Playing under our little satanic-spade banner … David Pflaster. Some of you may recall … he got his start playing at the Lodge and before you knew it was getting aces tattooed on his forearms, dealing in Dallas, and about a year ago moved to Las Vegas to make it as a low-stakes pro.

He actually seems to be doing it — says he’s just slightly better than breaking even in cash games while hitting some “big” scores in tourneys. More than $20k in the past few months in Caesar’s freerolls, another $10k win online … today he’s playing in the $2,000 NLH event … and with about half the field eliminated just before dinner break, he’s a pretty-big stack with about 18,000 chips (more than double the avg.). Seen here after just having taken out a player who moved all-in on his big blind in a hand where he woke up with pocket kings.

NOTE TO SELF: Satanic Spade … good name for a new death metal band!

UPDATE: According to Pflaster: “Dude, my Aces ran into Jacks.” His opponent was apparently a relative big-stack … so he’s now down to 3600, with blinds at 300/600 … and Pflaster in the big blind on the next hand after dinner break.

Yikes. But at the same time, on the previous break he and I talked about this exact situation, and how he’s learned his way out of it. We’ll see, no?

BTW, mad props to WSOP dealer and Pokeratizen 85Nutz, who spent his day off competing in the $300+30 at Caesar’s yesterday … finished in 7th place, which paid him $8k. Nice!

Should give him plenty to dump into video poker at Ellis Island, because that’s what dealers do after a big score, no?

In today’s episode, Dr. Pauly and I witness a well-known poker author/pro checking out some hot dealer ass, as Dan struggles to come to grips with his inner Sklansky.

Episode 2: Dirty Sklanchez

Dealers are taking their seats for the $2,000 NLH event that’s about to start — cards in the air in 20 minutes, supposedly … and suddenly, out of nowhere, we have “I Feel Good” blasting on the loudspeakers in the Amazon Room, which is semi-sealed off to keep the players from entering right now.

I wanna make fun, but I think the music thing is working. It’s hard to be grumpy with the tunes going. (I don’t know the name of the song they’re playing now, but it’s pretty uppity, too.

UPDATE: Snake and Charles have educated me … that song was “Jerk It Out” by The Caesars. Simultaneously appropriate and frightening. They also inform me that this musical start has been a daily thing ever since the marching band played.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4h9HBn8Q60

With that in mind, I have decided to open up my shared iTunes playlist for anyone who wants to pick up some Pokerati songs. Right now we’re listening to Trivium’s “The Deceived,” which is about the feeling you have after an opponent shows you a big, successful bluff:

Dr. Chris Ferguson and his support-posse rejoice behind a trophy, a watch (or is it a bracelet?), and a plateful of half-a-mil. Fabolosa on his lap.

He pushes all-in on a board of . (He’s holding .) The audience — fewer than 80 people, but crammed together to make them look like more — jumps from their seats when Jordan announces the all-in and crowds around the mini-table. Andy Bloch thinks and thinks for several minutes, flips a two-headed quarter and calls with his .

River is .

People are wondering about the call. I contend it woulda been the right decision had he gotten a better river.

I’ll try not to overdo this as Dan has posted much on this past weekend’s tourney; but I did want to give a quick summary of my tournament and a review of the tournament and casino at large.

First, my tournament. I made it into level 7, a little more than halfway through the day. I had a good starting table, with several players limp-calling and nittily letting there chip stacks dwindle away. The only problem was that through the first break (after level 4) we hadn’t busted a single player at my table; at the same time, almost half the starting field on our day 1 was gone. As a result, there were not as many chips for the taking. Even still, I was at 8400 (average of 6200) and feeling pretty good. I have not played a MTT since the Main Event (subject of a to-be-written post entitled “Supernova, or, how to donk away a money finish in the Big One”), and I was a little loosey-goosey early, but I managed to level it out and felt pretty good with a pretty good table image.

