On the way out, I was excited. I was headed to Vegas to play in the World Series of Poker. Even after many years of being in the industry on many different fronts and playing a lot of events all over the world, there is still something very exhilarating leading up to playing in a WSOP bracelet event with a shot at the hardware and the big prize money up top every time you play. My schedule was tight, so I picked the event I liked the best, the $3,000 Pot Limit Omaha 8 or Better Split Pot tournament.

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After checking into the Rio that morning, I bought into the event and was able to get a light workout and a short nap in before the start of the 5:00pm event. I enjoyed the tournament, ultimately busting just before the end of Day 1, but feeling like I did a decent job of giving myself a shot at building a stack without making any huge mistakes. Standard tournament, I didn’t play poorly, but didn’t necessarily feel like I was exceptionally on top of my game either.

The scheduling worked out where a few meetings the next day would keep me in town and also give me that chance to play in some of the cash games around the Rio. So far, even though I had busted the event, I would say my WSOP experience has been pretty good. I’m realistic enough to know that I’m not going to win or even cash in most of the tournaments I play, so busting out of this one didn’t have me down too much and I was still glad I had made the time to come out and at least be part of the WSOP this year.

After a lunch meeting, I made my way back to the Rio and scouted out the games to find that a must-move table to the $75/$150 Limit Omaha 8 or Better game was opening up with a list full of names. Perfect, I could get into the game without much of a wait. I grabbed a seat at a table with three people already sitting and an unattended stack on the table. A friendly chip runner quickly returned with my chips and I was ready to sit down to a fun and hopefully profitable session at a game that I knew I might be a slight dog in since I rarely play Limit games of any type.

Then the wheels fell off of what should have been a seamless experience. An older gentleman to my right suggested we start playing. I said, “Sounds good to me” and the dealer ran out a high card for the button. He dealt a card to the four of us that were seated, not dealing to the unattended stack since that player wasn’t around. The older gentleman won the button and I tossed out the small blind.

The younger kid to my left started pitching an absolute fit about the dealer not giving the unattended stack a card. The kid, seemingly a regular in this game, threw such a fit that the floor had to come over and waste 15 minutes dealing with a nothing situation in which time the kid and gentleman exchanged some testy words, resulting in the arrogant kid resorting to the “heads-up for rolls”-type reply that did nothing but show his immaturity.

One bad apple definitely spoiled the bunch at this table, but since it was a must-move, I hung in there. One player berated another over his questioning of how a time pot worked and the general criticism of a weaker player’s actions was almost nonstop. And the berating the dealers took was tremendous and at the same time that they were getting tipped almost nothing in one of the bigger games on the floor.

I’m sure any dealer out there dreads a down in the $75/$150 O8 game if my experience is anything close to the norm, which I am sure it is since the regulars as a group seem to go out of their way to make sure any new face would have such a miserable time that there is no way they would ever play a long session or play again the next day.

After moving to the main game, it was more of the same. A guy came in and posted his blind instead of waiting to come in for free behind the button and an old-timer regular in the game just couldn’t resist talking about how stupid that was for the next hour. One guy just wanted to play and didn’t mind posting. The other is supposedly there to make money, but does all he can to run off one of the few players he has a chance of beating.

The end result is I booked a small win. The grumpy old regs who should have a huge edge on me in that game actually make a ton of basic mistakes, but none of their mistakes comes close to the ongoing and constant mistakes they make in limiting and hindering the growth of their game of choice. Good luck to those guys. Keep grinding it out and beating up on each other, spending eight to 10 hours a day being miserable. I’ll leave that to you and find a more enjoyable and profitable game somewhere else. The bad news for you guys is that most everyone else will too.

Court Harrington has worked on the business side of the poker industry in roles including tournament reporting for PocketFives, radio hosting for PokerRoad Radio, coaching for the WSOP Academy and privately, and a variety of behind-the-scenes responsibilities for poker media businesses. He also plays in cash games and tournaments. Harrington is currently doing consulting work and exploring business opportunities outside of the poker industry. You can contact him at Court@CourtHarrington.com.

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