Damn it this hand and the flop sucks ass... with 6 players at the table my chance of winning this hand is just under 40% according to my odds
calculator. However I only require a 3 of clubs or an 8 of clubs for a straight flush and the turn or river may bring that card to me. The pot is
already sitting at $1692 and I need to call a bet of $185 to stay in this hand. I'm already having a bit of a lucky streak in this game so I decide to
push my luck and call the bet. It pays off and the turn gives me an 8 of clubs. However at the last round of betting one player goes all in and the
rest fold. It's a bluff... I can feel it based on his previous betting patterns, but I can't be 100% certain.
This is online poker so I don't have the ability to read their body language... we are reduced to a more pure form of strategy where we must carefully
analyze the playing patterns of our opponents, weaknesses are revealed in this way and not by the information we leak with our body language.
Everything down the speed of their actions can have significance. This is not something which can easily be calculated by any A.I. algorithm, it's a
sort of intuition which will start off sloppy but become stronger and more accurate as you train and practice. I call his bluff and my intuition turns
out to be correct, he had nothing but a pair of queens.
You like the taste of that defeat sucker? Straight flush, weren't expecting that were you? Ahhh... it feels good to be back on top again. Yeah I'm a
professional online poker player, and if you think this is an easy job you're an idiot. To play online poker for a living requires dedication to the
art of poker... sure you might say a large part of it is based on simple probability, but a lot of the game comes down to strategy. Professionals from
all over the world play online poker, not to mention the automated gambling bots which play by using strategies based on the worlds best poker players
or by calculating the potential result of virtually every single possible move.
In poker there's always a loser and a winner... unlike typical casino games you're not betting against the house, you're betting against other
players. To make money you don't need to beat ridiculous odds, you just need to beat the other players, or most of them. To be a winner in online
poker means you need to have a ruthless desire to win and the smarts to make it happen. Distinguishing yourself among the many professional players
and outplaying the best bots required a hardcore level of skill and determination. There are many different versions of poker but the most popular
version is Texas Hold'em and that's the one I specialize in.
But in this damn country it becomes harder and harder to gamble online. So I just take my business to underground venues where there are no betting
limits. We play with virtual currencies which are easy to convert into dollars but hard to trace. I've always been what you might call a "rebel", or
perhaps a more appropriate term would be derelict. Even back in highschool I was that antisocial guy who hang out in some isolated corner of the
school to smoke cigarettes with a few other derelicts. My appearance matches my personality, my dark brown hair is always messed up and trashy clothes
were always my style.
These days I just pull my hair back into a short pony tail but it probably only helps to make me look more like a low life thug. I never really liked
school much but I liked to learn certain things and I never got into any hard drugs. I have what you might call "street smarts", the ability to read
people and act quickly and calmly under high pressure situations is what allows me to play poker at a professional level. Of course a bit of math and
logic doesn't hurt either. I sit most of the day in my small apartment by myself playing online poker. It's good money, when luck is on my side... but
it can be a lonely job.
I live alone, as one would expect of an antisocial derelict like myself... I've lived in Canada my whole life and I'm currently located not far from
Winnipeg. I like it here in this beautiful country but the gambling laws piss me off. What is their problem anyway, can't a man decide how he wants to
use his money? Damn Governments always trying to nanny us as if they knew what was better for us better than us... than there's the unbearable
hypocrisy, the government sanctioned lotteries and casinos. It's like tobacco and alcohol, they are Government sanctioned drugs because they make
money for the Government.
Looks like everyone is checking... this will be too easy. A stream of cigarette smoke flows inches from my straining eyes as I watch the river card
reveal its self. Suck it my good fellows! Another straight flush and I'm on fire lads! What's this?!? The new guy has just placed a bet of... what...
50 big ones! Is he insane? Does he really expect anyone to call that? But hold on... maybe I should call it. My gut feeling tells me my hand is better
than his. I can sense it is a good hand but not good enough. This could be a chance to make some fat cash very quickly. But if I lose... I'll have to
pay out nearly everything I have.
I bought into this game with 50K but I've made about 5K profit so far. Come to think of it about 40K of the money I'm using is borrowed from a loan
shark. I don't have the money right now to play with the big dollars I like to bet with, but I'm confident enough in my abilities that I can
temporarily borrow anything up to 50K and use my winnings to pay off the interest and leave me with a healthy sum of money. However I never planned to
risk such huge amounts of money on one hand... it's not in my strategy and I have no contingency plan to deal with such a sudden loss. The question
is, does the reward outweigh the risk?
Damn this punk trying to play mind games with me. I'm over-thinking this... I'm running out of time, if I don't make a move before the timer runs out
it will automatically fold my hand, that's how online poker usually works. I have about 20 seconds left to decide my course of action. A quick glance
at my odds calculator tells me I have about a 99.8% chance of winning... the reward certainly would appear to outweigh the risk. He can only beat me
with a straight flush and a better high card or a royal flush, which is simply not going to happen. Only 10 seconds left. 5, 4, 3, 2... call!
RIVER : [Td,5c,Jd,7h,Qd]
Player 3 shows [9d,8d] (Straight Flush)
Player 5 shows [Kd,Ad] (Royal Flush)
Player 5 wins pot ($100940)
What the hell is this!!! I... lost? A royal flush, there's no way... how is that possible? What kind of sick joke is this? Those odds were unbeatable!
I have well and truly screwed the pooch on this one, there's no way I'll be able to pay back that 40K quick enough now. I've scraped up every last
cent for this game and now I only have about 5K left in my name. Even if I use that 5K to pay off some of the debt the remaining 35K isn't a small sum
of money to owe a loan shark with the insane interest rates they charge. The only way out of it is to win back my money using the remaining 5K but
that's extremely risky.
A heap of ash falls from my slow burning cigarette onto my keyboard as I sit motionless pondering my current situation. I guess this is the risk one
must face if they wish to make a living based on probabilities... in a sense professional stock traders face the same dilemma. They may win most days
but when things go wrong all hell can break loose. There's not going to be any easy way out of this situation. I don't think my best course of action
would be to risk my remaining 5K... it's probably a stupid move. I could always run across the country and try to escape the loan sharks but that
might be just as stupid.
----------------------------------------
NEW PRIVATE MESSAGE
From: PokerEye3
Subject: n/a
Hey bro, sorry to see you lose like that but it had to be one of us huh? I'm just surprised you even called me but I guess you did have a good hand. I
just wanted to let you know that I work for Kamino and he's informed me about your debt with us. You already know that we like to keep track of our
clients to gauge their ability to repay their debt.
It's nothing sinister or anything, I was just here to see how you were doing and I decided to play a few games. I never expected that stroke of luck
however. You totally fell for my bait on that turn. Anyway don't think about skipping town or doing anything stupid. We will not tolerate a default on
this debt and the money will be repaid one way or another, do you understand Mr Rayson?
There is one way you can get out of this. We have a "special program" for clients like yourself who get themselves into a bind like this. We are
offering a rare chance to extinguish your entire debt within a few hours. If you wish to participate in this program go the location specified below
at the specified time and don't be late. Come alone and make sure you aren't followed by anyone.
941 ANGLOS ST
FRIDAY 8:30PM
----------------------------------------
edit on 21/3/2013 by ChaoticOrder because: (no reason given)