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THACKERVILLE, Okla.–TJ Cloutier made a raise, and Vikram Vijay folded 2-7o face-up. Greg Raymer, announcing the action, says, “Folding the Hammer.” I think I was the only one cheering on the inside … not for the fold, but for the Raymer recognition. (Otis must have taught him well.)

On the very next hand, they got it all-in … Cloutier had A-J, an Vijay called with 3-3. An ace came on the flop … no straight or flush draw on the turn … and congratulations to the New Yorker-cum-Oklahoman Vikram Vijay, who wins the 3rd annual Red River Roundup with a red 3 on the river.

Perhaps just as it should be?

For those of you who have be reading the whole tournament tipping vs not tipping controversary, let’s take a moment to check out this dealer. I call him the Elvis dealer as the Pokernews photo obviously explains.

I’m not sure if this is the same Elvis that gave me away at my wedding ten years ago but they do have the same hair. All Elvis look alike anyway.

Some of you say that you want to get a breakdown of what Harrah’s takes out of the pot and how much the dealers make. It’s none of your business. Some of you have done some horrendous math which indicates that dealers for the main event only made $10.15 per hour, hogwash. Hey, I’ve never used that word before. That was fun. How can you divide the total tip by 700 people working 11 days? I didn’t notice 700 dealers at the final table.

Do you know how much the person at the Gap makes when you go in to buy your plaid shorts? Do you know how much the guy makes that is changing the oil in your Yugo? How much does the Slot Manager at Caesar’s Palace make? Who cares about any of this, and who cares how much dealers make except for dealers and the people hiring them?

What should a dealer make? I say pay them whatever they need to be paid to attract reasonably talented people. The answer I’m guessing is probably somewhere between $20 and $35 per hour. For a full time employee, that’s an annual salary between $41,600 and $72,800.

Excepting errors, does the dealer have anything to do with me winning or losing a tournament? If you say yes, start collecting stamps not playing poker. Since the answer is no, why should I tip them? Do I want them to make a good wage? Of course I do. So here’s the plan. In this plan I will use the WSOP as the example:

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LAS VEGAS–The WSOP dealers, as mentioned before, were wanting to see Jerry Yang win for the sake of a bigger tip. He couldn’t have had a reputation as a big tipper — because as a guy playing in his first WSOP and with no noted accomplishments high-stakes or otherwise, how could they know? Perhaps they saw him as a mark … an inexperienced player who had already committed 10 percent of his winnings to charity might be easily persuaded to “give a little back,” if you know what I’m sayin’.

Not sure what Yang’s intentions were as he walked into the payouts room … but Chris Ferguson reportedly joined him — not because he was invited, but because he was a Full Tilt guy looking after a Full Tilt player. When the payout ladies asked what he would like to leave for the dealers, Ferguson supposedly informed him that he had already given 2 percent. Nolan Dalla corrected him, saying, “Actually it’s 1.8 percent.” [Ed. Note: Inaccurate as originally reported. We regret/apologize for the error lazy journalism.]

At that point Ferguson pointed out what that came out to — $148,500 by my calculations, but not certain that’s the number he cited — and said, according to a mostly reliable source who was in the payouts room, “So I recommend zero.”

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LAS VEGAS–Raymond Rahme, the first ever African to make a main event final table, just went out (on a questionable play running a quasi-bluff with KK after an ace flopped) … so they’re heads-up now. “I made one mistake this whole tournament,” Rahme says.

The dealers are rooting for Jerry Yang. Not only is he apparently a very nice guy who reportedly plans to give a huge chunk of his winnings to the Make-a-Wish foundation, but also he is known as a very generous tipper. (Just confirmed — 10 percent of his winnings will go to three charities.)

A high-ranking source within Full Tilt, however, said (when Alex Kravchenko was still alive) that his people were pulling for Kravchenko over Yang, even though both signed on with Full Tilt upon making the final table. For starters, Yang has never before played online, and learned the game only two years ago. Not quite a “Play with the Pros” kinda guy. And as a family man who looks at pictures of his six kids throughout a hand and says prayers that praise the non-Chris Ferguson Jesus upon moving all-in … “Not exactly the style we’re looking for.”

