Day 30: Satellite action

On Tuesday I was near the bottom of the list and I was homeless for the first hour.  Amy met a group of us behind the Pavilion doors to give out assignments and said she had a couple of satellite spots available.  A guy next to me and I both said "Sats" and put up our hands at the exact same time.  Amy laughed and sent us both to the satellite section.

My first satellite was a $275 buy-in which sucks because the players get 1,500 starting chips instead of 1,000 and the blinds go up every 20 minutes instead of 15.  Normally, the winner gets five $500 tournament chips and $120 in cash, though players work out deals once they are heads-up a lot of the time.  When the satellite got three handed, they decided to play it out and give first place three chips, second place two chips, and third got the cash.  Then they played the tightest poker imaginable, trying to not finish third.  The satellite, which should take two hours or below, took over three hours.  They were all such tightwads that I was thrilled when first and second both handed me $20 after the satellite was over.  I was expecting to get stiffed.

I didn't get another satellite until 5:00 because there were too many dealers in the section and not enough tables available.  Usually dealers can get four satellites in a day, but I was looking at two.  Fortunately, my second satellite was a $1,050 buy-in, which awards 20 $500 chips and $120 cash, and I get paid $25 instead of the normal $15 for dealing it!  A bunch of internet kids, an older foreign sounding guy, and Dan Heimiller sat down to play.  I was a bad beat dealer at this table as I beat Q-Q with K-7 (two kings hit the board), A-A with 2-2 (deuce on the turn), A-K with K-Q (straight after ace flopped), A-7 with 7-5 (an ace in the window and two fives hit the board), and Q-Q with Q-9s (flush on turn).  The two players remaining decided to chop it and gave me $105, so I went away happy even though the satellite finished at 8:30.

Jessica has been visiting me for five days, during which I have neglected to blog.  I will blog more tonight and try to catch up a bit.