I just registered with Empire Poker, under Chanzes of course, you may see me there playing real money and play money when I have time. On days that I’m playing, I’ll post notice in advance here…join me whenever you can. I promise I’ll behave…well…maybe. Also the possibility of a tournament, anyone interested in a poker tournament where we all get to try to beat each other for real money, send me an email. More on the particulars later. Back to the Brick and Mortar World that I live in.

A few weeks ago, a major interruption in the quiet hum of the room took almost 10 minutes to completely subside. It started in $15-$30 Holdem, huge pot with mass action, Andrew in the 5S had the Button, Mike in the 6S, Small Blind, and two other callers on the River, added even more chips to the already gigantic pot. The Board was A-3-4 or A-2-4 of Hearts, blank, blank.

Mike turned up his hand and said, “Straight Flush.” He actually held the 5-6 of Hearts which was a flush but his straight flush had a gaping hole in it.

Andrew threw his cards face down, they slid underneath the flop and almost into the rack.
The dealer sat there, looking around, as if waiting for the Earth to open and swallow all of them or for a profound announcement from God that it was time to proceed.

Recognition hit Andrew like a thunderbolt when he actually looked at Mike’s hand and realized Mike didn’t have a Straight Flush. Andrew stood up, reached deftly across the table and retrieved his hand and then proceeded to scream at Mike, something like this, “That’s totally unethical. You are completely wrong in calling the wrong hand.”

Andrew turned up the Q-10 of Hearts.

Mike began with something like this, “Oh Andrew, just relax. I wasn’t going to claim the pot anyway.”

Andrew screamed louder, to the dealer, “Get the Floor Man!” and then back to Mike, continuing with the, “…unethical, you’re out of line, you shouldn’t be allowed to play here, etc., etc., etc.”

The Floor Man came over – Jason, a dealer, filling in the Floor Shift for the night – and before the dealer could say anything, Andrew took off with his explanation, something like this. “He turned his hand up and stated that he had a Straight Flush. I threw my hand away, just a little bit away from my hands and luckily I was able to retrieve it! He could’ve caused me to lose the pot. That’s totally unethical. It’s uncalled for.”

All this was at full volume, tilt, tilt, T-I-L-T!

The dealer was pushed, Jason told them both to calm down and let it go and walked away. The incoming dealer shuffled up the next hand…

Andrew went off again, he was totally miffed, same tirade, same volume control…as in none.

Mike did a ramble on, “Oh Andrew, sometime when you’re not drinking coffee, I’ll explain it to you.”

Andrew never slowed down. He continued to tell Mike that he was totally unethical and totally out of line.

By now Carmen had arrived with Jason, she was the supervisor for the night. Mike stood up and said, “Just for that I’m leaving.”

Andrew went with, “Good! And don’t come back!”

Then Mike started laughing and said, “Ok, just for that, I’m staying.” He sat back down.

Carmen sternly informed them that enough was enough and they hushed momentarily. The game moved back into poker but still the players talked about it and Andrew was like an ember being fanned by the wind. Mike still acted as if he could care less and he still stated that he wouldn’t have taken the pot. Andrew went into full yell mode again. The dealer screamed for a decision. Carmen came to the table again and this time informed them they would leave for the night if it continued. It stopped.

The over view: Players do misread their hands. Although Mike is out of line by making the statement that he did, what if he had been a tourist and really had thought that he had a Straight Flush? Cards speak!

It’s Andrew’s responsibility to hold his hand until he’s sure of the winning hand. If another dealer had been in the box, Andrew’s hand would’ve been totally irretrievable because his cards would’ve been swept into the muck immediately. Would Mike really have given the pot to Andrew when Andrew could only state what his cards had been? What do you think a snowball’s chances in Hell are?

*****
This post is done by Chanzes – during the time period that I took a break from posting in the Diary.