NOTE: Rahme also has six kids. “Battle of the Brady Bunch x 2″ ESPN’s Howard David just dubbed it.

As for the people who have little stake in who wins between Tuan Lam and Jerry Yang, they are suddenly Yang fans just because that will lead to a quicker end.

Shame on them!

LAS VEGAS–As mentioned before, there’s so much action going on a dwindling number of tables that it’s hard to keep up with it all. But that doesn’t stop Pauly and Otis from sneaking away for a little lime tossing.

The way this game works is you set up at the top of the dealer’s smoking porch steps … each player has a Corona, which comes with a single lime. At that point it is your task to chuck your lime down the stairs toward a rubbish bin. Hit it and you win $20. Land it in the ash tray and get $100. Stick it in the hole … $250. After about a week of playing, Brad and Pauly have each hit the thing like once or twice. I decided I had to get in on the action, and on my inaugural real-money throw … “Thunk!”

Pay up, beyotches! Otis balked that I “sucked out” thanks to a chair it bounced off of. “Nice catch, donkey!” Pauly shouted. Personally, I think I deserve the $50 trick shot bonus. But either way, they both are scared, as they seem baffled by my unorthodox overhand throwing technique. Please, nobody tell them that I briefly thought darts was going to be the next poker.

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John Harris (dealing to Suzanne Carpenter in the 1-seat) at the WSOP.LAS VEGAS–I was kinda surprised to learn that a few of the Dallas dealers who “auditioned” for the WSOP in May didn’t get the gig. (Like what’s wrong with La? She can deal just fine!) Turns out it was more a matter of timing … early birds got the 2007 WSOP dealin’ worms. But now, a month later — as in like today, in the tent — floor people were put in the box to accommodate a lack depth on the card-pitching bench.

In the tourney directors’ defense, they did break down the tables with floormen-turned-dealers first, since we all know that floor people are at best rusty inside the box, and sometimes downright terrible … misdeals galore.

Before Event #1, the WSOP stocked up with dealers, knowing they would lose a bunch along the way. 250 were fired in the first week for inadequate skills, reliable sources say. Others quit (as they always do) when their first paycheck didn’t live up to expectations. And since then there have been a smattering of pink slips and walk-offs. Floor personnel insist that the need for extra dealers today was not the result of a shortage — just a matter of scheduling problems.

(But aren’t those kinda the same thing?)

LAS VEGAS–Here’s what’s going on today at the WSOP, and some of what’s recently gone down leading up to it all:

A Canadian Polack named LUKASZ DUMANSKI won the $1,500 Omaha Hi Lo event. Go non-American players!

The $50,000 HORSE final table has been set.

Interesting field and chip situations …
Amnon Filippi 4,015,000
Freddy Deeb 3,500,000
Kenny Tran 2,445,000
John Hanson 1,995,000
David Singer 1,330,000
Bruno Fitoussi 895,000
Barry Greenstein 750,000
Thor Hansen 40,000

(Pokerati fave GABE KAPLAN went out on the final table bubble, in 9th place.)

Click here to follow the coverage of today’s action, where they will continue to mix games and not play a final table of just no-limit hold’em. Any odds on what will be the final game?

You’ll notice that TOM SCHNEIDER is not there. He went out early in Day 2. He was in the Big-little-big one for $34,000. The rest went to a smattering of backers, to whom 9 percent was available for $5,000. Can Tom build on his early WSOP success and make that third final table without dropping below the six-figure mark? After paying taxes, BACKERS, and living expenses associated with moving to Las Vegas for two months, mixed with tournament buy-ins, cash-game losses, and fancy scotches for Dan … the money can go fast during the WSOP.

But busting out early did allow him to play the $2,000 Omaha Hi Lo, which, after a night of drowning his sorrows followed the next day by a cash-game all-nighter, he played with “no sleep”:

Tom went out toward the end of Day 1.

