Quote:
Originally Posted by bluffcalls
Why would a wealthy amateur try to play in a game of serious skill against a top pro?
People love poker because every hand and every donk can win.
Happens all the time. This is where the negotiation of the spot comes in. Here's a brief story of where Amarillo Slim matched up with Efren Reyes playing one pocket:
Three years ago, legendary gambler and professional poker player T.A. Preston Jr., a.k.a. "Amarillo Slim," was in a Dallas pool hall. Slim didn't play much anymore. He was just watching, until a matchmaker told him Reyes would spot him 15-5 in one pocket, best of seven: each player could use one pocket on the table, and Reyes was claiming that in each game he'd sink 15 balls before Slim sank five. "I don't think that person lives," Slim said, taking the bet. He lost, returning the next day with "enough $100 bills to burn down the block." He lost again. He says he left $200,000 with Reyes and his backers. The next week, in California, "He wound up playing me 17-5. At 17-5, I beat him," Slim says (they ended even). "He's a great money player. I never saw him rattled, never saw him harass his opponent. Every time we played, he was a perfect gentleman. And every time, he did things I've never seen anyone do before."
http://www.time.com/time/arts/articl...8599-2,00.html
If they played even, Slim would be drawing dead, but via the spot, they found a game that was a decent match up (but like any savvy gambler, both believed themselves to have an edge).