Celebrity sightings: Shannon Elizabeth drew a big spectator crowd around her table, Gabe Kaplan not so much.
The Limit Hold'em Championship seemed to have every big name poker professional you have ever heard of entered in it. Day 1 was yesterday, but I was dealing the 7 PM Nightly No Limit Hold'em Tournament. It is a $340 buy-in tournament that, as the name suggests, runs nightly at 7 PM. No big names in that one. They were all in the "Bracelet" events, so called because the winner gets a jeweled, engraved bracelet to go along with the pile of cash.
Observation:
If I keep up the pace I had last night, I might not make expenses for this trip. We get paid a minimal hourly wage just to show up, then keep our tips from cash games we deal and when we deal tournaments, there is a percentage held back from the entry fees as well as tips left at the cashier from the winners that make up a tip pool. The pool is divided among the dealers according to how many "downs" (half hour segments) each dealer dealt. The more downs you get to deal, the more money you make. Last night I showed up at 6 PM and started the tournament at 7. I dealt two tables, i.e. two downs, then went on break and dealt two more downs and hit another break table. Back from break, the table I would have gone to had been broken (players sent to other tables to fill in where people had busted out) and that left me with no game to deal. I checked with the Dealer Coordinator and was added to the list of dealers without an assignment. He had 8 dealers on the list and it was growing despite the fact that he also was taking volunteers for "Early Out". With prospects slim for getting an assignment anytime in the next few hours I took the EO rather than hang around and try to milk the clock for $6 an hour. As I told my boss, I figure there are some dealers that are desperate for the money and I'd let them take the extra down because they need it much more than me. He thanked me for being a team player. Just two hours of work in an eight hour shift is not going to pay the room and board.
Satellites are cool!
There is a separate room at the Rio Convention Center dedicated to WSOP Satellites. What's a Satellite? It is a tournament that pays the winner(s) in seats at larger buy-in tournaments. For example: The buy-in for the WSOP Main Event NLH Tournament is $10,000. Pretty pricey for your average Joe, but Joe can enter a single table satellite for $1,060 and the winner gets a seat in the main event. The math is pretty simple. Ten players each put up $1,060, total of entry fees is $10,600. The house takes its cut to pay dealers and staff and the winner gets a certificate good for entry into the Main Event.
The Satellite room is dedicated to Single Table Satellites. Not all of them lead to the Main Event. Remember, there are 55 events in the Series and players might like to use satellites to get into any of them. WSOP management takes care of that by paying the winners of these satellites with $500 chips that were made up special just for the purpose. They are "No Cash Value" chips that can only be used to pay $500 worth of entry fees into events at the 2008 WSOP including other, bigger buy-in satellites. The chips are transferable and easily sold if its owner would rather have cash than tournament entry. Last night I could hear someone hawking satellite chips just outside the satellite room. I suppose you would sell the $500 chip for something less than $500 but why would somebody play in these satellites if they just wanted cash? I would think they would just go play in the cash games or in tournaments that pay cash rather than entry tokens. On the other hand, I suppose if someone considers themself a single table tournament specialist and is very skilled at short-handed play they might believe they could clean up in the satellite room and sell all the tokes they amass for cash.
I think the satellites are cool. They play like final tables of the big tournaments and my tips have been pretty good. Not everyone in the dealer community shares that opinion. Sometimes the winners forget to "take care of the dealer" and that hurts. Deal a table for two hours and get stiffed on the tip and you quickly develop a bad taste for satellites.
How much do people tip? It varies widely. How much should people tip? I'm not sure what the custom around here, but as a dealer, it would be nice to be able to make twenty to thirty tip dollars an hour dealing satellites. Maybe a little more when the buy-ins and the prizes are higher. (You gotta have a goal, right?) Remember, although we have an eight hour work day, we never deal for eight hours. We have to make up for all the time spent setting up, breaking down or just waiting for an opportunity to deal a table.
My buddy Tim says, "Screw dealing, I wanna pass out water! These guys are loading up a tray with ten bottles of water (free to the players) and walking around passing them out. The players give them a buck every time they get a water. How many waters do you think you can give out in an hour?" Hmmm.
