I am happy to report in my first blog of 2016 that poker is alive and well in Las Vegas. Three days into the New Year, I decided it was time to go play some poker, so I opened up Bravo to see what games were being offered in my favorite town. I was pleased to see so many games in progress on a Sunday morning, since I thought many of my fellow poker players would be at home watching football.
Omaha/8 is my favorite poker game. I was happy to see that there was a $20-$40 ½ kill game going at Bellagio. Heading to the Strip, I realized how much I’ve been missing poker lately. Although I play a lot of poker while I am traveling and on Card Player Cruises trips, I haven’t played poker in Las Vegas since August.
Good news, bad news… the game was full when I arrived, but I was first on the list for the game. I took the opportunity to go to the Bellagio Conservatory. The Christmas decorations were being taken down in preparation for a new display. It was interesting to see what lies on the layers beneath the beautiful finished scenes.
As I waited for my seat, I got to visit with many of my longtime friends in the poker room. Some things never change; Amy, Danette, Carmen, and Boba are still providing great customer service handling the lists, seating players and getting them chips, making dealer fills, etc., always with smiles on their faces. I chatted with some of the players I have known for many, many years, including Scotty Nguyen, Natalie and Linda Ryke, JC Pearson, and Morris Kessler.
My seat came open after about 20 minutes. I had forgotten how good the Bellagio dealers are; it was good to see that many of the “mature, experienced” dealers haven’t lost a beat. The players were pleasant too! Fortunately, the game was action-packed and I had some luck. 2016 is going to be a good poker year for me!
I hope you meet your expectations at the green felt this year and hope to see many of you in my travels.
Happy New Year!
Linda Johnson