all on the swing shift. We get there at 5:30 and yet manage to only sign in at 6:01, as the line to clock-in was insane. We sit down waiting for our Dealer Coordinator to give us our assignments and he starts calling name by name and our names are never mentioned. He tells us and a handful of other people that we have to come back at 7:15 to see if they can get us in tonight, as it is the first day and awfully slow.
So we eat a couple of sandwiches in the break room wait for 7:15 anxiously. 7:15 finally comes after it seemed like an eternity and yet again we are not called upon. So he tells us we can either early out or wait until 11 to push... so we all get up to E.O. and next thing you know I hear Dan, the Dealer Coordinator say my name. He asks me if I want to deal or go home, I tell him I am ready to deal and he says I will be pushing the Casino Employees event at 8PM.
I get to my assigned section and I see that the players are on dinner break ( 90 minutes long ). After some calculation I figure out that I will be getting about 20 minutes of my 30 minute push with no players ( great thing about that is I still get paid for that down either same amount as if everyone was there ). I sit there for 15 minutes then the first player comes back to sit and it was Jack McCelland, which is he current Tournament Director for the Bellagio, and one of the most popular tournament directors out there. Of course, this made me even more nervous to deal.
First hand in perfect, second perfect and so on. The only thing I screw up on is the procedure of when to pick up the antes ( did it after my cut ).
Naturally I am feeling good about myself before my second deal and the nerves had worn off. But, I could not have predicted what was about to come next... I get to my table and the dealer had spread the deck in a manner I had never seen; I didn't question it and just washed up the cards, picked them up and was about to start my shuffle. Middle of my shuffle I start thinking that there is no way there is 52 cards in this deck... of course I get nervous because I am not sure if I should follow regular procedure and deal then count the stub, just to re-assure my theory or if I should count right then and there before my deal. Thankfully, one of the players says " Dealer is that 52 cards". I told him " No, I really don't think it is ", at this point I look down at my well and there are 20 cards sitting there in the cards slot. I bring the cards out and start counting the deck, and one of the players proceeds to laugh and one of the floor supervisors says " I am going to watch a hand to make sure you guys are going to be alright". At this point I panic, because the floor and the players are thinking I was the cause for this screw up. Of course, it went downhill from there, I screw up up like 3 times in that half hour span due to my nerves.
I spoke to the tournament director about the situation and he assured me that he was there to help me in case something like that happened again... that made me feel a lot better and from there I was flawless. I even received a handful of compliments on a job well done.
At 12:30 I get told that I need to go home early, as the graveyard shift was coming in and there was not enough work for everyone. I call John to come pick me up and he doesn't answer for another hour as he is passed out cold back at the house... I didn't mind because it gave me a chance to eat a couple delicious ice cream cones at the break room.
My next day is Friday, and that will be the Omaha Hi-Low 8/B tournament. I don't expect a big turnout for that, but the cash games should be rolling pretty good by that point... so I do expect decent work that day.
I was so nervous that I couldn't keep my shirt buttoned to the top without losing my breath.
Our start time was at 6PM, as we are all on the swing shift. We get there at 5:30 and yet manage to only sign in at 6:01, as the line to clock-in was insane. We sit down waiting for our Dealer Coordinator to give us our assignments and he starts calling name by name and our names are never mentioned. He tells us and a handful of other people that we have to come back at 7:15 to see if they can get us in tonight, as it is the first day and awfully slow.
So we eat a couple of sandwiches in the break room wait for 7:15 anxiously. 7:15 finally comes after it seemed like an eternity and yet again we are not called upon. So he tells us we can either early out or wait until 11 to push... so we all get up to E.O. and next thing you know I hear Dan, the Dealer Coordinator say my name. He asks me if I want to deal or go home, I tell him I am ready to deal and he says I will be pushing the Casino Employees event at 8PM.
I get to my assigned section and I see that the players are on dinner break ( 90 minutes long ). After some calculation I figure out that I will be getting about 20 minutes of my 30 minute push with no players ( great thing about that is I still get paid for that down either same amount as if everyone was there ). I sit there for 15 minutes then the first player comes back to sit and it was Jack McCelland, which is he current Tournament Director for the Bellagio, and one of the most popular tournament directors out there. Of course, this made me even more nervous to deal.
First hand in perfect, second perfect and so on. The only thing I screw up on is the procedure of when to pick up the antes ( did it after my cut ).
Naturally I am feeling good about myself before my second deal and the nerves had worn off. But, I could not have predicted what was about to come next... I get to my table and the dealer had spread the deck in a manner I had never seen; I didn't question it and just washed up the cards, picked them up and was about to start my shuffle. Middle of my shuffle I start thinking that there is no way there is 52 cards in this deck... of course I get nervous because I am not sure if I should follow regular procedure and deal then count the stub, just to re-assure my theory or if I should count right then and there before my deal. Thankfully, one of the players says " Dealer is that 52 cards". I told him " No, I really don't think it is ", at this point I look down at my well and there are 20 cards sitting there in the cards slot. I bring the cards out and start counting the deck, and one of the players proceeds to laugh and one of the floor supervisors says " I am going to watch a hand to make sure you guys are going to be alright". At this point I panic, because the floor and the players are thinking I was the cause for this screw up. Of course, it went downhill from there, I screw up up like 3 times in that half hour span due to my nerves.
I spoke to the tournament director about the situation and he assured me that he was there to help me in case something like that happened again... that made me feel a lot better and from there I was flawless. I even received a handful of compliments on a job well done.
At 12:30 I get told that I need to go home early, as the graveyard shift was coming in and there was not enough work for everyone. I call John to come pick me up and he doesn't answer for another hour as he is passed out cold back at the house... I didn't mind because it gave me a chance to eat a couple delicious ice cream cones at the break room.
My next day is Friday, and that will be the Omaha Hi-Low 8/B tournament. I don't expect a big turnout for that, but the cash games should be rolling pretty good by that point... so I do expect decent work that day.
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