Grumpy old men

After winning the afternoon tournament at the Imperial Palace, I grabbed a burger, sat back and relaxed. It was around 5, I believe. I was deciding if I wanted to play in the loose ring game here or go to the center of the poker universe, the Bellagio. I had read that Linda, at Table Tango, was on vacation so I wouldn't be able to re-introduce myself again and talk with her a bit. One thing that did strike me, as you can tell from the title of the post, was the amount of grumpy old men playing not at just the Bellagio, but elsewhere. I see how easily it is for her to get her stories.

I was soon out the door walking down the strip again to the Bellagio, beer in hand. Winning at the Bellagio always makes me feel extra victorious. I don't know why that is. Same kind of players pretty much every where else, but winning there feels better. Maybe it is because you have older people who are more clueless about the game. That just might be it.

I waited about 20 minutes to get into a 4/8 game. Saw the Poker Geek playing and said hello. He was doing good. I waited just outside the room playing a nickel slot to kill time and amuse myself. Of course, just as I try to cash out (is the Bellagio the only casino that still has machines spitting out nickels?), the machine runs out of money. It is only a couple bucks so I abandon the machine to get my seat. I sit down next to an Ipod listening guy with a huge stack. It was a very interesting table. There were a couple of young guys who acted like they knew what they were doing, some older people who may have thought this was like tossing pennies, and some women who kept complaining to themselves about not getting cards.

I was somewhat amazed by the play. I shouldn't be by now, but there are some people I feel like laughing out loud at. I did get into a habit of cackling "Party Poker!" when 8 people would see a flop. I looked at the clown with the Michigan hat, a guy in his late 40s probably, who was taking down some nice size pots by playing those monster hands such as J 5 or 9 3 suited. Twice he caught runner runner for the flush. Both times he would stack his chips with a look of pride on his face like he made a masterful move. The only masterful move he made was leaving while he still had some chips left.

Same couldn't be said about two of the younger guys who had appeared to be doing well. They started chasing like Michigan hat was, but they were losing. One laughed it off while the other kept steaming and walking away. Even Ipod took some beats. He was running the table early, playing aggressive and scaring people off of pots. When the calling stations kicked in and he lost about 4 stacks of profit, he took off.

Ironically, Dmitri the dealer from the Imperial Palace took the seat next to me. He remembered me from earlier in the day. He did seem genuinely pleased that I won the tournament and thought the guy was stupid to not have chopped the winnings better. He didn't play long, but made a bit of money. All the time he did, he talked about how the players at IP do not tip. I left a good amount after the tournament so I asked what he was talking about. He says he barely makes 10 bucks a session dealing. If true, that is pathetic. He is working his way up, so I hope it works out.

I played for a while until the grumpy old man sat down. I didn't mind him at first. He played a lot of hands, grumbling every time he lost with second or third pair. I liked it when he rebought and I liked stacking his chips. But his grumbling got louder and then it infected the table. One hand did the job. He was heads up on the turn with a Canadian guy (he was bragging about being from Canada. Why? Who knows?) after he had check raised him. The Canadian made his flush on the turn and bet out. Grumpy old man called, muttering about losing again. On the river, grumpy old man was first to act. He had already gotten chips out to call and placed them out. He must have thought the Canadian was first to act. He then tried to pull back his chips when the dealer announced "bet". He was told he had to keep the bet out. He started bitching about it. The Canadian raised. As he did, the grumpy old man threw his cards and chips into the pot, complaining about how he didn't be. I didn't say anything as I thought the dealer made the correct call (from what I saw) and he looked to be in control. He was going to call the floor over but the grumpy old man crabbily told him to just deal and move on. Of course, he kept moaning about it for the next couple hands. It was done. He had infected the table.

I was basically cold decked for 3 orbits and not playing. When the Canadian guy pulled the same stunt about 10 hands later, I was out of there. When he angrily threw his cards and chips down the table after a river card he took the fun out of the game. I was up about $80 in 2 1/2 hours, but wasn't enjoying myself. I rather play elsewhere. I wasn't going to let two a-holes take my enjoyment of playing at the Bellagio away. That and I was hungry again.

On my last day in Vegas, I would experience the same damn thing at the Imperial Palace. I was playing 2/4 (why I hadn't gone to the Mirage to play 6/12 is beyond me and a regret) when a cranky sort sat down next to me in a totally Party Poker table. Any suited or connector was played no matter what. And they would see it to the river if they caught any piece of it. Well, this cranky guy sits down next to me and played about 5 hands before he got up and disappeared. He was gone for about a half hour. When he came back, he lost a couple of pots and then requested a seat change. Now he is over in the 2 seat. I felt like telling him to pay more attention to the poker game instead of the baseball lines. Once he got to the 2 seat, he dropped some more money, rebought and asked for a deck change. The dealer called for a set up but no one was coming. At this time the waitress comes by. He orders half cranberry, half orange juice, no ice in a full glass. Ok. A couple of hands go by and still no deck change. He crankily asks again. Dealer calls for a setup. Nothing happens and the dealer continues to deal. The waitress comes back with what appears to be just orange juice. He corrects her on what he ordered. She apologizes and says she will take it back and return with what he wanted. He insists on taking what looked like orange juice and gave her a buck. She goes off to get the correct drink for him. He takes a sip and sits there for a while. He crankily asks for a deck change again. Dealer calls for a set up.

Now the cranky guy gets up, all pissed off. He goes to the room manager and begins to speak to him. I wonder why he is complaining. I even say that changing the decks will not make him a better player. The dealer laughs. I toss him a buck asking to keep the same deck. The crank finally comes back and starts to bitch at the table to anyone who would listen about how he has health issues and the waitress gave him a vodka laden drink and he could have died if he drank it because of his meds and blah, blah, blah. The crank is doing his best to suck any good vibe off the table. He then bitches about how he tipped her a dollar and didn't get his tip back. I started laughing out loud on that one. I just couldn't contain myself after hearing that comment.

I would leave soon when the couple two spot down started hitting flushes like crazy. I do not understand why some miserable people must insist on bringing everyone down. They need to realize they lose their money, not the dealers, the waitresses or any casino personnel. Their stupid play puts chips from their stack to my stack. Don't kill the game with your whining. Let everyone have some fun and stay home.