hobonc
Visionary
Silver Level
This year made my second experience with the wsop. If you've never been it's hard to grasp what it's actually like.
Imagine you're in a room about the size of a medium sized grocery store. Like that room, this one has no pillars or obstructions either. Now imagine it filled to the brim with poker tables save for the isles, cashier's cages, and sign up desks etc. Each of these tables have their own color coded, numerical placard hanging over them to identify them.
There are literally hundreds of thousands of chips being shuffled, fiddled, raked into the pot, and scooped to the winner. Each giving off it's share of a rumble of the distinctive "click" they produce.
There is the occasional hoop or holler of various sorts, each one no doubt the result of a sudden change in fortunes one way or the other.
There is the looks on players faces that run the same gamut as the sounds when that change occurs.
Now imagine walking out of that room, across the hall and into another just like it. Or the third down the hall and around the corner.
Nearly 500 tables at times. And each must have a dealer. They fly in from all over the world. Some are better. Some are worse. Some are......well, let's just put it like this: Some are like they went out on the street and asked people, "How many cards are in a deck?" And if their answer was anywhere between 48 and 56 they said, "You're hired!" At the $75 turbo satellites level, the cheapest tournament they have, there were several dealers that had players correcting their actions. Added to the aforementioned noise it wasn't unusual to hear, "FLOOR ON TABLE 337!"
I also saw the undisputed best dealer I have ever seen in 30+ years of poker. He was a 60ish year old Phillipino guy. Silky smooth with the cards. Robotic. A shuffle comprised of three side by side ruffles, a triple cut, and a protector cut in 5-6 seconds or so. Consistently. Never a card that comes in too fast that it dinks off your chips or cup; nor did I see any short ones. Perfect aim. And he worked the pot with computer-like speed and accuracy.
Anyway, it's definitely an experience you want to include on your bucket list.
Imagine you're in a room about the size of a medium sized grocery store. Like that room, this one has no pillars or obstructions either. Now imagine it filled to the brim with poker tables save for the isles, cashier's cages, and sign up desks etc. Each of these tables have their own color coded, numerical placard hanging over them to identify them.
There are literally hundreds of thousands of chips being shuffled, fiddled, raked into the pot, and scooped to the winner. Each giving off it's share of a rumble of the distinctive "click" they produce.
There is the occasional hoop or holler of various sorts, each one no doubt the result of a sudden change in fortunes one way or the other.
There is the looks on players faces that run the same gamut as the sounds when that change occurs.
Now imagine walking out of that room, across the hall and into another just like it. Or the third down the hall and around the corner.
Nearly 500 tables at times. And each must have a dealer. They fly in from all over the world. Some are better. Some are worse. Some are......well, let's just put it like this: Some are like they went out on the street and asked people, "How many cards are in a deck?" And if their answer was anywhere between 48 and 56 they said, "You're hired!" At the $75 turbo satellites level, the cheapest tournament they have, there were several dealers that had players correcting their actions. Added to the aforementioned noise it wasn't unusual to hear, "FLOOR ON TABLE 337!"
I also saw the undisputed best dealer I have ever seen in 30+ years of poker. He was a 60ish year old Phillipino guy. Silky smooth with the cards. Robotic. A shuffle comprised of three side by side ruffles, a triple cut, and a protector cut in 5-6 seconds or so. Consistently. Never a card that comes in too fast that it dinks off your chips or cup; nor did I see any short ones. Perfect aim. And he worked the pot with computer-like speed and accuracy.
Anyway, it's definitely an experience you want to include on your bucket list.
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