Professionalism

Linda Geenen has been blogging about poker for a long time, for longer than I even knew what a blog was.

She's a dealer at the Bellagio. I remember some long ago threads on rec.gambling.poker about her making posts full of gossip about the players in the big game (that she sometimes dealt) and getting in trouble with management about.

Well, duh. If you work in the hospitality industry, even in a non-professional job like dealing, you are expected to perserve the privacy of the guests. That's pretty much the way things work. Poker dealers with blogs aren't exempt.

But she's still there, at least she didn't lose her job over such extreme non-professional behavior.

Now she's at it again, blaming someone else for her lack of professional behavior.

Here's what she's whining about now.

A particular incident happened a few weeks ago when I was dealing a $2-5 NLH game. As I stood waiting to push into the box, one seat was open in the game, and I yelled, “DAVE!” I yelled to get his attention over the noise. When he looked at me, I pointed to the empty seat and said, “One seat open.”

He drew the hand across the neck thingey, (symbolizing death or something like that), and loudly said, “No list!”

Okay, fine. She get's in the box and makes sure the brush knows she has an empty seat. Good job, no problems.

Then she screws up.

A few minutes later a young man came up to talk to the 10s and noticed the seat was open. He queried if the seat was open and I said it was his. He said he’d get chips and be back. He returned within a few minutes with a rack of red and Dave walked up with a new guy and put that new guy in the empty seat.

Where did she screw up? She filled the empty seat knowing the brush would think she still had an empty seat. She didn't notifiy the brush that the seat was being filled. What she should have done was told the new player to tell the brush he was taking the seat.

But she didn't.

Such minor screw ups happen all the time in cardrooms everywhere. It's never a big deal, except when Linda is involved.

I was totally startled. “Dave, I already gave that seat away. He’s right there with his chips,” as I motioned towards the guy I gave the seat to.

Dave, “I have a list.”

The whole table groaned. They had heard Dave tell me there was no list. Dave stood behind the 5 and 6s, looking at me as if my third eye was showing.

So she thinks he screwed up? When he didn't have a list he told her he didn't. Then about the same time she gave the seat away two guys walk up to play. She might not realize it (she's only been working in cardrooms for about 78 years) but it often happens that two guys walk up to the brush at the same time. He's got one seat, he gives one of them the seat and starts a list with the other.

So now he's got the seat filled and also has a list.

Why is this hard for her to understand?

Because she doesn't know that her job is to deal the cards and point people who want a seat to the brush.

But she thinks she's the professional one.

Okay.