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Last year, before I graced Boylepoker with my presence, I used to earn some extra drink tokens (cash) dealing at some of Ireland's bigger poker events (dealing cards that is!). As jobs on the side go, this one was perfect as these events generally took place on weekends, hotel and travel costs were picked up by the company, and there would be all the fun that comes from having to walk through a bar with friends on your way out of work. It usually took us at least six hours to make that 20 metre stretch!
What makes these live poker tournaments so special is the atmosphere, as players and dealers are generally there to have a good time and mingle. As luck would have it, I quite enjoy mingling myself and have made lots of friends and had an experience or two as a result.
At the end of one big event, after a particularly good last night party I got up to check out of the hotel. In the lobby, I bumped into another dealer walking around in her pyjamas holding the prestigious tournament trophy, looking for the winner. The only man ever to be presented with the trophy twice in one year!
On the last night of another event I remember too many people for comfort cramming into a dealer's hotel room after closing time and unsuccessfully attempting to order champagne on room service (it seems that VIP poker players don't carry much weight in the real world). Luckily, my sidekick and I had brought a bottle of gin, which we refused to share with the rest of the party and managed to polish off ourselves (when its the last of the gin, VIP poker players don't carry that much weight with us either).
It's not all fun and games for the dealers though, at my last tournament I clocked up 53 hours work in four days. This year as Boylepoker are sponsoring the IPO, I'm experiencing the hard work from a completely different angle. I hadn't realised how much work goes into preparing for these events, it begins months beforehand to ensure that everything runs as smoothly as possible. I'm getting bald patches from pulling so much hair out (this is not a good look for a girl!).
Once all the groundwork is put in to make sure that the tournament will be professional and well run, everyone can be proud of it, and the atmosphere will reflect this. I'm more than a little excited about this event; there are a good few players and dealers I can't wait to see. I'm going to miss dealing a little; I'll just have to boss the Boylepoker team around instead of the poker players. They're used to it by now. And we'll have one hell of a last night party.
Comments (2)
the tournament sounds like the place to be this weekend. Can we join in the fun? especially the party? we promise to behave.......or not!