Lori from Carrollton was dealing — with new hair no less:

She seems to be having a pretty good time — seen here sweating Pokerati fantasy poker favorite STEVE WONG, as he plays $50-a-point Chinese:

Day 2 of Omaha Hi Lo gets underway at 2 pm pacific, 4 pm central.

Day 1 was a pretty relaxed, jovial affair … presumably because it was a relatively low buy-in for the big-time pros who had busted out of the $50k HORSE event. Very fun and chatty. On a break PHIL HELLMUTH and ROBERT WILLIAMSON III had a semi-private discussion about sponsorship deals and the logistics of autographing products en masse. (The easiest are things you can sign with one hand, and slide to the side with the other.)

Robert is selling pieces of himself in by-the-inch embroidered increments. I should probably get a better picture of his jacket …

Here are the patches Hellmuth will be wearing in the main event — 13 of them so far:

Many of these are companies selling Phil’s products, but still, let’s face it, the NASCARIZATION of poker is here. Now if only the non-online-poker companies will buy in.

At the 2007 WSOP, patches are the new body paint.

The other final table today is in the $2,000 Limit Hold’em event — no known pros in this one.

Getting underway at noon is the $5,000 World Championship of 6-handed No-Limit Hold’em.

And the 5 pm (Vegas time) tourney is $1,000 7-stud Hi Lo (aka Stud 8 aka Stud 8 OB aka Stud 8 or better).

JEFFREY POLLACK has a new post up on his “blog” (yo, dudes, they’re called “posts,” OK? Get with the program … a single memo ain’t no blog, but a collection of such theoretically could be)– where he informs the poker world (at 10:30 pm last night) that there will be a “players town hall” at 10:30 am today. I’m a bigger fan than most of the poker’s most corporate representative, but either he doesn’t realize that poker hours dictate that the vast majority of players won’t see this, which is pretty bad … or he does, which is worse. But still, we kinda like The Jeffster’s relative openness in his “blogs” .:

[STEVE ZOLOTOW] was so honest with me that he started our conversation by asking for my boss’s phone number so he could call to recommend that I – and every other key WSOP executive – be fired.

Pollack, of course, ain’t going nowhere — at least not for a while — but can you imagine if the “blogs” on worldseriesofpoker.com had comments?

UPDATE: Amy informs me that the players town hall was actually held yesterday … 11-and-a-half hours before Pollack’s post went up. Nice … Here ye, hear ye!

Don’t forget to follow my following the cash game action at the Rio. It’s a little awkward poking around these games with a notepad and camera, because a lot of people make their livings at these tables and don’t really want people to know that they are good.

One such player I am following is “TEDDY,” who has become a fixture at the $100/$200 Limit Hold’em table. He’s a trip. We’ll leave it at that for now.

I’ve had a decent run at the cash games myself — except for the two times I lost, which negate a big fat win, seen here:

My second-favorite hand was dealt by Linda the Dallas dealer … who flopped me a straight and said, “I knew you had Q-J when you said, ‘This is probably a pretty bad call,’” as she shipped me a $300 pot.

Favorite hand of the night would come a little later upon busting out the dude in the background for another $600.

By the way, if you like the photos, you can see more of what Pokerati sees by checking out our FLICKR gallery.

In other news, ERICK LINDGREN beat PHIL IVEY in a $340,000 golf course prop bet. RAM VASWANI chits presumably in the mail.

LAS VEGAS–Good morning. I’m just getting ready to go to bed. The sun’s been up for just a few hours, and it’s already over 100 degrees. But inside the Rio … about negative 64. So friggin’ cold, especially in the cash-games area, from whence I just came. They cool down the Amazon Room and surrounding hallways overnight in preparation for the onslaught of warm poker bodies that arrive each day a little before noon … and/or to sell more WSOP sweatshirts.

