Back to the real world......

Not that the poker room at the Palms is exactly the "real" world, but you get the picture. I had barely recovered from the flights home and gotten a few hours sleep when it was time to work. I mentally kicked myself a few times for not extending the Aruba trip for a few days. Linda and Jim were still in Paradise and I was headed for work. In my absence, a dealer and a floorman had parted ways with the Palms. I don't have all the details, but people don't usually leave the Palms voluntarily............
The first thing I noticed was that the cards handled as if they had graphite on them. Greased lightning.
I chatted with Gene for a few minutes and he informed me that he needed me to work tournaments on Wednesday the 12th and Wednesday the 19th. Wednesday is usually a day off and the 12th would find me entertaining my parents, but I told him no problem......IF he put me "first out" on the 12th. Mom and Dad can watch me work for an hour or so. They can see the results of the money they spent for me to get a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration. **rofl** I've been living in LV for just over 2 years and this will be my parents 4th visit in that time period.

Yesterday at work, a player in the 1s who I have been dealing to for nearly two years leaned over and whispered "can I ask you a question.....do you guys pool your tokes?" I told him that poker dealers keep their own and that I felt it was the only way to go. It amazes me that the pit mentality carries over to the poker room and that many players don't know that the poker room operates differently. I've personally witnessed celebrities play poker for hours and not toke a cent and then when they cash out, they give the floorman a substantial amount of money. IF they utter the words "for the dealers" then the floorman will try to distribute it evenly among the dealers who had dealt that game. If they don't designate it, the floor gets it all. I'm not bashing them, it's just a matter of educating the players. Maybe Linda Johnson can work it into one of her columns.

Aruba Observations (ramblings), in no particular order.

• Unlike 24/7 Las Vegas, the casinos in Aruba open mid-afternoon and close around 3:30 AM. I've also found this to be the case in other casinos sprinkled around the Carribbean.
• In the tropics, "Island Time" is mentioned a lot. It simply means, relax, we'll open the restaurant or start the game when we get around to it.
• If you want to eat, eat early. There are precious few, if any, restaurants that are open late. There was an Italian place at the Wyndham that was open until 1AM, but that was the exception and not the rule on the Island.
• The poker room at the Radisson advertised "standardized US rules". I'm laughing my ass off at that one.........
• The poker play was as loose there as anywhere I have seen. I watched a guy in a NL game CALL off $100 on the flop, $100 on the turn and nearly $600 more on the river with, get this, a 10 high........no draw, no pair, no nothing. The winner of this hand won with a King high although he did turn a flush draw. Simply amazing.
• Taxi fares are officially set by the government, although some variances seemed to occur based on time of day, attitude of the fare, attitude of the driver, day of the week and amoung of luggage.
• On election day (actually the election took place on two consecutive days) the only places that could serve alcohol were the hotels with casinos. I guess they don't want the electorate drunkenly casting ballots willy nilly. We ordered drinks at Gilligan's bar at the Radisson and the bartender asked us if we were a guest of the hotel. We stated that we were staying at the Wyndham and he said he couldn't serve us. We persisted until another person behind the bar, presumably a manager, relented and served us.
• If you are educated by the Aruban school system, you speak at LEAST three languages.
• A 15% auto-gratuity is added to everything. A single beer or dinner for a party of 10. For some reason we felt compelled to leave something over and above the 15%. Sometimes just a dollar of two, other times substantially more.
• Floating in the Carribbean on a star-filled night does wonders for the soul. Thanks Linda.