Don’t be a Fool!

Alright, I’ve seen lots of different reactions and emotions at a poker table.  People have cried in despair, others grin and bear it, some even slam the table, but I was taken by surprise when this guy threw a big fit, stormed away from the table and came back later to complain and threaten people.

He was in a pot with my friend.  It was a huge pot, the guy was chip leader and my friend had a fair amount of chips at the final table.  This guy went all in after the flop, which was 3, 4, 5 all different suits.  My friend had two picture cards: Q, J off suit.  What was he supposed to do?  My friend is the kind of guy that likes to say “I’m committed. I’ve invested so much”.  Yep, he put in about 1/4 of his chips before the flop.

The other guy gave my friend the death stare.  It was VERY intense and you could tell he was trying to shoot my friend down.  I was even afraid.

My friend took a gamble and called.  He was lucky all night so he thought he’d give it a try.  He had two over cards afterall.

My friend reluctantly turned over his cards, while his opponent slammed his A, 2 on the table.  That guy had the nuts on the flop – a straight.  No wonder he was giving my friend the stare down, he was afraid my friend had the higher straight on the flop.

There was no way my friend would win!  All the spectators felt sorry for him, you could see the disappointment on everyone’s faces…. especially my friend.  He was pacing around getting ready to go home.

The dealer revealed the turn card….. It was a 6!  A card was burnt…… the dealer reached for the river card and said “All this guy needs is a 7″.  One card closer to a straight on the board…. the spectators leaned in and pulled on the ropes surrounding the final table. My friend was praying to the poker gods and pacing around like a mad man….. his opponent was standing up all ready to reach out for the huge 40K pot.

The dealer turned over a 7!!  Amazing!  My friend screamed in relief….. all the spectators couldn’t  believe what they just saw.  “It’s a split pot”, explained the dealer to both players.  The other guy yelled in anger, ”NOOOOOOOOOO!”.  He was so convinced he had won.  The dealer tried to explain that the highest 5 cards were on the board and that it was a split pot.  He wouldn’t listen, he wouldn’t have it at all. He kept saying loudly, “I won”.

He got so mad he stormed off cursing under his breath.  His chips were forfeited and taken off the table.  My friend couldn’t believe his luck, he got his chips back, and more, on the luckiest hand I’ve seen in a while.

Everyone went on with the game.

About half an hour later the angry guy comes back to the poker arena and tells a club manager that he wants to send a complaint letter about the rules.  It’s very clear that the rules of No Limit Hold’em Poker that he was playing was the 5 best cards win (The Showdown, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_hold_’em).  It was an APL event that night so the host tried to calmly explain to him again what the rules were, but he still wouldn’t listen.  He argued with the host and walked off, but not without saying to the security guard “Why are you looking at me?” with attitude.  That’s not the smartest thing to do.  The security guard was a big guy with a commanding presence.  He was lucky the security guard kept his cool.

It’s understandable that emotions run wild when playing poker; that’s all part of the game.  We have to learn to get on with the game and continue to make good decisions.  This guy just took it too far and made a fool of himself in front of a lot of people.  I hope he’s learnt the rules of Hold’em, and I look forward to playing with him at an APL tournament …….. that’s if he returns.