Unsung Heroes Part 5

By Dennis Oehring

The last of the brief profiles on each of the dealers appearing on Poker After Dark features Angie Border. The introductory article on all of them can be found by clicking here. Let's get to know Angie, who I affectionately refer to as "da bomb."

Angie moved to Las Vegas in 1989 from Lafayette, LA, after coming out for the World Series of Poker, falling in love with Sin City, and never returning back home. She was soon hired as a poker dealer at the Mirage. She recalls that her boss told her she was the worst dealer he had ever hired in his poker career, but in time made more progress than anyone he had ever seen. When Bellagio opened, she moved there to deal the higher limit games, and still works there as a dealer and occasional floorperson.

She has dealt games with buy-ins up to $5 million, including the game between Andy Beal and "The Corporation." She enjoys dealing the higher limit games because of the excitement the huge pots generate, but stresses that it has been in the lower limit games where she has made the most friends over the years. Angie says that while money comes and goes, friendships last a lifetime, and that makes her job even more fulfilling.

Angie has been involved in televised poker for more than 5 years. She has dealt 7 WPT final tables in addition to her work with HSOR and POKER-PROductions. Her work with the WPT has enabled her to travel to different locations, Aruba being her favorite. She feels that the personas of the players come out more strongly in televised events, one of many reasons she enjoys dealing on camera. She says that her favorite professional player is Mike "The Mouth" Matusow.

Her husband of 15 years, Robbie, also dealt poker at Bellagio for 7 years before applying what he learned in the box to his own game, and has now played for a living for 4 years. Robbie had a fifth place finish in the 2005 WPT Ultimate Poker Classic in Aruba, an event won by Freddy Deeb. Angie and Robbie have one daughter, Britany, and Robbie dedicated the success he had in Aruba to her. In her spare time, Angie enjoys cooking and playing in poker tournaments, where she is a welcome sight to many in these largely male-dominated events.