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.

Posted by roy on March 30, 2005 at 01:41 AM in Poker | 12 Comments

Related Entries

Want to comment with Tabulas?. Please login.

PM5K (guest)

Comment posted on March 30th, 2005 at 08:47 PM
Yeah this is what we need, was there an ass kicking, is there a love interest in this story, did anyone utter the words "there won't be a next time"?
Comment posted on March 30th, 2005 at 02:52 PM
This has nothing to do with poker...but i just read your post about the tipping point and wanted to recommend "the wisdom of the crowds" which is about decision markets (but more interesting than that description sounds) by james surowiecki, who does the financial page for the new yorker. He's pals with gladwell too. Compton will have read it, ask him about it.
Comment posted on March 30th, 2005 at 03:12 PM
Actually, I did buy it right after Matt and Mikey recommended it to me! I found the book overall a bit more lacking than Gladwell's stuff (I guess I should of read Surowiecki before Gladwell) but still quite an interesting book.
Comment posted on March 30th, 2005 at 03:39 PM
I dunno, when I look at stuff like blogdex and politicalbetting I reckon he has a very good point. The weakness of both of them is their tendency to make their point in the first four chapters and go on to waffle for another 40,000 words. Interesting waffle, but waffle none the less.
Comment posted on March 30th, 2005 at 11:10 AM
fuck that kid. i talked to his friends this morning about what he did last night. i hope this kick his ass for it.
Comment posted on March 30th, 2005 at 07:17 AM
It's also a good indictation of the disrespect he has for women, minorities, and homosexuals as well (not that there's anything wrong with being gay). What an ass-chomper.

will (guest)

Comment posted on March 30th, 2005 at 03:12 AM
i dont really think gibby and i do that to boost our odds to get to the final table... its more a protest against not chopping and that we both acknowledge we're ridiculously tight. and i agree, that ass tried to mess with things and then claimed we cheated him. thank godwin for me, it was great of him to call him on it and i dont think we thanked him for that
Comment posted on March 30th, 2005 at 10:05 AM
I think the way you and Gibby play really falls in a gray area - but there are some hand that I know Gibby would bet (if I was in the SB and he had 88, he would defnitely raise the pot) that he doesn't bet against you. I'm not completely against it, but it does irk me at times.

Good playing tonight; heard you won!

will (guest)

Comment posted on March 30th, 2005 at 05:27 PM
i wish. got 2nd. paschal won. 4way tie for 4th at 190 points. this finish is gonna be crazy. and yeah im gonna tell gibby if he actually has a hand worth betting he should do that
Comment posted on March 30th, 2005 at 06:08 PM
Oh. Someone mistold me then.

Good job nonetheless... yeah these last few weeks are going to be crazy. I'm really hoping to get first place next week so I can lock player of the year ;)

but there's so many solid players ... it's going to be a tough one to pull out. damn that terrence!
Comment posted on March 30th, 2005 at 08:33 PM
Forget it; the trophy is mine!
Comment posted on March 30th, 2005 at 02:48 AM
I'm here, you're sleeping- I'll give you the scoop tomorrow, though, there's plenty of different subplots to it that Godwin may not have mentioned.