Anyhow, late last night, Pauly was up bouncing around the Amazon Room in his off-time and Otis had just re-arrived back in town. I had work to do, of course, but the three of us had yet to find time to geek out all pokerbloggy since arriving at the 2007 WSOP, so it was time to make time … and off to the Hooker bar we went. Inspiring and refreshing, to say the least, as we traded poker-blog war stories, tales of SEO, and reminisces about the “good ole days” of 2006.

We must have been appearing to have too much fun, because a few drinks into it all, we were joined by a traveling WSOP circuit dealer, Brian “the Rookie” Wilson, Otis’ friend Mark, and Jim McManus, who was a little down on his game.

“I make way more from writing these days than I do playing poker, that’s for sure,” he said. Funny how just a year ago this exact same sentence might have a completely different meaning.

As the night whittled on, Pauly left us to go whip up a poignant recap of yesterday’s crazy yet meaningful action, as Otis, Mark and I returned to the Amazon Room to play poker. You can always count on a few drunks to sit down at the dwindling WSOP cash tables at about 4 in the morning to keep the chips flying, and last night that was us. Not surprisingly, the three of us would rebuy several times playing $2/$5 NLH, and within a couple hours, collectively we were stuck nearly $2,500, at which point I switched to coffee.

Linda the Dallas dealer had my table for a while — it was great to see her for the first time of the Series. “Just like back home,” she said, smirking as she shipped a pot I lost to the other end of the table.

Mark would end up busting out for a final time, while Otis and I stuck around to grind our way back towards even. I was getting there, too, until I flopped an open-ended straight draw and a flush draw. The turn gave me the nut straight and a straight-flush draw. I was bummed when my opponent and I couldn’t get it all-in at that point, but I guess I was lucky, because while I caught my flush on the river, the other guy caught quads, and I was not in a position to raise his bet. Don’t even get me started about the possible collusion we witnessed between a plump American black lady and a skinny British white guy who were playing together unbeknown to the rest of us, until they cashed out together and gave each other a hug and a kiss at the cage.

I was heavily involved in their last hand. The British guy and I had built a pot to more than $600 when I missed my 17 gajillion outs on the river. He put me all-in for my last $72, and though mathematically I was supposed to call, I couldn’t bring myself to do it with just third pair, knowing if I lost, I was definitely not going to rebuy again. (Because I had no more 100s on me.) The black lady seated to my right belligerently encouraged me to call, and then called clock on me. I eventually mucked, and was pleased when the skinny white dude mucked his cards, presumably telling me that I made the correct play.

That’s when they both cashed out in celebration. And then as he exited the room, the not-so-chappy Brit came up behind me and whispered, “You couldn’t beat pocket 6s?” What an asshole, because yes, I could. So what, he’s trying to put me on tilt even after he has left the table with my money?

I did my best to remain unfazed, and sure enough I began to climb back out of the hole. As the wee hours became morning and almost tournament time, Otis and I were at adjacent tables motioning to each other where we stood in terms of getting unstuck. I was in for $700, he was in for $1,200. And both of us were playing our asses off more sober than before. With my fancy little bankroll graph in the back of my mind, I finally took control of my short-handed, reduced-rake table — with a solid read on the Euro to my right and ability to bluff the gay cowboy to my left with ease. Perhaps the only mistake I made here was getting up from a table I could beat, but it was so late, so early … I was exhausted, and for the first time in more than five hours, I was up.

Buy-in(s): $700 (3)
Cash out: $979
Net: +$279

LAS VEGAS–As some of you know, the WSOP has been blessed this year with the presence of several Dallas dealers, at least one of whom has experience dealing Razz. From PokerNews, at yesterday’s $1,500 event:

# 12 hours 15 minutes ago | Posted by shorton
Beth the Dealer

Men the Master and Mark Vos both seem to have a crush on Beth the dealer. Men offered one of his “Men the Master” hats to her for free, and Mark Vos was upset at the table redraw and having to leave Beth, until he found himself at her table again!

