This is not a poker-related entry, no matter what it seems like. So feel free to read.

The one thing that's great about the poker games is that there's a certain level of honor among the players - we don't cheat and we don't lie. If someone miscalls chips, it's an honest error that's immediately corrected.

I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to these tournaments - I don't believe in deal-making (Ryan offered me a deal last when I was severely outchipped but I turned it down - when I won, I gave him enough of the winnings to make as close to an even split in money between 1st and 2nd). I get a bit peeved when Gibby and Will softplay each other cause they wanna boost each other's chances to getting to the final table, but this is really a gray area. It's just not fighting over, cause they're both okay guys and it's not a huge deal to me.

Tonight a new kid came into play. He isn't a great player, but for some reason he kept making weird calls on the button and winning. The first time was when he caught a gutshot straight (all-in off the turn) against Joe...

One hand, I tried to make a steal with A2o in MP (I had been on a roll so I was playing the rush). In any case, he flat-calls a huge bet on the button with 95o, and Will pushes the rest in. The kid (Steven) flops two pair... and Will catches a gutshot straight with AQ (board is K95J) ... when Steven tries to burn an extra card on the river. Godwin immediately calls him out on it ... and it's a ten. The kid starts bitching about how he didn't burn an extra card (which is total bullshit cause there were three cards next to the community cards). He calls us "cheaters" and starts griping about how he should get his money back, but we stand firm.

In any case, something about that hand unsettled me; the fact that this kid was winning against really bad statistics on the button was bothering me. So I decided to watch most closely when he dealt - I had an inkling earlier that the kid was slowing down a rifle when it got to the top of the deck.

Well, a few rounds later, I caught the kid red-handed. I saw him plainly looking at the top 7 cards (this wasn't even a rifle) ... and then calling a preflop raise from Godwin. I didn't say anything yet, cause I wanted somebody else to catch him as well.

In any case, I busted out a little while later; I went over to the other room and told them about this kid and how he cheats. I told them not to say anything until they caught him red-handed, and they were immediately pissed about it.

My reasoning for this is simple: if I'm the only one who catches him, it becomes my word against his, and the default situation will be to let him play, except he'll know not to cheat. What I want is for everybody else to catch him so there's no doubt in anybody's mind ... then he gets kicked out of our tournament and gets blacklisted at all our other games.

Well, a few hours later, Godwin IMs me and tells me the story.

Apparently the other guys confronted after they had seen him do it a couple of times ... and he got very angry and started bitching about how we were all cheating against him. What the?! Apparently Aaron ran after him for some fisticuffs action, but the other guys restrained him. Honestly, I thought that he would get his ass kicked or something.

But yeah, I don't understand this. Why would you cheat at a friendly poker game? The point of the game is to hone your skills - why would you sully your reputation and ruin the game for everybody by cheating?

Honestly, I just feel bad for the kid. It's really really really sad to have to cheat at cards ... it's a good representation on how he views life - he tries to take the shortcut to get the edge. It's pathetic.

Terrence hasn't signed on yet, but I'm waiting for him to sign on to hear the story from him...

. . .

This entry is already paying social dividends:

ABAlex: wow, finally a poker story worth reading
ABAlex: all you need is more cheating assholes to write about
ABAlex: ;-)

. . .

Terrence has his version up.