Have another Drink, Buddy!

I thought about buying his drinks for him with his money. But he was buying them himself and steadily pouring them down his throat and getting louder and looser.

I played in my usual Wednesday night freezeout tournament and busted out in my usual 7th or 8th level. I had a big stack when my table broke, about 35,000 chips. I sat down at the new table and saw that I was pretty heavy compared to many of the other players. Cool. My first hand I looked down upon pocket Kings. Nice! One guy in front of me raised all in with about 3800 chips. He was on the ropes and looking to double up soon with the best cards he thought he might see with blinds at 1000/2000. He flipped over Q8 off suit. Haha! Had him totally dominated. Until he flopped J 10 9, leaving me with few outs. Shit! One guy, who is a solid player but kinda an asshole, said "welcome to our table!" A few hands later, same pushed all in with my chips, this time about 7000 chips. I looked down at pocket Aces. I always worry about pocket Aces. They just play with so little stability for me. I of course called. He laid down pocket Kings and groaned when I tabled my pocket Aces. You are DONE dude (I thought it but didn't say it.) My aces held up after me pleading with the dealer to not toss over a king on the board.

There was this little old man sitting to my right. Very quiet, very gentle. The kind that is just waiting to eat your lunch. He got my lunch. I had about 40k now in the big blind. I've mentioned that I hate any hand with a Jack in it. I looked down at my cards when my turn rolled around. It had limped to me, including the small blind (aka little old man). I checked my Jack 4 off suit. The flop was 2 4 2. Small blind checked. I made a mid sized bet hoping to pick up the pot right then with my pair of 4s. Everyone folded except small blind. He called. The turn was a Jack. Two pair!! I bet out again, this time bigger. He smooth called me. I wasn't real worried yet, but I feared a 2 just a little. The river was a blank. Small blind pushed all in for about 28k. Shit. I hate when I put myself into positions in which I have hard decisions to make. He WAS the small blind. He could be sitting on a 2. Anything else and I had to have him beaten. Anything but the only other two Jacks in the deck, and he couldn't have pocket Jacks, given how he had played the hand, right? As I pushed my 28k over to him and looked again at his pocket Jacks and told him "good hand, sir", the asshole guy said "Wow, I know you didn't put him on Jacks. How could you have?" Dead on, man.

So, back to the drunk guy. He was young, probably mid 20's, was talking about his new baby while we shared a tourney table together (before he was drunk) and seemed like a nice guy. He did pretty well in the tourney, busting out just a few minutes before me. Then he had a couple more drinks while we waited on a new $1/$2 NLHE table to open. He was sitting two seats to my right, a good spot for him relative to me. He managed to get all of his chips in the pot a LOT, usually over betting the pot by 3 or 4 times. Two of his buddies were at the table also, not quite as drunk, looking a little embarrassed at his behavior, but laughing along and having fun. Matt, the drunk, kept saying of Nate, one of his buddies "I'd lose a thousand dollars to the rest of you just to win Nate's $100." The guy sitting to my left was a young guy too, very tight, very quiet. I just wanted to get tangled up with Matt on one good hand. Just one. I knew I could fleece him of his stack if I could just get heads up or even three-way with him just once. The guy to my left got to him a little before I did. I leaned over to the left guy and said, quietly "He's just spewing chips, man. Let him spew." It was the first emotion the guy had showed, but we had a little laugh. Then I picked up pocket 9s...my favorite hand. I raised pre-flop to $12. I got two callers, Matt being one of them. I was in middle position, with one caller before me and one after (Matt). The flop contained a 9 (that's why it's my favorite hand), the guy before me checked and I checked. Matt pushed all in for $101 (he had already pissed away a couple hundred and hadn't rebought up to $200 yet...damnit) I didn't think player number one would call, given his check on the flop and I called. Matt had a gut shot straight draw and that was about it. When I called, he instantly said "You're probably good, man." When I flipped my nines, he said "Yep, you're good." My nines held up and I got paid.

Given that I had lost $150 the previous night (on two bad donkey plays), being up nearly $300 now was a great thing. And I had my out. I had announced to the table when I sat down "I am a short-timer. When my buddy is done in the tourney, I'm out." I hate people who sit down, take down a big pot and then leave. It just seems unethical. At least now, when Dunk was done in the tournament, I had an out. Dunk busted out in 14th place, short of the money, and came over to my table just as I was raking in the big pot against Matt. "Mike, um, what's up with all the chips, man?" We laughed as I stacked. He told me to play as long as I wanted, that he wasn't in a hurry, but I told him that I was going to play one more circuit of the button and get up. "Don't get up on my account...this looks like a good place to be if you are you." And he was right, but I wanted to leave with my winnings, knowing that Matt had to be getting close to the end of his bankroll and/or passing out and/or being asked to leave. So, I drug another couple of hands in the last circuit and out I went. Net positive for the week by a couple hundred dollars was good enough for me. I love this game.

I hope they are running strong for you.