The Grindstone

"POT!"

I'm startled out of my haze by the announcement and notice the declarer, and 8 other people, staring at me awaiting my answer.  Shit.  It's 4th street.  I've completely lost track of the last two rounds of betting.  All I remember was silently hoping someone won't attempt to make a pot bet.  My mind races to rewind the hand and I quickly count the math, but about a second before I get to the answer the 1 seat (who isn't in the hand), apparently either bored with waiting on me or taking mercy on me, declares the appropriate pot bet.  Normally I'd be bothered with this but it's hour 7 of my day, I've been dealing live all day and I am again in the high limit area.  I've found my way into the mid limit area by this time, but alas, there is no relief to be found here, just table after table of some variation of a game that requires a level of mental acuity I can no longer achieve.

This is how the first 2 weeks of my life at the World Series of Poker pretty much went.  By the end of the second week, 80% of my time spent dealing was spent in live action, and all but one day of that was spend in mid-limits or higher, where the words "no-limit hold 'em" are never uttered.  I had heard about how well financially dealers do dealing this event, but I wasn't seeing it from my position.  Tips in the high and mid limit area were not fantastic.  Meanwhile, my friends who were getting tournament downs were making almost twice what I was bringing in.  On top of this, my lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll and my wife was beginning to work more.  I had to do something, so I asked the boss for a schedule change, which thankfully she was receptive to.  The next weeks schedule came out and saw me doing a combination of late mornings and early afternoons, and my world instantly got much better.  Suddenly I started seeing more tournament downs, I was able to get better sleep.  In short, I started to get a grasp on what I was doing.

So it's now week 4.  I'm feeling much more confident with what I'm doing and I'm starting to actually enjoy myself.  Sure the 6 day work weeks are a grind, and it's still a ton of work, but it's nice to actually be doing what I signed up to be doing.

Of course, there are but 3 weeks left, and I have yet to find a permanent gig.  There are some interesting developments in that regard but I will hold my cards close to my chest for the moment until the picture becomes a bit more clear.