For some strange reason, we each traveled hundreds of miles to sit down at the same poker table. I drove 8 hours. Bad Blood and G-Rob drove 2 hours and flew a couple hours and Otis and TheMark spent 12 hours in travel hell. And yet, there we were, all at the same damn poker table. Five of us out of the 8-10 players seated at a time.
It was stupid, if I could be so bold.
And yet, when the night was over we all walked away with a little more money in our pocket. And it was all thanks to the furry coat.
Yes, the furry coat.
It started so well...
I collect my $600 in chips and sit down to G-Rob's right. Frankly, I didn't want to sit that close to him. But there I was, nonetheless. My first hand, I squeeze AsJs, and raise four limpers up to $20. G-Rob calls, of course, and so do the other limpers. Guess respect is earned at this table.
The flop comes A-x-x rainbow. It's checked to me, I bet $100, and take it down. I'm up $100 after my first hand. This rooooolz.
I lose for the next two hours. That doesn't rule. And I moved seats.
The deal
"Hi, Jacqueline. I haven't won a pot in hours, can you help me?"
"I don't know," she tells me.
"Well, let's make a deal. I'm going to tip you 10% of my next pot."
She laughed, "Well..." she trailed off. Then she leaned over to G-Rob, who was in the 10 seat, but decided not to say what she wanted to.
On the very next hand, I look down at 6c4c. It's not the kind of hand I'd normally play, but it was limped to me and I tossed my $5 chip into the pot. Of course, it's raised behind me and I end up calling another $15. Well, maybe I'll get lucky.
Jacqueline burns a card and slides out a flop of 7c8cKc. I flopped a flush. It's checked around. The turn is the 9 of diamonds. This time a kid in the SB leads out for $25. I smooth call and am delighted to see the furry coat behind me raise to $75. When the kid calls, I decide to just call, hoping to get even more in on the river.
The river is the J of hearts. The kid checks and I bet $100. Furry coat raises to $200. The kid calls the $200 and I push for the rest of my money. If my flush is beat, I'm going broke. But I'm 99.9% sure it's good.
The furry coat squeezes his hand up for the rest of the table to see. He's struggling with his decision. I figure he's got a T and doesn't want to be pushed off the straight. I'm not worried when he calls because, frankly, he's terrible. He's already donated more than a grand to the G-Vegas crew.
When the kid agonizes over his decision, I know my flush is good. I'm positive he's holding a T and he doesn't want to lay it down. He calls as well.
I flip over my flush and four of the players at the table are shocked. The G-Vegas crew had no doubt. The kid flips over AcTd. He was open-ended and on the nut flush draw on the turn. I can't blame him for seeing the river. And I can't blame him for making the last call since he wasn't sure I had the flush. He hit his card and there was a ton of money in the pot.
The furry coat flipped his cards over too. He was almost proud of his hand, yet disappointed it didn't hold up. Any guesses? Try the 6h5c. Yeah, he turned the 9-high straight. That's why he raised me on the turn. When the J likely counterfeited his hand, he wasn't ready to lay it down.
After the cards were shown, Jacqueline looked at me and smiled, pointing to G-Rob, she said, "I was going to tell him that after the deal there was no way I was going to push you a pot."
"Don't worry, I'm The Luckbox," I told her, holding up my Luckbox.
She pushed the massive pot my way.
"Let me count this up and see what I owe you."
When the chips were counted, the pot came up to $1170. It's one of the biggest live pots I've ever won. I slid a $100 stack Jacqueline's way and tossed her another 17 bucks. She earned it.