photo: Jackie Endsley
Putting your last dollar toward a bad-beat jackpot may not have been the best career strategy for this guy.

Audio

I got a call yesterday at the WSOP from the Butler. I haven’t seen the guy for a couple months — not since me and my jiu-jitsu coach and heavy metal teacher got booted out of our sweet pad (pool table, poker table, dart board, 65-inch HDTV, Strip-view bedroom, fireplace/jacuzzi bathroom, no utilities) on the Eastside. We of course knew all was headed south when the Butler — the guy who set the whole housing arrangement up — walked into our casa unannounced to do a cocaine deal, and shortly thereafter got busted by The Boss (who owned the house, in theory, though not on paper) for stealing rent money.

(I met the Butler last year at the WSOP, as he was trying to sell his private concierge services to poker players and convince me to turn him into a recurring character on Pokerati.)

Anyhow, so I got a call from an unknown 973 number yesterday that I answered in the press box. “Hey, Dan, it’s John. Are you at the Series? How’s it going?”

“Um, uh, pretty good? We’re just getting rolling … so what’s up? Did you make it to Kansas City?”

“Yeah, and it’s not good. I’m calling because I need a stake.”

“Yeow, dude … can’t help you out. Wouldn’t know how to get you money if I could.”

“Western Union.”

“Sorry, man Have you tried Tom? His number is 602-97… .”

More…

“Las Vegas is all about layers, man!”

And apparently you gotta know where they are to move from one to another. That was the point The Butler was trying to make, only he was moving his hand in a downward motion, not upward, as he explained the concept of getting to the good stuff.

You’ll be hearing more about The Butler, I’m sure. He helped hook me up with the new Pokerati Headquarters, which I just moved into, and since has shown himself to be an interesting dude with Kramer-esque tendencies, always ready to pop in with some wisdom about how to make it in this town/world. But don’t confuse him with “the Boss” … who apparently is the guy with much less to say and a lot more money.

It’s all about layers … and tubes.

I’m also learning that a black leather coat seems to be part of the winter Las Vegas uniform. Hmm, gotta specifically get me one of those or not.