Normally, you’ll find Chad Roedersheimer in a dapper, three-piece suit running the show as a hands-on tournament floorman. He has a tendency to look past you when approached, as he’s juggling four different things, he usually has a few seat cards in hand, and he’s eyeing something across the room.
Roedersheimer is a fixture at the World Series of Poker and Borgata’s tournament series as a leading floor supervisor. His lean figure is immediately recognizable, topped by a perfectly shined bald head.
Pulling up a chair
But on Friday, he rolled up his sleeves and took a seat in the $3,500 World Poker Tour Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open Championship. He proved he’s a force on the other side of the table by bagging up a top ten stack to advance to Sunday’s Day 2.
The 46-year-old Cincinnati native had a relaxed day at the felt. “I haven’t run into any tough spots yet,” Roedersheimer said. “The hands have all been pretty straightforward so far.”
While most of his schedule revolves around working large events, he’ll stick his toes in the water to play when he has a chance. “There’s a few events that I like to play, like this one here,” said Roedersheimer. “I used to work here, but there’s so much action here I like to play.”
The deep structures and pace of play are what he finds appealing about the Seminole events. He doesn’t like getting in events that turn into coin flips all day long.
But how do players that recognize him as a floor react to him? “It’s kind of funny because I get paid off a lot,” Roedersheimer said. “Most people just see me working, right?”
“They think I don’t play that much,” he continued. “I’m no pro by any stretch of the imagination, but I’ve won a ring. For the little volume that I’ve put in, I can hold my own.”
Seeing the game through industry eyes
When most cooks eat at a different restaurant, they can’t help but judge the staff. Roedersheimer doesn’t judge dealers, but he does see players in a different light.
“I recognize how some players treat workers first-hand,” he said. “Earlier in the day, a player told another player that I probably gave him a penalty before. Then that guy looked at me and recognized me as a WSOP floor. They change their tune a little bit with dealers when I’m at the table.”
Roedersheimer’s professionalism as a tournament supervisor is well-known within the industry. In fact, when Borgata returned from Covid to run tournaments, Kellie deCelis, director of poker operations, gave him a call.
“She said, ‘We want you back.’ She gave me a lot of trust to be the day director there,” he said. “Borgata gets big numbers and is a well-known property for poker and the fact that Kellie trusts me to run their stuff is cool. They didn’t have to do that because I’m an outsider and she’s handing over the keys.”
Pick your poison
But what would Roedersheimer enjoy more: a final table run or running a flawless event?
“It’s a tossup, probable dead even,” he said. “When you run a good event, and I think I do my job pretty well, it’s satisfying. I get more competent with each event that I work. I’ll give it 51/49 to running a flawless tournament.”
He made a run in the 2022 $10,000 WPT World Championship. He played with Alex Foxen for a good bit and said, “It was really satisfying when he said to me, ‘I know you on the floor all over, but you’re just as good of a player.’”
After years in the industry on both sides of the felt, Roedersheimer still finds magic in poker. “I love that I can compete,” he said. “I can’t go to the NFL and compete with Joe Burrow or shoot golf with Tiger, and we all know the cliché that anyone can win in poker, but anyone can compete if you’ve put in the work and time.”
All photos courtesy of WPT.
