Donald Woods Jr.

One thing that certainly separates good dealers from the rest of the pack is their ability to tune into surrounding sights and sounds at the table. We like to believe that the players who populate the casino world are doing so with disposable money, but don't you believe it! Many times while dealing I've overheard fragments of sentences from players using the words, "foreclosure" or "impounded", "evicted," and worse. As painful as it is to believe, often times the money being gambled-on the flop, to the river-really belongs to a finance company, a mortgage holder, or a utility.

Here it is almost Christmas - or maybe it has already passed, depending on the newspaper calendar - and Santa Clause and the reindeer are already in the deliver mode. Not to be out-done The Rose Bowl parade boat fixers are finalizing the finishing touches on the New Year's Day floats. In addition, The Grinch - who attempts to steal Christmas every year - is warming up his routine.

From an infant to the eldest adult, we collectively experience decisions that reflect our level of both understanding and experience. Even the lowliest of decisions - as in selecting to either skip or partake in breakfast - require some pondering to decide. Should I have cereal - (cold cereal, or hot cereal) - eggs and bacon, toast and jelly, pancakes... yes, pancakes; or do I want French toast or waffles?

There are certain things that happen to me if I decide to play poker after a situation has arisen. The frame of mind that I need to be in to engage the game at full strength is somehow diluted before I ever sit down. Yes, negative energy seeps into the crevices of my normally free-flowing blood stream and eventually invades my psyche. Even though every fiber in my body is screaming "no," "deal me in" is the way I will usually go. Knowing that I need to focus more than ever, my mind starts to drift about things that I hate at the table.

There are times when I am writing that I have to resist the temptation to tell the absolute truth, as I see it. However, that brings to mind the movie starring Jack Nicholson and his famous quote, "You can't handle the truth!" to stop me in my tracks. In our collective quest to win fame and fortune - via the W.S.O.P. of Poker or some other form of windfall - it has occurred to me that were that objective to be achieved today, it would be anti-climactic. The truth is we enjoy the challenge of the chase! That is what motivates us to continue the tunnel vision search for the way.

I am really wondering how many people look for the answer, the anecdote, the solution, and the remedy, outside of themselves. If you conclude that judging by the sales figures of soothsayers, palm readers, horoscope books, and infomercial responses, the statistics have got to be staggeringly lopsided in favor of "in others". Since we have a meal half cooked - on this subject - I would like to also add, psychoanalysis, the hairdresser, a friend of the family, good guy who works on your car, and two guys named Mike!

I've run into people even now who do not know that I have not dealt a card in over 5 years - sans some extra curricular activity that I am waiting to divulge. No matter, to them I am still that dealer that dealt them broke, a jackpot or have always given them good cards. So, even though your opponents at the table are either betting, folding, or receiving cards, the one person that players remember just as well are the dealers.

In the year 2006, all kinds of unimaginative ideas are en vogue. For example, since poker is the flavor of the month, there are probably all kinds of ideas floating around for a reality show, sitcom, promos on TLC (The Learning Channel), and a variety show featuring the next three winners of the W.S.O.P. tournament bloopers! These kinds of ideas are o.k. To try to capitalize on if you happened to be a poker connoisseur in the mainstream eyes, with name recognition to boot. So then what would we say about Mr. and Mrs. Everyday Jones and their plight, to be number one?

As I mentioned in my last installment that low stakes poker can be exceedingly frustrating, - so much though - that I began to buy in to the biggest game that I could find with only one minimum buy-in. If in fact I had $200 I bought into a $20-$40 game where I only had 10 small and 5 big bets. No matter, it is just about the quality of cards coming into the pot - and players not staying for the duration of the hand - that I made this move. The first time that I played $20- $40 I actually played the hand badly and probably should not have even been in the hand.

Everybody has an opinion about what attributes that a good poker player must possess. If the question were just about an ability to play the game as in athletics, it would be elementary. For example: Question; "Why is it that on any given session anyone can win for a period of time?" Well, the answer lies in the theory that poker requires more than just an ability to play certain hands, read certain tells, playing position, and the like. No, poker is more closely related to who you are at the time.