Dumb
Found at CraigsList, here

Join The Fastest Growing Industry In The World…Become A Pro DEALER
——————————————————————————–
Reply to: job-314136637@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-04-18, 10:08AM CDT

OK, ITS ALL OVER THE NEWS!!! THERE IS A BILL IN AUSTIN RIGHT NOW TO LEGALIZE POKER IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ESTABLISHMENTS. THIS BILL IS CALLED “THE POKER GAMING BILL OF 2007″. THIS BILL IS EXPECTED TO PASS AND WHEN IT DOES EVERY BAR WILL BE OPENING A POKER ROOM AND WILL BE IN NEED OF PROFESSIONAL CERTIFIED DEALERS LET “THE ALL AMERICAN CASINO DEALERS ACADEMY”, THE ONLY PROFESSIONAL DEALERS SCHOOL IN TEXAS GET YOU CERTIFIED NOW BEFORE THE RUSH. ALL INSTRUCTORS ARE CASINO CERTIFIED AND MOST ARE RETIRED PIT BOSSES OR DEALERS. DAY AND EVENING CLASSES AVAILABLE…CALL FOR MORE INFORMATION METRO (817) 857-3567. JOB PLACEMENT ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE!!!

If I have to tell you why this post is dumb, this blog is too intelligent for you. And that’s a very sad thing indeed.

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Seems like everyone is prepping in some way or another for the WSOP. And that includes a lot of Dallas dealers. About a dozen or so of our favorite hometown card-flingers will be working the Series this year … so expect some quality pitches at the Rio this time-around, along with a strong understanding of poker rules and maybe even extra suckouts. Tell me if you disagree: When it comes to passion and professionalism, Dallas dealers are better than most. Right? At least the ones I know who will be working the Series are. After all, some of them are Pokerati’s Myspace friends.

Dealers from Dallas and all across the country have been auditioning in Las Vegas for the past month (and will continue to do so through May 8. Some will be returning next week for additional training (on games such as Badugi and triple-draw). Very cool … because the qualification process alone suggests that Harrah’s has taken last year’s disgruntled dealer problems to heart, and overhauled its dealer operations, which should be good for players and dealers alike.

ALT HED: Thinking inside the Box

OK, I know this makes me such a homer, but I gotta say I feel pretty good about seeing at least one Dallas pokerer at the final table of Event #1 — the $500 Casino Employees tournament.

While playing in a tournament at the LAPC, a woman sat down on my right in seat two along with a new dealer in the box. Within minutes she began hitting every flop with any two cards, even as low at 2-4o. I finally said to her, “Wow, you are running hot.”

The man in seat one said, “I think she brought her own dealer” along with seat four nodding in agreement. I immediately looked at the dealer who was making steady eye contact with her. Looking down she embarked on a frantic text message craze then began folding every hand. I was unwilling to believe cheaters would exist in a casino such as The Commerce but there was a vibe going on at that moment that was very uncomfortable. Not to mention the dealer making determined eye contact with her and no one else at the table. Eventually, I brushed it off. But you can’t help but wonder what some people are capable of.

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Dorkin’ out with the cushy headphones on … just came across an interesting interview over at Poker Podcast World. (via Shamus.)

Click here to hear Max Shapiro breakin’ down with WSOP tourney director Jack Effel.

Max Shapiro = the Diane Rehm of poker?

In this episode, Jack talks about the efforts the WSOP is going through to unionize? ensure a highest standard of dealer and floor personnel. Apparently last year’s complaints were heard loud and clear. He also reveals that a new WSOP Europe could see cards in the air as soon as September 2007. Harrah’s has other plans in the works, Effel says, for spreading the WSOP brand to the Middle East and Asia as well … coming soon: WSOP-Macau.

Oh, he also makes his “prediction” for the size of the 2007 main event field. It will certainly “grow,” says Effel, or maybe “decline a little bit.” He puts the over/under at somewhere between 7,000 and 11,000, and specifically pshaws the number set by Pokerati.