Core temperature approaching critical level.

This afternoon, I came as close to a meltdown as I have ever come. At least in poker dealing terms.
I'm dealing a $2-5 blind NLH game. Mr. Grouchy is in the 6s. We have a history. He has recently began dabbling in NL. His usual game is $4-8 limit. He plays both games with equal horridity. I don't know if that is even a word and I don't care. It describes his play perfectly.
In any case, he loses a hand and goes on his standard rant. Murph, you still stink. yada yada yada. I think I threw in something about his endless moaning and groaning getting REALLY OLD.
A few hands later he, again, loses a big pot. I could tell he was about to go into another rant. I very pointedly and not so nicely hissed...... "DON'T SAY IT!!" He started to open his mouth and I jumped right in with another DON'T SAY IT!!!!! I must have repeated that phrase 6 times, each time with increased volume.
He didn't utter a word.
The other regulars at the table just stared, slack jawed, at me. It was totally out of character.
Screw it! I'm sick of his shit. I think he now knows it with vivid clarity. If there wasn't a poker table between us, I think I would have kicked him in the face.
The sad part is that he is good for the action. Like swallows to Capistrano, his chips fly into other people's stacks. I don't think that makes him good for the game.

Ahh, that feels better. I think I got it all out. I'd feel a lot better had I actually kicked him in the teeth, but I am likely better off for not having done that.

Another annoying episode occurred on table 3 ($4-8 limitHE). Jeremy, the dealer, was ramming and jamming as usual. Add K. to the mix. He had played NL all night and cashed out nearly $4,000 winner. He jumped into the $4-8 game at Jeremy's urging. He was ramming and jamming too. Not that this was what annoyed me.
The two of them in the same game had the regular rocks in a tizzy. About halfway through my down, the player in the 10s tells me that those two were playing as a team. If I had false teeth, they would have flown from my mouth. I gently told the guy that Jeremy wasn't even looking at his hole cards, he was just gambling (in actuality, Jeremy knows these players, and their "style" well enough to know that he can get them to lay down what is likely the best hand just by continuing to raise-raise-raise relentlessly)
I'll never understand how someone putting a ton of chips in play blindly can put so many people on tilt. Don't they realize that they just need to wait for a hand (bluffing is out of the question, so I won't even go there) and play back at him? If $2 flops are what they are looking for, they ain't getting them in a Jeremy game.
For the record, if I had any suspicion that they were in cahoots, I would report it.

Last night after work I headed to Hooters to meet Kim and Benton. We had planned to eat and play poker. We accomplished one of those objectives, but we didn't play any poker.
They had two tables in operation. One was a (I believe) $1-2 NLH game. The other was a $4-8 limit Crazy Pineapple game. The third table was dark. There wasn't a list for a limit HE game and they didn't act like they wanted to start a list either.
We got a pager and waited over an hour for a seat in the Hooters Restaurant. Deep fried goodness, right? Wrong! I woke up at 4:30 this morning with severe stomach cramps in a cold sweat. I'll spare you the ugly details, but suffice it to say I was as sick as I have been in a loooooong time. I can't attribute it to anything other than the deep fried wings/buffalo shrimp. I didn't even have a beer with dinner. I don't think I will be eating there again any time soon---if EVER.

The poker scene at work has been just a little busier than the recent past. The schedule as been cut enough that those who are working are getting more down time. Ironically, "down time" in poker is a good thing. It's time actually spent in the box dealing and (hopefully) making some scratch.

I was talking to a co-worker today about the moaners and groaners. He has been dealing forever. He told me that once while dealing stud, the player sitting next to him kept showing him his cards while bitching/moaning into his ear. Eventually the player gets KK in the hole. The dealer then, on purpose, announces who the action is on by saying "Pair of Kings High". There are no kings showing anywhere. The player with the buried Kings immediately bets out. The dealer then says, wait, that's not right. Sorry.
The guy goes ballistic. The dealer says, well you keep showing me your hole cards and I got confused. The player stopped showing his hole cards to the dealer. Mission accomplished.


Tomorrow is my Friday and I think I will try to EO/Play. I've had enough dealing for one week.