Welcome to The Woods

I didn't know the Internet consumed my life so much, until I was without it for over a week.

I am living in a hotel until I can find a place that fits my budget. It's a one bedroom palace with a mini-fridge and a shitty Internet connection, not fun.

I have been dealing at Foxwoods for close to two weeks now. I have a lot of fun dealing, but it has been hard to adjust. I am used to living in a bigger city, with friends and/or family, and generally just knowing what their is to do.

I am living in a town right now called Groton. I've done a lot of walking around and I have not seen too much that appeals me. I am waiting for the next couple of paychecks so I can go have some fun at a big city, where I know some people, like Boston or NYC.

I remember in the movie Rounders there being a quote that said "The nicer the person the worse the card player".... well, the people at foxwoods are in general real sweethearts. I think I have dealt about just every game in the room and I have been having a lot of fun. I have not got to know most of the regulars yet, so for the most part I have been staying quiet, but happy to be in the saddle again.

The most fun table so far, I would have to say, was the 8/16 HORSE game. It is my understanding that HORSE is spread only a handful of times a year, and I even see that there is HOSE event as opposed to HORSE in the Foxwoods Poker Classic schedule. It is a real shame, because I really like dealing Razz. Even though it is dealt practically the same as Stud Hi, with the exception of opener procedures, I just think it is more fun following along because hands are so easily polarized.

I guess all in all the people here just don't enjoy lowball games, as I have not seen triple draw, razz or badugi. Maybe interest will spark up in the fututre as 2-7 triple draw is becoming more and more popular.

The only table I have seen where the play seemed to be pretty advanced was the 20/40 LHE game. Of course, there seemed to be a couple of people out of place, as always... but for the most part there seemed to be, by average, a lot more bad spots in that game. It is the most physically draining game in the house to deal, but most poker information rewarding. It is physically draining because it plays with 90 plus percent red birds ( five dollar chips ), and there is often a lot of bets that go in on multiple streets. Now, while the 20/40 Stud game has mainly red birds also, the game just doesn't play as big, and many less bets usually go in.

Speaking of the 20/40 game... why in the world don't they spread it as a 25/50 instead. Like I said, I don't think the game is tough to deal as a red chip game, but overall the house would get a lot more hands in to feed the rake as mainly a green chips game. And, I don't think the interest would decline any. Perhaps there be less 10/20 players willing to jump up in, but to me that is better because then you can keep both games running a for longer stretches of time.

Speaking of balancing, I have heard that they are eliminating the kill in the 5/10 LHE game, in order to allow there to be that balance between the 5/10 and 10/20 LHE games. I think that is genius. Now, if they would just cut down either the 4/8 LHE or the 5/10. How do you have both I am not sure. I could be wrong, because I am new, but they seem to only have a 4/8 O8 and then a 10/20 O8, and the 4/8 normally has kills, and can get away with that. I think it might be best for the house to do the same with LHE. Honestly, the play at the 4/8 is really soft and there should be no reason why the 5/10 regulars should be upset about moving down.... to be honest, I think their hourly rate would actually go up if they did anyhow.

Overall, I think for the size of the room and the amount of players and dealers, the supervisors all do a great job. I would like to give a positive thumbs up to Edmund, a dealer coordinator and floor supervisor, for making me feel welcomed and being a great representation for what all the Foxwoods employees should aspire to act like in the workplace.

Now that my Internet seems to be fixed ( crosses fingers ), I hope to make blog entries on a semi-regular basis.

Joao