Bigger = miserable??

Aren't cramps brutal? Sometimes I get toe cramps and it is funny how they make you squirm around all while grasping and clenching the affected area...as you pray for time to speed up and you imagine how pleasant life will be once the cramp finally ends its stranglehold on you.

That's what happened to me this morning. Actually, the cramp itself woke me up. Now I must say that this was the most insane, intense, painful cramp that I have ever had. It was in my right calf. I wish I had a video camera that overlooked my bed because the footage would have been priceless. Laying there in a nice, comfortable slumber and then all of a sudden, I pop up from dreaming and start rolling around the bed in inexplicable, strange positions. It actually hurt so bad that I didn't even touch my calf while it was occuring...it was just that painful. Perhaps I felt that massaging it would possibly make it worse, and I did not want any increase in intensity with this calf cramp.

Moving on...

Why did I entitle this blog "Bigger = miserable??" Well, after dealing ca$h games at the WSOP last night, this thought passed through my consciousness. What I am talking about is the vibe that I got is this: the higher the limit in poker games I dealt last night, the more miserable the people were. This may already be standard or typical to dealers who have been dealing higher stakes but to me it is new because I don't deal high limits in the rooms where I work. More on that in a minute...

Last night I went through a rotation of the following:

10/20 limit
10/20 Omaha 8/b w/half kill
2/5 PLO
2/5 NL

This was my first time dealing any form of pot limit (other than at TI when a 2/5 PLHE/Omaha game was running but was short-handed and there weren't even any pot bets made) so I was most concerned with this table. I'm not great with numbers like some people are but the table was a good group of people and I'm solid enough as a dealer to run an efficient game. Calculating/following what's in the pot isn't as difficult as it seems. Tally up the amount that the players put into the pot and be ready to give them a figure once they "pot" it. The formula is this:

Preflop in ca$h games: 4x big blind and then 3x the last bet + what's in the pot
Preflop in tournament: 7x small blind and then 3x the last bet + what's in the pot

It will take a few more downs to get comfortable with it and many players who do play it always know how much is in the pot and what a pot bet would be if, in fact, someone does make a pot bet.

Back to the topic of 'miserable' ... I get back into the rotation which leads me towards the 'bullpen'. This 'bullpen' is a somewhat-sectioned off area in the Amazon room that contains the highest limits being played. The amount of money on the table in these games is mindblowing. My friend Dustin dealt a hand at the 25/25 PLO table where the pot ended up being over $75K (flopped straight vs. 2nd nut flush draw + some other outs I believe). No emotion from either the winner or the loser of the pot, and the winner just raked in this monster pot (and didn't even toss Dustin a dollar). I won't get into tipping as it is the player's choice, but these stiffs seem to happen at a very high rate at the higher levels.

I get into the bullpen and push into a 75/150 Omaha 8/b game. Now I've heard stories about this game. It turns out that these stories were going to be valid after I sat in and dealt with these players. I seriously don't think I've ever dealt to a more miserable, nastier, unfriendly group of people in my life. I've been called a "F'n A'hole", cursed at several times, had cards thrown at me, and even been threatened to have my ass kicked, but this was different. None of the players did anything like that, it was just the overall VIBE of the table that made it so bad. These players can't WAIT to rip you apart. They thrive on it. These players are sitting there with thousands of dollars in front of them yet they seem to literally hate life.

It just goes to show that (I guess) its all relative. Say you find $10 on the ground, you are going to have the thought, at some point, that you wish it had been more. If you find $100...same thing. The ego does not and will not ever allow for satisfaction. Not only does the ego not allow for it, it does not and will not ever comprehend the meaning of it. So, when allowing your mind to 'think' ...which involves bringing the ego into play... it is going to be impossible to ever be 'satisfied'.

If anything clicks with you in regards to that little ramble of mine, read a life-changing book entitled "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle and this will make more sense. It is this concept that keeps me from falling into the pit of the Vegas lifestyle and keeps me in check.

OK, enough for now...I did go to TI last night and work 5.5 hours after doing 7 at the WSOP and tonight will be a repeat of that. Another double. I'm hoping to get all 8 hours in over at the WSOP dealing tournaments and then I'll roll over to Treasure Island and take it from there...