Back in Vegas for WSOP 2010

Here we go again! This will be my third trip to Vegas to deal the World Series of Poker. I suppose I should update my blog’s web address because “rookie dealer” doesn’t really describe the situation anymore. On the other hand, I will still be a little nervous the first time I take my seat in the dealer’s chair in an event. I think.
I was very happy to get a warm up last weekend. On Friday I dealt a small No Limit Hold’em tournament at Innisbrook Country Club where an organization of beer and wine distributors were having a meeting. Saturday, I dealt a fundraiser tournament at Incarnation Catholic Church. Certainly, it is not the same as dealing a WSOP tournament and it doesn’t provide any practice keeping track of the pot size or taking a rake, but it was a welcome refresher to tune up my hands and remind myself of tournament procedures.
I arrived at McCarran Airport after a blessedly uneventful flight from Tampa. Luck was apparently on my side because there was a long line into security but just as I was walking up they opened a second line and I breezed right through. At Las Vegas, my friend Barry volunteered to give me a ride from the airport.
The burly former skydiving instructor drove his Mitsubishi Spyder from Tampa. Our original idea was to room together and share some expenses. It might be possible to rent a furnished condo and save a bunch of money however, doing it long distance from Tampa has proven to be difficult. Second alternative is to stay with the same folks I stayed last year. Sara had said she could have a room available for each of us. The price is good and it is just really nice to come home to a “home” rather than to a hotel or a cramped Extended Stay America room. Barry had arrived in Vegas a few days earlier because he wanted to try to get a second job at the Venetian.
During the WSOP, the Venetian runs their Deep Stack Series which is a series of poker tournaments with much smaller buy-ins than WSOP in the Venetian’s beautifully renovated, extended Poker room. Their strategy is to offer WSOP players a much nicer environment with a buy-in that competes directly with WSOP’s “Nightly No Limit” events. Many players, after busting out of their daytime WSOP event are looking for something to do. WSOP fills that need with cash games and small buy-in events conveniently located in the Rio’s convention center right there with the regular WSOP events. At The Venetian a player can play in similar price events against softer competition and enjoy the ambience of one of the posh destinations on The Strip. At the Venetian, you don’t have to play your poker in a conference room.
The popularity of the Venetian tournaments created a need for additional part time dealers. Barry wanted to fill that need by working days at WSOP and evenings at The Venetian. To get the job he needed to do a live audition for The Venetian supervisors. The audition consists of dealing a few mock hands to dealers posing as players. It allows them to be assured a prospective hire knows the basics and gives them a way to choose the better dealers when they have multiple applicants. The supervisor had him deal a few No Limit hands, some Omaha Hi-Lo and a couple Seven Card Stud hands. A little rusty, Barry made a few mistakes and got the, “we’ll be in touch” followed by a thank you but no thank you email. This means Barry will have more time to play Poker this year. This might not be such a bad thing if Barry can get his game and a bankroll together.
After picking up the rental car, the same Miata I rented last year, we headed over to the Stratosphere. I guess I just can’t pass up a good deal. I get a great price on the Miata in return for the risk that it might not make it for six weeks. The Stratosphere offered rooms for 60% off until Friday and seeing that I like their inexpensive tournaments, I couldn’t pass up the deal. I'll move to Sara's place on Friday for the duration.