The day before last I dealt hands to "Miami" John Cernudo, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson and several others that I recognized but wasn't absolutely certain who they were.
The Limit Hold'em Championship seemed to have every big name poker professional you have ever heard of entered in it. Day 1 was yesterday, but I was dealing the 7 PM Nightly No Limit Hold'em Tournament. It is a $340 buy-in tournament that, as the name suggests, runs nightly at 7 PM. No big names in that one. They were all in the "Bracelet" events, so called because the winner gets a jeweled, engraved bracelet to go along with the pile of cash.
Observation:
If I keep up the pace I had last night, I might not make expenses for this trip. We get paid a minimal hourly wage just to show up, then keep our tips from cash games we deal and when we deal tournaments, there is a percentage held back from the entry fees as well as tips left at the cashier from the winners that make up a tip pool. The pool is divided among the dealers according to how many "downs" (half hour segments) each dealer dealt. The more downs you get to deal, the more money you make. Last night I showed up at 6 PM and started the tournament at 7. I dealt two tables, i.e. two downs, then went on break and dealt two more downs and hit another break table. Back from break, the table I would have gone to had been broken (players sent to other tables to fill in where people had busted out) and that left me with no game to deal. I checked with the Dealer Coordinator and was added to the list of dealers without an assignment. He had 8 dealers on the list and it was growing despite the fact that he also was taking volunteers for "Early Out". With prospects slim for getting an assignment anytime in the next few hours I took the EO rather than hang around and try to milk the clock for $6 an hour. As I told my boss, I figure there are some dealers that are desperate for the money and I'd let them take the extra down because they need it much more than me. He thanked me for being a team player. Just two hours of work in an eight hour shift is not going to pay the room and board.
Satellites are cool!
There is a separate room at the Rio Convention Center dedicated to WSOP Satellites. What's a Satellite? It is a tournament that pays the winner(s) in seats at larger buy-in tournaments. For example: The buy-in for the WSOP Main Event NLH Tournament is $10,000. Pretty pricey for your average Joe, but Joe can enter a single table satellite for $1,060 and the winner gets a seat in the main event. The math is pretty simple. Ten players each put up $1,060, total of entry fees is $10,600. The house takes its cut to pay dealers and staff and the winner gets a certificate good for entry into the Main Event.
The Satellite room is dedicated to Single Table Satellites. Not all of them lead to the Main Event. Remember, there are 55 events in the Series and players might like to use satellites to get into any of them. WSOP management takes care of that by paying the winners of these satellites with $500 chips that were made up special just for the purpose. They are "No Cash Value" chips that can only be used to pay $500 worth of entry fees into events at the 2008 WSOP including other, bigger buy-in satellites. The chips are transferable and easily sold if its owner would rather have cash than tournament entry. Last night I could hear someone hawking satellite chips just outside the satellite room. I suppose you would sell the $500 chip for something less than $500 but why would somebody play in these satellites if they just wanted cash? I would think they would just go play in the cash games or in tournaments that pay cash rather than entry tokens. On the other hand, I suppose if someone considers themself a single table tournament specialist and is very skilled at short-handed play they might believe they could clean up in the satellite room and sell all the tokes they amass for cash.
I think the satellites are cool. They play like final tables of the big tournaments and my tips have been pretty good. Not everyone in the dealer community shares that opinion. Sometimes the winners forget to "take care of the dealer" and that hurts. Deal a table for two hours and get stiffed on the tip and you quickly develop a bad taste for satellites.
How much do people tip? It varies widely. How much should people tip? I'm not sure what the custom around here, but as a dealer, it would be nice to be able to make twenty to thirty tip dollars an hour dealing satellites. Maybe a little more when the buy-ins and the prizes are higher. (You gotta have a goal, right?) Remember, although we have an eight hour work day, we never deal for eight hours. We have to make up for all the time spent setting up, breaking down or just waiting for an opportunity to deal a table.
My buddy Tim says, "Screw dealing, I wanna pass out water! These guys are loading up a tray with ten bottles of water (free to the players) and walking around passing them out. The players give them a buck every time they get a water. How many waters do you think you can give out in an hour?" Hmmm.
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