- Ego checkins...

I forgot to post a story I found interesting from the other day. James and I both witnessed it happen and were both surprised at the audacity and stupidity of some of the pro players.

On Sundays, all poker sites run what are called "Sunday Majors" which are basically just large-field multi-table tourneys with big buyins. The mother of them all is called the "Sunday Million" on pokerstars that has a 1.5 million guaranteed prize pool (I think, unless they upped it again recently). Our story takes place in the weekly precursor to the Mil called the "warm-up" (pretty fitting, eh?).

It involves a player that I do not know personally. We've played against each other on several occasions and he is, without a doubt, a very good player. He sticks to the low limit buy-in multi-table games because he crushes them for more than most guys at the higher buy-ins beat their respective levels. Although, he's not without faults and leaks, overall he is certainly within the top .01% of players at his buy-in level. (side note and brag post: I'm currently beating the levels he plays for more than he's averaging...but that's over a considerably smaller and insignificant sample size. So when the 'readjustment period' from my 'run like God period' is over, we'll have something to discuss)

This past Sunday he ran well/played well (whatever you want to call it - when you're up against a HUUUUGE tourney field, you have to have both) and made the final table of the Sunday Warm-up (750k guaranteed prize pool). 1st place was worth 135k, 2nd was 100k, and 3rd was 71k (rounded numbers obv). When the table got to 5-handed, one of the players requested a deal to which the player I'm referring declined. Once at 3-handed, the players had the tourney paused and discussed the deal. Player 1 (the guy we watched) initiated the deal and asked for the break.

Player 1 (guy we were watching) was in first and, according to an even chip-chop ratio, was due 107.5k since he was currently in first. Player 2 (not a good player at all) was offered around 102k and the other guy somewhere around 92k. Whatever the numbers added up to, there was also 10k left on the table for the winner (pokerstars rules). Player 1 (from hereon referred to as "idiot hero") said that he was the best player remaining and deserved 115k or no deal. Bravado. I'm sure he was assuming both players would roll over and accept a 2.5k loss to ensure at least a huge score better than 3rd. Instead, the guy in 3rd typed something along the lines of "BWAHAHAHA" in the chat box and said no way. In all honesty, if the idiot hero hadn't stated "I'm the best player here so I should get more" he might've been able to talk his way into it. Unfortunately, the 3rd place guy (who was just as cocky) said no deal and to play it out. Idiot hero immediately rescinded his comment and says "ok, let's just go with the first deal, then." To which cocky 3rd place dude goes "nope," Now, that should've just been the end of it and they started playing, but idiot hero just HAD to fuel the fire a little bit more by saying "Fine, then. I don't care. I'll just ship the sucker and you can suck it." (something to that effect - probs a little more vulgar, but I can't remember exact wording) The game resumed.

A few hands into the action, idiot hero and cocky dude are involved in a huuuge pot and idiot hero makes a loose call and loses the monstrous pot (not going to debate the call or the hand, since this post isn't about how the hand was played). He's completely crippled with about 4 or 5 blinds - considering the fact that they were deep stacked with over 40-50 blinds, that's insane. So, to recap:
- idiot hero offered 107.5k
- shoots off mouth and offends cocky dude
- retracts demand but is refused
- pours drano on his tongue
- loses huge pot and now is virtually guaranteed 3rd

Simple math - 107.5 - 71 + potential 10k = 46.5k

Yes, that's right. By stroking his ego he jeopardized more than most make in an entire year (and yes, 46 thousand is a HUGE amount of money to this guy - he still plays the low limits remember). As it turned out, the guy in 2nd place ended up suffering a bad beat to the chip leader and our idiot hero luckily squeaked into 2nd for 100k. BUT, that doesn't change the fact that he wanted a deal, blew the deal discussion, and nearly screwed himself big time.

Maybe this isn't that big of a deal to most people. However, why on Earth would you want everyone at the table to know - let alone believe - that you're the best player left? I mean, when pro sports teams "guarantee" a win in a Game 5 or 6, they so often put their foot in their mouth. Anyone remember Hasselbeck in Seattle against the Packers in overtime? "We're gonna take the ball and we're gonna score!" Picked off by Harris. Game over. Shut your freakin mouth, idiot.

Competetive spirit is huge in these games just like in sports. Jabbing at someone's ability - especially someone that doesn't CARE about 3rd place is a death sentence. In my opinion, if you ask for the deal and want a little more, fine. Ask for it. Talk your way through it. Don't be a giant pos and tell everyone that you're the best and deserve it (even if it was true, which it was). Use your brain, dumbass.